Category Archives: Prenatal Care

Epidural Use Tied to Length of Prenatal Care?

The National Center for Health Statistics just released a look at the epidural rate for 27 states form 2008. The study showed that according to birth certificate data, 61% of mothers who had a vaginal birth of one baby, had … Continue reading

Posted in Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Labor and Birth, Prenatal Care, Research | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Activist in Training: Stephanie B. (post #2)

Before taking the class “biopsych of childbirth” I had never heard about a woman being able to have an orgasmic birth. After watching the movie and much discussion about the topic, I find it sad that women will electively opt … Continue reading

Posted in activism, Childbirth Education, Media, Obstetricial Interventions, Prenatal Care | 1 Comment

Getting Closer to your Partner During Pregnancy

We are with the baby at every moment. The baby feeds off or our nourishment, we feel them wiggle, hiccup, and kick. They listen to our voices, they feel comforted by our warmth, nutrition, movements, our heartbeat, and our breath. … Continue reading

Posted in Childbirth Education, Dad, General, Labor and Birth, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care | Tagged | 1 Comment

In Control

When I was very young I asked my mother what giving birth was like, and she told me it was kind of like lying on a raft in a very fast river. “If you can just lie there and let yourself be carried by the flow, you will be fine. The more you try to fight it and control what is happening, the more everything will spin out of your control.” Continue reading

Posted in General, Obstetricial Interventions, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care | 1 Comment

A Weighty Issue

Americans have been warned for years about the perils of being overweight or obese.  Indeed the risks for a host of complications increase steadily as the pounds pile on.  For many people, the risks can be temporarily ignored; after all, … Continue reading

Posted in Cesarean Section, Labor and Birth, Obstetricial Interventions, Prenatal Care | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Who deserves a good birth?

My first day as a midwifery student at my preceptors birth center I was informed that they did not accept clients who were not planning to exclusively breastfeed. Being the breastfeeding advocate that I am and the doe eye’d student … Continue reading

Posted in Breastfeeding, General, Prenatal Care | Tagged , | 19 Comments

Reducing Anxiety in Early Pregnancy

With home pregnancy tests, many women now find out they are pregnant much sooner than ever before. This can be good because the mother can start preparing herself for a new baby; she can start eating healthy, taking her prenatal … Continue reading

Posted in Jennifer, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care | 2 Comments

Folic Acid

January is a time when we start trying to turn a new leaf.  For women who want to get pregnant, are pregnant or even if you’re just of reproductive age, it’s recommended that you get 400mcg of folic acid everyday. … Continue reading

Posted in Prenatal Care | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Healthy Eating During Your Pregnancy

I can certainly say, when I got pregnant with my oldest, I thought pregnancy was a free ticket to pig out and live on junk food, but I quickly learned through my reading, that is not the case at all!! … Continue reading

Posted in General, March of Dimes, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Why Our Women are Afraid of Birth

Maybe if the television channels like Discovery health followed a dozen home births or even aired The Business of Being Born they could get a popular, and controversial other side to what they are constantly airing. Maybe it will boost their ratings even more, maybe not? But what it will do is give the other side of the whole issue. Let’s get Marsden Wagner to do a half hour special on Birth in The United States and see how many women run off to the midwives. Instead they air these disgustingly inaccurate “Freebirthing” shows. They find the one idiot who is going to make women who choose unassisted birth look like a bunch of uneducated yokels. Which is exactly what they did with their special on Unassisted birth. Continue reading

Posted in Cesarean Section, Childbirth Education, General, Homebirth, Hospital Birth, Labor and Birth, Midwifery, Natural Childbirth, Obstetricial Interventions, Obstetrics, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care, Unassisted Birth | 7 Comments