AFTER MISCARRIAGE

 

AFTER MISCARRIAGE

Postpartum Care for Mothers Experiencing Loss

By Allie Chee

People in the US are rediscovering the mind/body benefits of a 30-40 day postpartum recovery period for new moms during which they rest, are cared for, eat special foods for rejuvenation, and are supported by family and postpartum care providers. This, of course, leaves mom better able to care for and bond with her new baby, and to return to her old strength, if not even an increased vitality—quickly!

In China the term for this time is called “sitting moon” (zuo yuezi in Mandarin—one month being “one moon”), but cultures throughout Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Far East have similar practices, each with their own special techniques and care providers. This postpartum care is not considered something only for

NO FEAR of BREECH - The New Mother Cover Story

NO FEAR of BREECH

 The New Mother book cover is based on the image of a woman approximately 32 weeks pregnant—me. When working on design ideas for the cover, the production team asked me to send a photo of myself pregnant, and that ended up being the inspiration for the cover.

But that’s not where the inspiration stopped.  In other words, it’s not a literal image.

New Mother Cover Design

We don’t see an umbilical cord; there’s no placenta in sight; and the baby, rather than in the ideal position for birth, is “cradled” in the mother’s arm and looking straight at the reader—smiling!

If the baby had been presented exactly as she was positioned at the time, she would have been head-down, nestled in the pelvic girdle, and the reader would have a lovely view of her back and bum, or maybe her curled legs and feet. That could be important for a medical journal, but the artist had an intention with her cover design.  She wanted the baby to interact with the reader—to say: I’m a participant, aware and involved.

I loved the idea and the image, and the idea that the baby was “breech” never crossed my mind.  After a reader contacted me saying

Avoiding Exposure to Violence While Pregnant

For a healthy, happy baby

take... a love bath?

•A Texas Twist on an

Ancient Chinese Precept•

 Of all the unusual things I learned from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda about conception and pregnancy, this one caught people’s attention most. Probably because it was the one thing they’d never heard of...and because the effect on the baby is so profound.

A Midwife, Doula, and Postpartum Help for Healthier, Happier Mom, Dad & Baby

Who uses a doula, midwife, and postpartum help?

Barefoot hippies? Hollywood divas?

Yes, and millions of everyday, hardworking people around the world who have decided either through their cultural heritage or personal research that for them, a natural childbirth and postpartum care with the support of a midwife, doula, and other services makes for the healthiest, safest, and happiest ways to give birth to and care for the new spirit in their lives.

Natural childbirth in a hospital, home birth, and postpartum care have become so uncommon in the US (and increasingly in other countries) that they are now considered by many to be too difficult, unnecessary, or even frivolous.

But, just a glance at the number of women in the US who fail to have a natural childbirth (when that’s what they intended), fail to breastfeed (even when they wanted to and tried), and who suffer from