Red raspberry leaf tea is an ancient tonic—pregnant women as early as the 6th century drank the stuff. It is still a popular herbal supplement for pregnancy today, with claimed benefits ranging from it’s ability to strengthen the uterus and help prepare the body for birth to directly stimulating labor (in one survey, more than […]
Read moreArticles by Molly Dickens, PhD

About Molly
Molly has her PhD in Physiology and spent over a decade as an academic research scientist slightly obsessed with the colliding worlds of brain science, hormones, stress and the reproductive system. Nowadays she heads up Content and Community at Bloomlife and edits Preg U. Science is still her jam and she can't help but continue to dive into the research world to find interesting bits about pregnancy and parenting.
Let me just start by saying: due dates are total BS. If you already tried out another due date calculator, there’s a good chance it was wrong. The date your doctor gave you? Wrong. So now what? We built a better due date calculator! Ours includes a few more data points so you can more […]
Read moreThere is no other organ quite like the uterus. If men had such an organ they would brag about it. So should we.” – Ina May Gasken Let’s talk about the uterus. All of us lived inside one at some point of our lives. Many of us have the great luck to use ours to […]
Read moreA Healthy Pregnancy Starts With Managing Stress (And It’s Easier Than You May Think!)
By Molly Dickens, PhDPerhaps you’ve changed your diet. Perhaps you’ve changed your exercise routine. Or coffee intake or sleep habits, or any number of little lifestyle adjustments to have a healthy pregnancy. I know you have a lot on your plate, my pregnant friend, but I’m just going to throw one more thing onto it—stress management. Stress management […]
Read moreHave you had a sneaking suspicion that your contractions get worse* at night? Maybe it feels like your pregnant body just wants to find another way to wake you up in the middle of the night. Maybe you haven’t felt them but wake up on feeling like you just ran a marathon. If you fall […]
Read moreIt’s never fun to hear that your placenta is in the wrong spot. Honestly, I didn’t even know that was a possibility until my 20 week ultrasound when the sonographer told me I had a low lying placenta. In her words: “Not technically placenta previa but your placenta is very close to your cervical opening […]
Read morePut Your Health First, Mama: An Honest Conversation About Stress During Pregnancy.
By Molly Dickens, PhDLet’s talk about stress during pregnancy. Don’t worry, I’m not going to launch into a post about all the ways your stress can harm your baby or why you need to stop stressing about stress. Those types of posts are not entirely accurate and not very helpful. Instead, I want to shift the way you […]
Read moreStress management in pregnancy is just as important as eating well and exercising and can help you toward your specific pregnancy, labor, and birth goals.
Read moreThe Physiological Difference Between Braxton Hicks and Labor Contractions
By Molly Dickens, PhDThere is one simple difference between Braxton Hicks and labor contractions: the end result. Have a baby? Those were labor contractions. No baby? Braxton Hicks. Ok, that’s not very helpful if you are trying to tell the two apart without a crystal ball on hand. But you can use a few tricks to tell Braxton […]
Read moreAccurately timing contractions is the key to understanding what your contractions mean - are they just Braxton Hicks? A false alarm? LABOR?! Don't panic, we'll go over all the things you need to know to time and track contractions and figure out what it all means.
Read moreBoth of my daughters arrived “late” according to the dates in my charts. Both girls seemed to mock the very concept of a “Due Date”. The little one, especially—she showed up a mere 30 minutes before my scheduled induction, 11 days after the day she was clinically expected to arrive. I am not alone. The […]
Read moreAlysia Montano, Olympian, 7x US Champion, mom, "that pregnant runner", tells us all about training for labor and birth.
Read moreIf February is your "Due Month", you can count on one day to be the most likely birth date - Feb 14th. What the science says about Valentine's Day babies.
Read moreDHA WEEK 31 weight: 3.31 lbs. | length: 16.18″ WHAT’S GOING ON IN THERE? Baby is preparing for rapid weight gain. What do I need and why? Some good fatty fats! It started in week 24, but now baby’s fat storage is really hitting its stride – over the next two months, deposits […]
Read moreSTEP 1: MENTAL PREPARATION “As I prepare for a major competition, I dial in my mantras, I will myself to believe I can overcome the challenge that lay ahead and that I can handle it. This is a daily practice. So for me, as I prepare for childbirth it makes sense that I prepare […]
Read more9 Natural Induction Techniques to Give Your Overdue Baby the Boot (Supposedly)
By Molly Dickens, PhDWhat works, what doesn't, and what does science say about natural induction techniques? You may be surprised!
Read moreWas my labor "normal"? What we know, what we don't know, and what we need to know about science of labor.
Read moreDid you know that new dads' brains go through a complete rewiring?
The biology of how new dads transform into mushy, baby cuddle machines.
Read moreFour Experts Answer Your Top Questions About Contractions, Labor, and Birth.
By Molly Dickens, PhDWhat does a contraction feel like? What are the differences between Braxton Hicks contractions and labor contractions? Am I in labor?
We asked our favorite midwife, OB/GYN, birth doula, and birth educator to help us answer these questions and share their own birth stories.
Read moreExercise is so important during pregnancy but is there such thing as "running for two"? What the science says about running with a baby on board.
Read moreVITAMIN D WEEK 32 weight: 3.75 lbs. | length: 16.69″ WHAT’S GOING ON IN THERE? Baby’s bones have fully developed but they are still a bit soft. From week 32 onward, they’ll be getting stronger and stronger and preparing for life on the outside. What do I need and why? VITAMIN D is […]
Read moreEvery mother deserves a safe pregnancy and birth.
Why the Bloom family is donating to Every Mother Counts in honor of our moms this Mother's Day
Read moreHas your baby oven been called names?
What does it mean to have an "irritable uterus" and where did this name even come from?
Read moreYou know you've been wondering...
Read moreWould you rather know if baby is the size of an orange or that the vitamin C in an orange helps lung development in week 8? For the nerds like us, we present The Baby Building Blocks Newsletter - the What, When, Why, and How of Prenatal Nutrition.
Read moreWhy do I feel Braxton Hicks all day? If you are lucky enough to get acquainted with good ‘ol Braxton Hicks nice and early in your pregnancy, you may notice that it feels like you get these pesky non-labor contractions all day. Braxton Hicks are a pretty normal part of pregnancy and some women just […]
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