• Last updated 9/22/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Cynthia OvergardIssue 145, November/December 2007 The summer I learned I was pregnant, the notion of making a commitment to natural delivery in a birth center—without doctors or pain relief of any kind on the premises—was furthest from my mind. Like many other newly pregnant women, I reluctantly envisioned my hospital birth to mirror that of every other actual and fictitious birth I had ever heard about: Agonized and disoriented, I would be rushed urgently into a medical scene amid bright lights, confusing equipment, and an assortment of intense, unfamiliar faces. I... read more

• Last updated 6/14/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Robert Thacher (a.k.a. fat bobby)Web Exclusive - November 24, 2007 My wife Erica went into labor with our first child, at 11:30 PM on a Friday night. We were exhausted when her labor began, and fortunately we had no inkling that her labor would last for 25 hours. As neophyte expectant parents, we were at once overprepared and hapless; we brought what seemed like trunkloads of extraneous items with us to the hospital, including books, playing cards, massage oil—and all would go unused. The one invaluable accoutrement that we brought, however, was an iPod seeded with... read more

• Last updated 9/28/10 by Mothering Editorial

Third Trimester Common Concerns Trouble with sleep: One of the most common problems for women in their third trimester of pregnancy is sleep, or lack of it, to be precise. It is reported that fully 97 percent of pregnant women fail to sleep through the night, according to researchers at St. Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania. Your sleep positions have probably become limited to lying on your sides. The baby’s movements might wake you up, or you might feel pressure on your bladder, causing you to use the bathroom more frequently.Try these ideas: Try to get a little... read more

• Last updated 6/6/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Esty SchachterWeb Exclusive - June 2007 "Do you want some juice?" My baby may have been on his way out, but the hospital staff was offering me refreshments. I was in labor, in one of many triage rooms in a Boston city hospital, about to give birth to my second son. I had spent the day walking around our apartment building with my husband, Jon, contractions coming and going with no real pattern. When my water broke and I could no longer speak in full sentences, the doctor on call for my practice told me that I might as well come in, but he sounded unconvinced. The... read more

• Last updated 10/12/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Wendy Correa Issue 112 May/June 2002 On a bright May morning, 17-year-old Matthew Smith and his 15-year-old sister Emily watched their mother, Elaine, give birth to their baby sister Katherine. Until the early 20th century, this would have been a very common family event in rural America. But this was 1993, in Chicago, and the setting was not a hospital but the Smiths' own home.  Matthew and Emily themselves were born in hospitals. Both births had been induced with pitocin; for Emily's birth, Elaine was flat on her back, feet in stirrups, attached to a myriad of... read more

• Last updated 5/27/10 by Mothering Editorial

Medical indications for inducing labor may include, but are not limited to, the following conditions in either mother or baby: High blood pressure Premature rupture of the membranes Maternal infection or medical problems, such as diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, or chronic pulmonary disease Suspected fetal jeopardy Fetal death Severe blood incompatibility Severe pre-eclampsia or toxemia Postdate pregnancy, where there is a proven danger to the baby Source: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists read more

• Last updated 5/30/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Katie SilbermanWeb Exclusive, January 28, 2008 That thing they warn you about: it happened to me. I got pregnant. I was thrilled. I told a bunch of family and friends—and then I lost the baby in my second month. I had to untell a whole lot of people. That story was swirling around in my head. You know the one. The one "They" always say about how you're "not supposed to tell people too soon." I always hated that one. I hated it when my sister would whisper that her friends were pregnant, and then warn me, "...they're not telling people yet." It seemed so negative and... read more

• Last updated 3/15/13 by mamazee

“My daughter still tells me we should never have had children when we did,” a friend confides, remembering how broke she and her husband were when their oldest was born, how far from town they lived, and how she used to haul baskets of dirty cloth diapers 17 miles to the laundry mat since they had no running water in their cabin. Another friend, Steph Auteri, has recently launched a relationship blog on YourTango (where she also works as an editor) where she’s chronicling her decision to become a mom. In today’s post she asks the question, “Is there a... read more

• Last updated 3/3/11 by Mothering Editorial

By Joanne RendellWeb Exclusive - September 22, 2008 Over the last few years, the publishing industry has given birth to a new genre: mommy lit. Jennifer Weiner's Little Earthquakes, Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic and Baby, Jane Green's Babyville, Emily Giffin's Something Blue, and Risa Green's Notes from the Underbelly (to name a few) have arrived in bookstores with their glossy covers and tales of pregnancy and contemporary motherhood. Whether the authors like it or not, their books have been given the moniker mommy lit—usually by reviewers who see such works as an... read more

• Last updated 5/30/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Carmella Van Vleet Web Exclusive I once read a book by a man who had lost a young son. He described his grief as a wave, or as something that, if you turned your back to it, could sneak up and bite you on the ankles or swallow you up whole. At the time it was simply a curious image that I played with; it didn't resonate in me until I had a miscarriage. Baby number three, like my first two children, and indeed everything in my life, was well planned. My husband, Jim, and I had known about the pregnancy only a short time when the spotting started. Everyone did their... read more