All about pregnancy

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_{Photo © Chris Jackson/Getty Images}

Kate Middleton and Prince William Welcome a Baby originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Monday, July 22nd, 2013 at 15:57:55.

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Sunday, July 21, 2013

About Pregnancy & Childbirth: Waity Katy and the Royal Due Date

About Pregnancy & Childbirth

Pregnancy & Childbirth

Waity Katy and the Royal Due Date

Jul 21st 2013, 07:10

Kate Middleton and Prince William

A few years ago, before Wills and Kate were even engaged, I had a friend who was living in England. As rumors began to fly that Prince William was planning to pop the question, I asked her what she knew about it. She laughed and said that the couple had been together for so long that the folks in England had dubbed Kate Middleton, Waity Katy.

As I've been watching the news coverage stir up into a frenzy the last few weeks, I couldn't help but think of this title given to Kate. The truth is, this is what due dates do - they make you wait for it. So, here are some things to know about the Royal Due Date:

Due dates are merely guesses about when a baby may be born. Less than 4% of babies are born on their due dates.
Most babies are born two weeks before or, and here's the kicker, two weeks after the due date.
Even Royal babies can't read calendars.
Due dates can change. (Though it's usually not a great idea to change a due date.)
There is also the possibility we've been given a misleading due date for whatever reason.

So before panic sets in over Kate's due date and the lack of a prompt baby, let's remember how hard the end of pregnancy can be for a non-Royal with only their friends and family watching and multiply that times the millions of people watching as Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge prepare for their baby, regardless of the due date. (So don't say rude things to overdue women!) In the meantime, I hope Kate is enjoying herself in these last days of pregnancy. There are a ton of things she might be doing with her time.

Was your baby born on its due date?

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_{Photo @ Dan Kitwood/Getty Images}

Waity Katy and the Royal Due Date originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Sunday, July 21st, 2013 at 07:10:13.

Friday, July 19, 2013

About Pregnancy & Childbirth: Avoid Labor Waiting Room Stresses

About Pregnancy & Childbirth

Pregnancy & Childbirth

Avoid Labor Waiting Room Stresses

Jul 19th 2013, 08:20

Hospital Waiting Room

I am not a huge proponent of people sitting around in a waiting room while mom labors. That said, sometimes people choose to go, some even wind up camping out for days. When that happens, you're bound to run into one of the seven types of people you'd rather avoid. These people can make your stay in the waiting room hellish. Which ones do you recognize?

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_{Photo © Ambrophoto - Fotolia.com}

Avoid Labor Waiting Room Stresses originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Friday, July 19th, 2013 at 08:20:20.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

About Pregnancy & Childbirth: Shift Workers May Have More Pregnancy Complications

About Pregnancy & Childbirth

Pregnancy & Childbirth

Shift Workers May Have More Pregnancy Complications

Jul 18th 2013, 10:09

Fertility Chart - Basal Body Temperature

It has long been thought that women who worked shift work or flexible shifts, shifts that move around, had changes in their menstrual cycles and fertility. A large retrospective look at the reproductive history of over 100,000 women was presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference this month. While these findings still need to be looked at in other studies because of a multitude of factors, it gives us some guidance as to where to start looking.

Some of the findings included that women who worked irregular hours had a 33% greater chance of having menstrual disruption. This would be shorter or longer periods, anovulatory cycles, etc. This would cause issues with conceiving when they were trying to get pregnant. Their findings showed an 80% higher chance of subfertility, meaning less than ideal fertility levels.

For women who worked night shift, they didn't appear to have the same irregularities, but they did have a higher rate of miscarriage than their day working counter parts. While this study doesn't prove that working at night causes miscarriages, it does show something to be studied.

So what do you do if you work rotating shifts or work at night? I'd recommend that you start by charting your menstrual cycles. This will give you an idea of if you're having irregularities. I would recommend this even if you are not yet trying to become pregnant. It can only provide you with valuable information. If you're working at night, it's harder to say what a good recommendation would be. Things we don't know include: Does changing to day shift help? Or would the change in work patterns be even more stressful to your body and thereby potentially more harmful to your baby? Talking to your practitioner and seeing if new studies are out being a great place to start.

What's your work cycle like?

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_{Photo © ShutterStock}

Shift Workers May Have More Pregnancy Complications originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Thursday, July 18th, 2013 at 10:09:54.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

About Pregnancy & Childbirth: How a Doula is Like a Wedding Planner

About Pregnancy & Childbirth

Pregnancy & Childbirth

How a Doula is Like a Wedding Planner

Jul 16th 2013, 09:19

Two doulas helping a couple in labor

Some of the most important days in the life of a woman and family are both wedding and birth days. Women spend a lot of time planning wedding details like food, flowers, decorations and a caterer. Sometimes the options become overwhelming or they simply want help navigating the choices for the best price or experience. For many women this makes the process of the wedding much more enjoyable and relaxing. They know that they have an experienced professional who can help them. It typically isn't their mother or sister or even best friend (unless they are professionals in the field).

While you can't plan birth, it is helpful to enter pregnancy and labor prepared and knowledgable about choices that you will have to make. A doula can help you to do that. The role of a doula during your pregnancy and birth is exactly the same as the role of the wedding planner leading up to the big day. She will help you find the right classes and people to meet the needs you have set forth in your ideal birth.

A doula will help you when you need to deviate from what you wanted, they can be a good listener, provide recommended resources, alleviate stress, and help everything go smoother. If you wouldn't just wing it without a wedding planner on your wedding day, why would you choose to wing it at your birth?

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_{Photo © BB&Co}

How a Doula is Like a Wedding Planner originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Tuesday, July 16th, 2013 at 09:19:48.

Monday, July 15, 2013

About Pregnancy & Childbirth: Stripping the Membranes

About Pregnancy & Childbirth

Pregnancy & Childbirth

Stripping the Membranes

Jul 15th 2013, 09:08

Vaginal Exam

Stripping the membranes that is something done at the end of pregnancy to try to lessen the chances of you going to a full 42 weeks of gestation and hopefully decreasing the risk of having an induction of labor. It is done during a vaginal exam and most women find it fairly uncomfortable to very painful. Most moms say they would be okay with the stripping of the membranes, if they were asked about it before it was done. Though there are some practitioners who do discuss the risks and benefits of this procedure, some also fail to mention it all together until after the woman has had a painful exam with no understanding of what's being done to her cervix. So if she then has some bleeding or irregular contractions afterwards, she might not understand why and be frightened.

So, as you go to your last few prenatal appointments, if your practitioner is going to do a vaginal exam, ask about stripping the membranes before you take your pants off!

Have you had your membranes stripped? Did your practitioner talk to you about it before?

Related:

Readers Share: Having the Membranes Stripped

_Source:

_{Boulvain M, Stan C, Irion O. Membrane sweeping for induction of labour. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD000451. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD000451.pub2}

Stripping the Membranes originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Monday, July 15th, 2013 at 09:08:41.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

About Pregnancy & Childbirth: Combination Fatigue and Insomnia: a Cruel Joke in Pregnancy

About Pregnancy & Childbirth

Pregnancy & Childbirth

Combination Fatigue and Insomnia: a Cruel Joke in Pregnancy

Jul 14th 2013, 13:30

Sleeping in Pregnancy

Fatigue is one of the earliest symptoms of pregnancy. I remember waking up after a full nights sleep and only being able to stay awake for a few hours before requiring a nap. I'm not using the word requiring lightly here, it honestly felt like I was going to go mad if I didn't sleep. (And I am not a napper by any stretch of the imagination!) It was a really rough time in my early pregnancy.

That went on for a few weeks and I thought that this was going to be as bad as it got. But, being my first baby, I'd come home from work and go to bed without a problem. That is until I was about eight weeks pregnant and I started to get insomnia on top of everything else. It was a cruel joke that I was so tired, had the time and yet could not sleep. Some nights I'd fall asleep but wake up to go to the bathroom and not get back to sleep. Other nights I simply couldn't fall asleep. This let up in the second trimester, but it did come back with a vengeance in the third trimester.

Have you had any of this type of combo-pregnancy symptoms when it came to sleep? How did you cope?

Related:

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Combination Fatigue and Insomnia: a Cruel Joke in Pregnancy originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Sunday, July 14th, 2013 at 13:30:04.