Midwife Life

mi-baby-love:

amazingbirthphotos:

“This was only the second time that Sterlina was able to hold Ben. He opened his eyes and spent several minutes staring at her, almost knowingly. They call it Kangaroo Care in the NICU. Babies are held against your chest so there is skin to skin contact. It’s named after Kangaroo’s and the way they care for their young. Baby Kangaroo’s are born not fully developed, and spend time in the mothers pouch after they are born.

Research has shown that holding preemies like this can improve the regulation of their breathing, heartrate and temperature. It can also help stimulate a mothers milk production. All of this aside, it also helps parents bond with their children, especially in the NICU setting, when you don’t feel like the primary caregiver. The idea was pioneered by a Doctor in Bogota, Colombia in 1978, in order to free up much needed beds and nurses. Despite being discharged early with premature babies, this method significantly improved the survival rates of the children who were cared for this way. Kangaroo Care is now practiced in over 80% of the NICU’s in the US.”

Please do NOT share this photo without linking to the original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smithshady/3670980876/

Wonderful!!!!

Kangaroo care = WIN for humanity

When talking about how to differentiate between amniotic fluid and urine (for diagnosing possible rupture of membranes), Anne Frye suggests that you urinate on a piece of paper towel, put it in a jar, and smell it at 30 minute intervals, in order to familiarize yourself with the smell of urine. —Holistic Midwifery: Vol. 2

Dear Anne Frye,

I am very familiar with the smell of urine after living in a 3rd world country, thankyouverymuch. 

You are Crazy. 

Love Lindsy

Ok. This is in no way midwifery related… But I had to reblog it because its amazing. 

(via collegehumor)

Kara’s first catch! (Taken with Instagram)

Maternal Death and African-American Women: Alarming Study (via robot-heart-politics)

California get your act together! It looks like we have some work to do. 

(via abetterplacetosleep)

This is a video made by some of my lovely housemates a few months back. When pregnancy/birth etc is your whole life, you’ve gotta have a sense of humor about it right?

My 5 pounder. She’s SO little. But so sweet. (Taken with Instagram)

What I do all day… Sometimes. #babies #midwife #midwifelife (Taken with Instagram)