http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/pregnancy/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:13 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:13 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Sometimes-youve-just-got-to-go-with-your-gut-instinct/ When I was pregnant with my second child, the 19 week ultrasound brought potentially devastating news. Our child had a growth on the lung which could kill them. At that stage, doctors were unsure what would happen. The growth could get bigger, squashing internal organs and killing the baby. If that happened, they could induce the baby at about 26 weeks so doctors could try to operate. Or it may not grow any bigger and the baby could have it removed after birth. News that a couple had the wrong twin aborted at 32 weeks when one was diagnosed with a serious heart defect brought these memories flooding back. This poor couple ended up losing both children, which is horrific for all involved. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Sometimes-youve-just-got-to-go-with-your-gut-instinct/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Sometimes-youve-just-got-to-go-with-your-gut-instinct/#item7234 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:13 +0000 Birth is unpredictable - unless of course you have booked in for a caesarean and know exactly the when, where, why and how. Nowadays this is an acceptable form of giving birth, however at the other end of the spectrum there are women birthing at home with no medical intervention. And then there is the majority that falls in between. Every day, all over the country women are birthing in hospitals with healthy babies. Some without any intervention while others have a full gamut of procedures. Some are elated by their experience and some are shattered. When pregnant, hospitals encourage us to write a birth plan. It is a document that details what procedures you will and won’t accept and whom you want there. A lot of time and energy is spent creating them. It is our formal statement about how we want our bodies and babies to be treated by the hospital. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/birth-trauma-in-hospital-is-driving-women-to-homebirth/ Birth is unpredictable - unless of course you have booked in for a caesarean and know exactly the when, where, why and how. Nowadays this is an acceptable form of giving birth, however at the other end of the spectrum there are women birthing at home with no medical intervention. And then there is the majority that falls in between. Every day, all over the country women are birthing in hospitals with healthy babies. Some without any intervention while others have a full gamut of procedures. Some are elated by their experience and some are shattered. When pregnant, hospitals encourage us to write a birth plan. It is a document that details what procedures you will and won’t accept and whom you want there. A lot of time and energy is spent creating them. It is our formal statement about how we want our bodies and babies to be treated by the hospital. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/birth-trauma-in-hospital-is-driving-women-to-homebirth/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/birth-trauma-in-hospital-is-driving-women-to-homebirth/#item7196 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:13 +0000 Birth is unpredictable - unless of course you have booked in for a caesarean and know exactly the when, where, why and how. Nowadays this is an acceptable form of giving birth, however at the other end of the spectrum there are women birthing at home with no medical intervention. And then there is the majority that falls in between. Every day, all over the country women are birthing in hospitals with healthy babies. Some without any intervention while others have a full gamut of procedures. Some are elated by their experience and some are shattered. When pregnant, hospitals encourage us to write a birth plan. It is a document that details what procedures you will and won’t accept and whom you want there. A lot of time and energy is spent creating them. It is our formal statement about how we want our bodies and babies to be treated by the hospital. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Spare-a-thought-for-those-who-cant-have-kids/ Pregnancy is a lovely thing. Lovely, obviously, because it usually produces a baby, but also because it keeps you warm, excuses cake consumption and ensures you score a seat on the bus. It also makes everyone smile and ask pleasant questions, which is doubly nice when you’ve had your head down the loo half the morning. But, for some, the sight of an expectant mum is torture. They may enthuse with the rest of us, but behind the plastered smile, they’re splintering into a million unspilt tears. Because there’s no keener reminder of what you don’t have than someone else’s swollen belly. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Spare-a-thought-for-those-who-cant-have-kids/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Spare-a-thought-for-those-who-cant-have-kids/#item6298 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:13 +0000 Birth is unpredictable - unless of course you have booked in for a caesarean and know exactly the when, where, why and how. Nowadays this is an acceptable form of giving birth, however at the other end of the spectrum there are women birthing at home with no medical intervention. And then there is the majority that falls in between. Every day, all over the country women are birthing in hospitals with healthy babies. Some without any intervention while others have a full gamut of procedures. Some are elated by their experience and some are shattered. When pregnant, hospitals encourage us to write a birth plan. It is a document that details what procedures you will and won’t accept and whom you want there. A lot of time and energy is spent creating them. It is our formal statement about how we want our bodies and babies to be treated by the hospital. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-abortion-debate-has-gone-beyond-slogans/ Most people agree that we, as a society, want to decrease the number of abortions. Like any grand statement, the means to getting to this end will be the judge of our seriousness and principles. Tory Shepherd is right to point out our goals cannot be achieved through “guilt, hate and fear mongering”. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-abortion-debate-has-gone-beyond-slogans/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-abortion-debate-has-gone-beyond-slogans/#item5242 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:13 +0000 Birth is unpredictable - unless of course you have booked in for a caesarean and know exactly the when, where, why and how. Nowadays this is an acceptable form of giving birth, however at the other end of the spectrum there are women birthing at home with no medical intervention. And then there is the majority that falls in between. Every day, all over the country women are birthing in hospitals with healthy babies. Some without any intervention while others have a full gamut of procedures. Some are elated by their experience and some are shattered. When pregnant, hospitals encourage us to write a birth plan. It is a document that details what procedures you will and won’t accept and whom you want there. A lot of time and energy is spent creating them. It is our formal statement about how we want our bodies and babies to be treated by the hospital. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/choosing-a-babys-sex-the-next-great-leap-for-parents/ Call me a bit of an idealistic Charlotte from Sex & The City, but if I have experienced something amazing, I want the world to experience it too. So now I am a mum, I’d love the whole world to experience the joy of motherhood, particularly the women who are having difficulty falling pregnant. That’s why I am so supportive of IVF. Strangers (even friends who have dared not ask for fear it’s too private) assume I had my twins via IVF. I did not. And I would be willing to shout it from the rooftops if I had. I have seen people close to me finally get their wish to be a parent thanks to this miraculous medical procedure. A few of the beautiful mums in my twin prenatal class had their multiples thanks to IVF and I know just how eternally grateful they are that the procedure exists. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/choosing-a-babys-sex-the-next-great-leap-for-parents/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/choosing-a-babys-sex-the-next-great-leap-for-parents/#item3574 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:13 +0000 Birth is unpredictable - unless of course you have booked in for a caesarean and know exactly the when, where, why and how. Nowadays this is an acceptable form of giving birth, however at the other end of the spectrum there are women birthing at home with no medical intervention. And then there is the majority that falls in between. Every day, all over the country women are birthing in hospitals with healthy babies. Some without any intervention while others have a full gamut of procedures. Some are elated by their experience and some are shattered. When pregnant, hospitals encourage us to write a birth plan. It is a document that details what procedures you will and won’t accept and whom you want there. A lot of time and energy is spent creating them. It is our formal statement about how we want our bodies and babies to be treated by the hospital. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/pregnancy-and-drinking/ During the last six months I’ve had to stop drinking. Pregnancy and alcohol are a “no-no,” and I haven’t felt like it anyway. Enforced “dryness” has been interesting. It’s made me think twice about who I want to socialise with and also made me reflect on the drinking habits I’ve established over the last few years. When you’re not drinking and hanging out with people who are, and “getting on it,” the scene quickly becomes intensely boring. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/pregnancy-and-drinking/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/pregnancy-and-drinking/#item2660 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:13 +0000 Birth is unpredictable - unless of course you have booked in for a caesarean and know exactly the when, where, why and how. Nowadays this is an acceptable form of giving birth, however at the other end of the spectrum there are women birthing at home with no medical intervention. And then there is the majority that falls in between. Every day, all over the country women are birthing in hospitals with healthy babies. Some without any intervention while others have a full gamut of procedures. Some are elated by their experience and some are shattered. When pregnant, hospitals encourage us to write a birth plan. It is a document that details what procedures you will and won’t accept and whom you want there. A lot of time and energy is spent creating them. It is our formal statement about how we want our bodies and babies to be treated by the hospital. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/zoe-taylor-pregnancy-loss/ It would have seemed like an innocent enough question. Standing at the supermarket checkout, struggling slightly with a bulging belly as I hoisted heavy bags into the trolley, with no children in tow: ‘Will this be your first baby?’ The answer should be simple. If a one word response will suffice, I’ll have no problem. No, this is not my first baby, my first pregnancy. It is my seventh. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/zoe-taylor-pregnancy-loss/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/zoe-taylor-pregnancy-loss/#item2272 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:13 +0000 Birth is unpredictable - unless of course you have booked in for a caesarean and know exactly the when, where, why and how. Nowadays this is an acceptable form of giving birth, however at the other end of the spectrum there are women birthing at home with no medical intervention. And then there is the majority that falls in between. Every day, all over the country women are birthing in hospitals with healthy babies. Some without any intervention while others have a full gamut of procedures. Some are elated by their experience and some are shattered. When pregnant, hospitals encourage us to write a birth plan. It is a document that details what procedures you will and won’t accept and whom you want there. A lot of time and energy is spent creating them. It is our formal statement about how we want our bodies and babies to be treated by the hospital. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/10-things-not-to-say-to-a-pregnant-woman/ I recently let the world know that I am expecting twins. I had read the chapter on pregnancy and other people in my new bible, ‘What to expect when expecting,’ by Sharon Mazel and Heidi Murkoff so had braced myself for some inappropriate tummy touching and some well-meaning pregnancy advice. I thought I was prepared. How wrong can you be? piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/10-things-not-to-say-to-a-pregnant-woman/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/10-things-not-to-say-to-a-pregnant-woman/#item2207 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:13 +0000 Birth is unpredictable - unless of course you have booked in for a caesarean and know exactly the when, where, why and how. Nowadays this is an acceptable form of giving birth, however at the other end of the spectrum there are women birthing at home with no medical intervention. And then there is the majority that falls in between. Every day, all over the country women are birthing in hospitals with healthy babies. Some without any intervention while others have a full gamut of procedures. Some are elated by their experience and some are shattered. When pregnant, hospitals encourage us to write a birth plan. It is a document that details what procedures you will and won’t accept and whom you want there. A lot of time and energy is spent creating them. It is our formal statement about how we want our bodies and babies to be treated by the hospital. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/homebirth-wars-confusing-a-right-with-whats-right/ One of the rudest things you can do is tell a parent how to raise their kid. But that’s not the case when it comes to how to bring it into the world in the first place. Everyone has tips on birth, sometimes insisting their way is the only way to do it. Have candles and incense. Have stirrups and steel. Do it with hot towels. Do it to music. Breathe like this. Think like that. Take drugs. Refuse drugs. Have a Caesarean. Be induced. Make a video. Then there’s the row over where it’s best to give birth. In a private suite. In a public labour ward. In a birth centre. And, to much ongoing controversy, in the home. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/homebirth-wars-confusing-a-right-with-whats-right/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/homebirth-wars-confusing-a-right-with-whats-right/#item1155 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:13 +0000 Birth is unpredictable - unless of course you have booked in for a caesarean and know exactly the when, where, why and how. Nowadays this is an acceptable form of giving birth, however at the other end of the spectrum there are women birthing at home with no medical intervention. And then there is the majority that falls in between. Every day, all over the country women are birthing in hospitals with healthy babies. Some without any intervention while others have a full gamut of procedures. Some are elated by their experience and some are shattered. When pregnant, hospitals encourage us to write a birth plan. It is a document that details what procedures you will and won’t accept and whom you want there. A lot of time and energy is spent creating them. It is our formal statement about how we want our bodies and babies to be treated by the hospital. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Pregnancy-has-become-a-competitive-sport/ Of the sixty-eight squillion pieces of advice doled out to pregnant women, perhaps the most useless is the message to stop playing competitive sports. While the advice is well intended, it’s completely unrealistic given that pregnancy itself has become a competitive sport. The sport of pregnancy is complex and not for the faint-hearted. There are a number of fast-changing rules that change depending on the context. First, there are the weight trials. This can take one of two forms. The first form is the competition to see who can put on the least amount of weight during their pregnancy. My wife Kasey first became aware of this one when she caught up with a former school friend for coffee who breezily confided ‘I only put on 10 kilos when I was pregnant’. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Pregnancy-has-become-a-competitive-sport/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Pregnancy-has-become-a-competitive-sport/#item880 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:13 +0000 Birth is unpredictable - unless of course you have booked in for a caesarean and know exactly the when, where, why and how. Nowadays this is an acceptable form of giving birth, however at the other end of the spectrum there are women birthing at home with no medical intervention. And then there is the majority that falls in between. Every day, all over the country women are birthing in hospitals with healthy babies. Some without any intervention while others have a full gamut of procedures. Some are elated by their experience and some are shattered. When pregnant, hospitals encourage us to write a birth plan. It is a document that details what procedures you will and won’t accept and whom you want there. A lot of time and energy is spent creating them. It is our formal statement about how we want our bodies and babies to be treated by the hospital.