Seven Myths about Epidural Anesthesia Sep 12 10:51am While hanging out on the labor and delivery unit recently, I decided to poll some of the labor nurses and our anesthesiologist about what they would like people to know before they come in to have a baby. Dr. Susan Dumas gave me the following seven... Read more

Pushing Out Your Baby Sep 07 01:54am For first-time moms, pushing can be a surprising part of labor. You may have thought about the contractions, but how much do you know about how the baby actually gets out of your body? During labor, contractions of the uterus pull up on the lower... Read more

3 Signs of Real Labor Sep 06 02:07am While hanging out on the labor and delivery unit recently, I decided to poll some of the labor nurses about what they would like people to know before they come in to have a baby. Many of the nurses said women need to know the signs of true labor so... Read more

Keeping Cool When You're Expecting Sep 05 09:15am Pregnancy can make it hard to adjust to a warm environment. Under normal circumstances, the human body cools off by sending extra blood flow to the skin and then sweating, which cools the skin as perspiration evaporates. During pregnancy, the baby... Read more

Are Antidepressants During Pregnancy Safe? Aug 28 05:06pm A while back I saw a patient for a first prenatal visit who had a major psychiatric diagnosis (she was bipolar) and was on two medications, Prozac and Lamictal. The medications were making her life much better -- she was functioning well and had a... Read more

What If You Have Low Thyroid During Pregnancy? Aug 15 03:04pm Hypothyroidism (low thyroid) is one of the most common conditions in healthy reproductive age women, so it frequently coincides with pregnancy. The fetus doesn't start making its own thyroid hormone until about 12 weeks; early on it is dependent... Read more

Sharing the Baby's Heartbeat Aug 13 12:57pm Hearing the baby's heart beat for the first time can be an emotional moment -- proof of life growing inside of you, and a strong indication that you will not miscarry. A baby is on the way. But if you are at your OB's office and you hear the... Read more

Do You Care What Your Doctor Wears? Aug 10 12:19pm I have a medical student scheduled to work in the office with me this afternoon. She called me all upset and apologetic yesterday to say that she left her white physician coat in Washington, DC, and to ask if she should still come. Of course, I said.... Read more

What If C-Sections Weren't Available? Jul 31 11:02am I met last week with Rachel Pope, a public health graduate student who just came back from Africa. Her research was on mothers in one community in Tanzania who had developed fistulas (holes) between the bladder and the vagina. Fistulas are caused by... Read more

What Your Baby's Kicking Can Tell You Jul 28 06:53am You may have heard about high-tech ways of checking on the baby during pregnancy: non-stress testing, contraction stress testing, and the biophysical profile are some examples of methods that your doctor or midwife can use to check on your baby. But... Read more