When I was pregnant, everyone was all about "warning" me about what was coming next. I walked around much of those 10 (let's face it, pregnancy is 10, not nine, months) absolutely terrified. When I was pregnant, everyone was all about "warning" me about what was coming next. I walked around much of those 10 months (let's face it, pregnancy is 10, not nine, months) absolutely terrified. The warnings flew at me from every angle -- in the checkout line at Target, on the street, slipping my shoes on and walking out of the yoga studio. Warnings, warnings everywhere about what was to come -- from the excruciating, mind-numbing pain of childbirth to the shell of my former self I was about to become once I had her. There were times I felt like a prisoner on death row, trying to force myself to enjoy some tiny luxury despite my size and discomfort, because if you asked around, apparently, my petty joys would be ending pretty soon! For ...

IMAGE SOURCE: THINKSTOCK by Wendy Wisner with Babble A new study conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia found that postpartum anxiety is more common than previously thought. In fact, it's almost three times as common as postpartum depression. According to CBS New, the research team found that 12% of new moms suffer from postpartum anxiety, compared to about 5% who suffer from postpartum depression. Pretty surprising, huh? For the full article read here .

Black women are at a higher risk for mental health issues post-birth, and less likely to get the help they need By Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez with Medium When Imani Bates, 31, realized she had lost control over her pelvic and gluteal muscles shortly after giving birth, she felt profoundly disconnected from her body. “I woke up and I couldn’t move them,” she says.“They were in complete paralysis. I panicked.” Adjusting to dramatic physical changes so soon after birth triggered feelings of ineptitude for Bates, and catalyzed the onset of postpartum depression. “I began crying and blaming myself for having a natural, vaginal birth,” she recalls.“I thought my body failed me. I felt completely inadequate. I remember looking at my son and thinking he should have a better mother than me.” Recent research on postpartum depression (PPD) suggests a link between the physical pain that new mothers experience and their risk for PPD. In a 2018 study , researchers concluded that the pain ...

Parents share hilarious thoughts about welcoming a new baby By Caroline Bologna with Huffington Post Welcoming a newborn baby into your home comes with big changes ― from new sleep schedules to the endless need for diapers. While the adjustment can be challenging, it can also be a real source of humor. We’ve rounded up 35 funny tweets from parents about life with a newborn. Enjoy!

It's not the baby blues and it's not postpartum  depression—so, what is it? If you're feeling off after giving birth, you may be suffering from postpartum anxiety disorder. By Stacey Colino and Nicole Fabian-Weber with Parents.com TRUNK ARCHIVE With the arrival of her third child, Katie Kavulla expected to be physically and emotionally exhausted. After all, what new mother doesn't feel somewhat frayed at the ends? She was even alert to the signs of postpartum depression because she'd experienced some of the symptoms after the birth of her second child. But this time was different. "My anxiety level was overwhelming," says the Seattle mom. "I'd get hot and sweaty and irritable, and I turned into a late-night worrier. It was like there was a scrolling list of concerns going through my mind, and I had trouble sleeping. That wasn't like me." For the full article read here .

This Mother's Day, Just Brunch Me in the F**king Face Fortunately, I am a mom and today is my day. The stretch marks, vaginal trauma, lost the sense of personal identity, and the other 364 days a year are all for you and our sweet, sweet children. But today is all mine. #Soworthit #Blessed By Kate Levkoff, Contributor Podcast host at nursingandcursing.com Dear Husband, Welp! Here we are again on Mother's Day ! No, my love. Thank you. You made me a mom in the first place. If it weren't for you, where would I be? Worryingly thin and stranded all alone on a desert barstool with no one to talk to but other adults. I could cry just thinking about it. For the full article read here .

Study found 17% of new moms get postpartum anxiety compared to 5% for postpartum depression By Liam Britten with CBC News photo by iStock Photo Dr. Nicole Fairbrother found nearly 16 percent of pregnant women and 17 percent of new mothers could be diagnosed with anxiety compared to the four percent of pregnant women and nearly five percent of new moms diagnosed with depression. New research out of the University of British Columbia suggests anxiety disorders in new moms are outpacing depression, yet healthcare professionals have given postpartum depression much more attention. For the full article read here .

Up to 70 percent may suffer from postpartum depression. By Catherine Pearson with Huffington Post METINKIYAK VIA GETTY IMAGES Up to an estimated 70 percent of moms whose babies spend time in the NICU may grapple with symptoms of depression — yet there are not good screening measures in place to help them. A few weeks into her third trimester, Stephanie May, 32, called her OB-GYN. Her back hurt and she was having cramps, all of which sounded fairly typical to the doctor on call. He suggested she take it easy and hydrate, so May settled in for some sleep. When she woke up, she was in full-on labor and rushed to the emergency room. By the next morning, her daughter Evie was born — nine weeks early. May saw her for about a second before the newborn was whisked up to the neonatal intensive care unit while May stayed behind on the delivery table, stunned. For the full article read here .

A concerning new study suggests that decades of medical procedures performed on infants without pain management has had deeply traumatizing effects. A groundbreaking study published in eLife titled, “ fMRI reveals neural activity overlap between adult and infant pain ,” demonstrates that the infant pain experience, despite long held assumptions to the contrary, closely resembles that of adults. Researchers discovered that when 1-6 day old babies were exposed to the same pain stimulus as adults their brains "lit up" in almost exactly the same manner. More specifically, infant and adult pain responses were indistinguishable in 18 of the 20 regions observed through fMRI imaging. The only two brain regions that pain did not show activation in the infants were the amygdala and the orbitofrontal cortex: two regions believed to help with the interpretation of pain stimuli. For the full article read here . © July 30th, 2016 GreenMedInfo LLC. This wor...

These images perfectly capture moms in the moment By Kelsey Borresen with Huffington Post Breastfeeding is one of many wonderful bonding experiences that can be shared between a mother and her child. A new photo collection is celebrating those special moments. KEZIAH KELSEY A tender moment between mom and baby. For the full article read here .