• Last updated 5/5/13 by Marcy Axness

Mothers, some of the most potent parental influence you will have on your child takes place while he or she is still in your womb -- so let's hope that most of your days while pregnant are Happy Mother's Days! While you are pregnant, your baby’s organs and tissues develop in direct response to lessons they receive about the world. These lessons come from your diet, your behavior and your state of mind -- thereby hinting at the function of joy in pregnancy.   If there is chronic stress in pregnancy, if a pregnant mother’s thoughts and emotions are persistently... read more

• Last updated 5/2/13 by Cynthia Mosher

By Cathe Olson     My rule for pregnant women is that each meal or snack have protein, fat, and complex carbs. This should help your blood sugar to stay constant, slow down the digestion of the foods, and give you energy. Here's a list of snack ideas I have compiled: -Whole grain toast with tahini or cream cheese and banana slices -Toasted English muffins with cottage cheese and fresh fruit slices -Whole grain bagel with almond butter, mashed avocado, or cream cheese -Crackers with nut/seed butter or cheese -Hard-boiled egg with crackers or... read more

• Last updated 5/2/13 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

• 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 4/17/13 by Melanie Mayo

By Megan Leary   Out of all of my hippie ways, I surprisingly get the fewest inquiries as to why I decided to birth from home.  My theory is that people have already decided that homebirth is a bad thing and do not want to broach the topic in order to avoid awkwardness.  However, if you are one of these people I want you, most of all, to ask me about my decision.  If you have a hard time understanding why a mother might choose to homebirth, it is likely you are drawing conclusions about birthing at home from assumptions that are simply not true.    The most... read more

• Last updated 4/7/13 by AdinaL

Mothering staffers gathered yesterday for a baby shower for Simone Snyder (who among other crucial things manages ad traffic for us), due in a couple of weeks. We’ll be posting a slide show of the shower on Mothering.com soon, but in the meantime, that’s us in Marketing Director Elizabeth Carovillano’s back yard. Left to right, back row: Jennifer Bartlit, Lally McMahon, Simone Snyder, Peggy O’Mara, Kristina Morris-Heredia. Kneeling: Elizabeth Carovillano, Melyssa Holik, me.   Tags: baby shower, elizabeth carovillano,... read more

• Last updated 4/7/13 by AdinaL

“Ping!” You’re due. Like a Thanksgiving turkey. Like an oil change. You. Are. Due. What is in a due date anyway? One particular date? Out of 365 days of the year, this is thee day you are due. (Okay, okay, I know…it’s not really 365…it’s more like 280 or something.) Due with what? Ahhh…on second thought, let’s not go there…that’s another Oprah. Due dates are only accurate five percent of the time. I read this once. So…in other words…..due dates are inaccurate ninety-five percent of the time. Fabulous system. All the more justification for... read more

• Last updated 4/7/13 by AdinaL

After almost every prenatal visit when I was pregnant with my first child I would cry. The midwives in the only practice our student insurance would pay for were so mean that we ended up switching to the doctors. When I refused what I considered nonsensical testing, they would look at me sternly and say things like, “You’re going to buy yourself a C-section if you don’t do the glucose tolerance test.” Without telling us why, my favorite doctor in the practice (a young woman with two small children herself) ordered an “emergency ultrasound” when I was eight... read more

• Last updated 4/7/13 by AdinaL

Peggy and I were talking the other day about how we need a new way to describe when a baby is due. Due “date” is something of a misnomer, since a healthy baby can safely be born two weeks (or more) before that date or two weeks (or more) afterwards. Some women gestate longer than others and often labor is unnecessarily induced by artificial means that lead to a cascade of iatrogenic problems. What should we call it? Due season? Due time? Due month? One blogger suggests calling it a “due window.” It’s easy to be mistaken about the date of... read more

• Last updated 4/7/13 by AdinaL

I snuggled in bed with my 6-year-old son Etani last Saturday and we decided to watch some home birth videos on the Internet. In order to feel prepared for this labor, I’ve been reading everything I can about home birth, practicing breathing and vocalizing, visualizing the kind of birth I hope to have, and talking to my kids a lot about what to expect. Etani wants to be there. He says he doesn’t want to be involved but that he’ll peek around from the door and watch. My daughter Athena, who’s eight, also wants to be at the birth. My oldest daughter, who turned... read more