baby Archives

When pregnancy is complicated

From the Family Foundations archives **** The Braxton-Hicks contractions began three or four months into the pregnancy, compounding Lydia Bardua’s exhaustion, dizziness and nausea. Her doctor couldn’t find anything wrong, so he told her to relax and hydrate, relax and hydrate. Lydia heard her doctor repeat that advice often, but it was hard for the 34-year-old to…

The unofficial patron saint of c-sections

Anyone who’s had one could tell you that c-sections are far from easy. Beyond the standard post-partum challenges of balancing regular duties with keeping a fragile human alive, there’s also the added inconvenience of an abdominal incision. Healing from a major surgery like that isn’t a joke. Things can be made even harder if there…

Double standards

From the Family Foundations archives **** We had a scare last summer. It had been a stressful run-up to a road trip that was doing triple duty: travel writing, professional conference and family vacation. My cycle started just as we left, and — of course! — we forgot the thermometer. We figured we’d be home by the…

Psychological benefits of breastfeeding

An excerpt from Linda Kracht and Jackie Hilgert’s book, The Art of Breastfeeding. **** To many, the major benefit to breastfeeding is the emotional well-being it instills in both mother and child. A breastfeeding mother will slow down and give her child undivided attention many times each day. She’ll look into his eyes. She’ll talk…

Why contraceptives aren’t essential for Americans’ health

Before you read, check out this article for context. Then read our version. It is 2020. The American Health Care Act has become law, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has eliminated contraception from its list of essential preventative services that must be covered by insurance without cost sharing. Let’s imagine a…

23 postpartum hacks for dads (that don’t involve a gas mask)

There are lots of articles to guide new moms through the challenging world of postpartum life. Turns out, every marriage has a built-in postpartum hack: ask your husband to help! But dad, a little overwhelmed with a temporarily-dependent wife and now a very dependent brand-new, tiny human, might not stay on top of things as…

Pregnancy is in

Something nearly unprecedented happened on Saturday at Fashion Week in New York. No, there weren’t any live goats on the runway (at least, not this year). No, PETA reps didn’t throw red paint on anyone and, no, nobody died. (All of these were actual events from years prior, believe it or not.) Something much crazier…