Recent Pregnancy Blog | Birthing Options Posts

Top Tips for Creating a Birth Plan

by Kim Neyer

22 Sep 2010 08:51 PM

Today's blog topic comes from Elizabeth Stein, a women's health expert and certified nurse midwife of 25 years.

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C-Section Rates Are Higher Than Ever

by Kim Neyer

31 Aug 2010 07:37 PM

I can't believe how common cesarean sections are these days. According to an article published on businessweek.com, nearly one in three deliveries are via c-section. That is a scary number. Women's bodies are meant to delivery vaginally and cesareans should only be performed in emergencies.

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Alternative Birth Apparel

by Kim Neyer

10 May 2010 12:21 PM

As soon as you arrive to the hospital, you are given a bag for your personal belongings and the notorious hospital gown, which is essentially a sheet with snap sleeves and tie strings. Five minutes after putting it on, you realize how annoying they are.

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Choosing a Labor Support Person

by Kim Neyer

08 Mar 2010 09:21 AM

No one should ever have to give birth alone. Whether it is a husband, a mother, a sister, a doula or a friend present - the importance of a personal labor support person is paramount. Labor is scary at times and the pain can make it difficult to speak or think clearly.

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Pitocin

by Kim Neyer

Occasionally it becomes necessary to medically induce labor. A women might appear to be "stuck" in latent labor, she may be too far past her estimated due date, her blood pressure might be too high (hypertension), or the baby might be experiencing fetal distress.

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The Hospital: What to Bring vs. What to Borrow

by Kim Neyer

While it is recommended that you pack a bag for your stay at the hospital when you have a baby; it's not completely necessary. A lot of items will be given to you.

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Who Should Deliver Your Baby?

by Kim Neyer

When I was searching for a health care provider at the beginning of my pregnancy, I chose a obstetrician without a second thought. The list of covered providers for my insurance did not include any midwives and I assumed that using one would require giving birth at home.

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Please Let Me Eat!

by Kim Neyer

I'm having my next baby in the Netherlands. I'm joking, but seriously, I just read that laboring women are allowed to eat in the Netherlands and when I was in labor, I wasn't allowed to touch food for twelve hours. It was about fifteen hours before I actually got to eat something.

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Should You Do a VBAC?

by Kim Neyer

If you have had a prior cesarean, you may assume that you have to have another, but if you have a healthy pregnancy and your past cesarean was a low vertical incision, VBAC is an option for you. VBAC stands for vaginal birth after cesarean.

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Then and Now: Obstetrics

by Kim Neyer

Around the 1930s, most women switched from giving birth at home with a midwife, to giving birth at a hospital with an obstetrician. Unfortunately, at this point in history, women were still better off delivering at home. In the 1930s, 1 in a 150 pregnancies resulted in maternal death.

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