'Self-care' is not enough to fix how much moms are burnt out By Diana Spalding I sat in bed, haphazardly staring at my phone, my thumb robotically scrolling through Instagram posts of moms clearly doing it better than I was . My back ached from my hunched posture, but adjusting my body felt like too much work. From down the hall, a little voice called out, "Mom, I can't sleep," and all I could muster were the words, "Okay, babe." No solutions offered, no words of consolation. Because I had run out of solutions, run out of words. Cautiously, my sweet husband asked, "Babe? You doing okay?" I considered the question. I ran through the mental load quietly yet oppressively pressing in on me— the ever-present worry, guilt, stress. For the full article read here .

Twenty-eight Gross Things About Having A Baby That No One Ever Tells You, But I Will   By Olivia Youngs   Photo credit: Ashley Batz/Romper Before you have a kid, pregnancy, birth, and your baby's first year is a sort of dream life that seems beautiful and like one of those scenes from a Lifetime movie that makes you cry and fall in love at the same time. And in reality, some days, it is. But, the truth is, there too many (like, way too many) gross things about having a baby that no one ever talks about . And I'm here to set the record straight because I love my kids, but dang it, being a mom is straight up disgusting sometimes. From the first bout of nausea during pregnancy, to realizing your worst fear of pooping on the delivery table, motherhood isn't all sunshine and roses. And it's important for new moms to know that, because I didn't. For the full article read here .

Unstoppable Mother is with Mae Cacu-Ocu and Bless Stonecypher . By Unstoppable Mother Photo credit: Misty Brewer Lee When you first have children they talk about the challenges of parenting....the struggles of a baby waking in the night, the toddler who won’t stay in their bed, the cost of childcare, injuries from sports… Having to take off work to pick them up from school when they don’t feel well, helping them with homework, a messy house, the never-ending laundry, the cost to buy school clothes, packing their lunches... You watch their eyes light up on Christmas morning....and try to soak in the magic of those moments. For the full article read here .

Untreated mental health disorders among moms inflict a massive toll on families, the economy By Elissa S Lee Photo credit: Creative Commons   https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/1d3259ba-3e3e-4612-b64e-7072069944e1 On her first night as a mother, Jennifer Kim Lai awoke in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and found her newborn daughter, Elyse, choking on her own vomit. Still in the hospital, Lai immediately called the nurse, and although the crisis was quickly resolved, it parked a long year of anxiety for the new mother. “I had a combination of emotions and didn’t know if it was normal or not,” she said. She didn’t ask anyone for help. “I was always scared that something might happen to her. I cried every night, and felt extremely out of control, like everything was a mistake,” Lai said. But she never told anyone how she felt. For the full article read here .

Music helps to build the brains of very premature babies Music specially composed for preterm babies helps strengthen the development of neural networks and may help to limit neurodevelopmental delays often experienced by those born prematurely. NEUROSCIENCE NEWS Photo credit: Premature baby listening to music. The image is credited to Stéphane Sizonenko – UNIGE HUG Source: University of Geneva In Switzerland, as in most industrialized countries, nearly 1% of children are born “very prematurely”, i.e. before the 32nd week of pregnancy, which represents about 800 children yearly. While advances in neonatal medicine now give them a good chance of survival, these children are however at high risk of developing neuropsychological disorders. To help the brains of these fragile newborns develop as well as possible despite the stressful environment of intensive care, researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University Hospitals of Geneva (HU...

CALL IT PREGNANCY LOSS: HOW OUR WORDS HAVE DEVASTATING POWER By Katie Huei Harrison at www.undefiningmotherhood.com Photo credit: www.undefiningmotherhood.com After 18 months of trying to conceive, I was ecstatic for my ultrasound at 7 ½ weeks pregnant. When the ultrasound technician left the room without showing me the screen, I knew it was bad. What I didn’t know was that 4 years, 4 miscarriages, and one live birth later, I would still feel panic walking past that ultrasound room. That’s the emotional toll that pregnancy loss can take. Pregnancy Loss, Blame, and Guilt But in one way, I was lucky. When I sat down with my doctor, she kindly walked me through my options while I stared at my phone. I could wait to miscarry naturally, though she didn't recommend it since my body clearly wasn't recognizing the loss. I could take a pill that induces miscarriage ; it works well for some people, but I heard horror stories of people it caused severe problems for, and eve...

Seventeen ways Chill Moms Think Differently than the Rest By Michele Zipp with Cafe Mom               Image: yulkapopkova/iStock With motherhood comes a massive laundry load of labels -- some of which are distracting. Attachment parent , helicopter mom, tiger mom, free-range, and then we can also get into stay-at-home mom, working mom, and on and on and on. Labels are labels, and we certainly don't like to be confined by any of them. Parenthood is an ever-evolving way of life, just like everything else, and things can change quite easily depending on circumstance and how old your child is. However, there is one "form"/ of motherhood that we wish on all mamas. And that's the gift of being a chill mom, stress-free and without any worry at all. (Okay, okay -- worry just comes with the gig, like it or not.) For the full article read here .

American Women are Dying from Pregnancy up to a Year After they Deliver A damning new CDC report shows most maternal deaths are fully preventable. By Catherine Pearson with Huffington Post           PETRI OESCHGER VIA GETTY IMAGES Most pregnancy-related deaths in the United States are fully preventable — and they can happen up to a year after a woman gives birth, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although many people think pregnancy ends in the delivery room, the new report underscores the enormous toll it can take on women’s bodies for a full year after — and, as many moms would argue, much longer. For the full article read here .

Heartbreaking Photo Series Captures the Aftermath of a Stillbirth One family's devastating story of pregnancy, stillbirth and grief. By Catherine Pearson with Huffington Post         Meg Brock Photography Last summer, when Kristin Naylor was one week out from a scheduled cesarean section to deliver her third child, she went for a routine visit with her obstetrician and was told there was no longer a heartbeat. Hours later, Naylor delivered a stillborn daughter, Abby. For the full article read here .