Newborn Photo Gallery

This is a really cool website, with pictures of babies with various conditions (and some who are completely normal, for comparison). Divided into various categories like ears, eyes, nose, mouth, etc., it covers lots of different problems, benign conditions, and “variations of normal” which are not problems at all. Some of the pictures were difficult [...]

Breastfeeding, Dr. Seuss Style

Just go read it — hilarious! And since I’m on the subject of breastfeeding, “What does breastmilk taste like?“ ….and this humorous commercial: …and this picture of breastfeeding in public

Contaminants in Breastmilk

I haven’t read this whole article, but thought it looked interesting. It begins with a laundry-list of benefits of breastmilk for the infant, then asks aloud whether these benefits are worth the risks of the possible contaminants and pollutants that may exist in breastmilk; the remainder is an attempt at answering that question. With sections [...]

Misdiagnosis

This has nothing to do with birth, but you need to read this powerful story of a woman who was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive, and lethal form of cancer, “confirmed” by two independent labs — and it was wrong. h/t Science and Sensibility http://trishatorrey.com/who-is-trisha/misdiagnosis/

Doctor knows best?

This isn’t really birth-related, although I’m sure it has applications in that field; it’s more just a general medical discussion. Recently, I was in conversation with an older woman who as a child was diagnosed with celiac disease but eventually grew out of it and was able to tolerate foods containing gluten for most of [...]

No Justification for NPO

The Cochrane Collaboration recently issued its finding on the topic of NPO or “nothing by mouth” [non per os], saying that restricting a woman in labor from eating if she’s hungry and drinking if she’s thirsty is not evidence-based. It also coincides with the recommendations made by the World Health Organization’s guidelines for Safe Motherhood, [...]

Patient Autonomy

Click here to read an interesting story of patient autonomy. The mother was a Hmong woman who believed in reincarnation (so if her child died, it would come back as another child), and also that if she were cut open during a C-section that good spirits would leave while evil spirits would enter her body; [...]

Don’t just do something — stand there!

We’re used to the saying, “Don’t just stand there — do something!” and many times it’s true. Many times, however, it’s not. We value action — as measured by clichés like “He who hesitates is lost.” But we also understand the value of assessing a situation, to determine the best course of action — “Look [...]

Circumcision Guidelines

Several leading medical organizations (CDC, AAP, AAFP) are considering recommending circumcision right now. Many people (including myself) believe that this is due to a faulty understanding of circumcision, its risks and benefits, as well as the flawed studies done on the subject. Click here for more information, and to sign a petition asking the organizations [...]

99 Balloons

Their son was diagnosed with Trisomy 18 two months prior to his birth. It was expected that he would either die before, during, or soon after birth. His family chose to embrace every moment they had with him, no matter how long or how short. From the “info” section on YouTube: Downloads and DVDs are [...]