• Last updated 10/18/12 by Melanie Mayo

By Melissa Scholes Young Web Exclusive - September 8, 2008 "Oh! When are you due?" The stranger reaches over and grips my belly between both hands. There is rubbing. There is patting. A stranger's finger is caressing my belly button. "Any day now..." I muster a smile and jiggle my five-year-old's hand. I'm sending her a message that now would be the perfect time for an inappropriately loud question or a temper tantrum—anything to get me away from this inevitable conversation. "Is it a boy or a girl?" I want to tell the stranger it's an alien or better... read more

• Last updated 10/18/12 by Melanie Mayo

In part one we touched on such under-considered aspects as environmental toxins, nutrition, and immune issues that can have a negative effect on healthy fertility. (And commenter Anna helpfully added that there has been an association made in animal testing between GMO foods and infertility.) Two other fruitful areas to explore when faced with the dismaying diagnosis of unexplained infertility — or to optimally foster healthy fertility — are frequently overlooked entirely: electromagnetic fields, and the staggering power of our minds to influence our... read more

• Last updated 10/31/12 by Cynthia Mosher

Did you know that meditation can help provide the strength and courage necessary for an empowering labour? Better yet, it can have a profound impact on your growing baby’s consciousness. Read on to learn how to meditate and the benefits for pregnant women and their babies. First let’s talk about what meditation isn’t. Meditation isn’t about dressing in the latest Bye kids. Mom is going to her cave. yoga fashion and sitting on a mountaintop while birds chirp melodically and whales call out your name. It’s not about locking yourself away... read more

• Last updated 11/8/12 by Melanie Mayo

There are affirmations for birth and pregnancy and life in general.  There does however seem to be a dearth of motherhood affirmations.  And boy, I sure could use one ever now and again.  So here is one, just for you. I am a mother. Working each day to care, love, and teach. Then love some more. I reach for my children. They know that I am there. That I love them, accept them, as human beings. As precious. As important. I am constantly learning from them. From... read more

• Last updated 10/24/12 by emilyfrischmann

Arek Akot Mawien after giving birth to her daughter Ajok. (Photo: Peter Biro/IRC) AWEIL, South Sudan – Ripping up clouds of red dust, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) ambulance flies along the potholed roads leading to the South Sudanese town of Aweil. Inside, 19-year-old Arek Mawien lies on a stretcher grimacing in pain as she struggles to give birth to her first baby. “She came into our health center yesterday and has been in labor for 24 hours,” explains Joseph Remi, the IRC’s health manager in the isolated village of Malualkon,... read more

• Last updated 10/18/12 by Melanie Mayo

Maybe you’ve been trying for a year or more to get pregnant and it’s not happening. Maybe you’ve gotten checked out and been given that frustrating non-diagnosis of medically unexplained infertility. They don’t know what’s wrong. You don’t know what’s wrong. What you do know is that you just want to get pregnant! Once fertility treatment came into its own around twenty years ago, that is where the attention and research money for infertility went. Reproductive medicine has become a major industry — that is to say, the business of getting you pregnant through... read more

• Last updated 7/5/12 by Mothering Editorial

By Sirena Van SchaikIssue 150, September-October 2008 Becoming a mother is exciting and terrifying. First-time mothers are cast in a new role, and although they may have been preparing for it for months, many are overwhelmed by a newborn’s needs and demands. Life revolves around the new being in their lives, and there seems to be little time for even the necessities of life, let alone for pampering. However, this need not be so—there is time to be pampered, even to pamper yourself. self-care 101 Each day, do something you love. When my first child was born, I enjoyed... read more

• Last updated 7/5/12 by Mothering Editorial

By Debby Titlebaum Neuman Issue 141 - March-April 2007 When I was pregnant with my first child, I knew that I wanted to birth at home. I also knew that in Israel, a country with socialized medicine, homebirth was costly. We couldn't afford it. So I became determined to do whatever it took to have a "homebirth" in the hospital. As I began reading natural birthing literature, I resolved to tap into my instincts, connect with my child, and ensure a delivery free of intervention. I realized that my chances of natural birth were greater with the right doula. Luckily, I... read more

• Last updated 4/22/13 by Melanie Mayo

  Aqua Baby: Birthing at Home Following the wonderful advice of a friend, I went to visit a midwife for my pregnancy. Her office walls were covered with a multitude of photos of babies she'd helped to deliver. I knew I had made the right choice.               Feature Articles Candles Not Required I am not the product of hippie parents and I don't consider myself righteous. Yet my child was born at home. Intentionally. Preparing the House for... read more

• Last updated 10/31/12 by Cynthia Mosher

Moms and Dads, Who Is The Boss of You? The Force of Culture on Birth & Parenting Choices We all remember where we were when certain indelible events have happened in our country. This is because shock comes with biochemicals to make itself unforgettable, so we remember how to escape danger next time (think, saber-tooth tiger). I remember I was standing in my kitchen watching George Bush’s State of the Union address when he introduced as one of the United States’ most laudable figures Julie Aigner-Clark, the founder of Baby Einstein. As I freely... read more