Each week of pregnancy brings something new—for you, for your baby, and for your partner! Find out what to expect over the 40 weeks of pregnancy with our week-by-week guides.
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Patient-requested c-section: Can a woman choose?
A growing number of women are asking their doctors for c-sections when there is no medical reason. Some women want a c-section because they fear the pain of childbirth. Others like the convenience of being able to decide when and how to deliver their baby. Still others fear the risks of vaginal delivery including tearing and sexual problems.
Virtually all women worry about how they will cope with the pain of labor and delivery. Childbirth is different for everyone. So no one can predict how you will feel. The amount of pain a woman feels during labor depends partly on the size and position of her baby, the size of her pelvis, her emotions, the strength of the contractions, and her outlook.
Some women do fine with natural methods of pain relief alone. Many women blend natural methods with medications that relieve pain. Building a positive outlook on childbirth and managing fear may also help some women cope with the pain. It is important to realize that labor pain is not like pain due to illness or injury. Instead, it is caused by contractions of the uterus that are pushing your baby down and out of the birth canal. In other words, labor pain has a purpose.
Try the following to help you feel positive about childbirth:
Many natural methods help women to relax and make pain more manageable. Things women do to ease the pain include:
Water and childbirth
More and more women in the United States are using water to find comfort during labor. This is called hydrotherapy. Laboring in a tub of warm water helps women feel physically supported, and keeps them warm and relaxed. Plus, it is easier for laboring women to move and find comfortable positions in the water.
In waterbirthing, a woman remains in the water for delivery. The American Academy of Pediatrics has expressed concerns about delivering in water because of a lack of studies showing its safety and because of the rare but reported chance of complications. Ask your doctor or midwife if you want to know more about waterbirthing.
Medical methods of pain relief
While you're in labor, your doctor, midwife, or nurse should ask if you need pain relief. It is her job to help you decide what option is best for you. Nowadays women in labor have many pain relief options that work well and pose small risks when given by a trained and experienced doctor. Doctors also can use different methods for pain relief at different stages of labor. Still, not all options are available at every hospital and birthing center. Plus your health history, allergies, and any problems with your pregnancy will make some methods better than others.
Methods of relieving pain commonly used for labor are described in the chart below. Keep in mind that rare, but serious complications sometimes occur. Also, most medicines used to manage pain during labor pass freely into the placenta. Ask your doctor how pain relief methods might affect your baby or your ability to breastfeed after delivery.
1) How much weight will I lose right after giving birth?
You probably won't return to your pre-pregnancy weight for some time, but you will lose a significant amount of weight immediately after delivery. Subtracting one 7- to 8-pound baby, about a pound or so of placenta, and another few pounds of blood and amniotic fluid leaves most new moms about 12 pounds lighter.
The weight keeps coming off, too. All the extra water your cells retained during pregnancy, along with fluid from the extra blood you had in your pregnant body, will be looking for a way out.
So you'll produce more urine than usual in the days after birth – an astounding 3 quarts a day. You may perspire a lot, too. By the end of the first week, you'll likely lose about 4 to 6 pounds of water weight. (The amount varies depending on how much water you retained during pregnancy.)
2) Will my vagina and perineum ever get back to normal?
If you give birth vaginally, your vagina will probably remain a little larger than it was before. Right after delivery, the vagina will be stretched open and may be swollen and bruised. Over the next few days, any swelling you might have starts to go down, and your vagina begins to regain muscle tone. In the next few weeks, it will gradually get smaller. Doing Kegel exercises regularly helps restore muscle tone.
If you had a small tear in your perineum that did not require stitches, it should heal quickly and cause little discomfort. If you had an episiotomy or a significant tear, your perineum needs time to heal, so wait to start having sex again until you get the okay from your practitioner at your postpartum checkup. If you continue to have tenderness in that area, delay intercourse until you feel ready.
In the meantime, figure out what you want to do for contraception. When you do feel ready (both physically and emotionally) to have sex again, be sure to go slowly.
When you start having intercourse, you'll probably find that you have less vaginal lubrication than you did when you were pregnant, due to lower levels of estrogen. This dryness will be even more pronounced if you're breastfeeding, because nursing tends to keep estrogen levels down. Using a lubricant is a big help. (Be sure to buy a water-based lubricant, particularly if you're using a barrier method of contraception. Oil-based lubricants can weaken latex, which can cause a condom to break or ruin a diaphragm.)
3) What should I expect if I'm breastfeeding?
Hormonal changes after delivery prompt your breasts to start producing milk. When your baby nurses during the first few days after birth, he's getting colostrum, a thick yellowish substance that your breasts produced during pregnancy. His suckling triggers the release of the hormones prolactin, which stimulates milk production, and oxytocin, which causes the milk sacs and ducts to contract, propelling the milk to your nipples. (This is the so-called "letdown" reflex.)
If those first breastfeeding sessions cause some abdominal cramping, it's because oxytocin also triggers uterine contractions. When your milk comes in, usually two to three days after you give birth, your breasts may get swollen, tender, hard, throbbing, and uncomfortably full. This is called engorgement and it should get better in a day or two.
Nursing your baby often is the best thing you can do for relief. (In fact, frequent nursing right from the beginning sometimes prevents engorgement altogether.) For others suggestions, check out our advice on treating engorgement. If these measures don't help and your baby seems to be having trouble latching on correctly, talk to your caregiver or lactation consultant.
Why am I feeling so moody?
Mood swings may be due to a number of factors, including hormonal changes, discomfort you may still be experiencing from labor and birth, sleep deprivation and the other demands of caring for a new baby, as well as the emotional adjustment to motherhood. Whatever the cause, it's common to feel a little blue, usually beginning a few days after giving birth and lasting for a few weeks.
If the feeling doesn't go away on its own in the first few weeks or you find that you're feeling worse rather than better, be sure to call your caregiver and tell her your symptoms. You may be suffering from postpartum depression, a more serious problem that requires treatment, and she can give you a referral for help. If you think you might hurt yourself or your baby, or if you feel incapable of caring for your newborn, seek professional help immediately.
4) Why am I losing my hair?
If your hair got thicker during your pregnancy, it may now start to shed in handfuls. This happens to some new moms in the first few months after having their baby. Don't worry – you won't go bald.
During pregnancy, high estrogen levels may prolong your hair's growing phase, causing less to fall out than usual. After you give birth, your estrogen levels plummet and you begin to shed more. Over time, usually within a year or so, the rate of new growth and shedding will return to what it once was.
On the bright side, if you suffered from excess facial and body hair during pregnancy (the result of a rise in hormones called androgens), you will likely lose most of that hair within six months after having your baby.
It is common to retain additional pounds after the baby arrives. There are several things to consider about weight loss as well as ways to help you shed unwanted weight. If you step on the scale several days after you give birth, you will likely have one of two reactions. Disappointment or complete horror. The weight loss is either not as much as you had hoped, or in some cases, your weight might not have changed much.
If you were one of the unlucky ones who did not lose much weight after birth, check your face, hands and ankles. Are they swollen? It might be that the pregnancy weight of the baby, placenta, amniotic fluid, etc.. was replaced by several pounds of fluid retention. This is common especially if you had a lot of IV fluids during your labor. The good news is that you should lose that fluid weight in about 2-3 weeks by urinating and perspiring more frequently.
It may sound strange, but going on an official "diet" could derail your post-pregnancy weight loss goals. Feeling deprived of your favorite foods while you're already stressed out by your new role as mom could actually cause you to gain weight, Johnson says.
"If you go back to eating healthy and eating for your hunger, most women find that the weight comes off pretty naturally," she says.
Instead of dieting, she recommends eating a well-balanced variety of foods. Keep different snacks in the house to keep you from feeling hungry and give you energy throughout the day. Apple slices, carrot sticks, and wheat crackers are all good for noshing.
No matter how much you want to lose weight, try not to dip below 1,800 calories a day, particularly if you are breastfeeding. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPyramid site can help you design a personalized eating plan based on your age, activity level, and weight loss goals. The site even has a special section for breastfeeding moms.
When you're a new mother, your body needs maximum nutrition, especially if you're nursing. Choose foods that are heavy in the nutrients you need and light in calories and fat.
Fish is one of these "super foods" because it's packed with DHA, an essential omega-3 fatty acid that helps your newborn develop a healthy brain and nervous system. The best sources of DHA are cold-water fish such as salmon, sardines, and tuna (stick to canned light tuna because albacore tends to be high in mercury).
Milk and yogurt are also super foods because they're high in the calcium you need to keep your bones strong. And don't forget the protein. Lean meat, chicken, and beans are low in fat and high in protein and fiber. They're good for you, and they'll keep you feeling full for longer.
Whether breastfeeding can actually help you lose weight is still up in the air - some studies find that breastfeeding exclusively can help you return to your pre-baby weight faster, while others find no difference in weight loss between women who breastfeed and those who bottle feed.
What is for sure is that breastfeeding is good for your baby, boosting immunity and providing a number of other important health benefits. And nursing exclusively lets you add about an extra 300 calories a day to your diet (you can add slightly more calories if you have a really big eater or twins). Just make sure that if you do breastfeed, you don't use it as an excuse to eat whatever you want.
Drinking plenty of water throughout the day prevents you from getting dehydrated. It also fills you up so that you don't eat as much, and some research has found that it may speed up your metabolism.
Whether you need the often-recommended eight glasses a day isn't certain, so Johnson recommends using the color of your urine and how often you need to go to the bathroom as guides. If you're drinking enough fluids, your urine should be relatively clear, and you should be going to the bathroom about every three to four hours.
Drink at least 10-12 glasses of water every day. Replace your high sugar beverages such as sodas and juices with some water and a squeeze of fresh lemon. You could also try flavored seltzer water which has no calories. You can cut out hundreds of calories a day this way.
Keep healthy snacks handy such as raisins, popcorn, wheat crackers, and nuts. Refuse to buy store-bought baked goods or junk food.
Diet is important, but it's only one part of your post-pregnancy weight loss plan. You also need to incorporate aerobic and strength training exercises after pregnancy to burn calories and keep your muscles and bones strong. "Exercise, beyond helping you lose weight, provides so many benefits to a new mom," Johnson says. "It helps with depression, it helps with the sleep issue ... it helps in relieving stress - and having a new baby in the house can definitely be stressful."
You don't have to hit the gym to get back in shape after pregnancy - taking a brisk walk with your baby in the stroller is enough to get your heart pumping and muscles working. "You want to shoot for at least 150 minutes a week," says James M. Pivarnik, PhD, FACSM, professor of kinesiology and epidemiology at Michigan State University and president-elect of the American College of Sports Medicine. With a new baby, finding 30 minutes in a row might be impossible, so Pivarnik suggests breaking up the time into 10-minute increments. Then try to work your way up to 20- or 30-minute sessions.
Lugging around a baby all day is itself a workout, but you still need to add some strength training. Use light weights - or even a couple of soup cans - as resistance. Many health clubs and community centers offer "mommy and me" classes that will let you incorporate your baby into your workout routine. But before you start any exercise program, get your doctor's approval, especially if you had a C-section.
As soon as you feel ready, start light exercise. Weather-permitting, take a 10 minute walk with the baby every day and slowly increase your time to 20 minutes per day. Babies can be worn in a snugli or sling or you can use a baby jogger or stroller when they get too heavy. Even better, walk at a regular time with a friend.
Find easy ways to increase your exercise like parking farther away or using stairs instead of elevators.
It may seem impossible to get a full eight hours of sleep when you have a baby summoning you like clockwork throughout the night, but being sleep deprived could make it harder for you to shed the baby weight. In one study, new moms who slept five hours or less a night were more likely to hold onto their extra pregnancy weight than women who slept seven hours. When you're tired, your body releases cortisol and other stress hormones that can promote weight gain. "Also when you're exhausted, you don't feel like taking good care of yourself," Johnson says. "You're less likely to choose healthy food. You're more likely to grab something through a drive-through. You're also less likely to get physical activity."
Your friends or family members may have told you to "sleep when your baby sleeps," and that's good advice. Catch as many naps as you can during the day and go to bed early - at least until your baby starts sleeping through the night.
If you're struggling to lose the weight, enlist the help of your doctor and a dietitian. The dietitian can help you design an eating plan that will let you lose weight safely and effectively while the doctor can guide you on how much weight you need to lose and when you can start exercising.
Experts don't fully understand what triggers the onset of labor, and there's no way to predict exactly when it will start.
Look for these signs that your labor is far enough along to call your doctor. Your body actually starts preparing for labor up to a month before you give birth. You may be blissfully unaware of what's going on — or you may begin to notice new symptoms as your due date draws near.
Here are some things that may happen in the weeks or days before labor starts:
How can I tell whether my labor has actually started?
It's often not possible to pinpoint exactly when "true" labor begins because early labor contractions might start out feeling like the Braxton Hicks contractions you may have been noticing for weeks.
It's likely that labor is under way, however, when your contractions become increasingly longer, stronger, and closer together. They may be as far apart as every ten minutes or so in the beginning, but they won't stop or ease up no matter what you do. And in time, they'll become more painful and closer together.
In some cases, though, the onset of strong, regular contractions comes with little or no warning. It's different for every woman and with every pregnancy.
When should I call my doctor or midwife?
Toward the end of your pregnancy, your practitioner should give you a clear set of guidelines for when to let her know that you're having contractions and at what point she'll want you to go to the hospital or birth center.
These instructions will depend on your individual situation — whether you have pregnancy complications or are otherwise considered high-risk, whether this is your first baby, and practical matters like how far you live from the hospital or birth center — as well as on your caregiver's personal preference (some prefer an early heads-up).
If your pregnancy is uncomplicated, she'll probably have you wait to come in until you've been having contractions that last for about a minute each, coming every five minutes for about an hour. (Time the interval between contractions starting from the beginning of one and ending at the beginning of the next one.) As a rule, if you're high-risk, she'll want to hear from you earlier in labor.
Don't be afraid to call if the signs aren't clear but you think the time may have come. Doctors and midwives are used to getting calls from women who aren't sure whether they're in labor and need guidance. It's part of their job.
And the truth is, your caregiver can tell a lot by the sound of your voice, so verbal communication helps. She'll want to know how close together your contractions are, how long each one lasts, how strong they are (she'll note whether you can talk through a contraction), and any other symptoms you may have.
Finally, whether or not your pregnancy has been problem-free up to now, and whether or not you think you might be in labor, be sure to call your caregiver right away (and if you can't reach her, head for the hospital) in the following situations:
That said, every pregnancy is different and no list can cover all situations, so if you're not sure whether a symptom is serious, or if you just don't feel like yourself or are uneasy, trust your instincts and call your healthcare provider. If there's a problem, you'll get help. If nothing's wrong, you'll be reassured.
You should prepare with the following items:
Steps To Giving Your Baby A Sponge Bath:
Steps To Washing Baby's Hair:
Steps To Washing Baby In The Tub:
It is probably best to start with baby's face and move onto dirtier parts of the body. Wash inside skin folds and rinse genitals carefully. Save washing the hair for last to help baby preserve body heat.
Plain water is fine for newborns. You can use a mild, unscented soap with moisturizer especially formulated for babies if needed. Avoid using bubble baths on newborns and young babies.
It is not recommended to use lotion after a bath for most newborns. Greasy lotions or ointments may cause skin irritation or block baby's tiny sweat glands. Carefully dry inside baby's folds of skin after each bath to prevent rash and skin irritation.
Time for baby's bath is your choice. Some babies may be more alert and ready to enjoy the experience in the morning, while others may prefer a bath at night as a calming bedtime ritual. It is important to choose a time when you will not be rushed or interrupted.
How to bathe a baby is a common deliberation that occurs earlier than the baby is given birth to. Bathing a baby bathing a baby can be hard at first. Putting their sensitive body in bathing position might be a dreadful. However, after you have been able to pick up the actual first occasion, you'll progressivel accustomed to it. Thus, it should be excellent with a bare minimum practice while weeks pass on. Little ones are exceedingly slippery being they waggle more or less for example soon as they wet and soapy. Bathing a baby one could take place on day by day procedure meant for any little one starting his or her first day. Bathing newborns might be a significant thrilling occasion for new moms and dads. A number of moms are quite anxious while bathing their infants, signifying they are troubled maybe their baby might fall from their palms since the body is in fact very small.
The subsequent points are merit taking into account:
a. Simply, how extensive should the child linger inside the water?
Newborns are accordingly funny, as they be talented of making curious sounds similar to – EEH-HH – AHHH-AHH-HH in addition to splashing. This can convince you to leave them inside the water for longer than you aim. You'd be considering to maintain the water warm for extensive as it gets colder. Continually dip you fingers in and out of the water to sense the usual warmth. It needs to be secure as well as being sound consistently. How to bathe your baby for the paramount length of time could become exceedingly natural.
b. Must you apply bathing soap?
For mothers along with fathers, using baby-wash goods, you would absolutely require to isolate them from your grown-ups goods to prevent using them unintentionally.
In deciding which newborn cleaning soap to get, you would bear in mind it can contain chemicals, consequently shopping in support of the mildest soap to avoid eye irritation. Recall that your baby's body is very delicate, you might analyze a cleaning soap to tell if it causes sensitized reactions otherwise irritating the face. A baby cleaning soap ought to ensue non-toxic as little ones fancy puttinh their fingers in the mouth no matter how thick the soap suds is. During the initial few weeks, howtobatheababy.com website recommends giving the infant one a wipe shower exclusively to cleanse up leftovers from spit up and to retain the diapered stain free of feces or urine. In the same way as you get your experience, you will grasp to know how to bathe a baby.
c. Which is the finest baby shampoo?
Washing your baby's head is a necessary judgment. You would like use baby shampoo that is moderate and not producing red skin. Soaps in addition to shampoos might burn because they contain chemical substances. You would need to be a fully informed consumer as you buying baby cleansing products. One of the moderate contents that is included within the largest part baby shampoos is "amphoteric surfactants". Avoiding hard chemical compounds is means of getting to recognize how to bathe a baby.
d. How regular should you bathe your baby?
We bathed our child perhaps each other day as a little baby, although for practically all of his years he will get a bath every day. Customarily, because he fancied it. We just rinse his hair and used cleaning soap every other day. Just similar to grown-ups, your child want to be bathed on a regular way. Make sure the room is warm-up on all times, knowing that newborns can't preserve their temperature comparable to grown-up children. Doing this shows that your getting to know how to bathe a baby.
e. Which important things might you contain at top of your list? :
- Diaper
- Baby soap
- Baby bathtub
- New clothes
- Newborn towel
- Baby shampoo baby shampoo
f. What is the Crucial water temperature?
The paramount shower water heat might fluctuate from one with specific baby to another. No child ought to be bathed inside lurked-warm water or water that is hot. Suggested shower water is between 90 and a hundred degrees F. Parents could test the water during putting an elbow into the water.
Sudden unexpected infant deaths are defined as deaths in infants less than 1 year of age that occur suddenly and unexpectedly, and whose cause of death are not immediately obvious prior to investigation.
Each year in the United States, more than 4,500 infants die suddenly of no immediately, obvious cause. Half of these Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID) are due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the leading cause of SUID and of all deaths among infants aged 1–12 months.
CDC supports new recommendations issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). These new recommendations aim to reduce the risk of infant death from SIDS as well as death from known sleep-related causes. Read the AAP fact sheet for more information.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is defined as the sudden death of an infant less than 1 year of age that cannot be explained after a thorough investigation is conducted, including a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history.
SIDS is the leading cause of death among infants aged 1–12 months, and is the third leading cause overall of infant mortality in the United States. Although the overall rate of SIDS in the United States has declined by more than 50% since 1990, rates for non-Hispanic black and American Indian/Alaska Native infants remain disproportionately higher than the rest of the population. Reducing the risk of SIDS remains an important public health priority.
For a medical examiner or coroner to determine the cause of the death, a thorough case investigation including examination of the death scene and a review of the infant's clinical history must be conducted. A complete autopsy needs to be performed, ideally using information gathered from the scene investigation. Even when a thorough investigation is conducted, it may be difficult to separate SIDS from other types of sudden unexpected infant deaths, especially accidental suffocation in bed.
After a thorough case investigation, many of these sudden unexpected infant deaths may be explained. Poisoning, metabolic disorders, hyper or hypothermia, neglect and homicide, and suffocation are all explainable causes of SUID.
