"I became a mother when I was twenty-one, and had a c-section with twins. I didn’t know a lot about childbirth at that time, except for the fact that I was terrified of it. I knew my life was about to change in a drastic way, and everything about that was new and...
"Understanding that pregnancy is not just a physical transition but one that affects every aspect of your life, a midwife creates time to dive into how the pregnancy is going. You are seated in a comfy chair and genuinely asked "how are you coping with this...
Elliot: Welcome to the Informed Pregnancy and Parenting Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Elliot Berlin. My guest today is a nutritionist and founder of medicinal mushroom-focused company, Fungirl, who is currently pregnant with her first child and planning a home birth...
"The difference between pregnancy and any other time of life is that you are in a body that is constantly changing. That means that the context of your risks, as well as the level of risk and what the potential treatment plan could be, is always changing. Staying up...
" If your cervix is dilated, your physician may offer you a membrane sweep, which is basically a bit of a massage of the baby's head. This is not harmful to you or your baby. The membrane sweep feels like a longer cervical check; this can be uncomfortable but should...
" During that time, I had a lot of time to think. Perhaps too much time. Sometimes the thoughts were heavy and difficult to endure. Sometimes the thoughts were questions I would try to work through. One such question began as a plague and ended as a treasure."...
** This is a repost of a classic Informed Pregnancy Article " Some signs and symptoms that should always trigger a call to your medical provider include any sign of dehydration, dizziness, dark-colored or infrequent urination, vomit containing blood, fever, abdominal...
*This is a sponsored post. "Modern food processing depletes food of naturally-occurring enzymes, and oftentimes pregnant mamas don’t produce enough themselves. That’s what taking a pregnancy-safe digestive enzyme supplement can help." With the holidays around the...
"This isn’t part of my plan. I’m supposed to be pregnant by now!” Stubbornly, (did I mention I’m Ukrainian?) I refused to accept that I had a medical issue that I couldn’t plan to resolve on my own, so I spent the next nine months decanting smelly herbs, working with...
" God bless my wife, then came the hard part. The embryos arrived at the clinic and our doctor began the workup with injections and tests. It was a whirlwind of emotions but with guidance from our doctor, all went as planned. A few short weeks later we were ready for...
**This is a repost of a classic Informed Pregnancy article. "Stress is also implicated in decreased birth weight. The hormones that are released in a chronic stress state affect blood vessel constriction and may decrease the appetite of the mother, in turn affecting...
**This is a repost of a classic Informed Pregnancy article. "For a few weeks before my son Levi was born, I experienced prodromal labor nightly. I’d go to bed hoping to be awoken by ‘the real thing,’ only to wake up the next morning still pregnant and disappointed....