Ready or not, the holiday season is here! This time of year brings so many opportunities for everything from building treasured memories to finding an amazing deal! Being pregnant during the holidays was one of my favorite parts of having a baby, so let’s talk about some holiday tips and tricks you can use if you’re expecting this holiday season.
With all of the prenatal and baby-related products that are available these days, it can be difficult to know which ones are really necessary and which ones are not. While there are many optional pregnancy products, the gentle compression provided by a maternity support belt is not something you’ll want to do without! A pregnancy support band helps with many discomforts of pregnancy, such as lower back pain and pelvic girdle pain, so for most pregnant women, having a pregnancy band is a good thing. How does a pregnancy support band keep you more comfortable in the second and third trimesters? Below are the top three physical benefits of wearing a support belt during pregnancy.
The first hour after birth is referred to as “the golden hour” because it is a unique time of transition for both the birthing parent and the baby. When a baby is placed on the mother’s chest or abdomen and receives early skin-to-skin contact, this intimate connection helps both individuals begin the physiological adaptations to life postpartum. In addition to supporting the physical changes happening during this time, immediate skin-to-skin contact promotes bonding and emotional safety, which decreases stress levels for both. Although the first hour after birth is particularly important, you can get the benefits of skin-to-skin contact with your baby at any time! Let’s take a closer look at what you can your baby will gain from skin-to-skin contact in the postpartum and how it can benefit your breastfeeding relationship.
It’s summertime! And in many parts of the United States, the hot weather is here. Some people love a summer pregnancy: they feel their best and love the summer sun and pool days with their best friends. But not all pregnant women think that way! You’re carrying a little heater around in your belly while pregnant, so the hot summer months can be overwhelming and make you so grateful for air conditioning. Whichever part of the spectrum you fall on, I’ve put together a summer pregnancy survival guide for you. I want you to be able to take care of yourself and your baby in the hot, summer heat and enjoy this part of your pregnancy!
Pregnancy is such a fun and exciting time—there’s nothing quite like preparing to welcome a new soul into the world! But with the anticipation of meeting your baby, can come a host of unexpected aches in your body caused by the physical and hormonal changes of pregnancy. It takes a lot of work to form a whole new person inside you. Plus your body is shifting and accommodating to allow your baby to grow and develop. The benefits of compression during this transitional time of life have been used for ages around the world and thankfully, Motif Medical has developed maternity compression products that are designed to support a healthy pregnancy and promote a smooth postpartum recovery. Even better than that, most of Motif’s maternity support garments are multi-purpose and can be used during pregnancy and into the postpartum, too!
Getting ready to welcome your first baby into the world is a fun and exciting time for new moms plus the whole family! But if you’re the one giving birth, there may be some uncertainty and anxiety involved when you think about your baby’s birthday. Don’t let that worry you! The majority of first-time moms have a lot of questions about how they can prepare for birth or what they should expect during delivery. Let’s take a look at some of the topics you can discuss with your family and healthcare provider before the big day.
Most people who choose to see a midwife during the pregnancy are planning to have a vaginal delivery and not planning on having a cesarean section. Some people who have c-sections are even planning a home birth for their birth experience. Unfortunately, labor doesn’t always go the way we want it to. Part of a midwife’s job is to make sure that both the birthing person and the baby are safe throughout the birthing process and sometimes it becomes obvious that a c-section is the safest way for a baby to be born. While midwives generally try to avoid interventions, when they are in the best interest of the mom and baby, we are really glad they are available! But if this scenario happens to you, you might be wondering—what your midwife will do now.
If you’re giving birth at the hospital or birth center, you’ll want to pack your hospital bag when you’re in the third trimester or sometime around 34 weeks pregnant. Don’t wait until you’re close to your due date! If you wait until the last minute, it’s easy to forget something. We want to make packing even easier for you, so we’ve created a hospital bag checklist to make sure you’ve got all the essentials covered for you and your baby.
The first hour after birth is often referred to as “the golden hour.” Just like the magical time before the sun sets, when everything seems to glow, so this hour after birth is precious and fleeting. It’s a pivotal and important time of transition for both the mother or birthing person and the baby, as you are both shifting from being one to being two. And with this shift comes a whole lot of physical change—the mother’s circulatory system is adjusting to changes in blood volume, the reproductive system is working to contract the uterus, the baby’s lungs begin to breathe for the first time and their cardiovascular system is making changes in how the blood flows through the body. A lot is going on in these moments that can’t be seen with the human eye!
There is nothing else in life that can be compared to childbirth. Birth is unpredictable, and almost always goes differently than you envision, and while your body is doing all of the work, it is largely outside of your control. Birth is physical, yes, but it is also a mental, emotional, and spiritual process that happens as you meet your new baby. Put simply, a lot is going on when you give birth! And while a lot is happening, there isn’t a lot of time or energy for you to use making important decisions about the care you want during birth.
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