• Created on 2/10/11 by AdinaL

I am a breastfeeding, co-sleeping, babywearing, cloth diapering, organic-food-only-serving, lactivist, intactivist, attachment parenting, natural-living mother & I didn’t give birth at home, with a midwife, at a free-standing birthing center, or even without the use of medication. I am very grateful for my birth experience & challenged by it as well.  My son was born healthy, vaginally.  I have dear friends who had traumatic birth experiences & I’ve read about birth rape, but I still stall over my memories of my birth experience.  Of course I have never... read more

• Created on 2/8/11 by AdinaL

Optimizing comfort during labor and birth can be achieved in many different ways: Environment: -- dim lights -- peaceful surroundings -- privacy -- music -- familiar objects Physical: -- walking -- pelvic rocking -- positioning pillows for comfort -- slow dancing with partner -- sitting on birth ball and swaying -- lifting up the abdomen -- "rebozo" sifting -- support from birth partner(s) Touch: -- massage -- stroking -- cuddling -- counterpressure against lower back -- acupressure Heat: -- deep tub bath -- shower -- heated rice... read more

• Created on 1/16/11 by Momsteader

Just when I was about to go crazy from the cold weather, I left town for California. My first morning, I took a long walk in the sun and then stopped by a coffee bar. As I unfolded the weekend edition of the Santa Monica Daily Press, I came across an article about a local spa that was offering an infertility treatment I’d never heard of before: a vaginal steam bath. Apparently, chai-yok (the official name) is a Korean remedy to help women get pregnant. In all the years I’ve been trying to conceive, I’ve come across a ton of unusual holistic fertility... read more

• Created on 1/15/11 by Mothering Editorial

By Linda Woolven Web Exclusive For centuries, herbs have been used around the world to treat problems related to pregnancy. Vitamins and minerals also have a role to play in helping pregnant women with some of the more serious problems that conventional medicine has no help for, like toxemia. Let's take a look at how certain herbs and vitamins can make pregnancy safer and more enjoyable. Supreme Tonic for Pregnancy Red raspberry has been called the "herb supreme" for pregnancy. A wonderful tonic that helps to prepare the uterus for birth, relaxing and relieving cramps,... read more

• Created on 1/13/11 by Mothering Editorial

By Peggy O'Mara Nausea and vomiting, the most common conditions of pregnancy, affect up to 80 percent of all pregnant women. Commonly called “morning sickness,” nausea and vomiting can occur throughout the day. Rarely does this cause problems for mother or baby, and most often it resolves itself around the 12th week of pregnancy, when levels of the pregnancy hormone Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) plateau. Ninety percent of nausea and vomiting is relieved by the 22nd week of pregnancy. For a small percentage of pregnant women, however, there is no relief.... read more

• Created on 1/13/11 by mamazee

Maybe you’ve already read this disturbing article on Time.com about a presumably infertile Australian couple that announced this week that they have aborted healthy twin boys because they want to have a girl? The unnamed couple already has three healthy boys. They’ve been doing IVF treatments. They had a baby daughter who died soon after birth. Though we don’t know much about them, we know part of their story because they’re bringing their case to an Australian court. Sex selection is illegal in Australia but the couple is petitioning to... read more

• Created on 1/13/11 by Mothering Editorial

As you prepare for your baby’s birth, the third trimester is a good time to start observing a Soul Day, a holy day for your family. In the Jewish tradition, the Sabbath is a day in which things are to be left as they are, a day for being- not doing. Follow this tradition or embellish your own. Choose one day of the week to be your family’s Soul Day. Do whatever you feel like doing. Stay in your pajamas all day. Don’t answer the phone or go anywhere. Turn off the television. Putter around the house and eat small meals all day long. Take a long nap.... read more

• Created on 1/9/11 by Momsteader

Ernest Hemingway was having lunch with several writers when he bet them he could write an entire novel in just six words. He friends scoffed. Hemingway asked each of them to put $10 in the pot. If he was right, he’d win the money. If he was wrong, he would match the pot. On a napkin, he scrawled the tale: For sale: baby shoes. Never worn. The debate rages on about whether Hemingway actually wrote this story or if it’s the stuff of legend, but when Hemingway gave his readers advice in his memoir A Moveable Feast, he said, “All you have to do is write... read more

• Created on 1/9/11 by Momsteader

I’ve read that cravings can start as soon as you’re pregnant, as soon as you conceive, in fact. I’ve also read that they don’t start some two or three weeks after conception, or even four, eight weeks-then again, maybe not at all. Of course, I’m no expert. I suppose it all depends on the individual. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I remember having a massive craving for pickled eggs. I would consume them by the quart jar. I had it made, because this woman I worked with previously, canned and preserved her own produce-including those pickled eggs.... read more

• Created on 1/3/11 by mamazee

I took a Mindfulness Birthing class during my first pregnancy. On the last day, our teacher guided us through a Metta Meditation, cultivating loving-kindness towards ourselves and our babies-to-be. Our teacher had us repeat intentions including, “May my baby be healthy,” “May my delivery be safe,” and “May my baby be happy.” In the spirit of the New Year of 2011, I invite you to participate in a collective moment of compassionate meditation. Feel free to add sentences in the comments sections. May my baby be healthy. May my baby be... read more