Health & Pregnancy

Pregnancy can be an exciting and overwhelming time! This article describes how to make the next nine months go smoother by choosing the right Midwife or Obstetrician for your maternity care.

A birth plan describes the kind of appraoch to labor and delivery a woman would like to have. It is important to write a birth plan and discuss it with your doctor or midwife. This will let...

If you are considering having your first child and find yourself frozen out of fear of childbirth, you are not alone. Several women find themselves in this position, including experienced mothers....

Depo-Provera is a hormonal birth control injection given every three months. The primary purpose is to prevent pregnancy. However, just as any other birth control, Depo-Provera is not entirely...

Deciding whether to have a natural childbirth is a relatively new phenomenon. Until the 20th century, women always had natural childbirths and local women called midwives attended them or women...

Many women continue to take birth control pills during the first few months of pregnancy, not aware that they are pregnant. Once you realize you are pregnant, you should not keep taking them, but...

During pregnancy, ultrasounds are routinely performed to assess the growth of the baby and diagnose potential problems in development. Many moms-to-be are concerned about the safety of frequent...

There are many reasons to plan a water birth. Giving birth in the water reduces pain and enhances relaxation. It may even speed labor. Women who give birth in the water are less likely to...

Live or vaginal childbirth is a beautiful and miraculous thing to behold. A baby travels down past bones and muscle to finally leave its watery home and enter the arms of its mother. Live birth...

Successful pregnancy is possible after using birth control. Most birth control methods allow quick adjustment of the reproductive cycle once stopped. However, being informed about getting pregnant...

Smoking during pregnancy can cause premature birth, when the infant is born before 37 weeks gestation. Prematurity can cause serious health problems, long stays in the hospital and even death....

Birth control pills are designed to prevent pregnancy by suppressing ovulation. If a woman doesn't ovulate, she cannot become pregnant. While they are effective at pregnancy prevention, they can...

Late menopause is a time when most women don't expect to be--expecting. As unusual as it may be, it can happen. There are several things the menopausal mother, or mother to be, needs to know about...

You just found out that you are pregnant---congratulations! Now is the time to be thinking about how the things you do can affect the baby growing inside of you. There are many ways to keep...

Yoga is not recommended for any woman in a high risk pregnancy. Failure to abide by this can result in bleeding and fetal death. Your doctor will determine your risk level and will inform you...

Deciding to come off the pill is a big step. Suddenly you are working toward the very thing you had been avoiding for years. So imagine the disappointment of thousands of women when they don't get...

Cord blood, which is rich in blood-forming stem cells, is collected after a baby's birth and stored in a cord blood banking facility for future use by family members or the general public to treat...

Whether you are looking forward to or dreading the idea of labor, it is a good idea to have your body in top shape for the process of giving birth. Toning your muscles and concentrating on the...

YAZ, a brand of low-dose oral contraceptive pills, are taken every day. A pink pill containing a low dose of the hormones estrogen and progestin is taken every day during the first 24 days of your...

Kyphosis is characterized by spine curvature that results in a bowing of the back, causing a slouching posture or hunchback. It can be caused by developmental, degenerative or traumatic...

Pregnancy is divided into three trimesters for a total of about 40 weeks. The first trimester lasts from week one to week 12. During the first trimester, your baby begins to develop a heart, brain...

When a woman takes birth control pills, she typically takes a number of active pills--often 21--each month, followed by several inactive pills--usually seven. Most women experience vaginal...

When a doctor induces labor, she will administer the drug Pitocin intravenously. If your labor will be induced, you typically have a time and a date for the induction scheduled with your doctor...

When always taken correctly, birth control pills are highly effective at preventing pregnancy. It's still possible, however, to become pregnant while on birth control pills, even if you always...

Emergency contraception is used after having unprotected sex or when the regular form of birth control fails. It can be used if a woman has forgotten to take oral contraceptives.

Creating your ideal birth plan can be fun and is definitely a pregnancy long process! Start early in pregnancy to gather information outlined here and continue to adapt throughout your pregnancy....

The last place a child passes during birth is the birth canal. This area on the female serves several purposes and is referred to by a different name outside of birth.

The umbilical cord is what keeps the baby alive during pregnancy. When the baby is born, it is no longer needed for life. The cord is normally cut and clamped immediately after birth. A flat...

Group B strepococcus (GBS) testing is done between the 35th and 37th weeks of pregnancy. The test is important because a positive result dictates a particular protocol at the time of birth to...

Many women deliver babies in hospitals, but some choose the option of a home birth. There are certain supplies that are needed at the time of delivering a baby, in order to have a comfortable and...

Laboring and birthing in water was initially used in Russia and France over 50 years ago. Birth movements and positions in water are proven to relieve the pain of contractions and aid in the...

Shaking after delivering a baby, whether a vaginal delivery or via c-section, is very common. Typically there is no need for concern since it passes rather quickly. There are many different...

In the U.S., all live births of any birth weight or gestational age must be reported. Some countries have a different standard regarding what qualifies as a live birth. These differences in...

As the name suggests, water birth is the act of giving birth in a body or tub of water. Many people believe that giving birth in the water makes the birthing process less traumatic for the baby....

Birth control pills are mildly affected by vitamin C, but have more of an effect on how bodies handle vitamin C. Humans, unlike other mammals, don't generate vitamin C within their bodies. It's...

Darvocet, also known as propoxyphene, is a prescription narcotic that should be used with extreme caution, especially during pregnancy. If Darvocet is medically necessary, dosage instructions must...

Labor and delivery is one the most anticipated and heartfelt moments in a women's life. It is accompanied by multiple feeling of happiness and fear. To properly prepare for labor and delivery...

According to CNN, about half of all twins are born by cesarean section, a method where doctors deliver babies through an incision. Several factors cause c-sections to be safer for twins. For...

Women have a variety of options, guaranteed by law in many countries, for an unwanted pregnancy. It may be necessary to travel to another state or city to find the abortion, adoption or birth and...

A water birth is when a laboring mother sits in a tub or pool of water during the labor and birth of her child. The benefits include increased comfort for the mother and a gentler infant...

In a television show or film, when the writers want to indicate a character is pregnant, they write in a swooning scene or queasiness scene. Nausea has become a tell-tale marker of pregnancy in...

Birth control is readily available and enables a woman to have control over her reproduction, but the sheer number of options in birth control can be overwhelming. For instance, women can choose...

The Pap smear is an important tool to detect any abnormalities that might occur in your cervix. After childbirth, it is important to assess any unusual inflammatory processes that might be...

Approximately halfway through your menstrual cycle (two weeks before your flow starts) you ovulate, releasing a mature ovum in preparation for fertilization and eventual pregnancy. A woman's...

Breastfeeding gives your child a healthy start in life, saves money on formula and baby foods and some women use it as natural birth control. But is this method effective?

Premature births occur when a pregnancy gestation period ends before the 37th week. Currently, only one half of the cases of premature birth have causes associated with them.

Minocycline is an antibiotic medication that slows the growth of certain bacteria which gives the body's natural immune system time to kill them. It is used for a number of different applications...

The process of human development can be fascinating. From the time an individual is conceived the body is adapting and cultivating itself to function in the world. Senses and characteristics form...

A uterine infection, also called endometritis, is an infection of the uterine lining. Although potentially serious, it affects as many as 30 percent of women after a cesarean birth and as many as...

Beta Strep or GBS is a common form of bacteria found in the vagina or rectum of roughly 30 percent of pregnant woman. While pregnant women will not show any symptoms, the presence of the bacteria...