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Pregnancy
While a vaginal delivery is often the goal for most mothers-to-be, there are a few scenarios where that just isn’t possible. Sometimes this only becomes obvious in labor, when a baby is not fitting through the birth canal or his heart rate shows...
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Blog
When one hospital in California was found to be performing a higher-than-average number of C-sections, an insurance company stepped in and led to some big changes. They said that unless this hospital could lower their number of surgical births,...
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Pregnancy
In a perfect world, labor always goes smoothly and every mom is able to have a quick, painless vaginal delivery. The reality, however, is that sometimes issues arise during labor that make a C-section necessary. Furthermore, if a problem occurs...
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Pregnancy
If you’ve had a C-section before and are pregnant again, chances are you have been thinking about what your delivery will look like this time around. The good news is that your options are still open—but you should be aware of what your choices are...
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Pregnancy
Everyone knows that babies can arrive in one of two ways: vaginally or by C-section. But does that mean it’s a good idea to schedule a C-section so you can meet your baby once you are full-term? Or is it better to let nature take its course? In...
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Pregnancy
A research team at the University of Minnesota just delivered some news about cesarean sections: not only are C-sections the most common inpatient surgical procedure in the US, they are currently used in about one-third of all deliveries. While...
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Blog
A new study has been making the rounds on the news and social media outlets that you may have heard about, especially if you are pregnant. This study, called the ARRIVE trial, found that in low-risk women having their first baby, being induced in...
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Pregnancy
If you are pregnant and know you are going to be delivering by a cesarean section, it can be helpful to plan ahead for what your baby’s birthday is going to look like. Having the advantage of knowing you are going to be having surgery can get you a...
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Pregnancy
With about 30 percent of women in the United States delivering by C-section, it is important to be able to separate fact from fiction when it comes to this method of delivery. Whether you know ahead of time that you are having a planned C-section...
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Pregnancy
It is important to fully understand why a scheduled C-section is recommended as opposed to a trial of labor. While it is true that in some instances a C-section may be recommended, certain criteria should be used in making this decision to avoid...
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Pregnancy
If you know ahead of time that you are going to birth by having a C-section, you can use this time to prepare emotionally, physically, and logistically. When you come home from the hospital you will not only be mastering the art of new parenting,...
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Pregnancy
Unless you’ve done it before, it can be hard to know how to prepare for a C-section. Fortunately, a little advance planning (if you’re having a scheduled C-section) can help make things go more smoothly. If you are having a planned C-section, you...
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Blog
The goal of most mothers is to deliver a happy, healthy baby on or close to her due date. For about two-thirds of women in the United States, this happens via a vaginal delivery. But for the 25 to 30 percent of moms who deliver by Cesarean section,...
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Pregnancy
Welcome to Week 39! You probably noticed you still haven’t gotten much bigger since last week. You hit near your peak weight a week or two ago, so now it’s just about keeping comfortable and waiting for labor to begin. It could be anytime this...
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Pregnancy
Having a baby can be an expensive proposition, but not all childbirths cost the same. In general, you can expect to pay more for a C-section—but not always. When comparing a vaginal delivery versus a scheduled C-section, there are a few factors...
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Pregnancy
A review of babies born via caesarean section has some possibly sobering news: they might be at slightly higher risk for developing autism spectrum disorders. The review, published in 2014 in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, examined...
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Pregnancy
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Blog
While we tend to celebrate mothers every day, we know this weekend is a big one, so we’re throwing in some extra goodies for the big day. Happy Mother’s Day! 1. Hello, Princess! Hi Charlotte Elizabeth Diana! The royal newborn’s...
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Pregnancy
The good news is that, by 37 weeks, only 3–4 percent of babies remain in the breech (bottom-down) position. This means that the majority of the time, babies are head-down in preparation for delivery. But what happens if they remain breech? Here are...
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Blog
When it comes to cord blood banking, having a C-section changes everything! Unlike vaginal births, C-sections are major surgery performed under sterile conditions. Concerns about infection determine both who and what can be in the surgical area....
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Pregnancy
If you just found out you are pregnant and plan to see an obstetrician for your pregnancy and delivery (as opposed to other providers), you may be wondering how best to select the doctor who will be involved in this very important time in your...
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Pregnancy
When you are pregnant and deciding where you want to deliver your baby, most expectant parents think about many of the same things: How close is the hospital to my house? Does the doctor or midwife I like deliver there? Have my friends had babies...
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Pregnancy
A recent study done from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) shed some interesting light on how epidurals may impact the amount of time you’ll spend pushing your baby out. Even though we already knew that epidurals do prolong the...
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Pregnancy
Epidurals are a popular method of pain control for laboring women, but what are the risks? Is the pain relief worth it? Here are some of the specific questions women often have about epidurals. Will an epidural make my labor longer? Having an...
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Pregnancy
Most times, the placenta — which is the organ that your body specifically grows to help nourish your developing baby — attaches to the wall of the uterus for the duration of your pregnancy and detaches within minutes of giving birth. Sometimes,...
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Blog
Not too long ago, we ran an article on the dangers of water births, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified two cases of Legionnaires disease in babies delivered through a water birth. The infection was linked to...
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Pregnancy
When it comes to how your baby is positioned in the birth canal, being head down is the best way to be. Other positions (known as “presentations” in the medical community) are known as malpresentations. Some malpresentations may make a vaginal...
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Pregnancy
The abbreviation PPROM stands for preterm premature rupture of membranes. This is when the amniotic sac, or bag of waters, breaks before 37 weeks’ gestation and before labor has started. This complication affects approximately 3 percent of...
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Pregnancy
The most common procedure done on labor and delivery in the United States is electronic fetal monitoring, or EFM. This is when a monitor is applied on your abdomen in the form of a belt so that your baby’s heart rate can be heard and recorded. An...
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Pregnancy
It’s normal to be a little scared of the unknown, and giving birth is no exception. In this day and age, when everyone shares every detail of giving birth, it is not uncommon to hear horror stories and wonder if you can handle the labor and...
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Pregnancy
When you leave the hospital after delivering your baby, your doctor or midwife will send you home with paperwork that discusses what normal and abnormal recovery looks like. In case you misplace it (or you want to study ahead of time!), here are...
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Pregnancy
Toward the end of your pregnancy, you may feel like your baby is gaining a pound a day and will never come out! For some women, this concern of having a large baby is a very real one. But what exactly is considered “big” when it comes to babies,...
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Baby
Opiates include prescription medications like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and codeine. These medications are prescribed to many breastfeeding women for a variety of reasons, including pain control after undergoing a cesarean section. But is it really...
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Parenting
Let’s face it—whether you deliver vaginally or by C-section, your body will be different after you give birth. For many women (and men), one of the most pressing questions is how sex will be different after a little one arrives. 1. You may not want...
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Pregnancy
Chorioamnionitis is when an infection develops in the uterus during labor. This condition complicates 1-4 percent of all deliveries. Also known as intra-amniotic infection, the diagnosis is made when a mom develops a fever during labor and no other...
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Pregnancy
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Pregnancy
While the media seems to focus on how quickly celebrity moms bounce back after pregnancy, we are covering the more realistic way your body goes back to its pre-pregnancy state (hint: it’s not a matter of days, or even a few weeks!) and what you can...
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Blog
Starting when you were a little girl, you dreamt of the day you became a mother.Even the thought of how many children probably crossed your mind. If the thought of becoming a mother is wonderful, but the actual delivery part is terrifying,...
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Pregnancy
A placenta previa is when a portion of the placenta lies over the opening of a woman’s cervix. This complicates approximately 1 in every 200 births, and if you have a previa there are a few important things you should know as it can affect how you...
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Pregnancy
Induced labor is a procedure in which contractions are triggered prior to a woman going into labor on her own. Approximately 22 percent of labors in the United States begin this way. When should labor be induced? Labor induction should be reserved...
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Pregnancy
Every expectant mom has her list of what to bring to the hospital when she has her baby. And while that list is certainly important (don’t forget the car seat!), sometimes what not to bring is just as important. 1. Anything valuable. Here’s the...
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Pregnancy
When his wife gave birth to their son George in 2013, England’s Prince William ventured to a place most royal dads hadn’t gone before: the delivery room. For many decades, a dad’s place during delivery was in the waiting room. Today, however, it’s...
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Pregnancy
Medicine is rarely so straightforward that it can offer a “one size fits all” pattern. In fact, there is a reason it is called the “practice” of medicine or the “art” of medicine — because oftentimes a doctor or midwife needs to carefully consider...
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Baby
You may have spent almost every minute of the past two weeks with your baby. You’ve probably already started to adjust to your new schedule of waking and sleeping at strange times, and hopefully you’re almost an old pro already at the feeding...
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Pregnancy
It’s no secret that giving birth can be a painful endeavor. But a growing number of women are opting against using pain meds and epidurals during labor and instead trying to find more natural methods of combating contractions. One such method is...
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Baby
Congratulations! If you’re like most new parents, you’re in the middle of a whirlwind of new experiences and emotions right now, just days after the arrival of your new baby. It’s not uncommon for new parents to be simultaneously flooded with love...
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Toddler
Chocolate-coated granola bars? Fruit juice cocktail? White bread? These aren’t necessarily the foods that will get you or your family closer to being healthy. Yet, roll down the aisles of the grocery store, and you’ll be inundated with hundreds of...
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Baby
You may have spent almost every minute of the past two weeks with your baby. You’ve probably already started to adjust to your new schedule of waking and sleeping at strange times, and hopefully you’re almost an old pro already at the feeding...
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Pregnancy
A cervical exam tells your doctor or midwife a few things about your cervix. However, the number most pregnant women focus on is how open, or dilated, the cervix is. Sometimes it can be confusing to know exactly what this number really does (or...
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Baby
Group B Strep (GBS) is a normally harmless bacteria commonly found in the human digestive tract. But this little bug has a darker side: in pregnant women, it can migrate to vaginal region where it can cause serious complications in a newborn after...
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Pregnancy
With up to one-third of pregnant women delivering by Cesarean section in the United States, it’s important to know what to expect when it comes to your recovery after a Cesarean delivery. Being sent home with an incision on your belly can add to...
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Pregnancy
After giving birth to your baby, the placenta naturally separates from the wall of the uterus as it is no longer needed. However, this sometimes occurs before your baby is born. This premature separation of the placenta from the uterus is called...
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Pregnancy
As you’re nearing the final weeks, labor and delivery are no doubt looming larger in your mind. Anxiety over labor is common—even if you’ve taken every birth class you could sign up for, prepared an extensive birth plan, and already packed your...
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Pregnancy
With asthma being a very common medical condition, many women wonder how this diagnosis may affect their pregnancy. And with some women being afraid to take any unnecessary medications in pregnancy, they may think they should skip their asthma...
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Baby
Cleft lip and palate is one of the most common birth defects in the United States. Parents of infants who have a cleft defect at birth may face uncertainty and confusion. What is cleft lip and palate? What caused them? Can they be fixed? The...
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Blog
On Jan. 6, a very special delivery happened at The Medical Center of Plano in Texas: a grandmother, who was acting as a gestational carrier (the more updated version of what we used to call a surrogate) for her very own daughter, delivered her...
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Pregnancy
All women have some vaginal bleeding after giving birth. However, sometimes it can be hard to know what is considered normal and what might be too much. It is normal to bleed for up to 6 weeks after giving birth, and this is independent of whether...
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Pregnancy
One of the most common questions many pregnant women hear is, “When are you due?” While a due date is a carefully calculated and important part of your pregnancy, it is at best an educated guess. Considering that only 5 percent of babies arrive on...
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Pregnancy
Streptococcus agalactiae, otherwise known as Group B Strep (GBS), is a bacteria that approximately 20-25 percent of pregnant women have in their vagina and rectum. Carrying this bacteria does not mean that you acquired a sexually transmitted...
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Pregnancy
Many women are told that when they are admitted to the hospital in labor they will have restrictions on what they can eat and drink. Some are told they can only have ice chips, while others are allowed to drink liquids but are not given any solid...
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Pregnancy
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Pregnancy
Fibroids are non-cancerous solid tumors that grow in the uterus. They are extremely common, with up to 70-80 percent of women having them by the time they are 50 years old. Most of the time they cause no problems and are only discovered because an...
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Pregnancy
If you’re about to give birth, surely your friends and family have told you exactly what their deliveries were like — and how yours should go, too. After reading the books and searching Dr. Google, it can be hard to separate fact from fiction. Here...
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Pregnancy
A doula is a type of specialist who has been trained to support a laboring woman before, during, and after her birth. The word doula derives from the Greek term “a woman who serves” and they do just that: they provide emotional and physical support...
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Health
How common is it for a baby to be born with HIV and to develop AIDS? Not very. The National Institutes of Health estimates that fewer than 200 babies each year are born with HIV in the United States. Why? Access to prenatal care, medications, and...
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Pregnancy
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Pregnancy
Unfortunately, complications do arise over the course of some pregnancies. Issues like gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, or bleeding may make a previously carefree pregnancy filled with anxiety, worry, and sadness. A delivery that comes too early...
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Blog
The news no pregnant woman wants to hear has been officially announced in a report released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC): that almost half of all pregnant women in the United States gain too much weight in their...
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Pregnancy
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Pregnancy
Approximately 35 percent of adult Americans, or 1 in 3 people, are now obese. Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above. While we know many complications associated with obesity, being pregnant and obese has its own...
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Parenting