Category: Uncategorized

Medication For Gestational Diabetes

admin
If you have gestational diabetes and you have not been able to control it with the advised changes to your diet and exercise regime then you will be prescribed medication. This prescription is usually given to you a couple of weeks after diagnosis but the timing can vary according to your blood glucose levels. You could also be given medication if an ultrasound scan reveals that your baby is large for his gestational age. The medicines available include Read More

7 Tips for Babyproofing the Home

admin
When it comes to keeping our babies safe, many parents are very careful with illnesses and infections, but there is another danger that is much easier to avoid: accidents. A third of all childhood deaths are caused by preventable accidents, and the vast majority of these could be avoided with better babyproofing and safer practices. There is nothing parents can do to stop a child’s natural curiosity. Kids have an inborn urge to explore, and this means getting into things, playing with items that are not necessarily for babies, and making a mess of the home. For parents, the goal is not to stop Read More

How Can I Help My Baby Into An Anterior Position?

admin
Have you heard of OFP which is optimal fetal positioning? This is a technique to encourage your baby into an anterior position by changing your posture especially when you are in a sitting down position. What you are trying to do when using this technique is tilt your pelvis forward, not backwards so if you are in a sitting position, always make sure that your knees are lower than your hips. To help you, try these following tips: Read More

Staying On The Ball!

admin
You may be one of the many pregnant women who use a birthing ball to exercise and strengthen your back. Unfortunately, most do not utilize the benefits of their birthing balls until they have gone into labor. Midwives recommend birthing balls to pregnant women because they encourage you to maintain good posture by balancing on them. By sitting on the ball you are forced to sit properly so that your back is well aligned and this relieves your back of pressure which is especially helpful later on in your pregnancy. Birthing balls are sometimes used to encourage your unborn baby to move into the correct position enabling you to be more comfortable during labor. You often see them in maternity wards. Read More

The Perils of Meconium

admin
Meconium is your baby’s first poo! It has the consistency of treacle, it is odourless and unlike later offerings it is sterile. It is very dark and almost impossible to wipe clean. Meconium consists of water, mucus, amniotic fluid, lanugo which is downy baby hair and also intestinal epithelial cells. For most babies it is just their first poo (one of many!) and means a very gooey first nappy but in some cases it can be a cause for concern. Read More

New Health Reform Gives Breastfeeding Moms a Break

admin
breastfeeding, pumping, expredssing milk, breastfeeding and going back to work, expressing milk in the workplace, obama, obama's new health reform laws, nursingWhen I was working my first job after college (in other words, I was in my young 20’s), there was a mom who had just had her second baby. She had gone back to work a mere six weeks after her baby was born, and she was breastfeeding. I probably would’ve never paid much attention to this, except for the fact that we had one bathroom in the office, and it seemed as if every time I had to use it she was in there pumping. At the time, it was an annoyance. Looking back now, after I’ve had two children that I breastfed, I can’t believe she stuck to it. I think there may have been five females in the entire office; this, coupled with the fact that we were in a male Read More

Cord Blood Donation-Now Available at at Hospital Near You

admin 1 Comment
cord blood, cord blood donation, cord blood therapy, stem cells, cord blood research, duke's public cord blood bank
Duke's Cord Blood Kit
When I was pregnant with my first child, I had read about the benefits that the blood in my baby’s umbilical cord could have for others. Filled with stem cells, this blood could help those with cancer, sickle-cell anemia, immunodeficiency, marrow failure and genetic diseases that call for transplants. Normally, this blood is literally thrown away, so if it has so many benefits, I thought, why not donate it? Unfortunately, when I told my OB my intentions, she informed me that the hospital that I was giving birth at didn’t have the availability to store the blood and get it to a bank. And my hospital was of the norm–there are only approximately 175 hospitals in the United States that can transfer cord blood to a bank, but it looks as if that’s about to change. Time recently reported on a Public Donation Kit that’s allowing Read More

Hypnobirthing-What’s It All About?

admin 1 Comment
Jaime and her husband Devon, after the birth of their first child.
For a woman preparing to give birth for the first time, the idea of labor can be a frightening prospect. You hear that it’s painful, you have no idea what to expect, and it’s something that you have no control over. As a result, many women opt for the epidural route (which is fine) but for those that are wanting a drug-free birth, hypnobirthing may be your answer. Read More