Monday, January 28, 2013

Mother-Baby Sleep Experts Offer Tips for Soothing Crying Babies, Giving Exhausted Mothers Alternatives to Crying It Out

Mother-Baby Sleep Experts Offer Tips for Soothing Crying Babies, Giving Exhausted Mothers Alternatives to Crying It Out

 The reason for this is that babies have immature nervous systems and need others to help them regulate their emotions. When adults hear babies crying and respond, babies develop the tools, both physiologically and emotionally, to calm themselves. Leaving babies to cry increases babies’ stress levels and often keeps them awake longer. It does not guide them emotionally or physically toward the goal of regulating their own distress and response.

What You Don't Know About Episiotomies Can Hurt You - NYTimes.com

What You Don't Know About Episiotomies Can Hurt You - NYTimes.com

 The reason for the episiotomy’s popularity in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, when my brothers and I were born, was that doctors believed that a clean downward cut on the laboring woman’s perineum was safer for the baby and better for the mother than letting a woman’s perineum tear during pushing. A straight cut was easier to stitch than a jagged tear, and doctors argued that a woman would feel less postpartum pain and have fewer future problems with pelvic-floor complications (like urinary incontinence).

Sunday, January 27, 2013

The Invisible Work of Women « Embodied Birth

The Invisible Work of Women « Embodied Birth

Let us celebrate ourselves.  Let us celebrate each other.  When we do this, we will come to live in a society where the invisible is visible.
http://embodiedbirth.com (http://s.tt/1yZJ1)

Monday, January 21, 2013

Vicks Vapo Rub Bad for Babies and Young Children; Can Cause Breathing Problems - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Vicks Vapo Rub Bad for Babies and Young Children; Can Cause Breathing Problems - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com
 Vicks Vapo Rub is said to cause breathing problems in babies. Vicks Vapo Rub contains ingredients that "can be irritants, causing the body to produce more mucus to protect the airway," according to a doctor who has been doing studies on the product. In a study released by the Wake Forest University of Medicine (in North Carolina), pediatricians warn that the ingredients of Vicks Vapo Rub could turn out to be harmful for young children and babies. The reason for this is that it can cause severe respiratory distress when applied.

Friday, January 18, 2013

To Hat or Not to Hat, That is the Strange Conundrum | Spirit of Ilithyia

To Hat or Not to Hat, That is the Strange Conundrum | Spirit of Ilithyia

 Have you heard the phrase, “Stop hatting, chatting and patting?”  I first heard the phrase from California midwife, Carla Hartley, who has studied during her thirty year midwifery career, the affects that interventive third stage practices have on both mother and newborn.  There are multi-faceted layers behind why hatting, chatting and patting are disruptive to the mother-baby dyad, but they all encompass the importance of giving mom and baby uninterrupted time to participate in the physiological process of bonding immediately following the birth.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Kids Raising Kids

Kids Raising Kids

These are some amazing parents.  The mom just happens to be the baby from my very first childbirth student.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Was the Whooping Cough Epidemic Caused By Unvaccinated Kids? - Holistic Squid

Was the Whooping Cough Epidemic Caused By Unvaccinated Kids? - Holistic Squid

 Eighty-one percent of 2010 California pertussis cases under the age of 18 were fully vaccinated children; and in a pertussis outbreak in Texas, the CDC statistics show that 81.5 percent of cases were fully vaccinated.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Bathing & Moisturizing | National Eczema Association

Bathing & Moisturizing | National Eczema Association

What are the characteristics of dry skin?

When your skin is dry, it is not because it lacks grease or oil, but because it fails to retain water. For this reason, a good daily skin care regimen focuses on the basics of bathing and moisturizing.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Many Pelvic Exams Are Medically Unjustified - hcp.obgyn.net

Many Pelvic Exams Are Medically Unjustified - hcp.obgyn.net

The updated guidelines for preventive care by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the US Preventive Services Task Force, and the American Cancer Society state that annual Pap tests are not needed for most women. ACOG also has recommended that the bimanual examination should not be part of a routine well-woman examination until age 21.2 Despite these recommendations, about 87% of the physicians surveyed said they would perform this examination on 18-year-old healthy women. Physicians also said they perform the examination to reassure patients, to meet patient expectations, and to ensure “adequate compensation for routine gynecological care.”1,

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Modern parenting may hinder brain development, research suggests

Modern parenting may hinder brain development, research suggests

 "Breast-feeding infants, responsiveness to crying, almost constant touch and having multiple adult caregivers are some of the nurturing ancestral parenting practices that are shown to positively impact the developing brain, which not only shapes personality, but also helps physical health and moral development," says Narvaez.

What nurses need to know about birth plans | Scrubs – The Leading Lifestyle Nursing Magazine Featuring Inspirational and Informational Nursing Articles

What nurses need to know about birth plans | Scrubs – The Leading Lifestyle Nursing Magazine Featuring Inspirational and Informational Nursing Articles

 “Remember that this is the most important day/event in the lives of the parents-to-be, and not to lose sight of this,” says Whitehead. “As people working around labor, birth and new babies every day, it’s very easy for us to become desensitized to the experience.”
When the parents-to-be walk in, treat them like this is THEIR special, big day! Because it is.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Why Antibiotics Today Could Threaten Your Life Tomorrow

Why Antibiotics Today Could Threaten Your Life Tomorrow

 Contrary to the opinion of the conventional medical establishment, there is no free lunch when it comes to antibiotics. Doctors for the most part are still handing out prescriptions like candy to their patients despite the continuing and growing problem of antibiotic resistance.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Love, Light, Laughter and Chocolate - One Mom's Journey: Be with me. Just for today.

 Please secure your furniture.

Love, Light, Laughter and Chocolate - One Mom's Journey: Be with me. Just for today.: For once, I'm at a loss for words.  Maybe not so much at a loss, but there are so many things I want to say that I just don't know where or ...

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

The gluten made her do it: How going gluten free saved my daughter's mental health - Anchorage Press: Anchorage Press News


The gluten made her do it: How going gluten free saved my daughter's mental health - Anchorage Press: Anchorage Press News
 It wasn’t always like this. After my boy-girl twins were born, I often received compliments on how happy my babies seemed. After about eight months of age, my son stayed the same chill little guy. But in my daughter, I saw a change. At first I thought she must have a slightly more volatile temperament, and that it was only now beginning to show. But after she was a year old, it became apparent that I was dealing with something a little more serious. The slightest thing could set my daughter off—or nothing at all. And when she got upset, it wasn’t like a normal toddler getting upset. She was hysterical. It was like someone had lit her on fire. She screamed, and kept screaming, as though in mortal agony, for as long as two hours at a time.

Is the Medical Community Failing Breastfeeding Moms? | TIME.com

Is the Medical Community Failing Breastfeeding Moms? | TIME.com

 No one argues that breast is best, but the truth is that breast-feeding is very difficult for many women, and for some, medical problems make it almost impossible without intervention. With the recent bans on giveaways of formula samples in some hospitals, it’s all the more important that the medical community have the tools and knowledge to help mothers breastfeed—or to figure out why they can’t. Until doctors and nurses are properly trained to help, women like Kelly will experience all of the pressure to breastfeed, with none of the support to figure out how.