Last month, the measles outbreak in Washington State prompted its governor to declare a state of emergency. Some parents have wised up and finally vaccinated their kids. But others have dug in, even gathering to protest universal vaccine policies. As a researcher who knows how thoroughly the autism-vaccine hypothesis has been debunked*, it’s hard to watch […]

As you near the end of your pregnancy (hello, cankles!), you will be screened for Group B Strep, a common and normally harmless bacteria found in between 10-25% of women’s digestive and reproductive tracts. Although mostly benign in adults, Group B Strep (GBS) can cause serious infections in newborns, whose immune systems are still developing. […]

Since 2002, The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has recommended that doctors screen all pregnant women for Group B Strep between 35-37 weeks, and that all women who test positive receive IV antibiotics during labor. This policy has more than halved the rate of early onset newborn GBS disease (GBS infection occurring within the first […]

Perhaps 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 […]

It’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 […]

Did you know that you can protect your newborn by receiving a Tdap vaccine during your third trimester? This approach is 90% effective at preventing Whooping Cough in newborns!

My obstetrician used to tell me that if I had been born two hundred years ago, with my ability to maintain a milk supply, I would have been a wet nurse.  But I am not the rule. If anything, I am probably the exception. Many women have trouble maintaining milk supply at some point. And […]

Let’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 […]

Stress management in pregnancy is just as important as eating well and exercising and can help you toward your specific pregnancy, labor, and birth goals.

When it comes to postpartum weight loss, ceding to our body’s message that it desperately needs more rest is not lazy. It is wise. Consider this a pass to take that nap, mama!

For my first baby, I had a roller-coaster ride through pregnancy and birth, with many health scares and medical interventions. When I got pregnant a second time, I wanted to have as natural a birth as possible. But at my 30 week ultrasound, I was diagnosed with placenta previa. My placenta was blocking the baby’s […]

When I was on bed rest, I wanted to see how much I could control my contractions by controlling my mental state each day. Could I directly tie my contraction frequency to the stress and anxiety I experienced? I started to study the patterns and quickly realized that I did have more control than I thought.