Another roundup of links that first appeared on Williamsburg Mothering’s Facebook page – “LIKE” Williamsburg Mothering on Facebook to get the latest links as soon as they’re up!

• When Sexual Abuse Survivors Breastfeed (PODCAST). For women who have experienced sexual abuse or assault, breastfeeding can sometimes stir complex emotions, pose unique challenges, or require special mental or logistical preparation. This excellent podcast interview with Penny Simkin (author of When Survivors Give Birth: Understanding and Healing the Effects of Early Sexual Abuse on Childbearing Women) offers advice, understanding, and resources for abuse survivors and their caregivers. (Motherwear; via local doula Leslie Cuffee)

• Positive Birth Videos.  Looking for a really fantastic collection of videos of positive natural birth? Here you go! I love this site, which includes videos of birth in and out of water; birth at home and at birth centers; and a vaginal breech birth! (Your Birth Coach)

• A Woman’s Guide to VBAC.  If you are considering a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), A Woman’s Guide to VBAC is a fantastic resource! This article contains links to all the chapters online and explains NIH’s consensus statement on VBAC (i.e., that it is a reasonable option for most mothers with a previous C-section). Also, here (http://tinyurl.com/7v2ofxn) is a link to birth statistics at VA hospitals — MCV/VCU in Richmond and DePaul in Norfolk have the highest local VBAC success rates! (Giving Birth With Confidence)

• What To Reject When You’re Expecting.  Have you seen this post yet? It has been rocketing around the social media sites, and for very good reason — ever-reliable Consumer Reports is spot-on with its well-researched list of 10 pregnancy procedures to avoid, 10 things to do during pregnancy, and 5 things to do pre-conception. SO GOOD. (Consumer Reports)

• Most Common Birthdays: Infographic Shows Number Of Babies Born On Every Day Of The Year.  How common are your kids’ birthdays? September 16th is the most common, at least in the U.S. (in Europe, for example, springtime is the most popular time to give birth). Fun! (Huffington Post and Gawker)

Another roundup of links that first appeared on Williamsburg Mothering’s Facebook page – “LIKE” Williamsburg Mothering on Facebook to get the latest links as soon as they’re up!  

• The Most Scientific Birth Is Often the Least Technological Birth.  In America, we “confuse science and technology. [We] think that what it means to be a scientific doctor is to bring to bear the maximum amount of technology on any given patient… In fact, if you look at scientific studies of birth, you find over and over again that many technological interventions increase risk to the mother and child rather than decreasing it.” (The Atlantic)

• 

  Image via SpinningBabies.com

  Rest Smart: Posture in Pregnancy for Optimal Fetal Positioning.  When baby is in an optimal position for birth, labor is shorter and easier. During pregnancy — especially your 3rd trimester — help move your baby into that optimal position with the exercises, positions, and information at SpinningBabies.com, a must-visit site! For example, while sitting, be sure to keep your knees lower than hip-level, and your belly lower than your hips. This means no slouching on the couch! =) Instead, sit on a birth ball, Swedish chair, or on a kitchen chair facing backwards. (Spinning Babies)

• Rethinking Puree Pouches.  We’d gotten in the habit of giving B a fruit-and-veggie pouch each day as a snack, but now I am reconsidering. How interesting that over time, pouches can actually drive kids to reject real fruits and veggies, since the taste and mouthfeel of purees are so different from that of the real deal? And, I like her “Rotation Rule” — no identical foods two days in a row — too. Who knew that “variety is the only thing researchers have consistently found that counters the inclination toddlers have to narrow what they eat”? (Fooducate)

• New Report Places A Monetary Value on Stay-at-Home Moms.  Each week, a stay-at-home-mom puts in an “almost 95 hour work week worth nearly $113,000 per year. A working mom should add about $67,000 to her current salary for the nearly 58 hours she puts in at home.” (All Things Mothering, Market Watch, and Salary.com)

• The Last Days of Pregnancy: A Place of In-Between. Mamas in the final weeks and days of your pregnancies, this beautiful reflection is for you. (Mothering)

LOCAL NEWS

Big news for home birth fans in Williamsburg!  CPM Bridget Pelkey of Williamsburg Homebirth (formerly Eva Birth Services) is opening an office on Jamestown Road in Jamestowne Professional Park! She’ll offer birth services, childbirth ed classes, and a meeting group for home birth moms.  Visit her website and Facebook page for more information on the upcoming Grand Opening!

We have four additional great home birth CPMs who serve our area (Bettie Sheets of Full of Grace Birth Services based in Gloucester, Terri Hewitt and Jenny Derugen of Seven Cities Midwifery Care based in VA Beach, and Kim Mosny of Home Birth Midwifery Service based in Richmond), but it is exciting to now have a Williamsburg-based home birth practice!

Another roundup of links that first appeared on Williamsburg Mothering’s Facebook page – “LIKE” Williamsburg Mothering on Facebook to get the latest links as soon as they’re up!  

• How to Care For Your C-Section Scar, with the author of Ending Female Pain.  C-section scars and adhesions can cause mamas pain, but massage and physical therapy can provide relief!  This podcast interview explains why and how, and outlines the basics of self-massage so that C-section mamas can start on the path to good healing.  Williamsburg has one Women’s Health Physical Therapist, Erika Comber of Comber Physical Therapy, who can help mamas overcome pelvic pain and other complications from C-sections, vaginal deliveries, and other causes. (Motherlove)

• Birth Stories on Demand.  Love birth stories? Head right over to Birth Stories on Demand! EVERY variety of birth is represented there, from natural to medicated to C-section to VBAC to loss/unbirth to adoption! Read the stories, or listen to podcasts. SO FUN!

• Comparison of Labor and Delivery Care Provided by Certified Nurse-Midwives and Physicians: A Systematic Review, 1990 to 2008.  This interesting review compared outcomes of births attended by midwives versus OBs. Infant outcomes (Apgar scores, birth weight, NICU admission) were equivalent between the types of care providers, but with midwives, women experienced higher breastfeeding rates and fewer epidurals, inductions, episiotomies, and perineal lacerations (tears). Yay, midwives! (Women’s Health Issues)

• Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills.  In the past, kids spent much more time engaged in unstructured, imaginative play, which “actually helped children develop a critical cognitive skill called executive function. Executive function has a number of different elements, but a central one is the ability to self-regulate. Kids with good self-regulation are able to control their emotions and behavior, resist impulses, and exert self-control and discipline.” So, mamas, feel no guilt about dropping some of those structured lessons and classes and just letting your kids PLAY! (NPR)

Image via MaryBeth Nance and Operation Special Delivery

• Operation Special Delivery.  Are you — or do you know — a pregnant mama whose husband or partner will be unable to attend her birth due wartime loss of life or injury, deployment, or other military reasons? Operation Special Delivery matches such mamas with doulas who provide their services pro bono. Wow! To find an OSD doula, go to Doulas.com, enter your zip code, and select “OSD Volunteer” from the “Choose Service” drop-down menu.