Category Archives: Baby

If You Love ‘em Then You Shoulda Put a Sling on Them

Have you heard about the recall of 1 million bag slings? This is prompting mass hysteria in some mommy circles. Be sure that you know the fact before you ditch your sling. This recall pertains to an Infantino bag sling … Continue reading

Posted in Baby | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A Healthy Baby – Birth Poetry Contest

All she wanted was to birth a healthy baby She was excited about the months ahead She knew her baby was a blessing She wanted what was best She changed her diet and started exercising She wanted to birth a … Continue reading

Posted in Baby, General, Jennifer | Tagged | 1 Comment

Postpartum Depression, Bottle Feeding and Infant and Mother Separation at Birth

There is a new study out by the University of Albany done by evolutionary psychologists that puts forward the idea that a woman who feeds her baby a bottle instead of breastfeeds may be at risk for postpartum depression due … Continue reading

Posted in Baby, Breastfeeding, Hospital Birth, Informed Consent, Jennifer, Postpartum Depression, Research | Leave a comment

A Safer First Bath

One of the things that you may not think about as a benefit of homebirth is that you get to choose how your baby is first bathed. Having seen how some babies are scrubbed down in hospitals, I think it’s … Continue reading

Posted in Baby, Homebirth, Hospital Birth | Leave a comment

Breastfeeding Mom Told to Cover Up

Apparently Allegiant airlines didn’t learn anything from other “breastfeeding on a plane” stories. Watch this video to hear about a mom who says she was told to cover up and when she covered up with a napkin, it wasn’t good … Continue reading

Posted in Baby, Breastfeeding | Tagged | 3 Comments

Choices in Childbirth

There are lots of things that influence women’s decisions on where to give birth. A lot of it has to do with what happens during labor but recently I’ve been talking to a lot of women who made their choice … Continue reading

Posted in Baby, Birth Centers, Homebirth, Hospital Birth | Tagged | Leave a comment

Trace Melamine Found in US Formula

Yet another reason to breastfeed: after reports of over 50,000 sick babies and 3 deaths related to formula in China, the US began to test its formula. The FDA released a statement today that some formula has trace elements of Melamine. Since a safe level has not yet been established there will be no recall. Read the rest of the story here. Continue reading

Posted in Baby, Breastfeeding | Leave a comment

The Chemistry of Breastmilk

When my husband, a Chemical Analyst, brought home an issue of Chemical and Engineering News with an article entitled “Unraveling Breastmilk” I was a bit skeptical. There was a photo of a breastfeeding infant on the cover, which addmittidly was quite impressive. However, the objective of unraveling the chemical components of breastmilk seemed to be to create a superior formula, and I wondered how a superior formula would help with encouraging women to breastfeed, which has far greater benefits than the nutrition and antibodies alone.

I read the article with a critical eye, but I found it to be both respectful of the amazing substance that is breastmilk, and extremely fascinating. To see just how complex breastmilk is on a scientific level, and how hard it is for them to replicate this amazing substance was really very interesting.

The article can be found here: Unraveling Breast Milk: Analytical scrutiny reveals how complex fluid nourishes infants and protects them from disease

I have to warn you that the article is written for chemists, so it is not the easiest thing to read. Even though I didn’t understand the entire thing, reading about the chemistry of breastmilk really gave me a new understanding and appreciation for the substance. I think the last sentence of the article sums it up nicely; “It is a remarkable fluid,” German emphasizes. “It’s extremely embarrassing how little we still know about it.”
Continue reading

Posted in Baby, Breastfeeding, Jennifer | Leave a comment

International Baby Wearing Week (Activist Alert)

As the mother of many, I’ve found baby wearing. Unfortunately it wasn’t until baby number two. But once I found it I never went back. It was so much easier to carry my children, not to mention it was nice to be close to the and have my hands free. I talk to a lot of moms about how to carry their babies so that they can enjoy the benefits of baby wearing.

I was thrilled to see that November 12-18 is the inaugural Baby Wearing Week. It will hopefully help spread the word about baby wearing and the benefits to moms and babies. I actually have some pretty hilarious photos of me wearing the twins in two slings!

So whether you’re a fan of a sling, a mei tai, moby wrap or baby bjorn, join together and send a note to Motrin. For this week, they’ve decided to post an ad that is very anti-baby wearing. You can check out the ad for yourself. You can also contact them to offer your opinion.

Continue reading

Posted in Baby, Media | Leave a comment

Anesthesia and Brain Development

Today I came across this article in which the author describes research being performed to determine anesthesia’s effect on developing brains. The article is talking about children who undergo surgery but can easily relate to the use of epidural anesthesia in birth. Many practitioners blow off parental concerns related to effects of anesthesia in labor, despite their validity. While a lot of investigation is going on about the effects of television, vaccinations, video games, etc. on our children’s brains why are we not spending more time/money/energy on the events surrounding their entrance into the world? Continue reading

Posted in Baby, Obstetricial Interventions, Research | Leave a comment