childbirth

Defense of C-Sections
childbirth

Having the Birth Experience You Want, Even If It Means a C-Section

Walk into your first mommy and me class, and one of the first things fellow moms ask is about your birth experience.
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Walk into your first mommy and me class, and one of the first things fellow moms ask is about your birth experience. Tell them you had a C-section (not to mention a scheduled C-section), and watch how quickly their faces turn to pity. I know. I've been there. Twice.

While the home-birth movement is gaining momentum, we live in a world where more than one-third of all hospital births come through surgery, so why is there such a stigma attached to a procedure that has been in existence since ancient times? As part of NPR's Baby Project, an editor for the network's Talk of the Nation wrote about her guilt-free, scheduled C-section.

"When people give me a pitying look when I tell them about my C-section, and ask if I had trouble bonding with the baby, I've learned to smile sweetly, and tell them I had the perfect birth experience," she said. "After all, Hank and I were clearly bonded even before birth — his breech turn was the first gift he ever gave me."

If you had a C-section, how have you handled the disapproving looks and comments you've received?

Real Life Birth Stories
community

This Labor Day, Share Your Birth Story From the Very First Contraction!

A person's story starts before he or she is born.
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A person's story starts before he or she is born. Heritage, conception, and pregnancy aside, there's an amazing tale to be told of how each baby enters the world. While Labor Day is dedicated to the achievements of American workers, few people work harder than today's moms. Before our lil ones even utter the word mama, we labor (or enter the operating room) to bring our children to life. In honor of Labor Day, we're sharing some of our community members' birth stories. To celebrate the holiday, share yours with us too!


The Culmination
Get the Baby Out Now!
Long Labor, Short Delivery



Share your child's story in our Birth Stories group over in the LilSugar Community.

Jessica Alba and Jimmy Kimmel Childbirth Class Video
Video

Jessica Alba Attends Childbirth Class With Jimmy Kimmel and Hilarity Ensues

Preparing for childbirth has been likened to training for a marathon — if only long-distance race training was this funny!
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Preparing for childbirth has been likened to training for a marathon — if only long-distance race training was this funny! Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's look at baby prep class in Baby Mama had experienced mamas doubled over in laughter. Now it's Jessica Alba and Jimmy Kimmel's turn. While a very pregnant Jessica Alba may be planning another hypnobirth when she welcomes Honor's new brother or sister, in a skit that aired on last night's Jimmy Kimmel Live, she asked the late-night talk-show host to fill in for her absent husband at a birthing class at LA's The Pump Station. Wearing an "empathy belly" and volunteering to demonstrate birth, Jimmy and Jessica add some life to the typically boring class curriculum. Check it out!

How to Prepare to Give Birth
Pregnancy

Childbirth Readiness: Did You Attend a Childbirth Class?

Those nine months of pregnancy can be such a whirlwind.
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Those nine months of pregnancy can be such a whirlwind. Mamas-to-be are excited, nervous, and extremely busy preparing for the arrival of their lil munchkins. It's common for expectant moms to experience anxiety about labor and delivery, and there are a slew of different childbirth courses to get ready for the "big day" — or at least feel better prepared.

Due to time limitations and the convenience of the digital age, many soon-to-be moms seek out alternatives to childbirth prep classes — like DVDs, books, and the Internet. Did you attend a childbirth class? Share why you chose to attend a childbirth course, or not, in the comments below.

Alternative Childbirth Prep Classes
Pregnancy

Not Your Mama's Childbirth Classes

Childbirth — and preparation for childbirth — is not a one size fits all experience.
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Alternative Childbirth Prep Classes

Childbirth — and preparation for childbirth — is not a one size fits all experience. Expectant parents have options regarding the birth. Plenty opt for a traditional hospital birth while growing numbers are choosing to deliver in the privacy of their own home. Just as there are options as to how and where a mama-to-be gives birth, there are numerous ways to prepare for the big day. Lamaze, Bradley, and HypnoBirthing are some of the more popular classes couples take, but there are plenty of other methods for those looking for something a little different. Keep reading for a selection of slightly under the radar preparation techniques.

The Simkins Approach Alexander Technique The Gamper Method The Kitzinger Method Prenatal Yoga
View 5 Photos
Selma Blair Pregnancy Overdue
Celebrity Pregnancies

Selma Blair Was Weeks Past Her Due Date, Were You?

Babies don't really care about doctor-designated due dates.
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Babies don't really care about doctor-designated due dates. Many first-time moms, like Selma Blair, tend to see their due dates pass with nary a contraction to show for it. The very pregnant star was spotted walking around LA several times over the weekend, reportedly more than two weeks past her due date — and it looks like all that walking paid off! Selma and her fashion designer boyfriend, Jason Bleick, welcomed son Arthur Saint Bleick Monday.

From walking to sex to eating pregnancy pizza, overdue women will try just about anything to entice their lil one's debut. Did you go past the 40-week mark with your first child? Share your due date anecdotes in the comments below.

Victoria Beckham Schedules Fourth C-Section
Poll

Should Elective C-Sections Be Covered by Insurance?

Too posh to push?
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Too posh to push? The phrase, which was coined after Victoria Beckham supposedly asked for a C-section to deliver her first baby, Brooklyn, 12 years ago, has come to represent a whole group of women who choose to forgo traditional childbirth in favor of the surgical method. Though home births are on the rise and celeb mamas are leading the charge, one-third of American tots enter the world via Cesarean section.

As the former Posh Spice prepares for her fourth C-section this weekend, many are questioning the elective C-section procedure. The surgery can cost several thousand dollars more than a natural birth, leading some to suggest that the additional expense shouldn't be covered by insurance unless a doctor deems it medically necessary. What do you think?

Alicia Silverstone Chooses Orgasmic Birth Option
Celebrity Pregnancies

Alicia Silverstone Embraced an Orgasmic Birth; Would You?

Laboring mamas have a lot on their minds in the delivery room, but climaxing probably isn't item number one.
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Laboring mamas have a lot on their minds in the delivery room, but climaxing probably isn't item number one. Alicia Silverstone, who gave birth to lil Bear Blu just last week, is touting the Orgasmic Birth experience on her blog today. While she stops short of admitting to having one herself, she recommends the book to pregnant mamas, saying:

A while back, a few members of the community suggested the book Orgasmic Birth to me, and I happened to be reading it at the time. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to or thinking about having a baby! I think this book was my favorite birth book of all the books I read. If you are pregnant now, read it ASAP.

The birthing method encourages women to enjoy labor to the point of orgasm as their baby births, reminding women, "When the baby’s coming down the birth canal, remember, it’s going through the exact same positions as something going in, the penis going into the vagina, to cause an orgasm."

Would an Orgasmic Birth be in your delivery plan?

Who Tells Siblings That Baby Has Arrived?
Poll

Should Parents Be the Ones to Announce Baby's Debut to Other Children?

It's a boy or it's a girl, but who should tell the new addition's siblings?
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It's a boy or it's a girl, but who should tell the new addition's siblings? If mom and dad are in the midst of all the new baby bliss and hospital (or home birth) hoopla, is it the job of an outside party — a grandparent or family friend — to inform the big brother or sister? Some parents are particular in how they want to debut the news and others just believe in letting the information spread. What's your opinion?

Details on Unplanned Cesarean Section
community

DrSugar on Dealing With an Unplanned Cesarean Birth

DrSugar is in the house!
by DrSugar

DrSugar is in the house! And this week she's discussing how to deal with an unplanned cesarean birth based on her own experience.

Hello to all the readers out there! After a six-week hiatus, I’m back after having a beautiful baby boy and ready to answer your questions! However, this week, I’d like to share my birth story, which includes an unplanned cesarean section, so I will be offering advice on c-sections – from someone who just went through it!

Early on in my pregnancy, I decided that I wished to pursue a more natural unmedicated childbirth and took a natural childbirthing course with my husband. We learned special techniques for relaxation and to help with the pain of labor with hopes that my goal of an unmedicated labor and delivery would be realized. However, as a physician, I was aware that there was the possibility that things wouldn’t go as planned and that I would either need to have pain medication or an epidural or would have to have a cesarean section.

For more on how birth plans change, keep on reading.