Eating Lightly During Labor May Not Affect Obstetric or Neonatal Outcomes

Eating a light diet during labor did not affect obstetric or neonatal outcomes or increase vomiting, according to the results of a prospective, randomized controlled trial reported online first in the March 25 issue of the British Medical Journal.

"The current rationale for women fasting during labour is to protect them from pulmonary aspiration should general anaesthesia be needed for an emergency operative delivery," write Geraldine O'Sullivan, MD, from St. Thomas' Hospital, Guy's and St. Thomas' National Health Service Foundation Trust in London, United Kingdom, and colleagues. "However, prolonged fasting in labour has never been proved to influence the incidence of pulmonary aspiration, and some clinicians and midwives consider that preventing food intake can be detrimental to the mother, her baby, and the progress of labour. Whether food intake in labour will influence the ability to deliver normally, the length of labour, or other obstetric and neonatal end points is not known."
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The new 'natural' cesarean

The lights of the operating theatre are dimmed and there is a mood of calm among the hospital staff. A midwife softly narrates a continuing procedure to a patient who is squeezing her husband's hand. The surgeon gives the nod: it's time. The drape across the patient's abdomen is lowered and her head is raised. Her eyes widen as she and her husband watch their baby, tiny and pink with a mop of black hair, being gently delivered from her. There is a moment of collective awe before the newborn's cry fills the air. "It's a boy!" his mother gasps, before enveloping him in a warm hug.

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Caesarean link to surge in hysterectomies

Doctors in Dublin’s maternity hospitals are performing an increasing number of life-saving hysterectomies on mothers who have previously had caesarean sections. The upsurge in the number of births by c-section has led to a marked increase in emergency operations to remove women’s wombs due to a condition called placenta accreta, according to a new study.

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Mom's Group 4/8

Come to Amy's house and meet other moms on the second Wednesday of each month. Meetings start at 11am and end at 2pm. Bring lunch or something to share. Children are always welcome!

Where:
52 Marshall Road
Glen Mills, PA 19342

When:
Wednesday, April 8th 11am to 2pm

Please note, I have a client due any day now. If I have to go to a birth, I'll post here when I leave so check or call me before you head over!

The Belly Project

Bellies of all shapes and sizes before and after childbirth... check it out!
The Belly Project

Personhood USA

According to Personhood USA, legislators in at least five states are sponsoring bills that would give the unborn full state constitutional rights from the moment of fertilization.

Near-Term Babies May Face a Higher Risk of Problems

Babies born just three to six weeks before their due dates are more likely than full-term babies to have disabilities or developmental delays in kindergarten, a study has found. The children also are slightly more likely to be suspended or held back in kindergarten and to require special education.

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Have you given birth in the past three years?

If you have, please take the Birth Survey! Leave me a comment if you do!

The Birth Survey is structured around the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) evidence-based 10 Steps to Mother-Friendly Care and other quality of care indicators. The creation of The Birth Survey has been inspired by Childbirth Connection's Listening to Mothers Survey (Harris Interactive, October 2002) and the A-CAHPS (Ambulatory Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) program and surveys.

We believe that women of childbearing age must have access to information that will help them choose maternity care providers and institutions that are most compatible with their own philosophies and needs. We hope that the Transparency in Maternity Care Project will provide information that will help women make fully informed maternity care decisions.

We also believe that maternity care practitioners and institutions must have access to feedback from their patients. We hope that doctors, midwives, and hospital administrators will find the information generated through the Transparency in Maternity Care Project useful in quality improvement efforts.

Women need accurate, objective data in order to make fully informed choices about birth settings and providers. Practitioners and hospital administrators also need data to evaluate whether they are delivering quality care. We hope this project will fill a void by providing much needed information that benefits all parties engaged in maternity care.

Cesarean beliefs 'misguided'

Women who choose to have an elective caesarean in the belief that it will prevent incontinence and genital prolapse are "misguided" and may be putting their health, and that of their baby, at unnecessary risk.

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Mom's Group 3/18

Come to Amy's house and meet other moms on the second Wednesday of each month. Meetings start at 11am and end at 2pm. Bring lunch or something to share. Children are always welcome!

Where:
52 Marshall Road
Glen Mills, PA 19342

When:
Wednesday, March 18th 11am to 2pm

Please note, I have a client due any day now. If I have to go to a birth, I'll post here when I leave so check or call me before you head over!

Giveaway winner!

OK, I drew the name of the winner last Saturday, and then life got into the way in a serious way! All three kids and my husband got the stomach flu, then I got it, then I had a long birth to attend, and then I had to recover. That itself took a few days. So I'm just now getting around to posting! The winner of the Sleepy Wrap is...

Kate for her entry by subscribing to the newsletter!

I'll be emailing you, Kate, from my journeybirthservices.com account so keep an eye out! Congratulations :)

How About a Giveaway?

I've been mulling over the idea of a giveaway for a while now, and I think I've decided to do it! Aren't you lucky?!? So, first, for the item...
One lucky winner will win a Sleepy Wrap! And, you get to choose the color out of the ones I have, which are black, dark pink, light blue, navy blue, purple, red, or royal blue. Sleepy Wraps are so comfortable, versatile, you name it. And, now, for how to win. You can have up to 4 chances (all links open in a new window!).
1. Comment on this post - tell me what color you'd like. Do you want a wrap for you, or someone else? Be sure to leave your email so I can get in contact with you if you win!
2. Follow me on twitter. Once you follow me, tweet about my giveaway! Email me at amy at journeybirthservices dot com and let me know about your tweet - be sure to include a link to this blog post! If you're already following me, just email me and let me know about your tweet.
3. Join my newsletter. I send out a newsletter about once a month - I talk about local events, pregnancy, childbirth... all kinds of fun stuff. The sign up box is over there on the right. You know, the box that says "join our newsletter" or something like that? That's the one!
4. Blog about my giveaway! Same thing - link it back to here, and drop me an email at amy at journeybirthservices dot com.
So, there you go! You can enter any time up until noon EST on Saturday, March 7th. I'll draw the winner that afternoon using Random.org. Good luck!!

Breastfeeding at Work Toughest for Younger Moms and Retail Workers

Although many organizations, including the federal government, tout breastfeeding babies during the first six months of life as the healthiest choice new mothers can make for their child, a new survey by the not-for-profit National Women's Health Resource Center (NWHRC) and Medela, Inc. reveals 32 percent of new mothers give up breastfeeding less than seven weeks after returning to work because of significant barriers. This is particularly true of women in retail settings, younger moms and those with lower paying jobs.

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New website for pregnant moms

Well, new to me at least! I found Juliet on Twitter - well, actually, she found me - and clicked on her site. Birth Download is a website about natural birth, and has a whole bunch of resources for it, including book and DVD reviews, and a Psychology of Giving Birth program. If you join her newsletter (there's a link on the home page), you get a free Relaxation MP3 and a Birth Companion PDF. So, check it out - I've spent a little while poking around and it looks like a great resource! And no, I wasn't paid to say anything about it!

Health Guidelines Ignored Before Pregnancy

Few women follow lifestyle and nutritional guidelines before becoming pregnant, even when pregnancy is contemplated to some degree, a new study shows.

Researchers at the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre at the University of Southampton wanted to find out whether women follow such guidelines before becoming pregnant, since good health is important before pregnancy.

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Nigerian sextuplets' mother dies

A woman who gave birth to a set of sextuplets over the weekend in Nigeria has died of complications.

Ajoke Bello, 32, gave birth to the six babies by Caesarean section operation on Thursday and was initially in a stable condition.

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Breastfeeding doesn't make breasts sag

Rinker says this finding should alleviate the fears of new mothers over what nursing their child might do to their breasts in the long run and will encourage them to breastfeed because of the health benefits to their infant.

"Women may be reluctant to breastfeed because of this unfounded myth that doing so means the end of youthful breasts," Rinker said. "Now, expectant mothers can relax knowing breastfeeding does not sacrifice the appearance of their breasts."

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Want a VBAC? In a hospital??

Good luck with that! Here's an article about VBAC support, or lack thereof.

It would seem perfectly natural that a woman could give birth naturally if she wants to. Guess what? She can't.

An increasing number of hospitals in this country are refusing to offer women the option of delivering the way nature intended, if she had a cesarean section the first time around (and guess what -- chances are she has because the 31% of all births are now C-sections -- up 50% in 10 years).

Take the maternity quiz!

Want to test your knowledge about childbirth? Check out this quiz. You might even learn something new!

Dear President Obama...

From Gloria Lemay, a midwife in Canada...

Seeing that there is a world wide quest for governments to save money right now, I am putting my mind to ways that I would cut waste if I were in charge of the medical budget.

I invite you to add to this list. Just as the Wall Street tycoons are raiding the piggy bank with their inside deals, the obstetrics community wastes the medical budget with practices that are not only medically expensive but also harmful to the health of the population.

Read her short but sweet list on her blog.