Your baby wants you to know...

What You Need to Know About Newborns

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:45:33 -0400

I let him sleep on me.

This was considered a big no-no by many because I was “creating a bad habit”. Even I wondered if I would have to rock him to sleep and have him sleep on my chest in his dorm room at college (which would make for some awkward roommate moments) because I didn’t establish a sleep schedule early on. Here’s the thing, even if you get something established in the beginning, they change so damn quickly that it will be out the window the next week and you’re back to square one. A wise friend once told me “whatever gets you though the day” and him sleeping on my chest while I watched a movie got me through the day. So there.

Sucking Your Child's Pacifier Clean May Have Benefits

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:00:42 -0400

Sucking Your Child's Pacifier Clean May Have Benefits:

Children whose parents had no problems sucking their pacifiers to clean them had fewer allergies, lower rates of eczema and fewer signs of asthma than those whose parents typically rinsed or boiled them.

How Formula Can Complement Breast-Feeding

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:00:26 -0400

How Formula Can Complement Breast-Feeding:

Good news for new mothers: A study suggests that carefully regulated formula feeding before your milk comes in will not harm your baby’s ability to breast-feed. And done properly, it may even help in the long run.

Something to take note of: the study used carefully controlled formula feeding: small amounts, given with a syringe. In most hospitals, babies are supplemented with two full ounces given from a bottle with a nipple, which is very different from the procedure used in this study. If a provider suggests the use of formula for your breastfed newborn, make sure it’s given in the way that is best for you and your baby, not just the way that is easiest for the staff.

Birth centers are good for moms and babies

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:00:42 -0400

“Birthing centers provide equal or better deliveries, study shows” http://feedly.com/k/11r9bxy

What did your provider tell you?

Sat, 11 May 2013 11:00:39 -0400

“Report: Many Mothers Say They’re Pressured To Have Birth Interventions” http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2013/05/mothers-pressured-on-birth-interventions

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000162344

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:25:51 -0400

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000162344:

Suze Orman calls a doula not just a want, but a need.

Doulas are good for laboring women!

Father's "Maternal" Instinct Just as Strong as Mother's

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:29:58 -0400

Father's "Maternal" Instinct Just as Strong as Mother's:

This is no surprise to me. I see men turn into fathers all the time, and there is no doubt they are as transformed by parenthood as women are.

Client Testimonial, Priya S.

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 11:00:40 -0400

“My husband and I had a very positive experience with Jennifer as our doula. She was a great source of knowledge in the months leading up to my labor and delivery. She was patient and responsive in answering our many questions, and this helped me in creating a birth plan that was right for me. Although in the end, my labor did not end up going quite according to the birth plan, Jennifer’s presence and support made the experience much more manageable. The greatest contribution Jennifer made to the outcome of my L&D experience came the morning of the birth, when I was told by my doctor that I may need a c-section due to stalled labor on account of baby’s head position. Jennifer stayed calm during this trying time for me, and furthermore made use of her resources on natural labor progress to guide me in various laboring positions, which ultimately did get baby reoriented. We truly feel that we owe the natural (vaginal) delivery of our daughter to Jennifer, and I am so grateful and glad we chose to have her with us. We would not hesitate to hire her again for any future pregnancies.”

To read more testimonials, click on the “testimonials” link at the bottom of this post, or view them on my DoulaMatch profile.

Sonia, born March 2013

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 16:47:00 -0400

Sonia,
born March 2013

On yummy mummies, post baby bodies, and life getting better with age

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:56:00 -0400

On yummy mummies, post baby bodies, and life getting better with age :

“What’s the quest for a better post baby body got to do with fitness?”

Group B Strep in Pregnancy: Evidence for Antibiotics and Alternatives

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:00:47 -0400

Group B Strep in Pregnancy: Evidence for Antibiotics and Alternatives:

This article is the best discussion I have seen of GBS infection and how it affects labor. Every pregnant woman should read this.

Let Them Figure It Out

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:00:42 -0400

Let Them Figure It Out:

“I am a slacker-parent. In the years since I first claimed my slacker title, Lenore Skenazy created the term “Free-Range Parent” which not only sounds better than “slacker,” it comes with a whole philosophy attached, which you can debate with the other parents at your parenting group, proving that even if you’re not climbing the slide with your kid, you spent real time researching the reasons why you shouldn’t climb the slide with your kid. Sometimes I do call myself a free-range parent, but the truth of the matter is I’m a slacker. I would rather sit on the park bench and read a book, or commit that cardinal sin of parenting, play with my smart-phone, than climb the slide or push my kid on the swing. Back when my kids were in the “stick everything in their mouth” phase, I did put down my book long enough to take the mulch out of their hands and redirect them, but that’s about it. If my kid climbs too high on the playground climbing structure, or can’t figure out which fake rock to step on next at the climbing wall, my slacker philosophy lets me tell the kid to figure it out.”

Mind, Body, Baby

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:30:16 -0400

Mind, Body, Baby:

“Your head is connected to your body.

This is something that apparently didn’t occur to me when I had my first baby. I decided to try believing it for my second, and it turned out to be true. Stop the presses.”

I’ve been doing a birth art exercise with clients for a...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:30:18 -0400

I’ve been doing a birth art exercise with clients for a while now, and I’m always amazed at the beautiful work they do.

Both parents chose to use lines of color to indicate energy and love surrounding them and their baby.

Preterm babies and the infant car seat challenge

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:36:13 -0400

Preterm babies and the infant car seat challenge :

“Because premature babies can have weaker airways than full-term infants, they are more susceptible to complications, such as interruption of breathing, slowed breathing, and decreased levels of oxygen in the blood. Being in a semi-reclined position, rather than laying flat, can increase the occurrence of these episodes. Passing the ICSC is important for determining whether a traditional infant car seat is an appropriate restraint for these premature babies, or if they would be safer traveling in a car bed—a special restraint where they can be transported laying down.”

Feel the Fear and Birth Anyway

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:30:33 -0400

Feel the Fear and Birth Anyway:

“In a backlash against the medicalisation of birth women are beginning to reclaim birth (yay!). Partly thanks to the availability of information via the internet, a counter culture has emerged. Movies, images and stories of empowered birthing mothers circulate through social media – women birthing in beautiful calm environments (usually in water, surrounded by candles), looking like Goddesses whilst gently and quietly ‘breathing’ their baby out. Women are able to see how birth can be, and many are inspired and driven to create a birth experience like those they watch.

“Whilst these images can assist in building self-trust for mothers as they approach birth, they do not tell the whole story.”

Hypercleanliness may be making us sick

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 07:59:47 -0400

Hypercleanliness may be making us sick:

“A growing body of evidence suggests that all the antibacterial-wiping, germ-killing cleanliness of the developed world may actually be making us more prone to getting sick — and that a little more dirt might help us stay healthier in the long run.”

Infants Are Fed Solid Food Too Soon, C.D.C. Finds

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:42:44 -0400

Infants Are Fed Solid Food Too Soon, C.D.C. Finds:

“Despite growing warnings from pediatricians about feeding newborns anything other than breast milk or formula, many mothers appear to be introducing solid food well before their babies’ bodies can handle it, says a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

“In a national survey of 1,334 mothers, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40 percent said they gave their baby solid food before they were 4 months old, with 9 percent starting as early as 4 weeks. Doctors now recommend waiting until a baby is at least 6 months old”

I tell my clients to look for signs of readiness: sitting up on their own, interest in the adult’s plate, and the ability to pick up food in their fists and bring it to their mouths. My own boys started with avocados and other whole foods. I never messed with rice cereal or purees.

Vaginal Delivery Recommended Over Maternal-Request Cesarean

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 11:30:20 -0400

Vaginal Delivery Recommended Over Maternal-Request Cesarean:

Let me be very clear. Cesarean birth can be lifesaving for the baby and the mother. I am grateful that there are skilled surgeons who make it as safe as possible. No woman should be made to feel guilty, or like less of a mother if her babies were born surgically instead of vaginally.

However, cesarean deliveries are not optimal. Women should be told the risks and benefits of the procedure and encouraged to attempt vaginal delivery when possible.

The nation’s largest ob-gyn organization recommends that pregnant women plan for vaginal birth unless there is a medical reason for a cesarean. In new guidelines issued today, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (The College) says maternal-request cesareans are especially not recommended for women planning to have several children, nor should they be performed before 39 completed weeks of pregnancy.

The Secrets of Breast Milk

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 08:01:35 -0400

The Secrets of Breast Milk:

“When we come out of the womb, we make our way to the breast. We enter the world knowing we’re mammals, with milk on our minds.

“But even as grown-ups, we have never known exactly what’s in that milk—or, as strange as it may sound, what the point of it is. For decades, milk was thought of strictly in terms of nutrients, which makes sense—milk is how a mother feeds her baby, after all. But providing nutrients turns out to be only part of what milk does. And it might not even be the most important part.”