Chronicles of a “Mr. Mom”

…. Stress levels in foetuses only four months old — about the time the pregnancy starts to show — rise and fall in line with those of their mothers’.

The findings prompted calls for employers, family and friends to be aware of the risks and offer more help to moth-ers-to-be.

“For the first time, there’s solid evidence to show that an unborn child may be exposed to maternal stress as early as 17 weeks in development,” said Claire Friars, a midwife for Tommy’s, the baby charity.

Full story: Babies in womb feel mothers’ anxiety at only four months

“I like classical music. Not as much as I like Rod Stewart classics, mind you, but well enough.

But I never bought into the notion, prevalent throughout my four children’s babyhood, that there was a small window of time to really shape a baby’s brain. And that flooding that brain with Mozart or other classical music during those years was one key way to make a baby smarter. That understanding was based on “research” in the 1990s that just always seemed … a little too easy to me.”

….

Mead writes that “there’s a problem … with the new conventional wisdom about building brighter babies: it’s based on misinterpretations and misapplications of brain research.”

Full story: A little parenting magic

SAN DIEGO, CA — (MARKET WIRE) — February 08, 2007 — Popular family-fitness therapist Sara Holliday, MFT, CPT, introduces “Pregnancy Talk with Sara” — an engaging and information-packed weekly program for pregnant women. Each week, beginning February 10th, 2007, Sara and a “guest expert” will conduct a live conference call designed to help expecting mothers learn about and discuss the issues that are most important to their pregnancy. These include relationships, fitness and nutrition, makeup, skincare and fashion, how to prepare for labor and more. Participants will have an opportunity to listen and ask questions of Sara and her experts in the comfortable and familiar venue of a telephone conversation. The program is free and requires a simple registration via Sara’s company website, Fit By Sara, Inc., at FitBySara.com.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, “Pregnancy Talk with Sara” will kick off with “Be My Baby, Valentine,” scheduled for Saturday, February 10th, at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. The program will highlight tried-and-true ways to keep passion alive during pregnancy, no matter what the mood. For many moms-to-be, pregnancy often coincides with feeling unattractive, uncomfortable and decidedly not sexy. This may create a conflict with the desire to be loved and comforted, leading to depression. Sara will discuss tips and techniques to help women overcome these feelings.

Sara says, “I wanted a way to bring pregnant women together from all over the country in a dynamic and relaxed environment while providing real-life answers to the most pressing questions about one of the most important events in their life — their pregnancy. The ‘Pregnancy Talk with Sara’ program is an opportunity for women to learn about and discuss pregnancy-related concerns and ask questions they may be afraid or reluctant to ask — all in an intimate and supportive environment.”

A licensed marriage-family therapist specializing in pre- and postnatal issues and a mother of two young boys, Sara looks forward to bringing her pregnancy-related expertise to pregnant women across the country. “Pregnancy Talk with Sara” programs are held each Saturday at 9:00 a.m. PST beginning February 10, 2007 and ending March 3, 2007 and will have a conversational-style format ranging between 30 to 60 minutes, including a question-and-answer segment. There will also be a weekly contest for prizes and a grand prize giveaway of an InStep stroller (SRP $99.95) from InStep for one lucky participant.

All information and registration materials for the “Pregnancy Talk with Sara” program can be found at www.fitbysara.com.

When you hear the words crisis pregnancy, you probably picture an unmarried teenager, too young to deal with the trauma of sin’s unexpected consequences. But according to a study compiled by the National Institutes of Health, up to 60 percent of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, affecting three million women and their families every year. And these are not just teenagers.

Picture the mother with a still-young infant and postpartum depression; or the family with three young children and a father who has just deployed to Iraq; or the parents nearing retirement and planning for their teenagers’ college funds. For these families, the expected bundle of joy can feel more like a bundle of troubles.

Full story

Inmates are suing after miscarriages, alleging a lack of medical care.

Female offenders aren’t so rare anymore. Yet once they’re suspected of a crime, offenders who are pregnant confront a justice system designed years ago with men in mind.

And the outcome isn’t always good.

Recently, Sofia Salva sued Kansas City and its police department over the premature birth and death of her son. Salva alleged that arresting officers and the city jail staff ignored her repeated requests for medical attention after she told them she was pregnant and bleeding.

Full story

By 2010, over one fifth of pregnant women in the UK will be obese at the start of their pregnancy, according to scientists from the North East Public Health Observatory (NEPHO).

The Teeside-based researchers studied 36,821 women who had attended a local maternity unit between the start of 1990 and the end of 2004 and found that the proportion of women who are obese at the start of their pregnancy rose from 9.9% to 16.0% in the 14-year period.

Results also showed that mums-to-be were more likely to be overweight if they were at the older end of the fertility spectrum and lived in a deprived area.

Full story…

Bear Creek, Wis. (PRWeb) January 30, 2007 - Pregnant women who eat cruciferous vegetables like Sauerkraut, cabbage, and broccoli may be improving their child’s resistance to cancer, according to a recent study conducted at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

The research, published in the journal Carcinogenesis, was conducted with pregnant mice and revealed that a chemical found in Sauerkraut - Indole-3-carbinol - gave their offspring noticeable protection against leukemia and lymphoma at a young age, and against lung cancer later in life.

Ryan Downs, co-owner of Great Lakes Kraut, the world’s largest Sauerkraut manufacturer, said the latest research augments earlier findings pointing to Sauerkraut as a key in preventing certain types of breast cancer.

Full story

From wmtw.com….

There is no evidence that moderate levels of caffeine consumption during pregnancy cause problems for babies, according to a new study on BMJ Online, from the British Medical Journal.

Some health officials have warned that caffeine increases the risk of premature births and low birth weight. Some earlier studies have suggested that a high caffeine intake can lead to lower average birth weights. Others have found no connection between caffeine and problems with fetal development.

Full story: Caffeine Doesn’t Hurt Pregnancy

There are times when a woman needs help during labor and delivery. When inducing labor is not an option, the only other solution is to do a Caesarean delivery, or C-section.

Reasons for an emergency C-section

* If your baby stops moving down the birth canal and your cervix is no longer dilating.

* If your doctor feels that your baby’s heartbeat can’t safely handle any more labor.

* If your umbilical cord comes through the cervix, with concern that the baby’s oxygen supply will be cut off.

* If your placenta is starting to tear away from your uterine wall, making it imperative that your baby be delivered immediately.

* If you have genital herpes and your water breaks.

If there is time, your doctor will explain to you why a C-section is necessary and you will be asked to sign a consent form. Your partner will be allowed to be with you in most cases. The anesthesiologist will tell you about your different choices for pain control.

The most common type of pain control is the epidural or spinal block. The lower part of the body is numbed, but you will remain conscious to view the birth of your baby.

The process of the C-section

The doctor will cover your belly with antiseptic and cut through the layers of tissue from just above the pubic bone to the uterus. Once the doctor reaches the uterus, a horizontal cut is made and the doctor then reaches in and delivers your baby. After the baby has been examined and your placenta is removed, you will be given the baby to hold while you are being stitched up, layer by layer. After the surgery is done, you are taken in to a recovery room where you will continue to be monitored for a few hours.

Once the anesthesia has worn off you may get either pain shots every 3-4 hours or an IV that will allow you to give yourself a safe dosage of pain reliever whenever you feel the need. With a C-section, you may expect to stay in the hospital for about 3-4 days, depending on the situation (and sometimes on your insurance).

The first few days after your C-section

You will probably feel somewhat groggy and nauseous after your C-section. Your incision will probably feel numb and sore. The incision itself will look puffy and darker than the rest of your skin color (it will not remain this way). When you sneeze, cough, or laugh, the area around the abdomen will be sore for a few days. You may experience a gas buildup at first, but once you are able to get up and walk a little, your system will start working again. Your stitches will be removed in 3-4 days before you are sent home.

What happens when you leave the hospital?

Remember that you have had major surgery, and you will not be able to do a lot of things for a while. So plan on accepting help from others.

Keep taking your medication as prescribed, drink plenty of liquids, and walk, slowly at first. Your vaginal bleeding will take up to six weeks to go away.

If you were planning on having a vaginal delivery and ended up with a C-section birth, you may feel disappointed and cheated. You may feel like an incomplete person because you did not get your magical birth moment. All these feelings are normal. Visit with your doctor and tell him or her about any feelings you have. You do not have to suffer these feelings on your own. Also, try talking to others that have experienced the same thing, and get some perspective on what others have felt after their C-section. You will have enough stress with your hormones adjusting and settling in to a new life with baby around. The less stress you have, the more you will be able to relax and enjoy the precious moments with your little miracle.

(No medical advice should be construed from this article. Please make your own decisions.)

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Mrs. Kirk Thomas is a mom and loves it! She has additional resources available on her websites http://www.everythinghomeschool.info, http://www.diaper-coupon.com and http://www.breastfeedingsource.info

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Faithe_Thomas

In Charlotte Perkins-Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” which is written and set in the late 1800s (1892), the central figure is sequestered to a top floor bedroom where she is forced to “rest” for days on end. By being suppressed, oppressed, and depressed, the woman goes mad. One contemporary theory is that the woman, who it is implied has recently given birth, is not mad but suffering from the very real malaise of postpartum depression, or what we today call postpartum blues.

While women’s feelings or emotions have been discounted for centuries—From Hippocrates to Traturo of Salerno to with Freud, and his term, “hysteria”, for example, denoting only those emotions of a woman with a hyster, a womb, modern science has finally acknowledged (though still poo-pooed or dismissed too often) that postpartum blues are real and in some cases quite devastating.

Evidently, there are three stages of post-birthing depression, with postpartum blues—also called the “baby blues” or “maternity blues”—at the milder end. At the furthest extreme is what specialists at obgyn.net define as puerperal psychosis. At this level the malady manifests itself in hallucinations, delusions that the baby is a demon a saint or dying, and tendencies toward suicide or infanticide.

Was this what Medea was experiencing when she slaughtered her three children? Was this (to use a real-life example) what Susan Smith was experiencing when she drowned her two boys in the back of a car she sunk in John D. Long Lake? Can fathers get a form of postpartum blues? If so, can we account for postpartum blues of one Garrett Wilson, who murdered his five-month old whom he had with one wife, after, evidently, murdering his two-month old years earlier, a baby whom he had had with a different wife.

Than again, the motives in this man go beyond any kind of temporary insanity—to greed. But I ask the question to have us consider that postpartum blues are real, and are possibly the cause of many problems as well as the results of many non-birth related events. I know teachers, for example, who, though they adore their classes and work intensely to give them the best all semester (or year), and who though they are relieved to get a break at semester’s end, get a strange form of depression…as if they have just given birth (to multiple children!) and are now feeling the gaping void. In any case or any extreme, the important thing is to make appointments for consultation with one who believe, believes in, and honors, as well as has solutions for postpartum blues.

- Ravi Jayagopal / Indian Baby Names