• Last updated 3/7/13 by mamazee

In December I visited a labor and delivery ward at a prominent hospital in Boston. There were four women in active labor while I was there. They were all young and healthy with no risk factors of any kind. Three were having their first baby. One was having her second. One was a vaginal forceps delivery after the woman was given an epidural and pitocin (a synthetic hormone that mimics oxytocin and is used to intensify contractions) and had spent most of the labor and two hours pushing flat on her back, one was a vaginal delivery with a second... read more

• Last updated 3/7/13 by mamazee

“Birth” in Boston, Massachusetts, 2007   If you’re a mom with young kids any mention of bodily parts and their sounds – butt farts, mouth burps – has the potential to produce roars of laughter that could be heard on a boat off the Swahili coast of Lamu. In 2005 when I wrote my play “Birth”, a portrait of how low-risk mothers are giving birth in America today, the cesarean rate was 25% and rising. Not hugely uplifting material to present to an audience. I needed a laugh desperately. And that’s when I met a mother who gave me playwright... read more

• Last updated 3/6/13 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

• Last updated 3/6/13 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

• Last updated 3/3/13 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

• Last updated 3/1/13 by mamazee

In the last post here at Mothering Outside the Lines we were talking about how to have an empowered labor and delivery. You might have noticed that I did not suggest taking a childbirth class to prepare. In her book, Misconceptions, Naomi Wolf writes about how many childbirth instructors are actually employed by hospitals. If they aren’t being paid directly (as many of them are), they are getting their clients through hospital referrals. Instead of giving true information and really empowering first-time moms, these instructors are often... read more

• Last updated 3/1/13 by mamazee

  The safest way for a baby to be born is vaginally but the C-section rate in this country is skyrocketing. American women are starting to protest. If doctors don't let them do VBACs in the hospital, they're choosing to have their babies at home instead. Last week we were talking about nursing past three and I’ve been reading through all of the comments now that Baby Leone and I are back from a hectic week in Boston. Thank you to those who weighed in on extended nursing. I’ve been fascinated to read the discussion that series started and I’m inspired... read more

• Last updated 3/1/13 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

• Last updated 2/25/13 by Kristen Tea

  Reposted with permission from MotherWise     For some people, announcing a pregnancy is a happy, exciting time.  Many soon-to-be mothers experience joyous reactions, hugs, happy tears, high-fives, and other loving, encouraging responses.  Others are not so fortunate, and it seems that an etiquette guide is in order.   I am a single parent, and although I was 23 and had a good job at a library, most of the responses I received when I told people I was pregnant were insensitive and inconsiderate.  It appeared that the main focus was that I was unmarried,... read more

• Last updated 2/25/13 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