So you are pregnant and your doctor has given you a “due date”. As this date approaches you have many questions as to whether you will give birth on the due date or you will do so earlier or later. Most hospitals today do not allow mothers to go past their due date and will [...]
Many of us are aware of Lamaze classes as a series of classes which teach expectant parents important things about good practices in pregnancy, labor, childbirth, breastfeeding, etc. Perhaps the most important aspect of Lamaze education is the knowledge that it gives to would be parents that make them no longer fearful of the whole [...]
As I just wound up another Lamaze Childbirth Educator Workshop, the ever present question of when I was going to teach “Lamaze Breathing” as a part of the workshop’s practical skills kept popping up. Just as in the Workshop, most women and their husbands who come to Healthy Mother Antenatal Lamaze Classes want to learn [...]
Over the past 2 years, I am increasingly hearing the diagnosis “oligohydramnios” or “low amniotic fluid” as one of the biggest reasons for induction and/or C-Section. How do we “diagnose” low amniotic fluid? How much is too little? Do we need repeated Ultrasound Scans to determine the level of fluid? What about traditional hands-on skills [...]
The World Health Organization has always recommended that newborn infants be placed “skin to skin” contact with the mother immediately after the birth. There are numerous benefits to doing this, versus no important negative effects. In the study Puig G, Sguassero Y. Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants: RHL commentary (last [...]
Over the last few days, I have had the pleasure of helping many mothers restart and become confident about breastfeeding. In these consults, as well as on our Healthy Mother Breastfeeding Support Network, two questions keep cropping up: “Can I do it (without supplemental feeding)” and “Will my baby have enough?” The simple answer to [...]
It is well-known that upright posture during birth reduces pressure on the major blood vessels, allowing for better oxygen supply to the baby. It also allows the mother to be more mobile, helps to manage her pain better, and makes more room in the pelvis. Positions such as squat, supported squat-dangle, squatting while pulling on [...]
As we at Healthy Mother are waiting for many of our babies to be born, I seem to be repeating the similar encouragements during each mother’s antenatal visit “it is okay to wait”; “your baby knows when she is ready”…… most mommies are tired of waiting; their “due date” has come and gone; and even [...]
In a climate where mothers-to-be are treated as patients, over-diagnosed, over-treated with medicines, and under-counseled, it is sometimes difficult for parents to grasp the depth to which mother-friendly care can affect pregnancy, labor and child-bearing experience of a woman. This blog is for all those who ask me how we at Healthy Mother, in providing [...]