Pampers Articles Covering a Wide Array of Birth Topics

I've gotten a little behind posting the links to my articles that have been published on Pampers. Here are the articles that have been published since my last update:

A Baby's Date of Birth: Not Always When you Expect it - About due dates and my preference of waiting for spontaneous labor.

A Birth Ball is a Wonderful Labor Tool - Why I love my birth ball!

My Fetal Monitor Journey - My experiences with fetal monitoring and why I choose not to be constantly monitored during labor.

What Can I Expect After Birth? - Many women don't think about postpartum when they're preparing for childbirth. This article talks about some of the things I wish I'd been more prepared for.

Childbirth Preparation: Being Prepared Makes all the Difference - This article outlines my personal childbirth experiences, emphasizing the need for good birth preparation.

Natural Birth Stories: Essential to my Childbirth Preparation - How natural birth stories can be instrumental in preparing one for labor and birth.

Breastfeeding: Not a Matter of Success or Failure - Similar to a blog post I wrote on here, this discusses my widening view of infant feeding and the importance of loving support and understanding.

Summary of Articles for November and December

Each month I'd like to post the links to all of my articles that were published. Since I didn't do this for November I'll include both November and December in this summary of articles. If you like any of my articles, please share the links with your friends. I'd also love some feedback in the comments if you have something you'd like to say about what I've written.


For your reading pleasure and in no particular order, here they are:

My Water Childbirth Experience


Breastfeeding While Pregnant


Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) 


Using Pregnancy Calendars


Finding the Right Breastfeeding Support


Considering Home Childbirth?


Sorting Through Childbirth Information


What Are Doulas and What Do They Do?


Ectopic Pregnancy Signs and Symptoms


Considering Natural and Epidural Childbirth


The Role of a Postpartum Doula


Adjusting to Life With a Breastfeeding Infant


Breast Pumps: Different Options for Different Situations


Thinking About Stopping Breastfeeding?


Ways to Support Prenatal Development

Postpartum Depression Quiz

I'm a fan of About Pregnancy/Birth on facebook, and I'm always impressed by the really good information posted.

One of the recent posts I found helpful is this Postpartum Depression Quiz.

"Postpartum depression (PPD) has gotten a lot of attention in recent years. While the numbers may appear to be rising, it may also be more likely that it is simply becoming more socially acceptable to admit to needing help and having difficulties in the postpartum period.

"Most women will suffer a mild bout of something called the baby blues which occurs in the first days childbirth. A smaller fraction of women will suffer from an extreme form of depression called postpartum psychosis. Postpartum depression falls in a category on its own.

"In taking this quiz you are looking at some of the most common symptoms for postpartum depression. Certain symptoms, like feeling like you may harm yourself or your baby warrant urgent attention, even if that is the only symptom you experience. The more symtoms you experience, the sooner you need to seek help. Always seek help if you desire help, even if others tell you that you are okay - you are the best judge of how you are feeling."

Click here to take the quiz and assess whether you may have PPD

The Shape of a Mother

In media everywhere we are given the impression that women should get back to their pre-pregnant body immediately after having a baby. What celebrity photos and the media don't tell you is that a woman's body is permanently changed after pregnancy and birth. This doesn't have to be a bad thing.

This website features women from all walks of life, at various stages of pregnancy and postpartum. Each story is from that woman's perspective, with no judgement, just her experience and her body. I think it's a great resource for women to realize that their body changes after pregnancy are normal and beautiful, and it can help them embrace their new body image. The pictures and stories are submitted by the women themselves, told from their perspective.

The Shape of a Mother

I think it's important to be healthy and fit, but I also think that women need to be comfortable in their own skin regardless of their size or appearance. It's important to love yourself and your body no matter how it looks. If you're unhappy when you're out of shape, you're not going to automatically find happiness with a trim figure, because happiness really comes from within.

I must advise, there is nudity on the site.

Childbirth and PTSD

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Following Childbirth

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after childbirth is an understudied condition. Traditionally, much of the data have been based on case reports, indicating that PTSD can occur following a range of childbirth and child loss situations, including long or complicated labor, severe pain with labor or delivery, cesarean section, and unanticipated pregnancy outcome, such as child loss, miscarriage or infant birth defects. PTSD related to childbirth is frequently overlooked by physicians; the relative newness of the diagnosis and lack of literature on this topic are factors which may hinder recognition of this disorder.

"These studies have reported a wide range of PTSD symptoms, including flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, and avoidance of reminders of the trauma. Women with PTSD also may experience feelings of numbness, anger, depression, social isolation, and chronic sleep problems.

"While earlier reports suggested that PTSD after childbirth appeared to be precipitated by delivery trauma, a recent study by Zaers and colleagues suggests that there are certain predisposing factors which raise the likelihood that a woman will develop PTSD after childbirth.

In this study, 6% of 60 postpartum women reported clinically significant PTSD symptoms at six weeks postpartum. At six months postpartum, 14.9% reported PTSD symptoms. The strongest predictor for post-traumatic stress symptoms was anxiety late in pregnancy. Other predictors included psychiatric symptoms in late pregnancy, stressful life events, and the delivery experience. Nearly one quarter of the women in this study also reported depressive symptoms at 6 weeks and 6 months postpartum.

"The long-term consequences of PTSD after childbirth can be devastating for the mother and/or her family. Women who have experienced PTSD may experience nightmares resulting in conditioned insomnia, difficulties with breastfeeding, impaired bonding with the child, difficult sexual relations with their partner, and poor sense of self-worth. Women with PTSD may avoid childbearing in the future or may opt for an elective Cesarean section in subsequent pregnancies in order to avoid recurrent trauma.

"Careful screening for PTSD symptoms in postpartum women by healthcare professionals is warranted, with special attention being paid to depressive symptoms and anxiety, particularly in cases where the woman presented with anxiety or other psychiatric symptoms during pregnancy or experienced a complicated delivery or an unexpected pregnancy outcome."

As published on womensmentalhealth.org

For more info:

Motherhood Salon: How Childbirth Caused My PTSD

The Unnecesarean: Scare Tactics, Anxiety Late in Pregnancy and PTSD After Childbirth

Jessica Alba's Body After Baby Secret: A Girdle (Postpartum Belly Binding)

My post about postpartum belly binding from October has gotten more hits since I published it than the rest of my blog combined. This is a HOT topic! Women everywhere want to know the secret to a great postpartum body. Jessica Alba's secret? A girdle, or wrap! Check out the people.com story here! I think I assumed that all celebrities simply hire a personal trainer and work out like crazy to get back into shape, but Jessica claims that the workouts killed her, and she hasn't exercised since. She credits her girdle for her amazing postpartum body.

I really wish I had heard about this 10 years ago before I started having babies. I hope I can repair some of the damage done by 5 babies after this one is born, and I definitely want to try a belly binder. Please check out my earlier post for more information about the reasons for belly binding, and suggestions on some brands you can try.

I wouldn't recommend no exercise at all. If a wrap or binder can produce such amazing results, then just imagine how much better and more fit you will be if you use a girdle and moderate exercise. You will be healthier and have more energy and vitality if you exercise cautiously after giving birth. Check out my previous posts on postpartum tummy exercise and staying healthy and low-risk. Even exercise you do during pregnancy will be beneficial after pregnancy as well, and these are simple, easy exercises you can try.

Also, if you or someone you know has had experience with using a postpartum girdle, wrap or belly binder, I would love to hear about your experience. Did it make a difference for you? What brand did you use, and how did you like it? Would you recommend belly binding to other women? I have a friend who just had her third baby a few weeks ago and for the first time she is using a belly binder from the Belly Bandit. So far she loves it, and I hope to publish her story on my blog in the future.