Strollerderby : birth

They Say: We Don't Know How the Hell to Treat Pregnant Women

Madeline Holler — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:28:00 GMT

You already know this but a surprising number of medical professionals don't: pregnant women aren't just fat versions of average women (who, themselves, aren't just mini versions of men). Which means you can't necessarily medicate a pregnant women like you would any other woman, who you can't just medicate like any ol' guy.

That's before you even consider the consequences of passively medicating a growing fetus.

This, it turns out, presents a problem that researchers are only now beginning to look into. Given shifts in the pregnant woman's metabolism, among many other changes, it's any doctor's guess as to what and how much medication to prescribe to pregnant women who are battling cancer, depression, or the flu -- not to mention WMD-type viruses.

Here's an example of the problem the pregnant body presents: the American College of Obstretrics and Gynecology recommends giving patients amoxicillin during an anthrax scare. But how much? Who the hell knows!

From Time:

But an obstetrics researcher in Seattle recently concluded there's no way to give a pregnant woman enough of the antibiotic to be effective. Kidney function is so revved up during pregnancy that even in high doses, amoxicillin is excreted before it can work its magic. Think of it as trying to fill a bathtub with the drain open, suggests Jason Umans, an internist and maternal-fetal pharmacologist at Georgetown University. "In emergencies, you always hear, 'Treat the pregnant women first!'" he says. "The joke should be 'Yeah, how?'"

The good news a few dozen doctors, ethicists and government officials have launched a movement of clinical research they're calling the Second Wave (the first was when officials realized women are mini-men in terms of medicine, or, anything else). They're hoping to gather more data so that doctors no longer have to wing it with their expecting patients.

But what about the baby!!!!! Settle down, these, pioneer researchers say.

"Everyone thinks, Oh, my God, research on pregnant women! All kinds of ethical flags go up," says Ruth Faden, director of the Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University. "We don't have to start with high drama." There's enough "low-hanging fruit," she says, "that we could keep lots of medical researchers busy for a long time."

In fact, two-thirds of women take up to five drugs during pregnancy and through labor. But only a dozen are FDA approved for pregnancy and those are all stuff for the labor and birth like induction meds and the epidural. The ones for high blood pressure or diabetes are any doctor's educated guess.

What was your experience with meds during pregnancy? Did you and the doc just make it up as you went?

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Photo: Time.com

Best of FameCrawler - Week of May 29th

Whit Honea — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:00:00 GMT

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Eating Your Baby's Placenta

Cole Gamble — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Placentophagia is term for eating of the placenta, and you know if there's a name for it, it's a real deal. Animals, of course, do it al the time. Anyone whose cat had kitten can attest. Humans also engage in the pratice all over the world because it's said to stem postpartum depression and help to contract the uterus after the birth. Chrissy Schilling over at Momlogic details her own placenta feast with twin sister Kathy. From her post:

"The placenta is such an amazing organ in all its done for my baby that it didn't seem right to simply throw it away. My thought was "being the only organ that the human body makes that naturally exits the body, why not take advantage of it?"

Chrissy and Kathy got more than just one meal out of the six pound placenta. They served it over noodles and made sandwiches.

Chrissy even found the experience cathartic:

"By taking it in again, it was symbolic for me as a way to truly say "good-bye" to my 9-month pregnancy and "hello" to an exciting (albeit challenging) new chapter in my life.

See? Delicious, nutricious and life affirming. It's good to eat stuff that comes out of your body. Except poop. So, can I fix you up a nice egg and placenta scramble?

Photo: Kathy Schilling

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3 Generations, 3 Boys, All Born May 11

Madeline Holler — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:01:00 GMT

These aren't state lottery-like odds, but still. For three generations, one family has welcomed a baby boy into the world every 24 years on May 11.

This year, baby Brody became the latest Adams baby to have a May 11 birthday. He joins his dad Jonathan and his grandfather Kent.

The odds are ... one in 133,225 for the birth of a male baby in the same family with exactly 24 years between them. And, really, it's just kind of luck, since all were spontaneous births (no inductions, etc.)

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press:

“It is just cool the way it all worked out,” said Kent Adams.

While it is a strange phenomenon, neither Kent Adams nor his son think their family’s birth cycle means anything significant. Nothing cosmic is being communicated, he said.

“I guess we are all just weird,” he said. “I was my dad’s birthday present, and Brody was my birthday present.”

That is pretty cool.

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Photo: Chattanooga Times Free Press

Lose a Game, Gain a Son

JeanneSager — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:01:00 GMT

The day your child is born may not be THE best day of your life (because, really, what does that say about every day after that). But, hey, doesn't the birth of your child tend to overshadow everything else that happened around that time?

Let's hope so for Casey Jennings.

The pro volleyball player had a horrendous day in the sand on Saturday, finishing in seventh place with partner Matt Fuerbringer at the AVP Crocs Tour Huntington Beach Open. But Jennings walked off a pretty happy guy - it was less than twenty-four hours since wife Kerri Walsh (the Olympic gold medalist) had given birth to a little boy.

Jennings played in matches (and won them) on Friday, but he made it home in time to escort Walsh to the hospital and be present at the birth of Joseph Michael. But he said his finish on Saturday was most disappointing because it doesn't carry with it the story he'd hoped to tell Joey down the road.

"I wanted to win and be able to tell him, 'The day after you were born I kicked some butt, and that 'The day you were born I kicked some butt!'" Jennings told the LA Times.

Otherwise, Jennings was on top of the world. And a seventh place finish wasn't going to change that.

Can you blame him? Did you have something really crappy happen around the birth of your child that you were able to power through because this was just SO much better?

Image: LA Times

Best of FameCrawler - Week of May 22nd

Whit Honea — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:00:00 GMT

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Bristol Palin and Son Tripp Cover People

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Best of FameCrawler - Week of May 15th

Whit Honea — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Tom Cruise Pressuring Katie For Another Baby?

Dirk Nowitzki's Fiance Arrested?

Comedian Wanda Sykes & Wife Alex Welcome Twins!

Jada Pinkett Smith a Lesbian?

Julie Bowen Welcomes Twin Boys

Mary Stuart Masterson Has Reason to Smile!

Manny Ramirez Busted!

Chyler Leigh Welcomes Daughter Anniston

Sean Penn Still Dating Natalie Portman, Robin is Pissed!

Kate Gosselin's Heartbreak: Jon & I May Separate

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Best of FameCrawler - Week of May 8th

Whit Honea — Fri, 08 May 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Julia Roberts Shows Her Bikini Bod & Tattoo In Honor Of Her Kids (PHOTOS)

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Elizabeth Edwards Has "No Idea" If John's The Baby Daddy

Jon Gosselin Tells EW Exclusively "I Did NOT Cheat!"

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Mary Stuart Masterson Has Reason to Smile!

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Matthew Fox Prepares to get UnLost with Family

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Best of FameCrawler - Week of May 1st

Whit Honea — Fri, 01 May 2009 20:00:00 GMT

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Jennifer Aniston Adopting A Boy!

New Jersey Woman Tweeting While Giving Birth

Brett Singer — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Melissa Skabich of Cedar Grove, New Jersey is 39 weeks pregnant. She is being induced today due to high blood pressure. You can read more about it on her blog. You can also follow the delivery process live via Twitter. So, what's for dinner? I was thinking hamburgers, but I guess we had that once already...

Wait, what?

Yes, Melissa will be tweeting. Not before. Not after. DURING. DELIVERY.

My initial reaction is summed up by this commenter at NJ.com: "Worry about giving birth to your child, not tweeting. You twit." I would have left out the "twit" part, but I understand the frustration.

On the other hand, what's the harm? If she's into it, that's cool, right?

Mostly it seems like an unnecessary distraction. Isn't being in labor difficult enough without being concerned about tweeting? I'm also wondering if her doctor will tell her to put the darn Blackberry away and focus on pushing. This is her third kid, so I guess she knows what she's doing.

What do you think? Would you tweet while giving birth? Or is this just plain silly?

You can follow Melissa on Twitter at twitter.com/mommyblogger76.

Source: NJ.com

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Best of FameCrawler - Week of April 24th

Whit Honea — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:00:00 GMT

David Beckham's Victoria Tattoo Is Misspelled

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Best of FameCrawler - Week of April 17th

Whit Honea — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:00:00 GMT

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Where I Say Something Nice About the New York Mets

JeanneSager — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:34:00 GMT

Ready your markers for the calendar. I'm about to do something a Yankees fan should never do.

I want to send good thoughts the way of New York Mets' pitcher Johan Santana. There I said it. Happy? Good, because it hurt.

So what did Mr. Santana do, pray tell? The pitcher skipped the Mets' home opener last night at the new CitiField because he had bigger fish to fry. Like the birth of his third child.

Santana stayed in Florida after allowing no earned runs in seven innings and pitching thirteen strikeouts on Sunday, so he could be at wife Yasmile's bedside when she delivers a sibling for daughters Jasmily and Jasmine (have they been talking to the Duggars?).

He wasn't scheduled to pitch anyway, but come on, we're talking about the home opener at a brand new park in arguably the biggest baseball town on the planet. I always love it when the big names show they have their priorities straight. It makes me respect them a whole lot more - even if they do play for the Mets.

Does finding out athletes are family oriented change your opinion of them?

Image: NJ.com

Best of FameCrawler - Week of April 10th

Whit Honea — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Uncle Jimmy Fallon Uses Twitter to Fight Slight

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Gwyneth Paltrow: Shampoo Is Harming Our Kids

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Pete Wentz Plays With Strippers, Sends Ashlee Home With Bronx

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The Miracle of Mannequin Childbirth - Creepy or Funny

Cole Gamble — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:00:00 GMT

As I wrote this post, watching this video repeatedly, I wondered, “Is this NSFW?” I mean it’s graphic, if you’re a mannequin. I’m so confused. Perhaps together you and I can make sense of this. Please share this with me and help me to understand.

Some Thoughts:

As these Nazis kept forcing the same baby through this poor mannequin’s vagina I screamed at the computer monitor, “Please no more! Can’t you see she’s had enough?!”

Is this video suggesting birth would be easier if we sawed the legs and everything above the waist of a woman? If so, my wife is so not going for that.

I hope to Jehovah these aren’t available to sell for personal use. I never want to find one of these in my son’s closet.

It’s really strange that there’s no sound. Is that to block out the all the disembodied mannequin torso screaming?

I wonder if this video has a blooper reel. You think on one of the takes Gary Coleman’s face popped out? You know that guy needs work.

Finally, I came to peace with this video, recognizing it for the beautiful, natural moment it is.

Realted Link: Why Are People So Afraid Of Childbirth?

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5 Lies Women Tell Each Other About Pregnancy

Cole Gamble — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:06:00 GMT

Mothers can be cruel, evil people.

Why else would they lie so flatly to would be mothers about the nasty bits of pregnancy?

Well Sarah Vine and Tania Kindersley, authors of the new book Backwards in High Heels, have had enough of it and so spelled out the worst lies passed around among moms and moms-to-be:

1. It doesn't matter if you get fat, the weight will drop off afterward, especially if you breastfeed.

2. The birth itself isn't that bad, and anyway your body is biologically programmed to forget the pain.

3. Breastfeeding can be a little tricky to start with, but in the end you'll get the hang of it.

4. You get used to not having as much sleep as you used to.

5. The experience of looking after a newborn can really bring two people together.

What did they miss?

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Babble Talk: Do We Still Judge Women for Having C-Sections?

Jen Chaney — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:02:00 GMT

I have had a C-section. So has Tova Mirvis. So have many women. So why do so many of us still feel like we're being judged for it?

That's one of the questions Mirvis tackles in her Babble essay, "In Praise of the C-Section," a thoughtful piece in which she acknowledges the sense of inferiority that can result from having a Caesarean, as well as the need -- however irrational -- to justify one's reasons for doing so.

"When I was pregnant with my third child, I accidentally wandered into a conversation in which two mothers I'd recently met were extolling the virtues of homebirths and water births, midwives and doulas," she writes. "When the well-meaning moms asked about my birth plan, I told them I was having a scheduled C-section. Their faces conveyed self-righteous disapproval and my mind was immediately awhirl in disclaimers: I was having the scheduled C not because I wanted the convenience, not because I was afraid of labor, not because I didn't want to miss my manicure appointment. 'My oldest son would have died if I didn't have a C-section!' I said instead."

Every woman who has a C-section has a different reason for doing so. In Mirvis's case, as she describes in more detail in the essay, she went that route with all three of her children because of complications, including last-minute ones during her first delivery that threatened her son's health. Other moms may elect a C because they've lost, or nearly lost, a child in the past and want to take whatever steps they can to control the process. And still others, like me, have C-sections because there is no other option. My son was breech and few OBs are willing to risk a vaginal delivery under those circumstances.

Are any of these mothers less motherly because of the types of deliveries they had? I may be biased since one of them is me, but I think most would say, no, of course not. But what about a woman confronted by no extenuating circumstances or complications who chooses to have a C because she doesn't want to have a vaginal birth?

Aha, this is where the judgment comes in. Having a C-section when you don't necessarily need one is indicative, to some women anyway, of a lazy, shallow and self-absorbed mother, someone who doesn't have the cajones to do a little pushing, grunting and lamaze breathing. I don't necessarily agree with that, but I can understand where the perception comes from. Elective C-section moms have the same reputation as the boss who takes credit for all of her employees' great ideas: they want to revel in the glory without having to do any of the hard work.

But here's the truth of the matter, something Mirvis wisely points out at the end of her essay: How we deliver our children ultimately has nothing to do with what kind of mothers we are. So maybe we should stop judging the elective (or non-elective) C-section mothers, or feeling guilty for not having vaginal births, or developing inferiority complexes because we broke down and got an epidural. Maybe we should realize that the test of our motherhood really begins once that healthy child arrives on this Earth and in our arms.

As Morvis writes, "If the experience of childbirth is in fact a crucial process, then let it be the process of teaching us that our children will emerge in ways varied and complicated, not necessarily in times or manners of our choosing, neither made in our image nor as proof of our prowess. Let birth remind us that, with children, so little goes according to even the most well-drawn plan."

Well said.

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Whit Honea — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:00:00 GMT

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Whit Honea — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:00:00 GMT

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Woman Gives Birth on Airplane, Abandons Baby in Airport

Kate Tuttle — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:02:00 GMT

A sad and strange story out of New Zealand: authorities there are reporting that a pregnant Samoan woman boarded a flight from Apia to Auckland last week and gave birth while on-board the plane. While early rumors suggested that the infant had been found in the airplane lavatory, it's now reported that the newborn was fond in a trash can in the airport in New Zealand's largest city. The baby and mother are both now reported healthy, in the hospital.

How was a heavily pregnant woman allowed to board a plane, in violation of both airline and national regulations? And was the woman, reportedly a member of a group of immigrant workers who regularly arrive from Samoa for seasonal agricultural work, so in need of mone that she couldn't afford to stay home and give birth? Was she seeking the New Zealand citizenship most Samoans are denied (even though the law changed in 2006 and no longer grants citizenship by birth alone)?

We'll probably never know. But let's hope the mother and child are able to recover from this bizarre beginning to their life together.

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Baby Born in Penn Station During Rush Hour

Brett Singer — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:30:00 GMT

Rush hour in New York is so dull. Pushing, shoving, playing the old "how many people can we fit into this subway car" game. A couple of days ago, commuters heard something new:

"Forget the ambulance ... I'm going to have the baby right here."

Well then. You go right ahead, Miss. As Susan Wagner at ParentDish wrote, "And you thought your commute was rough this morning."

Marie Boothe went into labor at Penn Station in New York City on Wednesday (she was on her way to the hospital with her husband), and successfully delivered a baby boy with the help of three members of the NYPD counter-terrorism patrol team, as well as an Amtrak police officer. Adhering to cries of, "'Name him Penn, after Penn Station!" from the crowd, Marie named her seven-pound bundle of joy Caesar Penn Boothe.

I wonder if counter-terrorism officers, or Amtrak police, receive training in labor and delivery. Somehow I doubt it, but maybe.

Mother and baby are doing well, proving that yes, you can give birth just about anywhere. Doesn't mean you have to, but if it happens, hey, go with it.

Anyone give birth someplace a little different?

Image/Source: CNN via ParentDish via Babble

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Whit Honea — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:00:00 GMT

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Soldier Gives Birth At Army Barracks

Brett Singer — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 07:00:00 GMT

A 20-year-old British private gave birth the other day. Ho-hum, right? But listen to this:

- She delivered the baby herself.
- She hid the child for "days" (it doesn't say how many) before anyone found out she had, you know, given birth.
- She hid the pregnancy from her fellow soldiers. Officers asked if she was pregnant but she said no. "She continued to take part in exercises and had been to the gym wearing loose clothes." No one seems to know why she didn't want to admit it.

This bit about how much maternity leave British soldiers get is interesting: "Female military personnel are entitled to 52 weeks' maternity leave, 39 of them paid, and they are not considered for deployment within six months of giving birth, unless they volunteer. "

A year of maternity leave, 39 paid weeks -- pretty good. Being shipped overseas six months after giving birth? Wow. I guess if that's what you do, and duty calls, then you go. Sounds like a bummer though.

This is sort of the opposite of the American soldier who reported for duty with kids in tow after being stop-lossed. I understand her more than I do the British woman. Why hide a baby like that? Frankly, HOW do you hide a baby in an army barracks? And delivering your own kid? Ouch. Kind of disputes the notion that women are "too weak" for combat. Anyone who can deliver their own baby, I want on my side.

Source: Telegraph

Image: Wikipedia