• Last updated 11/16/12 by Melanie Mayo

A freestanding birth center is a facility devoted solely to the care of pregnant and laboring women. It is not physically attached to a hospital, although some are hospital-owned.   Reasons To Choose A Freestanding Birth Center The National Association of Childbearing Centers reports birth centers to be as safe as hospital births-with the added benefit of a significantly lower rate of cesarean sections. Birth centers, which generally service low-risk pregnancies, average only 4.4 percent c-sections, less than half the rate for low-risk women in hospital... read more

• Last updated 10/9/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Vicky York, IBCLC, CPDWeb Exclusive There is a growing trend toward hiring a postpartum doula to spend the night with a family after the birth of their newborn. Although it is wise to support a newly delivered mother's need for rest after birth, the financial cost to families for this service is great; therefore other key needs for this time period are being set aside. When a family chooses night help, which usually costs $175-$250 per night, they often feel they can't additionally afford to pay a doula during the day. The family then misses out on guidance with... read more

• Last updated 3/14/13 by mamazee

Joy Szabo got some bad news when she was seven months pregnant. Because she had had a previous C-section, the hospital where she was planning to deliver would not let her have a vaginal birth with her fourth child. Szabo’s story is written up on CNN’s Website (if you watch TV, you may have seen it on CNN as well): “Mom fights, gets the delivery she wants.” But the title of the article is misleading. The hospital and the doctor did not change their policy after the Szabos insisted. Instead, Szabo and her husband had to move six hours away to... read more

• Last updated 9/29/10 by Mothering Editorial

Change the microbial population in your body from bad to good by eating a probiotic diet, rich in fermented foods and beverages like kefir and cultured veggies. They are loaded with beneficial microflora that help conquer infections long before your baby is born. Fermented or probiotic foods are much more potent than probiotic supplements like acidophilus. Not a valued part of the American diet, has been traditionally eaten for thousands of years in various cultures around the world.When a mother includes fermented foods daily in her diet both before and during her... read more

• Last updated 12/6/09 by Mothering Editorial

By Amy Bush Bradley Web Exclusive - February 6, 2009 The children of today's world arguably present new and interesting challenges in comparison with the children of decades past. Parents sometimes believe they are more argumentative and disrespectful, and, at times, violent.The media and medical industries have both propagated the perceived negativity, and there are some who just throw their hands up in despair. "What is happening with our youth?" they cry. Rooted in dreams of the planet's children becoming happy, successful members of society, the concerns are valid.... read more

• Last updated 10/13/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Levita D. Mondie-Sapp Web Exclusive For me You are life So I asked for your remains Despite their policy to keep and examine After all, youwere sent through me And for at least sixty-three days I knew you were coming And only the day before yesterday I imagined you sitting in a high chair at the dinner table with me, daddy,and your sisters making slobbery faces But this morning theysucked out all the traces And planned to discard the“material” But I asked for you For ceremony and ritual: Libation at dawn Names called from Great Grandma Willie To Grandpa Tom Seeds of... read more

• Last updated 3/31/13 by mamazee

Our newborn daughter with the cord and placenta still attached When I first read about lotus birth—which is the term people use for not cutting the cord but instead letting the placenta detach naturally from the baby—I thought it sounded … kind of gross. I was dismayed with myself for having such a close-minded reaction. I decided I should challenge my own assumptions and find out more about why some people choose to do it. One local midwife’s said it’s done for “spiritual reasons.” She mentioned that people usually salt the placenta and put... read more

• Last updated 2/15/10 by Mothering Editorial

After two beautiful vaginal births, my third child was born via in labor non-emergency C-section due to persistent frank breech. I am now 15 weeks pregnant with my fourth child. I am excitedly planning for a VBAC delivery. Do you recommend that VBACs be performed in the hospital, or is homebirth a viable alternative? My uterus was close in two layers, and I know the chance of rupture is very small, but everyone I talk to says that I must deliver in the hospital. I would love your perspective on the matter.Since you had two 'beautiful vaginal births' before having an... read more

• Last updated 3/29/13 by Momsteader

1. Your feet may get a half shoe size bigger, and stay that way. 2. If you travel on an airplane, your husband’s ankles may get swollen during the flight. That’s what happened to my friend Emily and her husband when they took a trip during her third trimester. 3. Your hair might fall out, like my friend Annette’s did. She thought she had a terminal disease but actually she was pregnant. 4. Or your hair might get thick and shiny and gorgeous. But it’s not yours. Once the baby comes you will start losing it in clumps. 5. You may not... read more

• Last updated 3/29/13 by Momsteader

Author’s note: Our new baby was born at home in our bedroom a week ago this Wednesday without a birth attendant present. This is the last installment of the story of how we came to choose an unassisted birth. If you’re visiting the blog for the first time, the story begins here. When you’re expecting your fourth child and you’re past the due date, you become convinced that the baby will be a full-grown adult before coming into the world, which is why I pretended I wasn’t in labor for about 12 hours of regular but light contractions. My uterus had been... read more