Labor

Meconium Happens

What is Meconium? by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger This thick, blackish-green tar like substance is considered your baby’s first stool. Meconium is created from the combination of amniotic fluid, lunugo, mucus, bile, and shed cells that line your baby’s intestines throughout your pregnancy. It usually does not pass until after […]

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Why Eating During Labor Should Not Be Forbidden

by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger In the movies and on TV, laboring women are often depicted as panting, sweaty and sucking on ice chips. Luckily, that image can finally change! After years of food and fluid intake being restricted for women in labor, there has been a closer scientific look […]

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Advice for Women with Pelvic Organ Prolapse

As women, there are some special health issues that are unique to us. One of these is pelvic organ prolapse, or what some doctors refer to as POP. POP occurs when the pelvic muscles weaken and organs fall (prolapse) or sink into the vagina. There are different types of POP depending on the organ that […]

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Getting Stronger for Labor with Sleep

an interview with Mar De Carlo for Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine (for highlights of this interview purchase Pregnancy and Newborn magazine’s April 2013 issue) Why is it important for an expecting mama to try to catch her 40 winks? From the moment a woman becomes pregnant; her body is undergoing many physiologic and biochemical changes. […]

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How Fear Affects Labor and What You Can Do About It

by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger During a recent yoga class I was taking, my teacher discussed our natural reaction to fear. She explained that students tend to make their poses smaller and constrict themselves when they are fearful of doing the pose. For example, they are afraid to shift their […]

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TENS Machine- Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation

by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger Among the many pain management techniques and methods, there is one that gets little attention here in the US. It is called the TENS Machine- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, and it is used throughout much of Europe. What is the TENS machine? How Does It […]

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Celebrity Births. The Good. The Bad. The Influence.

by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger I have never been one to closely follow celebrity gossip. In fact, I am embarrassingly behind the times – stuck somewhere in the late 90’s when Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan and Friends were big. But I can’t deny the influence celebrities have on society. They […]

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Internal Exams: When To Get Them

by Debra Flashenberg, IMI Advisory Board Member and Guest Blogger A new mother came back for postnatal yoga last week. She was absolutely glowing and excited to share her birth story with me. The new mama said she really felt good about her birth experience, but with the one exception that she wishes she would […]

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