January 30, 2013

Yay! Two weeks in a row I’ve remembered to do my weekly web wrap-up!

Some reports are saying Shakira was induced, some say a planned cesarean, for the baby being HUGE. Too bad the baby was not big at all, coming in well under the average weight of a newborn. It’s not unusual for weight estimates to be off by as much as two pounds, which is a huge difference. Plus there is no evidence that inducing helps.

A new approach to reducing cesarean sections: requiring hospitals to track and work at reducing rates in order to be accredited. But will it hurt moms who could benefit from cesareans?

Thought provoking article on breastfeeding and culturally induced lactation failure. While I am not a fan of her choice of the word “failure”, I particularly liked the author’s comments about women who cannot breastfeed and how her eyes were opened to be compassionate.

Homemade healthy anti-nausea pops. I’ve never tried, them, but I think I’d try these if I had morning sickness.

A resource list for learning more about all those things that go into birth plans.

Photos showing some lesser-known ways to use the hospital bed to be in positions other than lying down.

Food for thought: I’ve always been skeptical that staging a nurse-in protest did any good. Now others are raising the concern as well.

Something I have always wondered: Can IV fluids in labor effect the baby’s weight?

And finally, a nice collection of doulas in action:

Got a link to recommend to me? Add it in the comments!