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!

• Comfort Is Being Carried By Mom. Being held by a caregiver prompts an automatic calming response within babies, new research shows. Crying is not an effort to manipulate; it is “a natural consequence of the infant sensorimotor systems.” If your baby needs to be held, but you need your hands free, consider a baby carrier that holds your baby to your body as though in your arms, such as a wrap, sling, or Ergo/Beco. And remember that being held by dad, grandma, grandpa, and older siblings can also prompt the calming response — not just mama! (Science Daily)

• Pregnancy in the Workplace: Avoiding Bumpy Communications.  Great advice for pregnant women and their coworkers! You might recognize a familiar name among the interviewees. =) (The Health Journals)

• Sucking Your Child’s Pacifier Clean May Have Benefits. The most beneficial way for you to clean that pacifier? With your own mouth! (New York Times Well Blog)

• Pitocin in Labor Has Adverse Effects on Newborns. “Researchers found that induction and augmentation of labor with oxytocin was an independent risk factor for unexpected admission to the NICU lasting more than 24 hours for full-term infants. Augmentation also correlated with Apgar scores of fewer than seven at five minutes. The Apgar is a test that evaluates a newborn’s physical condition at one and five minutes after birth based on appearance (skin coloration), pulse (heart rate), grimace response (medically known as “reflex irritability”), activity and muscle tone, and respiration (breathing rate and effort). A baby who scores eight and above is generally considered to be in good health. The analysis suggests that oxytocin use may not be as safe as once thought and that proper indications for its use should be documented for further study.”(American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists)

• 10 Outdoor Activities to Give a Try This Week.  If you and your kiddos are stumped for activity ideas *not* involving iPods, iPads, iPhones, computers, TVs, and video games, this post has some suggestions! Have fun out there! (Outside Mom)

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 Cope After An Unwanted Cesarean. Great advice for emotional and physical healing after an unwanted C-section. And, local mamas, know that Cesarean and VBAC Education and Support of Hampton Roads is a Facebook group that can help you on your journey! (High-Heel Wearing, Hippie Mommy)

• Group B Strep in Pregnancy: Evidence for Antibiotics and Alternatives. The new Group B Strep article from Evidence Based Birth. The U.S. and United Kingdom have very different approaches to screening for and treating GBS-colonized women. What do you think about it all? (Evidence Based Birth)

• The Power of Talking to Your Baby. “[T]he key to early learning is talking — specifically, a child’s exposure to language spoken by parents and caretakers from birth to age 3, the more the better. It turns out, evidence is showing, that the much-ridiculed stream of parent-to-child baby talk — Feel Teddy’s nose! It’s so soft! Cars make noise — look, there’s a yellow one! … — is very, very important. (So put those smartphones away!)” (New York Times)

• Live Music’s Charms, Soothing Premature Hearts.  Live music, sung or played to premature infants, reduces their stress and stabilizes their vital signs so that they can invest more energy in normal development. Hooray for lullabies! (New York Times)

• VIDEO: Paced Bottle Feeding for the Breastfed Baby. If your baby will receive bottles (of breastmilk or formula), watch this! Paced bottle feeding, like breastfeeding, helps babies learn to self-regulate food intake, promoting healthy eating habits and preventing excess weight gain. Studies related to the one she mentions are described well here by IBCLC Nancy Mohrbacher. (Jessica Barton)

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 Evidence for Doulas. Every laboring woman deserves a doula! “Women who received continuous support were more likely to have spontaneous vaginal births and less likely to have any pain medication, epidurals, negative feelings about childbirth, vacuum or forceps-assisted births, and C-sections. In addition, their labors were shorter by about 40 minutes and their babies were less likely to have low Apgar scores at birth.” Happy World Doula Week! (Rebecca L. Dekker, PhD, RN, APRN, Evidence Based Birth)

• 15 Best Baby Shower Gifts for the Natural Mom-to-Be. I love this list. If you’re baby-gift shopping for a first-time mama, you might love it, too! Though I would definitely add a copy of Harvey Karp’s The Happiest Baby on the Block to the book list! (The Stir)

• Study: Women Abused As Kids More Likely To Have Children With Autism. All the more reason for our society to prevent abuse by identifying and healing its root causes: “Women who reported physical, emotional, or sexual abuse when they were young were more likely to have a child with autism compared to women who were not abused. The more severely the women were abused, the higher their chances of having a child with autism,” a new study of over 50,000 women has found. (TIME)

• Law Says Insurers Should Pay For Breast Pumps, But Which Ones? Has your insurance company said they would only cover the cost of a manual breast pump, not an electric one? (NPR)

• A ‘worrisome’ risk: Most babies are fed solid food too soon, study finds.  Mothers trust their pediatricians’ word on when to start solid foods, but many peds give outdated advice, research shows. Current, evidence-based recommendations from the AAP and WHO: exclusive breastfeeding for about 6 months, then continued breastfeeding, with the addition of complementary foods, for at least a year and for as long as mutually desired by mother and baby. The original study in Pediatrics can be found here. (MSN NBC)

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!

• ‘Grayest Generation’: Older Parenthood in the U.S. As a mother in the Grayest [Childbearing] Generation, I found this Fresh Air interview fascinating and deeply unsettling. I was shocked by so much of it: the effects of a father’s age on the integrity of the DNA in his sperm and the subsequent health of his children; the lack of oversight/reporting on birth defect rates in children conceived via assisted reproductive technologies, including Clomid; the toll on older parents of being in the “sandwich generation,” pulled between the needs of their young children and their own elderly parents. If you’re not a podcast enthusiast, here is the original New Republic article that prompted the interview. (Judith Shulevitz, NPR, Fresh Air)

• Folic Acid For Pregnant Mothers Cuts Kids’ Autism Risk. A large new study found a huge (40%!) reduction in autism risk for children of mothers who take folic acid supplements before becoming pregnant and during pregnancy, especially early pregnancy. A daily dose of at least 400 micrograms of folic acid is recommended to mothers while trying to conceive and while pregnant. Take your prenatal vitamins, mamas and mamas-to-be! (NPR, All Things Considered)

• No Mom Is An Island. If you suspect parenting might be harder these days than it was 50 years ago, you’re right: our grandparents’ generation had a lot more help, in the form of nearby (or live-in) relatives and available neighbors and friends! Never hesitate to ask for help — it truly takes a village to raise a child!  This is a longtime favorite post… (Harvey Karp, Huffington Post)

• What Are the Options When Your Baby is Breech? In 2000, half of all breech babies were still delivered vaginally. That year, a study was published suggesting C-section was the safer way to deliver. “Within months, breech C-sections went from 50 percent to 80 percent and, by 2006, 90 percent. Then, we found out the study was flawed.” Current data actually support the safety of vaginal breech birth in certain scenarios, but generations of new OBs have not been trained in vaginal breech techniques. Until that trend reverses, mothers of breech babies can try the methods in this article to help their little ones turn head-down! (Giving Birth With Confidence)

• The Family Stories That Bind Us.  ”The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem and the more successfully they believed their families functioned. The ‘Do You Know?’ scale turned out to be the best single predictor of children’s emotional health and happiness.” (New York Times)

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!

• PODCAST: Tandem Nursing. Thinking about breastfeeding through pregnancy, and possibly tandem nursing your newborn and toddler after birth? This podcast – and Hilary Flower’s book Adventures in Tandem Nursing: Breastfeeding During Pregnancy and Beyond – are perfect for you! So is this series of helpful articles at KellyMom. (Motherwear)

• Are you due on a holiday?  Don’t be pressured into an induction! Let the baby come on his own schedule. (Giving Birth With Confidence, Lamaze International)

• What is the evidence for perineal massage during pregnancy to prevent tearing? The greatest benefits appear to be for first-time moms. (Science & Sensibility, by By Rebecca Dekker, PhD, RN, APRN, of Evidence Based Birth)

• Comparing the odds of postpartum haemorrhage in planned home birth against planned hospital birth. A recent study of 500,000+ British births showed that postpartum hemorrhage is more likely in planned hospital births than planned home births. Further research is needed to determine whether the increased risk is connected to how labor is managed in the hospital versus at home. (BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth)

• Paid Family Leave: Can we change the maternity and paternity leave debates to include everyone? Family Leave — granting every person guaranteed paid time off to care for babies, children, sick relatives, and elderly parents — sounds good to me! (Huffington Post)