Pregnancy can be both exciting and scary, especially if it’s your first child. But there are things you can start doing today to keep your baby healthy and make your pregnancy easier. The first step is to schedule a visit with your doctor, if you haven’t already. There will be a lot more of these […]
Recovering from surgery is tough on anyone, but for a mom who’s trying to care for a brand-new baby – it’s a more challenging scenario than most. Plus, managing pain after a surgical procedure often involves the use of narcotics – which isn’t an ideal situation for a breastfeeding mom or a newborn baby. That’s […]
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every year an estimated 15 million infants worldwide are born preterm (over 3 weeks early). The Global Challenge of Preterm Birth Preterm birth affects families in every country. While more than 80 percent of preterm births occur in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the problem is universal. In fact, […]
I am a planner. My plan was to have a completely natural birth with exclusive breastfeeding. It was a plan written in stone, to the point of me refusing a butterfly catheter when I first got to the hospital for my delivery. Long story short – my birthing plan flew out the window. I had […]
Although I had taken a birthing class and previously delivered at WakeMed, I had no idea the Mothers’ Milk Bank was there, let alone that it provided much-needed breast milk to so many NICU babies. On November 7th, 2017 that changed. At 39 weeks gestation, during the early stages of labor, my daughter’s heart stopped […]
My fourth child, a beautiful sweet baby girl, Lyra Noelle, was placed into our arms last October. I was so relieved labor was over, yet one look in her tiny face told me something was different from my other children. “Down Syndrome” were the two words not yet spoken by anyone in the delivery room, […]
Today more than ever, women have a wide variety of non-surgical contraceptive options for preventing pregnancy. Research tells us that the most effective methods in preventing pregnancy are long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), which includes 5 types of intra uterine devices (IUDs) and the contraceptive implant (Nexplanon). Benefits of Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) LARCs are better […]
*Parts of this blog post were taken from our original blog post, written by Jim Helm and James Perciaccante, MD. Parents and caregivers recognize the importance and impact that developmental care has on the health and development of premature babies. The Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP) is an approach to providing developmentally supportive care to infants […]
As an Ob-Gyn, among the most devastating news I can share with my patient is that they are experiencing a miscarriage or stillbirth. What is a miscarriage? A miscarriage is any pregnancy loss that occurs during the first 20 weeks of the pregnancy, which is around the 5th month. Even though there is some awareness […]
In the United States, 80% or more of pregnancies among adolescents age 15 to 19 years are unintended. National surveys report that ⅓ of high school students are sexually active and only ⅓ of those reported use effective contraception. Barriers to Seeking Contraception Potential barriers might include concerns about confidentiality or cost as well as […]
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