Wednesday Wrap Up 10/30

WednesdayWrapUpBLove this article on patience and time in labor.

10 ways to prepare for the intensity of birth

One recipe for “padsicles” – cold packs that can help with healing and swelling after birth. This isn’t the only recipe, your care provider might recommend different ingredients, but these are a good idea to think about and prepare a few for after baby is born.

Hot packs like this are wonderful for any aches or pains in pregnancy, for keeping toes warm in cold weather (I sleep with one at my feet nearly every night from November through March!) or for warming a spot to lay down a sleeping baby. (Move the hot pack away and just set the baby in the warm spot left behind.)

Two interesting articles out of the Stanford University School of Medicine. The first one, Labor Day – The C Section comes under review, looks at the rise in cesareans, changes in what is considered normal labor, and how the US can turn the tide of the cesarean epidemic. The second: Too Deeply Attached – the rise of placenta accreta. This article looks at one very serious and mostly unknown complication of cesareans, particularly multiple cesareans. Future pregnancies are at much higher risk for this condition if a mom has had multiple cesareans.

Two major organizations of doctors recently agreed to a change in the definition of what is “full term” in pregnancy. You can read the ACOG statement here, but in a nutshell, the new definitions are:

Early term: 37 0/7 weeks through 38 6/7 weeks
Full term: 39 0/7 weeks through 40 6/7 weeks
Late term: 41 0/7 weeks through 41 6/7 weeks
Postterm: 42 0/7 weeks and beyond

Today’s video is one I loved, Midwives Speak From the Heart – midwifery is not just a job, it is a work of the heart.

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