Friday, April 20, 2012

Wait! Don’t Wash That Newborn!


Posted by Jennifer Azzariti

Do you ever watch a television show where a baby is born and laugh as they hand the new mom a clean, approximately 8-week old baby? Most people are well-aware that babies are born with a slimy mucus-like covering on them. For years, I just assumed it was from being inside the mom’s uterus—leftover amniotic fluid or something that surrounded the baby while in the uterus. Well, it has a name—vernix. And by definition, it’s “a white cheeselike protective material that covers the skin of a fetus.” But, what is it, and why do babies have it?

To read the rest of this article click here.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

5 Ways to Get Through a Long Labor

By Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE, About.com Guide

While the average length of a first labor is typically 12-18 hours, not including inductions, there are labors that last longer. Some labors last longer because of physical issues, the baby moving into a better position, mom’s body opening. Other labors are longer because of emotional issues like fear of your surroundings or of becoming a parent, or that your husband won’t make it on time. These can be very real things. For the women who have to deal with lengthy labors, it sounds like it’s a lot of pain. Though having had six labors of my own, I’ve had a wide variety of times: (in order) 36 hours, 45 hours, 8 hours, 11 hours, 4 hours, 2-3 hours, and 45 hours. The easiest labor was actually my 45 hour labor. The reason? Because I managed my labor well. And I’ve also seen it happen many other times in my time as a doula. So here are tips on making the most of a longer labor.

To read the rest of this wonderful article click here.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Is a Painful Childbirth all in Your Head?

This is a question that is massively poignant to me, and isn't one that I ask lightly. Seasoned medical professionals and women who have experienced painful births are no doubt baring their teeth. Whilst I don't wish to trample on their experience, I am due to give birth in six weeks and I'm hoping that the title to this piece may be truer than we are currently able to anticipate.

To read the rest of this article click here.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

A Home for Births

By opening a freestanding birth center, perinatologist Steve Calvin is determined to make maternity care more satisfying for women and cost effective.
By Kim Kiser

Standing on a sidewalk on Chicago Avenue in south Minneapolis, Steve Calvin, M.D., is at the intersection of high-tech and high-touch health care. Behind him is the 100-year-old Victorian home he bought two years ago and turned into a freestanding birth center—a place where women can deliver their babies in much the same tradition as their great grandmothers. Across the street, a crane is busy at work on construction of the Mother-Baby Center on the campus of Children’s and Abbott Northwestern hospitals—a place where women will have access to some of the most sophisticated maternal and neonatal services in the Twin Cities.

To read the rest of this article click here.

Monday, April 2, 2012

As January Jones admits to eating her own placenta, experts reveal the health benefits (and the cooking instructions)


By Victoria Wellman
January Jones has certainly been mysterious about the paternity of her son, but one thing she hasn't been shy to admit is how she ate her own placenta following his birth.

Eating the placenta however, is not an uncommon practice these days, and has become something of a trend among new mothers interested in the much talked about health benefits.

To read the rest of this article click here.