Friday January 20, 2012
You're probably looking very forward to the day that your baby is born. You've been imagining it for months. One thing that most parents tell me about their expectations versus reality of this moment is that the baby usually looks very differently than they anticipated.
Most babies have at least one of characteristics of a newborn in their appearance. What do you think would surprise you the most or did surprise you the most?
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Friday January 20, 2012
Not that there is ever a good time for drinking in pregnancy, again confirmed by a study, but there has been found by a recent study that there is a worst time - late in the first trimester. This study done in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research showed that there was an increase in physical symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) for mothers who drank in the later half of the first trimester. It also reconfirmed that there is no safe amount of alcohol in any part of pregnancy. The good news here is that this period of time is typically after a positive pregnancy test, giving the majority of mothers a heads up.
Did you drink before you knew you were pregnant?
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Source:
Feldman, H. S., Jones, K. L., Lindsay, S., Slymen, D., Klonoff-Cohen, H., Kao, K., . . . Chambers, C. (2012). Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Patterns and Alcohol-Related Birth Defects and Growth Deficiencies: A Prospective Study. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01664.x
Thursday January 19, 2012
The 2012 About.com Readers' Choice Awards will showcase the best products, features and services in dozens of categories. Readers' Choice includes multiple channels ranging from technology to hobbies to parenting. The categories for Pregnancy and Childbirth include:
Nominations are currently be accepted. Voting will take place from Feb. 22 through March 21 with winners announced March 30. There's no prize -- just the bragging rights that come with getting recognized by the readers of one of the most popular websites. To learn more, visit awards.about.com.
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Wednesday January 18, 2012
When Elizabeth Hasselbeck welcomed one of her sons, she was asked if she got an epidural for pain relief in labor, she says "I did but I think I'm immune to the epidural, because it didn't work for me. That's a problem." This is why many anesthesiologists recommend taking a childbirth class, even if you're planning on an epidural.
No matter how you feel about epidurals, you still need to have some information about them. I've seen lots of women decide before labor that epidurals were exactly what they wanted only to find out they couldn't have one. Don't get left in that rough spot. The same can be said for women who were positive they did not want an epidural and changed their minds.
Epidurals are the most popular form of medicinal pain relief in labor and birth. But there might be reasons why you can't have an epidural. Find out what you need to know before labor.
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