The Emotional Complexities of Pregnancy

by Jeanne Faulkner, Contributing Writer

You can’t really know, what it’s like to have a baby on board until you’re knee-deep into it.  You think it’s going to be a certain way…and it is…but then you learn it’s also something entirely different.  It’s like those pictures that create the optical illusions:  Is it a face or a vase?  Turns out it’s both.  Pregnancy’s like that. Sure, it’s transcendent and miraculous, but it’s also kind of disgusting and uncomfortable.  To say it’s unlike any other physical or emotional experience is self-indulgent and unrealistic (it’s a universal experience shared by millions and millions of people all over the world every year), but it’s also spot-on accurate (no two parents or pregnancies are exactly alike).  The highs are exhilarating and the lows get really down and dirty. It’s hard to get your balance when you don’t know where the floor is from one minute to the next.  Pregnancy’s like that. 
Read more…

by Our Nourishing Partner, Nourishrds

Pregnancy.  Probably the most magical time in your life.  Your body is housing and nurturing a little life—a boy or girl who will quickly grow to turn to you for praise and a smile, to run to you to wipe away their tears, and to write Mother’s Day cards in large, squiggly pink crayon letters.  But at the same time you’re celebrating the growing human being inside you, you may also be struggling with the extreme changes in your body and managing the day-to-day demands of life while feeling very tired.

The most important thing you can do during this time—take good care of yourself.  Put yourself first.  Or, if putting yourself first seems impossible, put your growing baby first.  A healthy Mom creates a healthy Baby, and a healthy Mom is someone who fuels her body with wholesome foods, gets the rest she needs and handles stress well.

Does this sound difficult?   It is tough.

We have a few ways to help you have a healthy pregnancy, to help give you the energy and stamina you will most certainly need when your baby arrives.  Plus, another recipe… 
Read more…

by Marvin Nyansio, Producer, Uganda BABY! International Film Festival

On November 18, 2011 BABY! International Film Festival returned to Uganda.  This time, traveling from Kampala to the northern district of Apac.  Our 2nd Annual BABY! Uganda Film Festival was held at Apac Hospital. Drawing 500 women, men, families, midwives, White Ribbon Alliance and other maternal health and family organization representatives to come together and share, learn… and for most, have a first educational understanding about pregnancy and birth.

We asked Biferamunda Mwajuma [enclosed picture, on left], the midwife in charge of the Apac Hospital maternity ward about her work, and the women she takes care of. Apac Hospital hosted BABY! Uganda Film Festival, part of our BABY! International Film Festival, on November 18, 2011, where more than 500 families, community leaders and pregnant women attended. Midwives who work in birth centers in Uganda (and in many other parts of Africa) have very different job descriptions than midwives in America. 
Read more…

Putting into practice the Midwifery Model of Care for all births. As covered in our Reducing Infant Mortality short film, describing what the Midwifery Model of Care includes the following:

The Midwifery Model of Care embraces the normalcy of the birthing process. It is a style of well-women care with increased prenatal support and fewer interventions in the actual birth whether that takes place in a hospital, a birthing center or at home. It has been indisputably shown that midwives offer a substantive contribution to the long and short term health of mother, child and family.
Read more…