womenTALK: Notes from the Nursery

Tuesday, Oct 09th 2012

4 Tips for Building Your Baby's Brain Health During Pregnancy

authored by Kristen Mucci-Mosier

Oftentimes, a woman begins to think like a mother as soon as the stick turns pink. She may ask herself: What can I do to create the healthiest most nurturing environment for this fetus to grow and develop physically? She may also wonder if there are actions she can take to help build her baby's brain health and intellect.

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Monday, Oct 08th 2012

A New Understanding of Midwifery Care

October 7 – 13 is National Midwifery Week in the U.S. and a perfect time to raise awareness about midwifery care. Midwives offer excellent women-centered care but many folks have an incomplete understanding of what they do and where they do it. Did you know that in addition to maternity care, midwives also focus on primary care including annual check-ups/GYN exams, family planning and menopause care?

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Friday, Oct 05th 2012

Foods That Should Be on Every Pregnant Woman's Shopping List

authored by Kristen Mucci-Mosier

Healthy eating during pregnancy isn't about weight loss; it's about maintaining a diet to meet the demands of your changing body and growing baby. Table for two please!

Heading to the food store? Want a cheat sheet? Here is the short list of must-have dietary items for pregnancy, all containing a combination of protein, calcium and iron:
Broccoli
Chickpeas/hummus
Dark, leafy greens (spinach, kale)
Figs and raisins

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Thursday, Sep 06th 2012

The Real Scoop on Dropping Post-Pregnancy Pounds

authored by Kristen Mucci-Mosier

"I can't believe you just had a baby!"

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Wednesday, Aug 01st 2012

Whooping Cough as We Haven’t Seen it Since 1959

by Sally Jones

Whooping Cough Is Vaccine-PreventableA record 18,000 whooping cough cases have been reported to the CDC so far this year - that's twice the number compared to this time last year. If this mid-year trend continues we could be looking at rates of whooping cough the likes of which we haven't seen since 1959.

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Tuesday, Jul 03rd 2012

Anniversary of Accident Makes Me Appreciate My Children

authored by Marcia Mangum Cronin

July 2 was the one-year anniversary of my younger daughter's serious car accident. I didn't want to dwell on it yesterday—and possibly increase my anxiety—but I feel some reflection is still needed, as part of my healing process. Early on the morning of July 2, 2011, my daughter was riding in a van with five other teenagers and an adult driver traveling up the Eastern Shore of Virginia on their way to a religious camp in New York.

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Thursday, May 31st 2012

In Support of Soccer from a Dedicated Soccer Mom

authored by Marcia Mangum Cronin

There's been much in the news lately about the dangers of concussions, ranging from the dangers to NFL linemen and military veterans to young girls on the soccer fields. I have two daughters, now ages 17 and 20, who have played a combined 30+ years of soccer, so these stories concern me. My older daughter, who played soccer less intensely and at a lower skills level, has had a few concussions.

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Tuesday, May 08th 2012

Coping With Nausea During Pregnancy

At nine weeks pregnant—to the day—I woke up running to the bathroom to get sick. This time it was morning sickness. After that, I was nauseous almost constantly through the first 14 weeks. I could barely watch a food commercial without gagging, and some of my favorite meals sounded gross to me.

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Tuesday, Apr 24th 2012

The Stomach Flu While Pregnant

At five weeks pregnant, I woke up at 1 a.m. in a dash to the bathroom, where I continued to get sick for the next four hours. I wondered with dread, could this be morning sickness? If so, I thought, I'm in for a rough first trimester. But pretty soon my temperature spiked. Looks like a stomach bug. Since your immune system is suppressed during pregnancy, it's not uncommon to get a bug such as the one I experienced.

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Monday, Apr 09th 2012

Pregnancy Symptoms, Without the Pregnancy

authored by Kristen Mucci-Mosier

Is it me or do my breasts look fantastic? Did I just feel a twinge in my pelvic area? Is this train ride nauseating? I could have sworn I was pregnant the month before I actually conceived. All the signs were there … or were they? Experiencing pregnancy symptoms without being pregnant is a phenomenon that I've come to learn happens to a lot of women who are trying to conceive.

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