Pregnancy
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.
Continue reading "Sometimes, you’ve just got to go with your gut instinct" »
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.
Continue reading "Birth trauma in hospital is driving women to homebirth" »
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Tessa says:
Was devastated to hear the news this morning of a wrongly aborted twin at 30 weeks gestation - it is sickening. I wonder if this mother will endure the same public and media scrutiny about her birth choices? For her sake, I hope not. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/medical-bungle-at-royal-womens-hospital-kills-healthy-fetus/story-fn6bqvxz-1226204206824 Read more »
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Carolyn Hastie says:
A well informed mother, who is supported in her choices and has a supportive partner does best of all in any context. Sometimes, with the best of intentions, things go wrong. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/medical-bungle-at-royal-womens-hospital-kills-healthy-fetus/story-fn7x8me2-1226204091220 What’s important is that whatever the choices, whatever the outcome, women and their partners have the information they… Read more »
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.
Continue reading "Spare a thought for those who can’t have kids" »
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Anne Stocks says:
A Neighbour who I care very much for, has not been coping for some time and even though I tried to help her but with my disability I was limited, there was only so much I could do and because she was not meeting all her Children’s needs the Authorities… Read more »
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Julie says:
There is a man in my church who has worked in the Children’s ministry for as long as I can remember. His wife is also involved in sunday school, but Gary is in every aspect of children’s ministry available. I just came to the realization a few years ago, that… Read more »
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”.
Continue reading "The abortion debate has gone beyond slogans" »
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Anne Stocks says:
I did not conceive Miraculously it was through having sex strange that don’t you think? and I was not Married even stranger don’t you agree ? As for standing against Abortion for unborn Babies, it’s very True what Tim Cannon shared which was .... There’s nothing medieval about it. It’s… Read more »
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kris says:
I cannot speak to anyone else’s experiences but my own. I had a wonderfully fulfilling and satisfying period of my life when I only had ‘casual’ sex. I never had a pregnancy or disease. I have since been married, happily and faithfully, for 15 years and have had two children.… Read more »
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.
Continue reading "Choosing a baby’s sex: the next great leap for parents" »
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jazz says:
Funny how the people who try and say this is an unethical procedure try to bring up sex-ratios. If you were to use evidence from ‘extreme cases’ such as china, maybe you should consider the fact that the chinese sex ratio has been out of balance for a while now.… Read more »
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Nay says:
JulesG.. Just out of interest, do you have children? and what gender are they? I know this a late post that I am making to this article but I just came across it whilst researching and its interesting so I am interested to hear your response… Read more »
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.
Continue reading "I’m pregnant, sober, and seeing booze in a new light" »
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David says:
I’m off the drink for a year at age 35. I drank 1 or 2 drinks every day before this, which horrified my doctor, but I didn’t think it was a problem. I guess in theory it isn’t, I mean, many cultures healthier than ours drink every day. But I… Read more »
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Shane says:
Yeah I agree, I am so over journalists showering us with their “knowledge of parenting” when they’ve got a 6 month old baby. I find it offensive to say the least. When you’ve got more kids than me, had more problems than me with those kids, (illness, stealing, failing at… Read more »
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.
Continue reading "Invisible loss: What I learned about tragic pregnancy" »
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Monique says:
Interesting. As a woman, I felt unable to talk about the loss of our boy twin, at 16 weeks, with my husband. I always felt that even though my husband grieved, he just wanted to put it all behind us and focus on our surviving girl twin as well as… Read more »
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Liz says:
Men suffer undoubtedly and glad it is being addressed but why bring competition into it?Very sad as if there isn’t enough pain and suffering around in this situation.Hope that those of you still with emotional pain will seek professioanl help and not try to go it alone.If you find the… Read more »
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?
Continue reading "10 things not to say to a pregnant woman" »
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Annabella says:
Having been pregnant with twins some 20 years ago, I still remember how uncomfortable it was. But I did get a couple of laughs the first hundred time people asked was I going to call them Pete and Repeat or Kate and Duplicate!! Being preg with multipals isn’t fun, but… Read more »
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Louise says:
You dopey buggers, the advertisments on TV going on about ‘no safe level of alcohol’ was put up by the Salvo’s who are reknown teetotallers. Bit stupid to think their message is the absolute truth! Moreover alcohol causes a particular syndrome, of which to date no baby who got it… Read more »
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.
Continue reading "Homebirth wars: this ‘right’ should come with a warning" »
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apposelloxime says:
I now, maybe for some peoples, that is some verry familliary, but i think that great!. You need a way to can enjoy of your favorites pprgrams with yours movie strs. That i like watching tv on your computer, but you don’t need any software or cards, just tv online… Read more »
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trikariemaick1spt says:
Do you have any idea about identity theft lawyers Read more »
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’.
Continue reading "Pregnancy has become a competitive sport" »
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Katey says:
Epidurals leading to mothers not bonding with their babies? What utter, utter hogwash. We have an amazing bond. Always have. No skin to skin contact without natural birth? Rubbish. My babies were given to me the moment they were delivered, one after the other. It was the most amazing moment… Read more »
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Stella says:
Nobody here criticised birth without intervention or anyone who chooses it, Sam. The problem is the assumption that women who wanted or needed intervention somehow gave birth in an inferior way. This argument is happening because women feel ashamed to have used drugs or had a C-section. Their shame is… Read more »
The two greatest experiences of my life occurred in a birthing suite.
The birth of a new baby is an exhilarating experience that produces emotions from deep within your soul.
Yet somehow I think the emotions that child birth produces in woman are even more significant. Obviously pregnancy causes massive physical change but less obvious is the enormous emotional change having a baby ushers in.
Continue reading "Defending the right of Mums to have a safe home birth" »
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tubal reversal says:
Home birth is preferable just when everything is normal.But better is that hospital is best because during any emergency doctors can handle every problem.here i want to share about tubal reversal a surgical procedure to conceive pregnancy after tubal ligation. Read more »
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Rebecca says:
Thank you Jamie for listening, for researching this topic rather than just going with hearsay, assumptions and the status quo. Thank you for representing the women in your electorate so valiantly. Read more »
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