Get insights on all things obstetrics, including pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care, from the doctors at Kamm McKenzie OB/GYN.
Pregnant? We have good news! Obstetrics & Gynecology, the go-to journal for our little niche in medicine, recently published new findings on sleep position in pregnancy. For years and years we have been telling patients to sleep on their sides, left side more than right if you can tolerate it, because older studies suggested an increased stillbirth rate for those that did not. Well, now a new study was just published, and I think you will like the results.
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I have seen and heard numerous advertisements for other local groups promoting their "now, not 8 weeks from now” approach to early pregnancy. We agree with being seen early, and have been doing it that way for several years already! Over 9 years ago, when I first started at Kamm McKenzie OBGYN, we would see patients between 8-12 weeks from their last menstrual periods...
You are finally at term and the seconds, minutes and days seem to slow to a crawl. Your mother-in-law is texting you non-stop wanting to know when the grand-kiddo is coming. It’s hard to work or do your day-to-day activities because the baby is pushing on your pelvic floor so much you have this sense that you are waddling more than walking. You have contractions now and again and the increased discharge makes you wonder if your water broke. And more so for first time moms, there is an overwhelming anxiety about the labor process, being a new parent, and knowing when to come to the hospital… am I right?!?
World Breastfeeding Month is celebrated every August. This month provides an opportunity to engage the community in supporting breastfeeding families. The 2019 theme is “Support Changes Everything.” Studies clearly indicate moms who feel supported will breastfeed longer and report a more positive experience with nursing overall. How can you support a breastfeeding mom?
Often times, throughout my postpartum period I questioned if I was a good mom or if I was making the right decisions for my children. Many of the decisions we make as mothers are based on maternal instinct or a gut feeling ….or maybe due to good ol’ fashion hormones. So when trying to figure out why we, as women, often blame ourselves for the uncontrollable or inevitable during our childbearing and childrearing years… it’s simple. It’s because we’re moms.
Hopefully there are all kinds of reasons why you would want to join our practice. Here is a big one. Our cesarean section rate continues to be one of the lowest in the nation. The Leapfrog Group tracks quality outcome measures in hospitals across the county. They just released their most recent review of Maternity Care. In it they report the cesarean section rate for first time moms at term with a single head down baby (NSVT).
Congratulations, you are in the final third of your pregnancy. Hopefully you passed your diabetes screen. If you did not, you are “enjoying” your new low carb diet or possibly new medications. If this is your first kiddo you probably have a baby shower in the works. (I was amazed with how NICE everyone was with our first baby. We got so many wonderful and useful things. I remember getting a little choked up seeing all the stuff we received.)
For most of you, visits will continue in two week intervals until the 36th week, then you will be seen weekly until delivery. I previously wrote blogs about first trimester emergencies and second trimester emergencies. This blog is going to focus on third trimester emergencies and WILL NOT include regular labor precautions. I have decided to write a separate blog about that so stay tuned!
It’s that time of year again! NHL and NBA playoffs? Yes, but no. Powerwash the deck now that pollen season is over? Maybe, but nope. Drumroll please…… it’s time to announce the top 10 baby names for 2018! Every May the Social Security Administration releases last years top baby names. It’s really kind of a cool web page with lots of information. You can see the national “winners” or search by state. You can even look up the popularity of a name by birth year dating back to 1880.
You made it! The second trimester is usually the best. For most women, the nausea eventually subsides, your energy level returns (a little at least), and you are not yet so big as to inhibit most of your normal day to day activities. In addition, that first trimester miscarriage anxiety is decreasing a little because you know your risk of pregnancy loss is now 1% or less. For most of you, visits with Kamm Mckenzie are usually only monthly. Excitement builds as you look forward to your anatomy sonogram. At some point you will start to feel the baby move. Then, most of you get to close out your 2nd trimester and begin your third with the wonderful, sweet, mouth puckering, orange or lemon lime flavored gestational diabetes beverage...yummy! If you read my last blog, I dove into what warrants an emergency call during the first trimester, and what can wait until the office is open again. I am going to try to address some of the more common second trimester emergencies and comment on things that ...
Early pregnancy is a particularly anxiety provoking time in one’s life. For one, your life changes with the positive pregnancy test. You start imagining life with this child. You mentally decorate the nursery and fill the closet with the cutest baby clothes. You budget schools and weddings etc. All this just based on a urine pregnancy test! We all do it (and we all take at least 3 pregnancy tests… admit it!!). Early pregnancy is also nerve-racking because for many families this was not an easy point to get to (at least 15% of women have some fertility difficulty), or you have had a miscarriage (or several) in the past. And lastly, there is the lack of control that we all have over what goes on in early pregnancy. These pregnancies advance or they don’t for a variety of reasons outside of any person’s control… and in today’s society, we all want immediate gratifying control of everything. Read Dr. Bernstein's advice on when to call the emergency room and when to wait.