babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
One of the few good things about pregnancy, other than the part where you get a baby at the end, is supposed to be that you can eat whatever you want. Go ahead and reach for that brownie! You’re eating for two. And pregnant women are supposed to gain weight.
Not anymore. In addition to the endless carping about how women risk permanent weight gain if they pack on the pounds during pregnancy, a new study shows that a mom’s prenatal diet can put her future child at risk for obesity.
One lawmaker in New York City thinks pregnant women with physical or mobility challenges should be able to park for free
Until you’ve walked a mile in a pregnant woman’s shoes, with swollen feet and ankles and tired everything else — or even just schlepped from the door of the grocery store to the farthest possible spot in the parking lot — then you might not understand that the notion of free parking anywhere for a woman with child is a beautiful gesture.
City Councilman David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) thinks New York City is a tough place to get around, and plans to introduce legislation this week that would grant special parking placards to women deemed by their doctors to have physical or mobility challenges. The bill would not allow pregnant women to park in handicapped spots or park in metered spots without payment.
The placards would allow for parking — free of charge — in no-parking or no-standing zones until 30 days after their due date, thereby giving some time for late births or those recovering from complicated childbirths.
Moms-to-be carrying toxins too
A study from the University of California-San Francisco, published today in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives finds an overwhelming percentage of moms-to-be have multiple no-no chemicals in their systems.
Tracey Woodruff, an author on the study and director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at UCSF, says her team tested 163 chemicals, many of which are known to be detrimental to health and found that multiple chemicals were present in almost all the moms.
Of the 163 chemicals measured, 43 were found in more than 99 percent of the pregnant women in the study. Here are some of the chemicals she found (get ready to re-think your PJ’s, sunscreen, cans, and non-stick omelet pan): Continue reading »
A new survey found that nearly a quarter of pregnant women lie about smoking
I’m the first to admit that the truth has not been the only thing that has ever slipped from my lips. I was a fairly good liar as a kid, no matter the reason or topic. But the one thing I’ve always felt strongly about is being honest with doctors. And not necessarily because I put them on a pedestal (although for the things they see, do and touch every day, they are clearly better people than I am). But what’s the point of seeing a doctor at all if they aren’t given a clear picture of the factors affecting your health?
In my adult life, I feel fortunate to have doctors that don’t blink an eye or judge me (to my face, anyway) when I admit things that I might be embarrassed about or that might indicate I am less than a perfect person. But if it relates to my health, I take a deep breath and own up to it.
I would hope that all doctors are similarly cool about not passing judgment and simply trying instead to correct what’s wrong. And yet I’m scratching my head about a new National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that says nearly a quarter of pregnant women lie about being active smokers, which I assume means they’re not being honest with their doctors, too. Is it because they don’t trust their doctors not to scold them, or is it because they’re too ashamed to admit the atrocities they’re inflicting on their fetuses?
Pregnant Women are Sexy
I’ve heard of the concept of an orgasmic birth, although I am highly skeptical that it actually exists (I think it’s just a ploy to encourage natural birth). But before today, I had never heard of an orgasmic pregnancy. What is it exactly? And how can a woman achieve it?
First and foremost, it is the title of a book, Your Orgasmic Pregnancy. But it’s also a concept.
“We wanted to cue women and their partners in to the notion that pregnancy can be sexy, ripe, bursting with fun,” Danielle Cavallucci, co-author of Your Orgasmic Pregnancy: Little Sex Secrets Every Hot Mama Should Know, recently told Moms in Babeland. “We wanted to empower people to change their perception that pregnancy is a stodgy, boring physical states or that one must be anything less than vital and orgasmic during pregnancy. ”
The book, which birthing mentor and pregnancy fitness expert Cavallucci penned with co-writer Dr. Yvonne Fulbright, a sexuality professor at Argosy University, features practical tips for having satisfying sex during pregnancy as well as advice for loving your pregnant body. The authors also worked to dispel myths about sex during pregnancy.
Pregnant Tummy or Alien Baby?
Ever seen the movie “Alien” where the alien creature shoots out of Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver’s) belly?
When their baby-to-be started acting Alien-like, one French couple was smart enough to whip out a video camera and capture the movement. Continue reading »
Is Home Birth Safe?
The medical community considers home birth dangerous, the equivalent of playing with fire. Until now, research didn’t support that position: outcomes for healthy moms with uncomplicated pregnancies were consistently on par whether babes were born at home or in the hospital.
Meet the Wax Paper. A metaanalysis of data on home births published last month the Journal of American Obstetrics and Gynecology, this paper claims that infants born at home are 3 times more likely to die than those born in hospitals.
Oh really?
No, say home birth activists and many academics. They say the paper’s methodology was flawed and the results are based on bad data.
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
6