Strollerderby : delivery

They Say: Just Get the Epidural Already

JeanneSager — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:01:00 GMT

Oh no they didn't!

A bunch of Swedish medical researchers have come out with a study that calls BS on the natural birth community. Basically, they say, get the epidural.

Full disclosure here - after hours of saying, "no, no, I can do this," I got the epidural. But before you call this one a victory for those of us who love us some painkillers, I don't see what was so scientific and exacting about this study.

They took one thousand moms-to-be and split them in half. One set went though classes on natural birth, learning breathing exercises and other natural methods to get them through the pain of labor. The other half got the "drugs are good" talk from their instructors. But once they got to the hospital, the numbers of women who said "get me drugs" was about even out of the two groups.

The scientists say this means the drugs work better.

I agree. For SOME people. Because if you ask any mom who made it through natural childbirth drug-free by choice, she didn't NEED the drugs. Ask a mom who chose the epidural (hello, over here, raising my hand)? She's going to tell you she DID NEED the drugs.

Can you tell either one she's wrong about her own body? Didn't think so.

Because it's totally subjective folks. We all have different pain thresholds. My brother broke his arm when we were kids and all he said was "ow," a few times. I broke my foot (well, he broke my foot), and I was whining about it for weeks. Walk into a pre-school, and you'll see the same thing. Two kids collide face first, and one bursts into tears. The other brushes herself off and runs off to play.

I'm also not ready to write off all breathing techniques for the reduction of/help with pain. Because as most pregnant women know, you don't get an epidural the moment your first contraction starts, and they don't last through the entire process (yes, folks, we do feel it when we're giving birth - they are not the wonder drug those who haven't had one think they are, or at least mine wasn't). Ever gotten a massage where the therapist told you to take long, deep breaths while they worked on a particularly tight knot? Or even just banged your knee particularly hard and had to breathe through it?

Unless this study is going to encourage health insurance companies not to play games over the rights of a woman to have an epidural (which, believe me, they will challenge - when the only anesthesiologist on call doesn't take your insurance, they don't have to pay the doctor, despite your NEED for that needle), what purpose does this serve?

Image: BBCNews

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

YouTube Helps Man Deliver Baby

Jen Chaney — Sun, 03 May 2009 18:06:00 GMT

YouTube: It sucks hours away from our lives by allowing us to watch complete episodes of "T.J. Hooker" and annoying videos about a kid named Fred. But evidently it also is (indrectly) responsible for bringing new life into the world.

After watching some how-to videos on YouTube, a British engineer named Marc Stephens delivered his son last month when his wife quickly went into labor. As the BBC reports, Stephens's wife, Jo, reported some discomfort one evening, which prompted her husband to Google "how to deliver a baby." He watched a few videos, just in case. When Jo woke up in the middle of the night already in labor and found that no midwives were available to perform the home birth the couple had planned, Stephens was able to put his recently acquired medical expertise to use. He calmly delivered a healthy 5 lb., 5 oz. baby boy named Gabriel, the fourth addition to the Stephens family.

This is obviously a very happy story (and, possibly, awesome fodder for a future YouTube ad campaign). But a few of the stories that reported this news actually made me laugh out loud, simply because some of the quotes from the Stephens family are so hilarious. Some highlights:

From the BBC: "I Googled how to deliver a baby, watched a few videos and basically swotted up."

Also from the BBC: "This is our fourth child now and while for our first I spent most of the time at my wife's head, now I'm not afraid to go down to the business end."

Then there's this punchline, delivered by Jo Stephens to The Guardian: "I was quite relaxed. I have to say, out of all my four labours, that was the one I enjoyed the most. Marc is one of those people who can put his hand to anything."

Put his hand to anything? You got that right, sister.

Anyway, we here at Strollerderby wish the Stephens family congratulations. And we also offer this link to a YouTube video as a public service to anyone who thinks he or she may have to deliver a baby sometime in the near future. The video delivery takes place in a taxi cab. And (obviously) it involves a fake mommy and a doll baby. But if it worked for Stephens, maybe it can work for you, too.

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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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

And Deliver Us by Google

JeanneSager — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:34:00 GMT

For all you people who scoff at the power of Google University, I present the story of Jordan and Natalie Peck and their newborn baby girl

The Pecks live in Hendrum, Minnesota, right in the center of the bad flooding that's been making the news lately. So when the heavily pregnant Natalie went into labor, Jordan knew there was no way he could drive her to the hospital - and there was no way their midwife was getting to them.

So he did what any American who wants to know something did - he powered up Google and read up online on how to deliver a baby.

And then he did. The Pecks welcomed a healthy little girl named Margaret into their lives - and into their home - which they soon left because of the rising water. They are now staying with friends, unsure when they can move back into their home. But Jordan joked that he knows what it's like to be the guy told to just follow the instructions.

"This was one of those cases where I was going to follow the instructions to the T," he said. If you're one of those people who doesn't mind brushing up on knowledge (no need for waders - you can still be ready for the floods!) check out eHow - they've got it all . . . down to the T.

Image: KSTP TV

Forget the Hospital Gown: Give Birth in Couture

JeanneSager — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:32:00 GMT

The last thing I was thinking about as I pushed my daughter into this world was what I was wearing. And here I thought I was totally normal.

For moms who want to look fab even while contracting, there's hope - a new company has introduced a slinky, sleeveless dress just for giving birth.

Says the company literature, "You’re a fashionista in every other aspect of your life, why not when you are bringing new life into the world too?"

What's wrong with this idea? Let me count the disgustingness that is the delivery room bed after you're done giving birth . . . the water breaking, the blood, the poop (dirty little secret there - a LOT of women push out of both ends during the birthing process). Unless you're giving birth at a fancy new birthing center, I'm going to hazard a guess they don't have laundry service. So when you're done dropping all those birthing fluids all over your new gown, you can . . . take it home to wash!

What's wrong with the plain old hospital gown? It's perfectly, functionally ugly. So? Here's a tip - the delivery room is not a catwalk, and the people we care enough to have in there for the birth of our children could give two hoots what we're wearing at that moment. They're there for Mom . . . and to get a glimpse of that little miracle. And if they're picking on the way the green gown contrasts with your pale skin, honey, I give you permission to tell them to get the f--- out of here, NOOOOOOW.

Of course, if you're still craving couture, and you don't want to spend $98 when there's a baby on the way and the economy is in the toilet, you can always win one over at MomLogic this week.

Just let us know how those slinky straps stayed up on your shoulders while you were grabbing your knees and screaming for someone to get this thing out of you.

Image: MomLogic

Family of Man: Birth Photos Shows Everyone But Mom

JeanneSager — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:30:00 GMT

It's one of the most celebrated photos of a child being born - the baby's body is stretched out with the umbilical cord stretched across his glistening body, the black and white making his scrunched up screaming face that much more vibrant.

Yet, nowhere in the picture, is the little boy's mother. Not even Joan Miller's legs are seen in the most famous photo of her life - the moment she gave birth to son David.

The defining shot in Wayne Miller's Family of Man exhibition of 1955 has gained new attention of late thanks to the publication of a book, Wayne F. Miller: Photographs 1942-1958, published late last year, and an article next month's Smithsonian Magazine. Shot on September 19, 1946 (the baby in the picture is now sixty-two), it's no surprise Mrs. Miller was hidden from view. It's surprising that she allowed her husband to be in the room at all, not to mention with a camera in hand. Although most fathers have cameras and sometimes videocameras at the ready for today's labor and delivery (and we expect photos of our friends' newborn, fresh from the womb, to be sent to our phones immediately . . . if not sooner), ours were the first dads to be allowed - or ask to be - into the delivery rooms as common practice.

Making this photo - which was chosen to be sent into space aboard the two Voyager spacecraft - all the more special is the man seen holding newborn David Miller by the leg. It's his grandfather - Wayne Miller's father, and Joan's father-in-law. I can't imagine allowing my father-in-law to be my OB/GYN (eeek), but then, to know the person helping bring your child into the world has almost as much concern for his wellbeing as you do . . . that could do wonders in putting a new mother at ease!

For a shutterbug like me, the piece was an interesting read; but for a Mom, it was even better. Check it out - and see more photos - here.

Images: Wayne Miller, via Smithsonian Magazine

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Mom Says Hospital Fouled Childbirth - Twice

JeanneSager — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 19:15:00 GMT

What would you do if you thought your OB/GYN caused your baby irreperable harm during delivery? Would you go back?

A mom from Queens returned to the hospital where she'd delivered her first son to deliver her second - and once again, she says the doctors "yanked" on her child, causing a debilitating nerve injury that may lead to permanent paralysis.

The boys, a year apart, are both suffering from ERB's palsy. It's a condition Annemarie Dhana's lawsuit claims is caused by malpractice at childbirth.

"In both cases their shoulders became stuck after the head was delivered. In both cases excessive force was used to deliver the babies, resulting in ERB's palsy," according to a sworn affidavit, signed by Dhana.

The trouble is, during childbirth, how do you know if the doctor is using excessive force or doing what is necessary to get that baby out? Every delivery is different, and so is every doctor or midwife - and their preferred methods for delivery.

Despite repeated (Ok, obsessive) viewings of The Baby Story before delivering my daughter, I had never seen a mom being handed a towel by her doctor so she could pull and he could pull - offering her leverage. It's a practice my OB/GYN apparently uses (successfully, I might add) with a lot of moms - as other women whose children were delivered by him shared the same story. But none of us had ever heard of it before.

What jumps out at me about this case was Dhana's decision to go back to the same hospital where her lawsuit says prenatal care from her first pregnancy was lacking. Throw in the botched delivery, and I would have been running from in the other direction - especially considering she is in Queens, where it has to be easier to find another healthcare facility than it would be in rural upstate New York (where I live, and frankly got lucky considering my lack of options for obstetrical care).

Most of the commenters said as much over at the New York Daily News, where this story first appeared. But let's consider this mom's options:

If this were a case of a health insurance company forcing her to return to the same medical facility where she'd received substandard care, it's could be another example of the failings of our healthcare system in this country. In-network versus out-of-network should be set aside in favor of "good for patient" vs. "bad for patient."

If this were Dhana's own choice, however, I wonder, could she have known that the first case, the ERB's palsy in her elder son, wasn't just a fluke? Was this a case of a mom who didn't bother to do her homework on her medical choices, or more a case of a mom who simply didn't know? Her children are just a year apart, so she was struggling with a child who had a severe medical condition and a pregnancy at the same time.

Would you call this fishy or do you think this mom has a case?

Image: The Daily Mail

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An Early C-Section Could Harm Your Baby

Jen Chaney — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:28:00 GMT

Deciding to have a Caesarean section at 37 weeks, when an infant is technically full-term, should be harmless, right? Wrong, according to a new study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The information in the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and reported by many media outlets, including the New York Times, says that babies born via C-section at 37 weeks are twice as likely to develop complications as children delivered via C-section at 39 weeks. At 38 weeks, the increase in medical risk is also higher, but only by 50 percent. In other words, it's safest to have that Caesarean at 39 or 40 weeks. Or, to put another spin on this data, women who elect to have C-sections a little ahead of the curve, primarily for reasons of convenience, are putting their kids at risk.

Of course, as we all have heard and read, more women have been doing just that in recent years. As the Times reports, 30 percent of deliveries in 2006 were "Cs," an increase of more than 20 percent over 10 years prior.

Now, a lot of the blame for that gets placed on the moms, those "horrible control-freak women who just have to organize and schedule everything." But I suspect that, at least in some cases, OBs also bear some of the responsibility for encouraging women to go ahead and schedule the 'ol C because it's just as convenient for them as it is for the mom. At the least, doctors may not be discouraging women from taking that course of action.

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Image: newyorktimes.com

In light of this new study, I wonder if we'll see a shift in that trend, both in terms of what OBs and their patients will allow. No matter how attached we are to our Blackberries and Google Calendars, we all want to deliver healthy babies. And this knowledge could very well change people's plans.

Given the information in this study, would you elect to have an early C-section or would you wait until that 39th or 40th week?

Pregnant Mom Gives New Meaning to Mile High Club

JeanneSager — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:33:00 GMT

As if the New Year wasn't making the flight from Amsterdam to Boston merry enough! A Ugandan woman gave birth somewhere high over Canada with the help of a doctor who happened to be on board Northwest Flight 59.

The mom was eight months pregnant and traveling with her toddler and a friend when a passenger alerted the flight attendant that she was kneeling on the floor, wailing in obvious distress. The captain called for a doctor, and found out two were on board, a family physician and a radiation oncologist.

Dr. Paresh Thakker, the family doc, said Mom's contractions were already two to three minutes apart when he got to her, and the baby's head was crowning. There was no point in landing the plane, he told the crew, reaching into help six-pound Sasha make her way into the world. Dr. Natarajan Raman, the oncologist, hasn't delivered a baby in two decades, but he said the lack of a delivery room or the major medical supplies didn't matter - everything was "perfect."

Mom is a Ugandan citizen, but an American resident. Her daughter? She's technically a Canadian citizen now!

Image/Source: Boston Herald

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How About Some Placenta in that IV Drip?

JeanneSager — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:21:00 GMT

Just when you thought the really freaky people were mashing their placenta into loaf form or rubbing it into their cheeks, along come the Japanese health spas with their IV drips of afterbirth.

All it costs is $30 and ten minutes of your time . . . and a stomach that won't start churning at the thought of what they're pumping into your veins in the pursuit of youth.

An in-depth look at Tenteki 10, the spa named for the Japanese word for IV, appeared on Slate this week, and it hashes out the argument over whether the health benefits of placental use are real or imagined. It's interesting reading, especially the look at how "human placental extract" is actually made:

Manufacturers simply gather human placentas from women who have just given birth and place the tissue on ice. Then, they cut it into pieces, test it for viruses, perform chemical separation and purification steps, and sterilize and seal the product. Some proteins may be rendered inactive by sterilization. And some manufacturers may remove specific groups of molecules.

What I wonder is how many of these women know the placenta, which they've carried around for nine months along with their baby, essentially providing the lifeblood to that baby, is now headed to some random person's veins? That it's about to be cut into pieces and "sterilized."

When I gave birth, my doctor offered me the chance to look at the placenta. My husband took him up on it, while I told him honestly, "I'm more interested in her right now," and stared across the delivery room at the nurses working to clean up my newborn daughter. My OB went on and on about how impressive the placenta is, with the sort of passion that makes him a fantastic doctor. I didn't care. I wanted to hold my little girl. What happened to it next, I don't know. Medical waste, I'd imagine.

If I thought that the placenta could have made a difference in someone's life - a true difference, the way a heart or kidney donation could - maybe I would have paid more attention. But I'd imagine most women are like me; more interested in getting their hands on their newborn than in finding out what's happening with the afterbirth.

Source Slate via Jezebel

Image: Jezebel

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Two Doctors Needed to Deliver 14-Pound Baby

Jen Chaney — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 23:02:00 GMT

Here are three words most new moms don't want their nurses to utter while helping to deliver their babies: "Oh my God!"

But apparently one couldn't hold back when she got a look at Richard Sault, a 14 pound, two ounce baby boy delivered last week via C-section in Laguna Hills, Calif. As the Orange County Register reports, two doctors were needed to lift the child out of mother Sara Sault's womb. And all I can say is ... damn.

As the Register also notes, the 21-inch long kid outgrew his car seat mere seconds after birth. So much for all that research his parents did on whether to buy a Britax or a Graco Snugride.

Little Richard -- man, that's a play on words his parents could not have seen coming -- may be the largest child ever born in Orange County. But he isn't the biggest baby ever. According to the Guiness Book of World Records, that one weighed in at 22.5 pounds, which is darn close to the size of an Olsen twin.

So if you think it feels like you're running a marathon by carrying around a six or seven pound child, think again. Compared to Sara Sault, all you're doing is taking a leisurely stroll around the block.

P.S. In honor of Richard Sault's arrival, Fox News has put together this photo gallery salute to large babies. Click and enjoy the many rolls of adorable infant fat.

Image: Orange County Register

Police Coach Birth Via Cell Phone

JeanneSager — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:28:00 GMT

Freezing my tuchus off in New York this week, the story of the mom who delivered in her freezing cold Connecticut car warmed those cockles.

Husband and wife had apparently made it outside of the house and into the car on the way to the hospital when their baby's head started pushing its way out. Dad did the only thing he could think to do - he called the cops.

The dispatcher grabbed a trooper, put him on the phone and pulled out a medical book. Reading off instructions to Trooper First Class Carlo Marandola - so he could relay them to the parents, dispatcher Nancy Martin helped make sure the umbilical cord was unwrapped from around the baby boy's neck before calling on the fire department to send an ambulance straight to the waiting car. The fire department in the parents' native Norwalk was already tied up with weather-related accidents, however, so their son's rush to get here meant a wait in the car. With temperatures below freezing, mom's body temperature kept the baby warm during the twelve minutes it took for emergency workers to arrive.

Baby and mom (and dad too) are all doing fine, nice and toasty now.

If that doesn't put being cold in perspective, eh, your cockles will never be warm!

Image: BeSafeInternational

Source: The Stamford Advocate

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Male Blogger: Laboring Mom Not a 'True Emergency'

JeanneSager — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:56:00 GMT

You're about to give birth to your second child. Your contractions are three minutes apart and holding steady. Oh yeah, and your car is stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. What are you going to do now?

According to a blogger at the Volokh Conspiracy, you call an ambulance and meet them at the next exit because, well, he doesn't consider this a "true emergency." Excuse me, David Bernstein, do you want to deliver a baby in the middle of the Mass Turnpike? Methinks you'd be yelling "help, emergency," about then.

I hate to take anything into the "man" vs. "woman" range, but this is one of those examples of a guy climbing on his high horse to tell us how a pregnant woman's body is going to work. Hate to tell you buddy, even WE don't know how the whole birth process is going to go. Bernstein's prime evidence for why he thinks Jennifer and John Davis were reckless and refused to just call an ambulance? The baby didn't come for another five hours.

Think of that. A baby that came in its own darn good time. No wonder they call the site the Volokh CONSPIRACY.

Alright, maybe I'm taking this a little hard. I actually have never had the frantic drive to the hospital. My labor had to be induced to encourage my daughter to come out of her comfy little cave. I agonized about the possibilities because of the area where I live and the timing of my due date: we're nearly a half hour from the hospital, and I was set to deliver right around the Memorial Day holiday in a highly trafficked tourist area.

I also dealt with a highly put out male co-worker who wanted to plan a vacation, and couldn't believe that our editor couldn't pin down a date when I'd begin my maternity leave. I was still working the day before I went into the hospital to have a nurse begin my pitocin drip. Trust me, I tried my darndest to get her moving earlier. She had the same stubborn streak then that makes for such pleasant morning interactions now.

Or maybe it's simply being a parent that made me feel for the Davises. In the Boston Herald article Bernstein took to task for its pro-parent tone, Jennifer Davis says her husband maneuvered into the breakdown lane to continue the rush to the hospital. Two state troopers gave them the go-ahead to keep going. A third, however, detained the couple and went back to his cruiser to look up John Davis' driving record (six traffic infractions in twenty years, by the way), and made them wait until he was done writing out another motorist's ticket. He then quizzed the contracting Jennifer, making her unzip her jacket to prove she really had a pregnant belly under there. He finally issued a citation before letting the couple go - the $100 bill arrived in the mail the other day.

The Davises, by the way, had actually pulled over to ask the trooper if they could continue in the lane to the exit where they'd get off and choose another route to the hospital. This was hardly the case of a trooper pulling over a speeding driver in the breakdown lane and diligently investigating suspicious activity. This was a police officer forgetting his mission is to protect AND serve.

Yes, I'm taking the side of the parents in this one too. Now what do you want to bet David Bernstein will find a conspiracy here?

Image: Boston Herald

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Woman in Labor Holds Off Delivery Until After Voting for Obama

JeanneSager — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:32:00 GMT

Lakisha Smith wasn't going to let a little thing like her water breaking stop her from casting her vote for Barack Obama. The new mother from South Carolina refused to go to the hospital Monday night when her water broke and contractions began.

She made it through the night and even waited on line at the polling station to take part in the voting process. Smith, twenty-seven, then rushed to the hospital where she delivered daughter Keyonna Marie on Tuesday.

My stubborn daughter had to be induced to come into this world, so I don't know anything about the rush to the hospital with a baby on the way. But miss out on a historic moment like this? Not a chance. I'd have tried my darndest to do the same thing!

Image: City of Gainesville

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They Say: Big Pregnant Mamas = Big Babies

Jen Chaney — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:03:00 GMT

This may sound like common sense, but a new study indicates that women who gain too much weight during pregnancy are more likely to deliver large babies, increasing the health risks for both mother and child.

As reported on WebMD, women who put on 40 pounds or more while pregnant double the risk of delivering a child who weighs nine pounds or more. The study, led by the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, is the first to find that heavier moms are more likely to have sizeable kids than women with gestational diabetes who gain appropriate amounts of weight.

So how much weight is the proper amount to gain? (Translation: Should I stop eating the fun-sized Snickers out of my kid's trick-or-treat bags, pronto?) It varies, depending on the woman's size prior to pregnancy. But the recommended amount for the average-sized mom is between 25 and 35 pounds.

If you're pregnant now and feel like you're already teetering on the heavier side of the weight spectrum, don't panic. Just talk to your doctor and follow his or her advice. I know women who freaked out when they were pregnant because they weren't gaining enough weight, and I know women who freaked because they feared they had gained too much. In all cases, they had perfectly healthy, non-obese babies. So while studies like this are helpful in shaping our choices, they shouldn't make anyone take a mental, especially if your OB says your pregnancy is progressing smoothly.

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Pain in Childbirth May Be, Well, Pointless Now?

Kelly Mills — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:33:00 GMT

Hmmm, this is real interesting. Some natural childbirth advocates suggest that the pain in childbirth adds something valuable to the birth process, helping mothers bond with their babies and even bringing um, sexual pleasure (in some cases, but not mine, oh lordy no!) However, a study discussed here in Salon (via Jezebel) suggests that theory may be backwards. Instead, labor and delivery pain might have served to signal to the mother that she should seek assistance, and in fact drive her to desire "companionship and security" from others. From an evolutionary standpoint, this could have meant people who sought help and protection during times like childbirth and illness were more likely to survive. (Hey, if the degree of labor pain indicated individual evolutionary fitness, I would have totally had it made! Um, it doesn't, by the way.)

So, if pain has simply functioned to drive delivering mothers to seek companionship (personals ad, anyone?) then perhaps it's a perk we don't really need any more. And it could be that people are suffering without it serving any real need. Cough.

Okay, I'm sorry, but I like this take on things, curmudgeon that I am. I do think in some circles there's a strange sort of romanticism attached to labor pain, and even the idea of "natural" childbirth as being somehow noble or righteous. Buuut, that said, there are risks attached to the interventions designed to alleviate the pain of labor, and women should be informed of those as well before making any decision. I think the problem is that childbirth is so fraught with anxiety for so many of us---not only because it hurts, but because lots of us want to make the "right" choice for our babies and ourselves. Turns out "right" for me was an blessed, welcome epidural administered after I tried to go natural for a long time, but I would not think of telling you it ought to be the right way for you.

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Soldier Dads Get to Watch Kids' Born from Overseas

JeanneSager — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:32:00 GMT

Warning: this one might make you a little weepy. Because no matter your stance on the war in Iraq, the thought of a soldier hundreds of thousands of miles away from home getting a chance to watch his child come into the world is a beautiful one.

And thanks to Freedom Calls, a non-profit that uses donations to provide free videoconferences, internet calls and instant messaging services for troops serving overseas, dads in the sands of Iraq have watched sons born in Louisiana and daughters born in upstate New York. Just this week, Army Medic Christopher Corp heard his son's first cry in a hospital room in Arkansas while serving his duties as a National Guardsman in Iraq.

I've joked before that the people in the room when a mom gives birth does nothing more than "catch" the baby, and the physical part is true. But the chance to be present at the birth of your child is one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments you can never get back. Adoptive parents have told me how jealous they are of my experience, and I've refrained from joking about trading the pain . . . because I wouldn't. The day my daughter was born changed my life and that of my husband not simply because of what the future would hold in store. We were there when life began, when she breathed her first breath and screamed her first scream. We saw life pulsing through that little body.

"To be at home would be better," Corp admitted to a TV crew visiting his wife and newborn son Matthew. "But for what it was . . . it was really great."

Who could argue with that?

Image: Our Military Kids

Part I: Why Parents of Girls Have it Better

Bride Goes Into Labor During Wedding, Still Hits Reception

Jen Chaney — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:02:00 GMT

I can only speak for myself. But I might consider postponing my nuptials if I were pregnant and my water broke before the wedding.

New British wife (and mummy) Emma Lowdon is clearly a heartier soul. As the Mirror reports, her water broke three days before she and her fiance, Sean, were due to tie the knot. Doctors gave her antibiotics and their blessing to proceed with the wedding as scheduled. So the couple stuck with their plan.

Shortly before she walked down the aisle, Lowdon apparently started to go into labor. She managed to fight through the contractions, say her vows and get a kiss from her groom.

Not only that, but she also swung by a reception before heading to the hospital. (I can almost imagine what she must have said: "I know the baby is crowning, but I paid for this @#!&ing caterer. And I am eating some of those crab puffs before I go to the maternity ward!")

The couple's son, Josh, was born the following day (that poor woman, as if the wedding wasn't tiring enough) and was five weeks' premature. But he is healthy. So we wish them congratulations and also offer our sympathies. Sympathies? Yeah. A new baby brings much joy, but I have to think he also makes for the lamest honeymoon ever.

92-Year-Old Helps Deliver Great-Great-Granddaughter

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:20:00 GMT

When Elizabeth Deneal had her first child in 1936, it was the hottest July on record and there was no air conditioning. She was required to lie flat on her back for eight days after the delivery, using a bed pan. Family members were prohibited from attending the birth. And she had no idea she was going to have twins until the first one had been delivered.

Deneal, a 92-year-old Illinois woman, got a chance to witness firsthand how delivery room proceedings have changed when her great-granddaughter invited her to assist at her birth. Even though Deneal has two great-great-grandchildren, five step-great-great-grandchildren, about 20 great-grandchildren, 14 grandchildren, and five children—whew!—this was the first time she had witnessed a birth.

Although she was amazed at the modern equipment like fetal monitors and labor balls, most of her wonder was age-old. Speaking of her great-great-granddaughter, Deneal said, “They [the doctors] took her over to where they cleaned up and I stood right there and I thought, ‘How precious she is, right there, and just minutes ago she was inside her mama.’”

Personally, I'm still reeling from this woman's list of progeny.

Photo: Rick Danzl/The News-Gazette

Most Unpleasant Places to Deliver a Baby

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Five Least Pleasant Places to Deliver a Baby

Jen Chaney — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:35:00 GMT

Remember how I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the woman from Michigan who delivered a child on her front lawn? Well, it happened again, this time to a woman from Fullerton, Calif. To make matters worse, Jessica Higgins was by herself when she pushed out little Mary Claire on Tuesday, although her husband did get home in time to "cut the baby's umbilical cord under the front yard ficus tree." That's almost poetic.

All these weird births has finally prompted me to compose a list. And here it is: The five least pleasant places to give birth.(Note: I am leaving out really horrible situations, like having a kid in a military camp or in a hostage situation. This list will be unpleasant, but light-heartedly so. I mean, please, it's not even noon yet.)

5. The Front Yard: I still say this is kind of a gross situation, what with the dirt and the bugs and, worst of all, the potential for neighbors, the UPS guy and the mailman to see all of your biz-ness.Kudos to the two aforementioned ladies for handling it well and delivering healthy children. But should this happen to anyone else, my advice is, if at all possible, try waddling to the backyard so you can maintain some sliver of privacy.

4. While Stuck in Highway Traffic: I can't stand being stuck in traffic when I have to go to the bathroom. Imagine being in the midst of a horrible highway back-up and knowing you have to deliver your child a few inches from the glove compartment while listening to whatever crappy Matchbox 20 song happens to be playing on Mix 107.3. A couple in my hometown handled it fine back in May, but it cannot have been enjoyable.

3. Inside a Bathroom Stall: Think about the truly obscene number of germs, the claustrophobia, the fear of infant falling in the toilet. It's nightmarish, really. There is only one scenario where the inside-the-bathroom-stall birth is semi-tolerable: If it happens at Sesame Place. A couple of weeks ago, Takia Mann had her third child in the restroom there 20 minutes after she and her family had gotten to the amusement park. As a result, they received season passes to Sesame Place for the remainder of this year and all of 2009 because her other kids never got a chance to check out the place. And mom and her newborn got a visit in the hospital from Elmo and Abby Cadabby, which resulted in the image below. I mean, this picture cracks me up. What the hell could they be discussing?

2. On a Subway Platform: To me, this is the perfect storm of Nos. 5 and 3: All the lack of privacy of the front lawn situation, but magnified, with all the germs of the bathroom stall, also magnified. Again, it's been done. But I wouldn't want to be the one doing it.

1. In the Crowd at a Miley Cyrus Concert While the Delivery is Projected on a Massive Screen: Okay, as far as I know, this has not happened to anyone. Yet. But imagine it. You're in a crowd of people so you don't have any space to lie down or do squats or whatever. Everyone in a huge arena can see what's happening. And to top it all off, most of the people forced to witness this are impressional young girls who will be scarred for life once they realize what, exactly, happens when babies enter the world. Granted, the odds of this happening are zero because even if it did occur, it's unlikely the camera would stay on the delivering mother and project the images on a Jumbotron. But it would be a heck of a way to disrupt a Miley show, wouldn't it?

I am 100 percent certain there are plenty of other unpleasant places to deliver a child. So please, hit me with you best horrible-delivery shots in the comments section.

Image: Pregnancytoday.com; NBC10.com

Woman Gives Birth on Front Lawn

Jen Chaney — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:32:00 GMT

Jennifer Coffman didn't have to travel far to bring her second daughter into the world. She cut out all that pesky business of driving to the hospital and delivered right on her front lawn.

The Ann Arbor, Mich., mother started having contractions on Sunday night. Labor progressed extremely quickly. She and her husband had enough time to summon Coffman's mother (she was supposed to babysit their first daughter) and the doula, but it quickly became apparent that little Maeve Elizabeth would arrive before they could get to a medical facility. So Coffman got on her hands and knees in the front yard, pushed five times and out the baby came.

My favorite part of the story: The fact that, because it was dark, the doula mistook Coffman's mother for Coffman and attempted to grab her crotch. That's the kind of tale they'll tell again and again every Christmas. My second favorite part: Coffman's contention that, "If I'd really planned a home birth, I think I would have given birth in the backyard."

I have so many questions about the details: Were there bugs crawling on Coffman? Other than the OB who lived across the street (no joke, read the whole story), did any neighbors notice? Did her husband feel guilty because he hadn't mowed the grass recently enough? Could the new mom technically have been charged with indecent exposure if someone on her block decided to be a jerk and call the cops?

All I know is this story has got me thinking about the most uncomfortable places to give birth. I smell a list coming on ... stay tuned to this space.

Image: Leisa Thompson/Ann Arbor News

Ohh, Baby - Orgasmic Birth Video

Brett Singer — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Some things go great together. Chocolate and peanut butter. Milk and cookies. Childbirth and orgasms.

What, you disagree? You think that it's unbelievably weird to be thinking about sex while your child is being born? What are you, a stiff?

There's a scene in Edward Albee's play "The Goat or Who is Sylvia?" (which is about a man who -- SPOILER ALERT -- cheats on his wife with a goat) when the father (who is having an affair with a goat) is comforting his son and talking about becoming sexually aroused at a certain inappropriate time (when a baby is bouncing on your lap). His friend enters and overhears the conversation, saying, "Is there anything that doesn't turn you people on?"

That's what I thought of when I saw this video. What possible good can come from reaching orgasm while you give birth? Why does it have to be either insanely painful or insanely pleasurable? Why not something in between?

If somebody wants to give birth outside of a hospital, that's their business. (Unless they want to do it RIGHT outside a hospital, on the street. That seems like a bad idea.) Madeline Holler just wrote a terrific essay on home births. But why does it need to be a sexual experience? And before you say, "Don't knock it 'til you've tried it," let me be the first to tell you that trying it isn't an issue, because it'll never happen.

Here's the video. You tell me what the creepy factor is. For me, on a scale of one to ten, this is an eleven. But maybe I'm just uptight.

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