Prenatal Plus

Yes. Wait for the white.

Infants cannot regulate their body temperature just yet. A study found that mommy and daddy’s body were more effective ...at regulating baby’s temperature than an artificial warmer. Mommy’s body has a slight advantage over daddy’s body. Mommy’s body will cool if baby is too hot, and also get hotter if baby is too cold. Babies who obtain skin to skin tend to have heart and breathing rates that are both more normal and more stable. The mother’s heart sounds and breathing patterns are familiar to the baby after spending time in utero and helps guide baby to an easier transition from womb to world. This holds true for premature babies as well, making skin to skin contact VERY important for preemies! Skin to skin contact helps to stabilize your baby’s blood sugar levels. This is especially important if mommy had gestational diabetes. Skin to skin initiates breastfeeding. Babies get exposed to their mother’s bacteria through skin-to-skin contact after birth. Bacteria in the vagina and on the skin are different from bacteria found in a hospital isolette. Early exposure helps babies develop a healthy range of bacteria. A mammalian reflex of a baby is to have a separation distress call when separated from mommy. Skin to skin helps keep your baby calm since it feels more secure and protected in your arms. Clinical procedures like a heel stick for blood sampling can be painful for baby. A baby’s pain level and duration of pain decreases with skin to skin contact. Having your baby skin to skin helps to ensure that the mother will learn her baby’s signals sooner, improving communication and boosting maternal confidence as well as helping babies develop a sense of trust and security. If you had a cesarean, ask staff to place your baby skin to skin as soon as possible Daddy can give skin to skin as well at any time! Mothers and babies should skin to skin ASAP. Place your naked baby directly on your bare chest, between your breasts. Drape a blanket over yourself and baby for warmth. THIS SHOULD BE DONE THROUGHOUT INFANCY AND BEYOND : @coastal_life_photos Repost @badassmotherbirther

Beautiful image and words by Holding Life Still Photography This is always my very favorite moment of a birth to photograph. That moment when you hold your bab...y in your arms for the first time. The love. The joy. The pride. The relief. The exhaustion. The awe. Every emotion heightened and real and raw and beautiful. It's one of the very truest forms of love I have the honor of holding still. See more

VBAC Joy! Image and words by: Instagram.com/createanomaly Let me just tell you a little story about how POWERFUL women are. I’m talking, mentally, physically,... emotionally, spiritually! I attended the birth of her first baby, it was a very long and arduous labor. Over 30 hours until she was then transferred to have a c-section at the hospital. No complications, just simply a tired body. She did not give up, it just wasn’t in the cards for her to have a natural birth the first time. Fast forward about 2 years she’s contacts me to be there for her second baby’s birth! She mentions it is going to be at home meaning she was going to have a VBAC! I always get very excited to capture VBAC baby’s because it shows me resilience, strength, determination and straight GRIT! The face in these photos is pure VICTORY. It’s, Joy, it’s Happy, it’s relief. The birth of this baby was less than 5 hours, no tears, baby made his entrance earth side in their bathtub at home peacefully and wrapped in love. I couldn’t be more excited to share their birth film and photos in the coming days! Let this be a testimony to all the moms out there to stay strong, remember your body is capable of what others might say is impossible. Your words are powerful and so are you!

Sometimes there are those photos that you can almost feel through your screen. Many people wonder what exactly contractions do in your stomach. Well, this is it...! The human body is unbelievably strong. Every time I am amazed about this during a birth. The primal force that comes from the deepest part of your soul. Image and words by Angela Slingerland Fotografie - Geboorte & Documentaire fotografie in the Netherlands!

This. Is. Birth. Sharing this beautiful image by Instagram.com/birth_day_geboortefotografie ! This. Is. Birth. // Ongepland op handen en knieën bevallen, omdat jij luistert naar wat je lichaam jou vertelt.

Mind your language: respectful language within maternity services; a new comment in The Lancet by Sunitha Vimalesvaran, Jillian Ireland and Minesh Khashu https://www.thelancet.com//la/PIIS0140-6736(21)00031-3.pdf

Did you labor standing up? Swaying and moving your hips during labor relieves pain, opens your pelvis, and helps your baby descend. Of course, mobility isn’t al...ways an option (which is okay too) because babies still have an incredible capacity to find their way out. With my first birth, I wanted to lay down as soon as transition hit...because everything felt so intense. And it worked perfectly. 15 min of pushing and she was in my arms. A good birth has little to do with how you labored and birthed...and everything to do with if you were able to listen to your body and follow your own intuition. Sitting. Standing. Laying. Squatting. It all works Words and image by BBY Co- Founder Monet Nicole - Birthing Stories