A recent press release from The Ohio State University Medical Center urges expectant moms to steer clear of early scheduled C-sections, unless there is a clear medical reason. Early, being defined as, “before completing 39 weeks of pregnancy”. Scheduling an early C-section or induction due to normal third-trimester pregnancy discomforts is not a good reason afterall, even though it may feel that way. Planning an early delivery for visiting family or because your health care provider will be out of town as your due date approaches are not valid reasons, either. Sorry.

According to maternal-fetal medicine specialist at The Ohio State University Medical Center, Dr. Celeste Durnwald, “Certainly, a medical problem with the mother’s health or suspected fetal jeopardy can sometimes necessitate a delivery earlier than otherwise anticipated. Maternal hypertension and poor fetal growth are common reasons.“ In such cases, the benefits of an early C-section or induction obviously outweigh the risk of waiting for your baby’s due date. When healthcare providers and parents-to-be are weighing the risks and benefits they need to realize, “ there are potential complications for a newborn. Even though those last few weeks can seem like months to the patient, I try to emphasize the importance of delivering at a gestational age when the baby gets to go home with the mother and does well in the nursery,” says Dr. Durnwald.

The health of your newborn may be at risk if delivered even a couple of weeks prior to his or her due date because babies’ development is still occurring. “That includes the accumulation of fat tissue that helps the baby regulate their temperature after birth, there is also maturation of the intestinal system to make feeding easier,” Dr. Durnwald points out. Babies born just a “little” early can have problems with premature lungs, jaundice, feeding, breathing when sitting in their car seat and they are much more likely to spend extra time in the hospital than babies born closer to their due date.

Out of my five children, my oldest is the only one who decided to make his way into the world early- a full three weeks early that is- and I had no complaints. I was more than ready for him to be here, especially after losing my first 2 pregnancies, I just wanted to hold him safe in my arms. He struggled with jaundice for the first week and he had to be readmitted to the hospital for an additional two-night stay, after spending only one night at home. He had feeding problems and ended up being my only child I couldn’t breastfeed. He threw up continuously until his first birthday. If I could do it over again and had a choice, I would have chosen for him to keep growing and developing for another 2-3 weeks. My four full-term babies never got jaundice, never had extended hospital stays and none had feeding or digestive problems. I know his problems were all just from him being a mere three weeks early. Those final weeks really do matter afterall.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

A small surgical incision sometimes made in the perineum area during a baby’s delivery is an episiotomy. This cut is performed most commonly for the purpose of avoiding tears. The main idea of routine cutting is that a cut can be repaired more easily and will also heal quicker than a tear. There are some extreme situations when an episiotomy may be unavoidable such as in the case of fetal distress, but well over half of them performed today are not from medical necessity. Episiotomy rates continue their slow decline, although more than 50% of all first-time mothers still have the procedure.

A new study reported in the June 2008 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology looks at women who had an episiotomy with their first vaginal delivery and then subsequent vaginal deliveries. Researchers were looking at whether women who had an episiotomy were more or less likely to suffer lacerations during future deliveries. Dr. Marianna Alperin and her colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh reviewed records of more than 6,000 women who had their first and second consecutive vaginal deliveries at Magee-Womens Hospital over a period of 10 years (1995-2005), but not those with an episiotomy the second time around.

The study results concluded that women who undergo an episiotomy during their first delivery have a significantly increased risk of suffering tears in subsequent deliveries. Out of all the women, close to half (47.8%) had the procedure during their first delivery. Only 26.7% of the women who never had an episiotomy experienced tearing during their second delivery, while 51.3% of the women who had an episiotomy with their first delivery experienced moderate tearing. As for severe tearing, the percentages were 1.7% compared to 4.8%, according to the report. Dr. Marianna Alperin said, “In the past, episiotomy was thought to be an innocuous procedure and possibly even protective against severe perineal lacerations. It has since been clearly shown that episiotomy increases the risk of severe obstetrical lacerations in that delivery.” She went on to say, “The findings of our analysis demonstrate yet another detrimental aspect to episiotomy and we encourage obstetric care pro viders to further restrict the use of routine episiotomy.”

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, along with all 17 of their children, appeared on the Today Show two days before Mother’s Day. The Duggar children had big Mother’s Day surprises for their mom, including a ring that Michelle fell in love with at a jewelry shop, a pearl necklace and matching earrings, an outfit designed for the “in-between” stages of pregnancy and even a new coffeemaker. They also created a giant card made from cardboard displaying each of their handprints in paint, along with a personal message from each child.

Michelle revealed a big Mother’s Day surprise to her children, as well. The mom-of-17 announced she was expecting yet another new addition to the Duggar clan! “We’re expecting!”, she told her extra-large family and Today Show co-host Meredith Vieira. “Number 18!” Michelle went on to say, “They didn’t know. My girls watch the calendar like a hawk. We just found out on Monday night.” Jim Bob said, “They thought they’d give their mom a surprise, but she gave them a surprise!” He continued, “On Monday night she brought one of the [pregnancy] testers in,” adding, “I wanted to bring it with me [to the show], but she wouldn’t let me.”

Michelle, 41, is currently 8 weeks along in her pregnancy. The 18^th sibling is due to arrive around New Year’s Day 2009. “We’ve had three in January, three in December. Those two months are a busy time for us,” joked the exceptionally busy expectant mom. With an estimated 200 loads of laundry done each month in this household, there can’t possibly be a month that’s not chaotic!

The couple married in 1984 when Jim Bob was 19 and Michelle was 17, but held off on starting a family for four years. Their first son, Joshua, was born in 1988 and then Michelle went back on birth control pills. Despite that, she conceived again, but suffered a miscarriage. They attributed the miscarriage to the use of the pill and chose to welcome as many children as God would bless them with after that. Soon, Michelle was expecting the first of their two sets of twins! When added all together, Michelle has been pregnant for more than 135 months of her life, with an average of 18 months between each delivery. Out of all 15 pregnancies, 13 were natural deliveries, with only 2 C-sections.

The quickly-growing Arkansas family lives in a 7,000 SF home, which was built “debt free” as a “family project”, according to their website: http://www.duggarfamily.com. The couple are both licensed real estate agents and from 1999 to 2003 Jim Bob served in the Arkansas House of Representatives as a state legislator. He was also a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2002.

The Duggar family became well-known for their five series of documentaries on TLC and Discovery Health including, “14 Children and Pregnant Again!”, “16 Children and Moving In!”, “Raising 16 Children!” and “On The Road With 16 Children!” Last September, “The Duggar’s Big Family Album” premiered on Discovery Health, which recapped the last few years of their lives up to the birth of their youngest child in August, Jennifer Danielle.

The couple’s 17 children includes 10 boys and 7 girls, with two sets of twins in the mix. The oldest is Joshua (20) and the youngest is Jennifer (9 months). In between Joshua and Baby Jennifer are: twins Jana and John-David (18), Jill (16), Jessa (15), Jinger (14), Joseph (13), Josiah (11), Joy-Anna (10), twins Jeremiah and Jedidiah (9), Jason (7), James (6), Justin (5), Jackson (3) and Johannah (2). The new Baby Duggar, whether a boy or a girl, will have a name that starts with the letter “J” and will be home-schooled just as his or her siblings.

Congratulations to the Duggar family on their latest pregnancy announcement!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!