A baby’s cry at birth tells the medical team that their lungs are healthy. Often parents will hear a doctor praise their baby’s cry, but does this mean that a baby who doesn’t cry at birth is not as healthy? The science behind crying Apart from the signature sound of a baby’s cry, there are…
When a newborn baby begins to have seizures, parents wonder what is causing the seizures, how neonatal seizures are treated, if seizures mean the baby has a brain injury, and if the baby will have lifelong problems. Parents also want to know if the medical team did something wrong during or near the time of birth that caused the baby to have a brain injury, resulting in seizures.
One common labor and delivery complication is the failure of the baby’s head to “engage” in the mother’s pelvis. This means that although the baby is otherwise ready to be born, their presenting body part has not yet moved into a position that will allow for a safe and comfortable birth. In some cases, this…
Compound presentation occurs when the part of the fetus closest to the birth canal (usually the head) presents with an extremity next to it (usually hand or arm) (1). It has been estimated to affect less than 0.004% of pregnancies. What are the causes of compound presentation? Compound presentation can occur as a result of…
A recent story in HuffPost entitled “Why Are We Still Cutting Women’s Vaginas During Birth?” tells the story of a woman named Rachel who experienced an episiotomy during childbirth (1). An episiotomy is an incision made to the perineum, the area between the vaginal opening and the anus, to aid in delivery (2). Rachel heard…
Did you know that there are three stages of labor? It’s true. The first stage of labor refers to the period between the onset of labor and the point when a woman’s cervix is dilated to 10 centimeters; the second stage is the period between when the woman’s cervix is dilated to 10 centimeters and…
The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed country in the world (1). There are myriad reasons for this devastating fact, one of which is that hospitals across the country can be terribly unprepared for maternal emergencies. In a recent USA Today story, journalists examined billing records from seven million births in…
Introduction Worldwide, there are about 2.6 million stillbirths each year (1), 24,000 of which occur in the U.S. (2). Our rate of stillbirth is higher than that of many other developed nations. For example, it is more than double the rate in Iceland (3). This regional variation in stillbirths demonstrates that many of these deaths…
Making a baby registry and purchasing products in preparation for a new baby’s arrival can be confusing for first-time parents. The number of baby products on sale is already outrageous and companies are inventing new baby products daily. Many claim to be absolute necessities for new parents and their babies, but which do you actually…
