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• Weekly Check-Up: Natural Birth Like the Dutch

  There's an interesting report on the Dutch tradition of giving birth from the perspective of a Reuters reporter. Basically, the Dutch believe birth optimally happens at home (30 percent of births happen this way, compared to a tiny fraction in the U.S.,) no pain medication is necessary, and that labor pains are part of the way the mother bonds with the baby. (If so, I ought to be practically fused to my child.) The bottom line is that birth is not seen as a medicalized process. Oh, and get this: A maternity nurse takes care of the family at home for a week and does cooking, cleaning, and infant care. Sign me up for that part! While I've never been a convert to the notion of natural birth as essential... Read More... Posted Mar 27 2008, 01:29 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 13 comment(s) Filed under: pregnancy, newborn, homebirth, mother, child, maternity, hospital, labor and delivery, Dutch, epidural, infant care, weekly check up, natural birth, nurse, ob-gyn, anesthesia

• Childbirth Smackdown: It’s Called The Natural for a Reason

  We are a Nation doped up on hypocrisy and anesthetized to the double-standard wherein one group is pardoned for the same actions for which another is condemned. One where the reputations and records of baseball immortals like 7-time Cy Young award winning pitcher Roger Clemens, All-time Home Run Champion Barry Bonds and former Viagra Spokesperson Rafael Palmerio are tarnished forever for a SINGLE positive drug test or for the ALLEGED use of performance enhancing drugs; yet it’s the same country in which women can openly, knowingly and brazenly take drugs during labor to enhance the performance of their delivery. Read More... Posted Feb 11 2008, 08:00 AM by makeitadouble with | with 18 comment(s) Filed under: drug-free birth, natural child birth, epidural, steroid use, smackdown, The Natural

• Expecting Moms Not Expecting To Take A Class

  I have to say, I didn't get much out of the childbirth class I took almost a decade ago - except for two lifelong friends and the astonishing fact that many Brazilian women give birth in the squatting position.  I guess more women are coming to similar conclusions about the utility of childbirth classes, because attendance has dropped.   Read More... Posted Jan 15 2008, 02:55 PM by asflutz with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: epidural, pregnancy and delivery, childbirth classes

• New Years Babies Timing Questioned (And Answered)

  Quick. What's one "news" story guaranteed to be featured in Tuesday's local news? That's right! The annual "First Baby of the New Year" story. Snore! But I do have some questions about the whole "time of birth" thing anyway, even though I had mine waaaay past any new year in March. How do you tell who the winner is for those citywide contests? I mean, do hospitals synchronize their clocks? Are nurses required to look at the clock? And when, officially, is a baby born? Head out? Feet out? Cut, swaddled and Apgar scored? Do laboring moms watch the clock to ensure their win all those great door prizes (and is holding the baby in any longer than necessary worth any amount of money?)   Read More... Posted Jan 01 2008, 08:31 AM by Madeline Holler with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: birth, New Year's, childbirth, c-section, new babies, surgery, epidural, newspaper ad, time of birth, new years babies

• Childbirth Classes? No Thanks

  Ahhhh, birthing class.  Breathing exercises that made me feel like a (lightheaded) idiot, the uncomfortable chairs, the truly horrifying videos ("There is a BABY'S HEAD sticking out of that woman's LADY PARTS!") -- let's just say the fact I can skip them this time is yet another thing that makes the second pregnancy so much more pleasant than the first. According to this article (citing another one in November's Fit Pregnancy) many mothers-to-be are choosing to skip childbirth classes entirely. Media depictions of birth as dangerous and pregnant women's busy schedules are somewhat to blame, according to experts cited in the article. So is a growing acceptance of pain relief such as epidurals. Read More... Posted Nov 21 2007, 04:40 PM by AmyinMotown with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: epidural, birth plan, birthing classes

• 5 Bizarre Things About Newborns

  Well for starters, where the hell do they come from? Not literally, of course, though my knowledge with all the ...look away from the bad bloody things philosophy is more from those labor class movies than my first-hand experience.  But isn't it all strange? How did 20 minutes of goat-lust result in a smelly screamy pile of human flesh and bones who will some day call you Daddy and ask for the keys.  How?? Did?? This?? Happen??  And let's say you adopt instead -- isn't there something just surreal about the whole experience.  Is it fucking weird in here or is it just me? Read More... Posted Nov 12 2007, 10:21 AM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: birth, babies, newborn babies, epidural

• U.K. Gives Laboring Moms More Options for Pain

  I assume most adults, parents or not, know there is more than one way to give birth. There’s vaginal delivery, with or without the epidural, there’s c-section, planned or emergency. There’s birth at a hospital, birthing center, convenience store or at home. We make our choices, we have our babies. Problem is, this list is hardly exhaustive ... Read More... Posted Oct 18 2007, 07:25 AM by Madeline Holler with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: homebirth, childbirth, pain medication, c-section, midwifery, Madeline Holler, epidural, U.K. moms

• Access Motherhood: Nancy O'Dell Gives Birth!

  Access Hollywood host Nancy O'Dell gave birth to her first child today in L.A., a 7lb., 9oz. little girl named Ashby Grace (dad is husband Keith Zubchevich).  "We are beyond elated and look forward to appreciating today and every beautiful day to come with our new daughter," the new mama said in a statement. "It is even more special given she is named after her great-grandfather and was born on my father's birthday. She made for quite a birthday present to her new grandfather." She then added: "Also, I love epidurals." Amen, sister!  Don't we all?  Congratulations to the new family, on a job well done, and a baby well named.  Posted Jun 11 2007, 05:56 PM by Alisyn with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: celebrity parents, nancy o'dell, epidural, ashby grace zubchevich, celebrlities, keith zubchevich, access hollywood

• Midwife-Assisted Homebirth? Wussy.

  Just when you thought your midwife-assisted homebirth was about as natural as you could get, enter the freebirth. (And this birth you cannot change... What?) Freebirthing (not to be confused with freeballing or freebasing, though I'd much rather do either) basically means having your baby at home, with no attendant. Proponents feel birth has been hyped up as a scary thing, when in fact, we've been doing it for thousands of years. I mean, it's not like women have been dying in childbirth for thousands of years...oh. But advocates contend that the main dangers of childbirth come from "poverty, intervention, and fear". If you've covered the first, an unattended birth is a matter of dealing with the latter two. There's this quote from one freebirth practitioner: "Birthing uses the same hormones as lovemaking--so why would you want anyone poking and prodding you, observing you and putting you under a spotlight?" Read More... Posted May 23 2007, 11:34 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: home birth, natural child birth, epidural, freebirth, pregnancy and delivery