Prenatal Health, Breastfeeding Advice, Family Planning, Pregnancy Tests, and More!

Here are some of my recent articles that were published by Pampers, for your reading and sharing pleasure:

Good Prenatal Health is Possible Through Healthy Practices - The importance of exercise and good nutrition during pregnancy.


Symptoms of Being Pregnant Vary From One Woman to Another - How my pregnancy symptoms differed from those of my friends and even from one pregnancy to another.


Breastfeeding Advice: A Help or a Hindrance? - Filtering the spontaneous breastfeeding advice people give.


Learning About Conception and Implantation, Ovulation and Cycles - How learning about fertility and paying attention to your body's cues can be empowering.


Family Planning Without Hormones or Chemicals - Using natural methods of family planning to avoid hormonal birth control and take control of your own body.


Prenatal Cost Depends on Coverage, Location, and Care Provider - How prenatal cost varies from place to place and according to your choice of care provider and location.


Understanding False Pregnancy Tests - My experience with home pregnancy tests and realizing they're not completely dependable.


Conception and Pregnancy Can Be Elusive and Unpredictable - In which I talk about my miscarriages.


Postpartum Doulas Support Families at Home After Birth - About the roles of postpartum doulas.


The Multiple Facets of Prenatal Services - Some differences in care I noticed between my doctors and midwife.


Choosing Baby Names Through Intuition - How we used a combination of research and intuition to choose our children's names.


Birthing My Children: A Rite of Passage - My observations of how empowering birth leads to stronger, more capable mothers.


Is "False Labor" Actually False? - My experience with false labor, including being sent home from the hospital three times!


Prenatal Classes and Personal Preparation Are Very Important for Childbirth - And it's important to choose the right one.


In Childbirth, Labor Pains Were Manageable Once I Shifted My Perspective - How my perception of labor pain made childbirth easier and a better overall experience.

Can You Succeed or Fail at Breastfeeding?

I recently read a blog post in which the author wrote about her plans to bring formula with her to the hospital when she went to have her baby. She talked about her plans to breastfeed partially and supplement with formula. It was her second baby and she planned to bring a good quality breast pump along with the formula.

I was surprised, and I couldn't understand why someone would make such a decision. I've always thought of breastfeeding as an all or nothing kind of thing.

It's not that I think that a woman struggling with breastfeeding has to quit and rely completely on artificial milk to feed her baby. I've done research about breastfeeding, and I understand that when an alternative feeding method is introduced it can jeopardize the breastfeeding relationship. Introducing another food, particularly shortly after birth, can cause the woman's body to not produce as much milk as her baby needs. Even if she breastfeeds partially her milk supply may come in later than it would if she were to nurse her baby full time, and it may not be sufficient to meet the demands of her baby. 

I've also had experiences with my own babies reacting badly to formula when a well-meaning person tried to feed them. One of my babies had diarrhea and stomach pains for weeks after one small formula feeding. For me the best option was to breastfeed my babies exclusively. It was the easiest and least expensive choice, and it worked well.

I felt that by planning from the get-go to bring formula to the hospital this woman was seting herself up for failure with breastfeeding. I'll make an analogy, if you will.

When I was pregnant with my first baby I wanted a natural birth but I wasn't prepared for it. I told myself that I would try to have a natural labor without medication, but that if it got too hard I might get the epidural. Guess what happened? The circumstances of my labor included Pitocin, and it was the first time I'd ever experienced labor contractions. I didn't have the support I needed or the preparation, and it got too hard for me. I got the epidural. It wasn't what I wanted, but I felt I had no other option at the time.

When I was expecting my second child I was resigned to the idea that I needed medication in order to give birth. I decided to take control of the situation and I went ahead and scheduled an induction and simply planned on getting the epidural. Why try for a natural birth if I was incapable of it?

During my third pregnancy I met my wonderful doula and confided in her about my wishes for a natural birth experience. I realized that with the information, preparation, and support from my doula I felt capable of attaining my goal. I also realized that in order for me to be able to do it, I had to take the option of an epidural completely off the table. That also meant avoiding Pitocin at all costs. I couldn't even give myself a back-up plan that included medication. My birth plan specified that the hospital staff were NOT to offer me any form of medication. It was through these changes that I finally reached my goal, and it was an incredibly empowering and rewarding experience.

I approach breastfeeding in much the same way. I never gave myself the option of giving my baby formula or anything else for that matter. I knew that my body was capable of producing what my baby needed. I'd seen my own mother breastfeed my siblings, and it was the only way I intended to feed my child. Anything short of that would have felt like failure.

This is where that blog post really made me think. I posted a comment to the author expressing my opinion that she was setting herself up for failure, and offering advice on what she could do to better ensure a successful breastfeeding experience with her baby. Her response surprised me. She expressed her opinion that breastfeeding is not something a woman succeeds or fails at, and that a mother should do her best to take care of herself and her baby. In her eyes, formula was an option that gave her some lenience in allowing others to help care for her infant and take some of the pressure off of her. She made it clear that she intended to both breastfeed and supplement with formula on a regular basis, and that she had no intention of trying to breastfeed exclusively. She didn't want her body to have to supply every feeding for her baby, and didn't mind that the formula feedings would keep it from being able to. This is what she wanted and what she felt was best.

How could I argue with that? Honestly, it's her decision and she has the full right to make choices for her child's care and upbringing. I couldn't fault her for doing what she honestly felt was best for her and her baby.

Then I got thinking. Is breastfeeding something that a woman either succeeds or fails at, or can there be a middle road? I've known countless women who have used a combination of nursing and supplementing, and although it's not the choice I would make personally, it's within their right to feed their baby as they see fit.

I can make argument after argument about why formula is not good for babies, and why exclusive breastfeeding is truly what every baby needs, but I can't expect everyone to agree with my point of view. We each have our own journey to travel, and we must make the choices we feel are best.

It took me two failures at natural birth to finally reach my goal. Does that make me a failure at birth? Does it mean I made bad choices?

It only means it was the path I was on. I made the choices I felt were best at the time, and all the knowledge I gained later couldn't change anything about any of it. I had to come to accept my past in order to fully look forward to the future.

Perhaps the particular blogger I spoke of will find “success” with breastfeeding, but who is to measure her success and what does that actually mean? Does a woman have to breastfeed her baby exclusively to be considered successful at feeding her infant? I think that would be placing a heavy burden on women all over the world. I think as long as she and her family are happy and healthy that's what really matters.

What do you think? Do you really succeed or fail at breastfeeding?

Finding the Right Breast Feeding Support

Please check out my latest article on the Pamper Pregnancy website:

Finding the Right Breast Feeding Support

Thoughts on Preterm Labor & Birth

This is a topic I've thought a lot about over the past few months. A friend of mine was experiencing contractions at 34 weeks gestation. She went into the hospital and underwent some tests. It was confirmed that she was actually in labor. It was also discovered that she had a urinary tract infection that triggered her body to start contracting. She was given antibiotics to resolve the UTI and was told that her labor would subside as a result.

I wonder how often an underlying infection is the cause for preterm labor?

When there's an infection, the pregnant woman's body has a defense mechanism to protect the baby from the infection: start labor to try and get the baby out.

It doesn't matter if it's 40 weeks into the pregnancy, or 20. The woman's body is designed to protect the baby.

Infections can be tricky things. A woman can have a UTI and not realize it because the symptoms can be subtle. I think many women in our culture are so busy that they're not tuned in to their body's signals. If we slow down, take care of ourselves and pay attention to how we feel, we can often sense when there is a problem and catch it before it becomes serious.

There are ways to prevent preterm labor, and scientists are feverishly trying to pinpoint them, particularly because preterm labor is becoming more common in this country. The United States recently received a "D" on the March of Dimes 2009 Premature Birth Report Card, and it's important that we do something to change the trend of preterm labor and birth. One study found that a woman's DNA can predispose her to preterm labor, but there are other factors as well.

For one thing, you can do your best to stay healthy and low-risk through proper nutrition and exercise. This can help you avoid an infection that could trigger early labor. Proper nutrition can also help avoid preeclampsia and toximia, which are often culprits for prompting early induction resulting in possible preterm babies.

One thing I personally believe would make a big difference is for women to tune in with their bodies. Take some time each day to check in with yourself. How are you feeling? Do you have energy, or are you struggling to get things done? What did you eat, and how did that affect how you were feeling? Did you drink plenty of clear fluids? Did you do something for you today? Are you happy? Do you have an overall feeling of well-being, or does it feel like something may be out of balance? Often, how you feel emotionally can be a signal of how things are going in your body, and a woman's intuition can really clue her in to some possible problems. I'm a true believer in intuition, and I've personally been working on listening more closely to my intuition and acting on even the smallest promptings I feel. I'm finding my life goes a little smoother and I'm better able to handle things when I pay attention to what my body and my feelings are trying to tell me.

This process of checking in with yourself can take as little or as much time as you have. It can be 2 minutes, or 2 hours. It can involve deep, focused breathing and meditation, or just a quick mental checklist. Find what works for you, and try it.

What do you think? Does any of this seem to fit together, or am I way out there?

Preeclampsia And Toximia Preventable With Good Nutrition

Many doctors will tell you they don't know what causes Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension, Preeclampsia or Toximia. While in some cases this is true, many times these potentially serious pregnancy complications can be prevented simply by getting proper nutrition during pregnancy.

Ina May Gaskin, in her book, "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth", explains it well:

"In telling you that toxemia can be prevented, I have given you the good news. The not-so-good news is that the techno-medical model of birth does not recognize any connection between toxemia and poor nutrition. The assumption about toxemia underlying this model of birth is that it doesn't matter what a pregnant woman eats or drinks, because her baby is somehow able to extract what it needs from her, regardless of how poorly she eats. One of the most important reasons for this missed connection between good nutrition and good health is that obstetricians receive virtually no training in nutrition during their medical and clinical education. Instead, they continue to be taught that the cause of toxemia is unknown and that it cannot be prevented.

"...Within the techno-medical model of care, the favorite ways of dealing with toxemia today include "treatment" by early delivery, whether by induction of labor or planned cesarean section, and the prescription of magnesium sulfate, Valium (diazepam), or calcium.

"Tom Brewer, author of "Metabolic Toxemia of Late Pregnancy," is a U.S. family practice physician who has devoted his life and career to understanding the cause of toxemia and to educating women and caregivers about how to prevent it. Between 1963 and 1976, he ran a prenatal-care project in Contra Costa County, California, for a population of over seven thousand mothers from the lowest income group in the San Francisco Bay Area. By all odds, most of the women in this population would have been considered likely candidates for developing toxemia and having low-birth-weight babies. In similar populations during the same period, the incidence of toxemia ranged between twenty and thirty-five percent. That is not what happened in the Contra Costa County project, where because of Brewer's intensive work, the women received extensive nutritive counseling during pregnancy. There, the incidence of toxemia was only 0.5 percent, with no cases of convulsive toxemia. The published results of this study convinced many midwives but few physicians or researchers, ostensibly because Brewer's work was not based upon randomized controlled trials. This research method (in which women are assigned by chance to groups receiving different treatments, whose outcomes are then compared by researchers unaware of the group to which each woman belongs) is often called the 'gold standard' of research because it is designed to eliminate bias. However, the problem with applying it to the thesis that good nutrition can prevent most cases of toxemia is that IT REQUIRES THE DELIBERATE MALNUTRITION OR STARVATION OF A GROUP OF WOMEN to be compared with a group of well-nourished women [emphasis mine]. Unfortunately, in the modern world of techno-medicine, cures and treatments involving drugs and surgery are often more researched and quickly accepted by most obstetricians than are preventative measures.

"Gardeners know that you must nourish the soil if you want healthy plants. You must water plants adequately, especially when seeds are germinating and sprouting, and they should be planted in a nutrient-rich soil. Why should nutrition matter less in the creation of young humans than it does in young plants? I'm sure that it doesn't. Farmers, ranchers, and veterinarians know that pregnant animals must be well-fed and given enough water and salt to give the best chance of survival to their young. It doesn't make sense that the human species could be the only one whose newborns have the power to extract from their mothers nutrients that their mothers aren't eating themselves.

"I know of no zookeeper who would feed pregnant animals in zoos junk food and expect optimally healthy young to be born. Common sense says that eating well is a good idea."

For more information, please see the following blog posts and site:

Preeclampsia, Toximia, HELLP Syndrome and Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension

Staying Healthy and Low-Risk: Pregnancy/Prenatal Diet & Nutrition

The Dr. Brewer Pregnancy Diet

15 Breastfeeding Myths Explained

Does Breastfeeding hurt?

Are breastfed babies healthier than formula-fed babies?

Does food the mother eats affect the breastfed baby?


These questions, and more, are explained in this article:

15 breast-feeding myths explained

It's a short article, clear and concise, and helps explain the truth about breastfeeding.