Prenatal Yoga can be very beneficial to help you prepare for Labor & Delivery. For this video series we partnered with Veronica Stevens, a birth doula and prenatal yoga instructor. Veronica has extensive experience working with women in all stages of pregnancy, and has great insights into specific poses that help you prepare for labor and delivery. Veronica has a passion for helping people have a birth experience they can feel good about. You can learn more about her practice on her website, Happy Baby Yogi. This video series is divided into 7 segments. Feel free to practice individual segments depending on your schedule and needs, or follow all 7 segments for a more holistic practice. If you have questions about prenatal yoga, please leave them in the comments! Continue reading →

As you throw back Tums, become closely acquainted with all local bathrooms, and lovingly rub your stretch marks throughout pregnancy, you’re almost always in a day-dream-like state. You’re dreaming up baby names and memorizing paint swatches and you may be able to recite the signs of labor with the ease of someone who has earned a medical degree. But, many women don’t know about signs of an early or pre-term labor – which is labor that happens before the 37-week mark. A normal pregnancy lasts 40 weeks.

Women carrying multiples, women with a history of premature births, and women with uterine or cervical abnormalities are at an increased risk for preterm labor. But, according to the America Pregnancy Association, early labor happens in 12% of pregnancies.

Sometimes, an early labor can be halted with medical intervention, so whether you are at increased risk for early labor or not, it’s a good idea to be aware of these early labor signs and symptoms, so you can get to your doctor quickly if something is wrong.  Continue reading →

Being pregnant is both amazing and scary all at the same time. You don’t know what is going on with your baby, so every little thing sends you to the doctor.  You’re constantly worried there’s something wrong. I get it because I was there! Even though I am a labor and delivery nurse, I worried about every little thing that happened.

However, there are some things that you don’t need to worry about. You can also plan ahead and take care of many things at home, before the big day. You don’t have to rush to the doctor or hospital for everything. Because of that, I’d like to share with you 11 things expecting moms can learn from a labor and delivery nurse. Continue reading →

If you lived through the 80s, you’re probably aware of that famous surrogacy case known simply as the Baby M case. Just to give you a briefer: Mary Beth Whitehead entered into a contract with William Stern and his wife Elizabeth. Mrs. Whitehead agreed to be inseminated with Mr. Stern’s sperm, and if the procedure becomes a success, carry the baby then give up her parental rights once the baby is born for $10,000. Continue reading →

Most pregnant women start to feel their baby move at around 18 to 20 weeks. If it is your first pregnancy you may not become aware of movements until you are past the 20 week mark. If you have been pregnant before then you may even feel movement as early as 16 weeks! Usually these movements feel like a soft kick, a flutter, a swish or a roll and are an exciting stage causing your impending motherhood to suddenly get extra exciting. But as exciting as it is, it is also important that you start to recognise your baby’s movement patterns. So here at SmartMom we have put together a rough guide to the meaning of the movements of baby during pregnancy.

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Once your children get to the point where they no longer run to you with arms outstretched and love being by your side, the task of getting their attention can be down right impossible. Thanks to all the books and toys you’ve bought them over the years, there’s a mountain of distraction keeping them from turning their focus on you when you need it. Pair that with an endless amount of technology at their disposal and we moms swiftly slip to the bottom of their priority list. Thankfully there are a few tricks to steal back the attention when you’re dealing with kids not listening.

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Your car keys are in the cereal box and you show up at your best friend’s house the day after her birthday party…so, is there actually something to this whole “pregnancy brain” or “momnesia” thing everyone talks about? Or is it just some excuse that a pregnant woman came up with hundreds of years ago that is easy to adopt when they let things slip?

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You’re reading this because:

a.) You’ve been recently diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and the management aspect of the disorder is still very vague to you

b.) You know someone who has it and want to help her out

c.) You have a just-in-case mentality, hence the need for gathering as much information as you can

d.) You’re bored – got nothing else to read

For whichever your reason may be reading up on Gestational Diabetes management, don’t you worry! We’ll walk you through what you need to know.

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