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How to Soothe Common Pregnancy Discomforts: Heartburn

May 17, 2013 By FitPregnancy Leave a Comment

In this new series on Giving Birth with Confidence, we’re going to cover some of the most common discomforts that can happen during pregnancy and share tried-and-true ways to help soothe or eliminate them. Pregnancy can be an amazing time in a woman’s life, but it can also be challenging. The reality is that some women’s bodies accept and cope well with pregnancy and some don’t. In any case, having extra tools in your coping toolbox can go along way toward increasing your quality of life during the 4o-ish weeks of pregnancy.

Five Ways to Extinguish the Fire of Heartburn During Pregnancy

By Hillari Dowdle, freelance writer for FitPregnancy

It was heartburn that got me in the end. I could take the swelling, the back pain, the constant trips to the bathroom, the itchy skin, the fatigue, the sweating, the sleeplessness and even the psychological shock of seeing the scale tip 200 pounds. But the constant, searing pain of heartburn made the miracle of pregnancy seem more like a curse—by the middle of my third trimester, my mantra had changed from Please, let him be healthy! to Just get him OUT!

That fiery sensation known as heartburn happens when the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), a muscle responsible for keeping stomach contents in their place, begins to relax or leak. this allows stomach acids to flow upward into the esophagus, explains Suzanne Trupin, M.D., CEO of Women’s Health Practice of Champaign, Ill. Pregnant women are prime candidates for two reasons: First, the hormone relaxin—busy limbering up your joints and connective tissue for an easier birth—slows your digestion, meaning food stays in your stomach longer and triggers more acid production. Second, your growing baby exerts pressure on both the stomach and the LES, increasing the chance that acids will be pushed up into the esophagus.

So what’s an expectant mother to do? Follow these five tips to relieve the pain:

1. Eat less, more often
Overeating exacerbates heartburn, says rachel Brandeis, M.S., a registered dietitian in Atlanta who specializes in prenatal nutrition. “When you’re pregnant, there’s less room for your stomach to expand,” she explains. Maintaining a sensible diet will not only stave off heartburn in the short term, but throughout your pregnancy as well, because gaining more than the recommended weight puts more pressure on your abdomen, which can trigger the condition. Instead of three meals a day, aim for six mini-meals (See “Mini-Size Me” below) of no more than 1 1⁄2 cups of food each, Brandeis recommends. Smaller meals are easier for your body to digest.

2. Eliminate trigger foods
Identify the foods that intensify your heartburn and banish them from your diet. While there are no universally “banned” foods, common heartburn triggers include acidic foods, such as citrus fruits and tomatoes, greasy or fried foods, spicy foods, chocolate, coffee, carbonated beverages, and alcohol (which, as you well know, you should eliminate anyway!).

3. Focus on fluids
“Liquid-y foods are less likely to cause problems than solids, since they move through the stomach more quickly,” Brandeis says. Soups, smoothies, yogurt, milkshakes, protein shakes and puddings are good choices. Look for liquids that offer plenty of protein, such as milk and drinkable yogurt, and aim to make solids a little less so: “chew solid foods slowly and extremely well, until they’re almost liquefied,” Brandeis adds.

4. Sleep smart
To avoid nighttime heartburn, don’t eat anything for at least three hours before bedtime. Elevate the head of your bed by placing books under the legs, and if you’re not already sleeping on your left side, start now; stomach acids will have to travel uphill to reach the esophagus—no easy feat!

5. Time for Tums
It’s fine to find relief in a bottle of tums or rolaids or other calcium- containing antacids. However, “too much calcium can block iron absorption, so don’t take tums at the same time you take your prenatal vitamin,” Brandeis advises. By the time I gave birth, I estimate I’d ingested my own considerable body weight in tums. This overuse created calcium overload, which may have exacerbated my anemia. If you’re taking antacids 10 times a day (or more—as I was), talk to your doctor: she may want to check for ulcers or a hiatal hernia (where part of the stomach protrudes into the chest cavity), or prescribe medication.

Also, avoid antacids that list aluminum (such as aluminum hydroxide or aluminum carbonate) as an ingredient; it can cause constipation and can even be toxic in large doses. Remedies containing aspirin (such as alka-seltzer) should also be avoided during pregnancy; look for salicylate or acetylsalicylic acid in ingredients lists. You don’t want an antacid containing sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or sodium citrate, either. Both are high in sodium, which causes water retention.

Mini-Size Me

Here’s a sample of what a day’s worth of small, healthful meals looks like:

1 cup of oatmeal with milk and 1 apple

1 cup of yogurt with fruit

1 ⁄2 peanut butter and jelly sandwich and 1 cup of vegetable soup

1 handful of whole-grain crackers and 1 ounce of your favorite hard cheese

2 ounces of chicken, 1 ⁄2 cup of mashed sweet potatoes and 1⁄2 cup of cottage cheese with fruit

Find eight more small snacks that are easy to make, packed with pregnancy nutrients and delicious at fitpregnancy.com/snackideas.

 

Did you experience heartburn during pregnancy? What helped you get rid of it? Share in the comments — women want to know!

 

Filed Under Common Discomforts, Featured Story, Health and well-being, Medications During Pregnancy, Nutrition, Pregnancy Tagged With heartburn

How to Screen Yourself for Postpartum Depression

May 15, 2013 By Cara Terreri Leave a Comment

May is Mental Health Month. As childbirth education advocates, Lamaze believes that mental health during and after pregnancy is critical to the health and safety of moms and their babies. If you are experiencing depression, anxiety, psychosis, or any other mental health issues, contact your care provider and seek support and resources from Postpartum Progress and Postpartum Support International. You don’t have to suffer alone — and you don’t have to suffer. There is support and treatment available for mental health disorders. Also know that you are not alone — it has been found that 1 in 7 women will experience postpartum depression, though that rate is thought to be higher for all postpartum disorders.

So how do you know if you are experiencing a postpartum disorder? Many moms downplay or dismiss their feelings, chalking them up to “hormones,” but it’s important to take notice and check in with yourself. A postpartum disorder is more than just a “bad day,” and even if you feel as though you are coping, a postpartum disorder ultimately affects your quality of life. If you feel as though something is “off” or if your partner expresses concern about your state of well-being, you can take a free, quick, confidential, online screening quiz to determine whether you may be suffering from postpartum depression.

The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EDPS) was developed in 1987 to help doctors determine whether a mother may be suffering from postpartum depression. The scale has since been validated, and evidence from a number of research studies has confirmed the tool to be both reliable and sensitive in detecting depression. The EPDS Score is designed to assist — not replace — clinical judgment. If you feel you may be at risk or suffering from post natal depression, please share the results with your care provider.

Filed Under Featured Story, Health and well-being, Parenting, Perinatal Depression, Post-partum depression, Postpartum, Postpartum Mood Disorder, Postpartum support, Pregnancy Tagged With postpartum depression, PPMD

For Moms-To-Be on Mother’s Day: A Message from MotherToBaby

May 3, 2013 By admin Leave a Comment

By Kenneth Lyons Jones, MD, OTIS/MotherToBaby President

We, the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS), are extremely pleased to introduce a new name for our free counseling service: MotherToBaby. MotherToBaby was chosen because it so perfectly depicts the commitment we have made to provide personalized, evidence-based information to mothers-to-be, to women contemplating pregnancy, and to health care professionals about medications and other exposures during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

The awareness that a drug can be transported from mother to baby is a fairly new concept. Until recently it was thought that the developing baby was protected from the external environment and that all birth defects had a genetic cause. That all changed in the 1960s when Widukind Lenz in West Germany and William McBride in Australia recognized that a drug used for the treatment of nausea and vomiting, as well as anxiety, caused serious defects in the development of a baby’s arms and legs when taken early in pregnancy. Over the years , the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. No longer is it believed that the unborn baby is protected from environmental influences. Instead, concern has been raised that many drugs taken commonly by pregnant women can cause problems for a developing baby.

Despite that concern, instances occur in which a woman inadvertently takes a medication prior to the time she realizes she is pregnant and many women are required to take a drug because of a chronic condition such as a seizure disorder or depression. That is why, in addition to our counseling services, we have a major commitment to gain new information about drugs for which little or no information is known. When a drug is newly approved by the FDA and marketed there is inadequate information about the effects of that drug on human pregnancy outcome. After all, it would be unethical to give a newly marketed drug to a pregnant woman to find out if it is safe for the developing baby.

At the present time drugs are evaluated only after a woman discovers she is pregnant. In cases in which pregnant women call MotherToBaby about a drug for which adequate information is unavailable, follow-up of her pregnancy by our counselors and documentation of pregnancy outcome can provide valuable information that can help the next pregnant woman who asks us about the same medication.

We at MotherToBaby are consulted about hundreds of different drugs each year, but the one that we are most frequently asked about is alcohol. Like most drugs, there remains a huge amount of important information about its effect on the developing baby for which we lack adequate information. However, we do know that prenatal exposure to alcohol is the number one cause of intellectual disability. We know that the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) occurs in children of all ethnic groups, all nationalities, and all socioeconomic groups. In fact, women with advanced education report they drink alcohol more than women with less education. Unlike many other drugs, we know that alcohol can have an effect following exposure in any trimester of pregnancy, and we know that FASD occurs in one out of 100 live born babies making it almost as common as Autism Spectrum Disorder.

It is important to recognize that knowledge about the effects of drugs, chemicals, infections, and environmental agents on pregnancy outcome provides the opportunity to prevent birth defects and other adverse pregnancy outcomes. We at MotherToBaby believe our primary role is to provide that education to pregnant women and particularly to women who are contemplating pregnancy.

If you have questions about drugs and other exposures, call MotherToBaby toll-FREE at 866-626-6847 or visit MotherToBaby.org to browse a library of fact sheets. MotherToBaby and OTIS are suggested resources by many agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Kenneth Lyons Jones, MD, is a professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego and current president of OTIS/MotherToBaby. He was the first researcher to identify Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in 1973. 

Filed Under Exposures During Pregnancy, Featured Story, Pregnancy Tagged With MotherToBaby, OTIS

What Will You Do on Your Due Date?

April 29, 2013 By Cara Terreri 1 Comment

In the last few weeks leading up to your due date, you’re probably feeling pregnant — very pregnant. You may be feeling more tired, more sore, and generally more uncomfortable. Or you may feel physically great! It’s an exciting and sometimes nerve-wracking time. You’re wondering when labor will begin, if those last few contractions were the start of “real” labor, or perhaps, you’re soaking up every last moment of your pregnancy, in no particular rush for baby to arrive. Either way, if you make it to your due date without going into labor, it’s a milestone to be celebrated.

While your due date is just an estimate — not an expiration date — you may feel disappointed when you’ve hit your due date with no sign of baby. Planning a celebration on your due date gives you something else (with a more definite time frame) to look forward to and enjoy.  Need some ideas? How about:

  • Pedicure — the foot rub will be heavenly!
  • Prenatal massage
  • Lunch/dinner date
  • A nap!
  • Shopping with a friend
  • Movie

Whatever you do on your due date, be sure to make it an official plan — put it on your calendar, invite your friend or spouse if they’re included. And if your celebratory due date event comes and goes, and you go past your due date, plan another celebration! Treat yourself, even in a small way, for each day you go past your due date. It helps you pass the time and it’s also well-deserved — growing a baby is hard work!

What will you do on your due date?

 

Filed Under Featured Story, Pregnancy

Great Expectations: Heather @ 18 Weeks

April 26, 2013 By admin 10 Comments

It was a simple question, and kindly asked: “Why don’t you show us a pic of your growing belly?” Funny how a simple question can induce such panic. I don’t have a problem with sharing a “belly” photo per se, though it seems I’m still the only one who can tell a difference there yet. But, if you see my belly, you’ll see my arms, and my hair, and my thighs. Ech…

Plus, I hate comparing. The day that I think I finally look obvious, the “Amazing, I can’t even tell!” comments begin. I talk to other moms just a week or two ahead of me, with their cute little bellies, and hear about their babies moving and the kicking, and I sigh. I am overweight, and just beginning to change my life. I have accepted that feeling baby’s movement and looking pregnant will come a little later for me. I’m just grateful to be pregnant. It could have been so much worse, with the PCOS. So, I have accepted it. Mostly.

I recognize the possible impact of my negative body image, but it’s a hard habit to overcome. I know that poor self-image and discomfort with bodily exposure can contribute to a traumatic birth experience. It’s a whole lot happening in places that some like to pretend do not exist, particularly in a space as public as a hospital. You’re not prepared for the sensations. You don’t know how to handle them. Then, there’s the dozen-th random cervical check when the doctor/nurse voices doubt on whether you’re capable of getting your baby out. That has a tendency to leave some lasting feelings.

I’m not sure that many women realize how deep the habit of negative body image runs, mostly because we see it constantly throughout our lives. I was talking with a group of friends this past weekend about things our well-meaning mothers say to us. They mentioned the up-and-down scan with pursed lips. Or the barrage of questions about how that exercise class was going, or even how you will find a man, looking like that. I had to stop and think for a moment. My mother never said any of these things to me. So why do I struggle the same way? I believe it’s because this is how she spoke to herself as I grew up, talking about the shame of having friends or spending time with women who were taller/thinner/better looking, the big push to lose X number of pounds before big trips and events, etc.

Growing up, I recognized on some level that this behavior wasn’t the most healthy. So I decided at a young age to avoid the whole situation and ignore my physical fitness and appearance almost entirely. Needless to say, this didn’t fix anything. I still adopted the shame and self-humiliation, while trying to forget half of myself. I spent the majority of my teenage years hiding out in zip-up hoodies, July and August included. I avoided photographs, swimming pools, and cute clothing stores in the mall. It was an awkward and sometimes hot experience.

There are a few other problems that were created by my choices. For one, I sometimes am no fun at all. I take few risks. I do little that might seem foolish or unflattering. And I constantly think or even speak of how others might consider what I’m doing.

Problem two is that I had no clue what to do when Prince Charming knocked on my door — and the shoe fit. Since when do glass slippers come in a 9.5/10? He was funny and caring, and her understood everything I did. Not to mention, he was handsome. What’s a poor, ordinary girl supposed to do with that? I didn’t feel prepared to give love and let someone love me, particularly physically, when I had never loved myself.

Fortunately, I had already recognized my weakness, and had a lot of timely help. I had the sense to see that I had a very good man, and I married him even though I still wondered why he would want me. No one had ever been interested before. But I could be grown up about it. I had my heart to offer, along with loyalty and common goals for life and family. If he wanted it, he deserved the best I could give. Beyond that, if he chose to compliment some part of my body — and goodness, he has a knack for picking the places I’ve hated most — he was a saint for saying so, and I could take it with some gratitude and dignity. If he expressed love best with closeness and touch, I could accept and return it wholeheartedly, even if I was uncertain and unpracticed.

The timely help came in the form of a few glorious months I’d spent in California just before Preston and I started talking. I lived with a friend who radiated awesomeness, fun, and confidence. The people there were wonderful and real, and treated me as an equal. Perhaps I wasn’t unlikable after all. Then, after the wedding, there was the doula training that I mentioned in my last post. I learned how much we needed to trust our bodies, listen to them, love and comfort them, and treat them well if we wanted to be happy, healthy, and helpful. I’ve been trying, I really have. It was a rough road leading to my PCOS diagnosis, but I gained some harmony along the way.

Problem three, I am determined, will not get the best of me. I will do my squats and yoga today, I will find myself a bright and beautiful birth gown, I will not look to see who’s there when I do skin-to-skin, and I will not try to imagine my exposed self through other people’s eyes. I can set some boundaries, too. I will wear my own clothes to labor and birth. I will walk and move and even get down on the floor if I want. And I refuse to lie on my back like a helpless bug with my legs in the air while holding my breath.

In token of my determination, I am offering a rare glimpse — the requested photo, home quality, bare face, big arms, awkward pose and all. I’m even wearing my comfiest (i.e. baggiest) red salwar for full effect. And I’m doing my best to smile and be proud, just like all the women with the cute, round bellies. We’ve come a long way, my body and I, and we’re going to make it so much farther, together.
Filed Under Featured Story, Great Expectations, Pregnancy

Great Expectations: Rebecca @ 32 Weeks

March 8, 2013 By admin 1 Comment

Meet our newest Great Expectations blogger, Rebecca Headen. At 32 weeks into her third pregnancy, Rebecca has a lot to share in a short amount of time! We hope you enjoy following along with her journey and encourage you to drop a line in the comments.

At 32 weeks pregnant, I’m in a hotel in rural America about 400 miles from home on my last work trip before the baby comes, awaiting a snowstorm that may or may not delay my trip back, and planning our family’s latest hosting events — a birthday party for my about-to-be 4 year-old and a shower for our third baby to come (that’s right, third).  But none of that compares to what has been weighing on my mind for the past week: at just 8 weeks until the due date, I am considering changing my OB/Gyn.

You’re thinking there must be a reason. Of course there is, though like most things it’s not black-and-white.  I had my second baby with this set of doctors, although in the end an entirely different doc delivered her (he was on call at the time, and everything went fine and like the first: no interventions, no medications, I called the shots — what worked for me). But I have had a series of small issues with the care at this place, culminating in one large one two weeks ago and I think I may have had enough.  At this late stage of my pregnancy, there’s a voice in the back of my mind (the “mom” voice, the “Taurus scared of change” voice, the “you’re pregnant and you may not be entirely rational” voice) that says: “Why not just stick with what you know? It worked the last time.” As a person who relishes in the comfort of logic, I might tend to go with this head-driven approach. But so far in my life it is only when I’m pregnant that I find power in handing my instincts the mic. And so, there is a loud battle of the bands happening in my head right now while I board the plane, as I work with my colleagues here, as I have the after-bedtime goodnight conversation with my husband who is holding things down at home.

One of the best things about being pregnant the third time around is also one of the most challenging: everyone thinks you know what you’re doing. Which in some sense is true, as much as any of us knows what we’re doing.  But I think it’s also true that the more you know, the more aware you become that you can’t know it all — and you certainly don’t need to (thank goodness). I guess most people don’t think that experienced moms need to talk it out, too.  We still have questions, and not just the ones with answers we forgot about the first time around — new issues, or concerns, or items we never really resolved before.  I find myself missing what were once 10 minute conversations with my doctor but are now abbreviated as they confidently conclude: “Well, you’ve been there before. You know all this stuff. No problem.” At first, like anyone might, i felt boosted by these comments.  It meant I knew what I was doing.  That I didn’t really even need a doctor — everything I’ve ever read in my very natural birthing books (after all, if my health insurance paid for it, I would probably be at a birthing center instead of a doctor’s office anyway).  But as time went on, the statement, often said while the doctor was standing up with hand on the doorknob of the exam room, started to sound less like what they said and more like what I suspected they meant.  I started feeling like I was watching a dubbed movie, where they were mouthing the supportive words, but what I heard was “you don’t have any problems and I’m trying to make sure I see the required number of patients today so that my practice breaks even this month, so if there isn’t anything else, see you next time.”  Right or wrong, we all know that the stressors of health care often dictate the experience we have with medical professionals.

The thing that most surprises me about this situation is my own reaction.  I am not a shy person.  I am neither judgmental nor overbearing, but I definitely share my opinions (just ask my co-workers, or my husband). But somehow when it comes to dealing with a doctor, I have a hard time speaking my mind.  What I dread most isn’t seeing the doctor who was responsible for my recent bad experience (an extra test that resulted in a series of major side effects that I was not warned about), but actually bringing up the issue at all. I have a vision of the office, and me in it, ever so slowly explaining my problem with how the situation was handled, and why it made me trust them less and worry more. I anticipate the doctor reacting as any doctor would — with guarded concern, safeguarding their liability by empathizing while ever so slightly implying that I might be overreacting. And then, I see a few weeks down the road, when (lucky me) this very doctor just happens to be on call as I go into labor.  It is at this point that my instincts start screaming for an alternate road to the delivery room.  In recognizing all of this, I realize too how lucky I am — I have health insurance. I am well-educated.  I can Google my way around any situation (as I did in this one). I can change hospitals, doctors, breathing techniques. I have choices.

Getting my mind, body, family and life ready for baby number three is a different experience, one that I’m still learning to value on its own. Which is why I decided to at least make an appointment with a new doctor ASAP, even just to see how it would feel; and why I’ll continue planning that third shower; stay enrolled in the refresher birthing class (getting my mind ready for what my body knows is coming); and this time perhaps appreciate my instincts through pregnancy and beyond.  Who knows.  Some really good decisions may come of it.

Rebecca Headen lives in Washington, DC, where she is a social justice advocate and attorney, wife to an adoring superhusband/superdad, and proud mom raising two tenacious, questioning, independent and strong girls with a baby boy in the works.

Filed Under Featured Story, Great Expectations, Pregnancy

In the News: You Don’t Have to Worry About Worrying

February 20, 2013 By Cara Terreri Leave a Comment

In an article today on Slate.com, science and medical columnist Amanda Schaffer provides evidence that refutes the belief that worrying or anxiety leads to problems with infertility, premature birth, or developmental delays in children. For today’s generation of childbearing women, the worry over worrying is a vicious cycle. With women who are trying to get pregnant, they are told not to become too anxious about the process — that worrying about it can prolong conception. With women who are pregnant, they are told to monitor their levels of anxiety of stress, as it may lead to premature birth or cause later harm to their child’s development. As if we don’t have enough to think about during pregnancy, now we’re told we should worry about our worrying!

But Schaffer says it doesn’t have to be so:

…the reigning impression is wrong: The weight of evidence suggests that moderate levels of stress and anxiety do none of the things we fear. They seem not to affect whether women are able to conceive, whether they carry the fetus to term, or whether their kids reach normal developmental milestones. (If anything, some maternal stress during pregnancy seems to make kids mature a little faster.)

How did we create a culture that is obsessed over stress? More than likely, it’s the abundance of media and messaging we receive on a daily basis. Think about it — how many tabloids, websites, and social media messages have you seen in the last week that comment on a celebrity’s pregnancy? As Shaffer puts it, “A finding here, an anecdote there—women can easily get the wrong idea.”

So what does the evidence say? With regard to fertility, a meta-analysis in the British Medical Journal, which included more than 3,500 women, found: “Women’s emotional state before IVF bore no relationship to whether the treatment worked. In other words, women with more extreme levels of anxiety or depression were just as likely to get pregnant after a single cycle as women with milder levels.”

As for pregnancy, in a study that interviewed 78,000 Danish women, researchers found that “those who reported higher levels of life stress and more emotional symptoms like anxiety when they were 30 weeks pregnant did tend to give birth earlier. But the difference was pretty minimal: The women with the highest life-stress scores gave birth, on average, about two days before women with lower scores.”

And about child development? Take heart in knowing that your anxiety could actually help your child! Schaffer shares: “The most persuasive of these papers suggest that mild to moderate stress during pregnancy doesn’t hamper babies’ maturation—if anything, it may slightly hasten it.”

Of course, the article makes it clear that regardless of the findings, women who have worries or anxiety are encouraged to seek support, but as Schaffer says, “they should do so for their own sakes—not because distress will ruin their shot at motherhood or somehow damage their fetuses.”

To read the complete article, including more details about the included studies, visit Slate.com.

 

Filed Under Anxiety, Featured Story, Pre-pregnancy, Pregnancy

Love the One You’re With: Bonding with Your Baby During Pregnancy

February 13, 2013 By Cara Terreri Leave a Comment

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day! If you’re pregnant, you have a new valentine to consider this year. And while your little one won’t be looking for flowers or chocolate, there are ways you can begin to bond with your baby even before he or she (or they!) arrive. The following are tips compiled and excerpted from a Lamaze.org article on bonding with baby.

 

Take it slow. “Bonding” refers to the feelings of love and empathy that parents develop for their children. The bond you feel with your baby isn’t instantaneous; it will grow slowly yet steadily over the months of pregnancy until the day you meet your child and begin life as a family.

 

Write it down. It’s very normal to experience fears and concerns during your pregnancy. It’s important to give yourself space to deal with your fears in a way that works for you. Write in a journal or draw pictures of what’s going through your head. Share your concerns with your partner, as well as with your friends, pregnant or not. Expressing your thoughts will help you deal with them and accept your child into your life.

 

Double the love. If your partner feels removed from your pregnancy, help him with this simple exercise. Have him put his hand on your abdomen, and when he feels movement or when you tell him you sense the baby, have him say, “Hello, baby.” If he does this a few times a day for a week or two, he’ll feel more connected to both of you. Pretty soon, the baby may even kick his hand at the sound of your partner’s voice.

 

Take heart. If you have a hard time connecting emotionally with your baby during your pregnancy, it’s OK. Your body will continue to nourish and protect your baby even if your heart isn’t quite there yet. And more than likely, once your baby is born or shortly after, you will develop a close and connected relationship that will be like none other.

 

In what ways did you bond with your baby during pregnancy? Did you have a difficult time bonding? Share your comments for other moms to read — your words may reach someone who’s in need of encouragement!

 

Filed Under Bonding, Dads, Featured Story, Pregnancy Tagged With bonding

Thoughts on Birth the Second Time Around

February 8, 2013 By admin 1 Comment

By Caitlin Tucker

I knew right away this time around — I started to feel those familiar signs of pregnancy, cramps, tiredness and nausea. I took a test the first day of my missed period this time and those two little lines came up. My husband and I were very excited! Of course, I have the usually worries throughout the first trimester and the excitement to hear that little heart beat for the first time. For my daughter, who is now 15 months old, we took the typical route of care. We went to my family doctor to confirm that the home test was right, I stayed in their care until I was 28 weeks along and then I transferred care to an obstetrician for the remainder of my pregnancy. I felt confident with both my family doctor and obstetrician, and in spite of the quick visits  and long waits in the waiting room, I was satisfied overall.

We also took the typical labour and delivery classes through our local hospital. I remember only learning what to do once we got to the hospital and how to be admitted,  but not much about how to cope during labour. I figured, since I wanted a natural birth, it would just happen that way. I read a lot of books and spoke to a few of my friends that had already had babies. I wanted a non-medicated, natural and healthy birth. At 38 ½ weeks pregnant I felt my first contraction. After a few that were about 15 minutes apart, I let my husband know I thought early labour was starting. We arrived at the hospital when they were 1-3 minutes apart after about 5 hours of early labour. After about 7 hours more at the hospital, our little girl arrived at 5:43 a.m., weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces. We were relieved and so excited she had finally arrived! I think we were both just so happy she was healthy that it took a few months to come to the realization that my labour  did not go  the way I had hoped and planned. After I arrived at the hospital, I was set up on the fetal monitor and was continually monitored throughout my labour and wasn’t allowed off the hospital bed. In hindsight, I came to understand that being on one’s back during labour is one of the least comfortable positions in order to achieve a successful natural birth. I  laboured for 3 hours on the bed without medication, but as labour  got more intense and I wasn’t able to move around, the contractions became very difficult to cope with. My nurse was very nice, but didn’t offer any labour support and just kept her eyes on the baby monitor. My OB was also very nice, but as usual, she was on-call and was in and out of the room and also offered no support during labour other then medication options. Throughout my labour I was asked several times if I wanted an epidural and I kept saying “no” but after 3 hours and not knowing when it was going to end, I gave in and signed the form for the epidural. After taking the medication, I was relieved the pain was finally over. Two hours later, I was fully dilated.  After 2 more hours of directed pushing, our little one arrived.

Initially, we were satisfied with how things went and didn’t think too much about the disappointment that our natural birth plan didn’t happen. When I started to think about having more children, I realized how important it was to me to have a natural, healthy and safe birth. I started to read more books on natural births, watch documentaries, and educate myself. I spoke to my friends who had natural births and talked about what they did differently than myself. One major point that differed from my experience was that they prepared themselves by taking classes on how to cope with labour and had professional support with them during labour who encouraged and supported natural birth under safe situations. I continued my education on natural birth and it lead me to look into other care professionals that promote natural birth as a healthy part of life, instead of viewing the pain and experiences of natural childbirth as a burden.  When we found out that baby number two was on his/her way, I knew this was my opportunity to be as prepared as I could for labour this time around. I am now seeing a supportive midwife, enjoying their peaceful office with minimal wait times, and receiving encouragement to have a natural birth and continual support throughout labour and postpartum home visits. I believe that our bodies were designed to give birth that is inherently safe, and under most circumstances, women have the ability to give birth without medication, to move freely throughout labour. I believe that women need support from their friends, family, care givers and society as a whole to give birth naturally. It should be celebrated by women. Even though I’ve given birth once, I truly want to experience birth and have the support of my husband and midwife as they help me labour through the discomfort and bring another life into this world. I’m choosing not to be simply satisfied with my birth story – I want to be in awe of it.

 

Caitlin lives in Toronto, Canada, and is a wife and stay-at-home mother to one little girl and baby number two on the way. She and her husband are involved in their church and Caitlin helps run a mothers group on a bi-weekly basis. She recently enrolled in the Douglas College Lamaze Childbirth Educator Program and hopes to bring knowledge, empowerment, and encouragement to other women throughout their pregnancy and birth.

Filed Under Birth, Birth plans, Childbirth education, Featured Story

Push for Better!

January 25, 2013 By Cara Terreri Leave a Comment

Be an active partner with your care provider, and get the best care.

Oh the joys of pregnancy… you’ve battled nausea, your back hurts, you’re not sleeping, and you’re running to the bathroom every 20 minutes. Still, you’re absolutely 100 percent devoted to having the absolute best of everything for your baby. You’ve researched the safest car seats, highest-quality strollers, best cribs and smartest baby monitors. You and your baby are all set, right?

There’s one thing that’s important not to leave off your “smart shopper” checklist; your baby’s birth day!

Like any other kind of health care, maternity care isn’t perfect. You can help your baby and you get the best care by being an active partner in your care. Your health care provider – doctor or midwife – has important knowledge and skills, but they don’t always know everything about you or what is best for you and your baby. They need you to speak up about your concerns and needs early so you can get the care you’re looking for throughout pregnancy, labor and birth.

Why does your voice matter? A lot of the regular care that pregnant women receive includes unnecessary interventions that don’t always help and can sometimes even cause harm. Routine care isn’t designed for you and your baby’s unique needs.

So when you’re told that you can’t eat or drink in labor, that you should stay confined to bed to stay attached to the monitor, or that your labor should beartificially started because you’re a few days “overdue” it’s fair to question and discuss these practices with your health care provider.

Remember that getting the care that matches your and your baby’s needs may mean saying, “I’d like to consider another option.” Asking questions and providing information builds trust, and it’s the best way to make sure everyone is working toward the same goal – the safest, healthiest birth possible.

 

The Lamaze “Push for Your Baby” campaign encourages women to advocate for better care for their babies and themselves. With the right information and education, women have the opportunity to be active partners in their care during pregnancy and birth. This campaign is designed to help women be ‘savvy shoppers’ and prepared to seek out the best care for their babies and themselves. Watch the video to find out what moms and dads have learned about pushing for the best care

Filed Under Birth, Choosing a care provider, Featured Story, Pregnancy, Push for Your Baby Tagged With Push for Your Baby
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