Serendipity Mommy

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Should You Pick a Midwife Over Your OB-Gyn?

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The first time you see those two lines on a pregnancy test stick, it’s time to make decisions. How you are going to save all the money? Who is going to be the OB-Gyn? And the best places to stock up on all the baby stuff. Perhaps the most important decision parents have to make is choosing between a midwife and an OB-Gyn.

Doctors perform deliveries in hospitals while midwives arrive at your doorstep and turn your home into a makeshift birthing center. Midwives are also more available as they visit the family multiple times before the big day and thus bonding with the mother. Hospitals, on the other hand, are more equipped to handle emergencies that may occur during childbirth. 

Advantages of Doctors Over Midwives

When it comes to childbirth, most people still choose hospitals and doctors instead of midwives of home births. There is no denying that being in the hospitals provides more confidence as you know they are equipped to handle emergencies. The following are a couple of advantages of choosing a delivery performed by a doctor as opposed to home births. 

Doctors Are Prepared to Handle Emergencies: The biggest reason why doctors are preferred over midwives is that they are qualified to perform emergency procedures such as vacuum births, C-sections, and forceps deliveries. Midwives are neither qualified nor legally allowed to perform these procedures. This means if there is a complication during a particular home birth, midwives usually rush the mom to the nearest hospital. 

Doctors Have More Experience and Knowledge: When it comes to childbirth and the knowledge of medicine, doctors are more qualified. This helps the would-be mother feel more confident about the entire setup.

Advantages of Midwives Over Doctors

If your delivery is uncomplicated and natural, then there is no beating the personal care and experience of a qualified midwife. They prepare your home, they support you and coach you through the delivery,  and they eliminate the need for rushing to a hospital. Midwives are also quite experienced, especially if you hire them through a reputed service provider such as Hearth and Home Midwifery. The following are 6 advantages midwives have over doctors.

They Are Less Likely to Do Anything Risky: As mentioned earlier, midwives are not legally allowed to perform procedures such as forceps and vacuum deliveries. This can be a blessing in disguise. A lot of injuries to the mom and the infant happen due to these emergency procedures. For instance, Erb’s palsy is a lifelong condition of partial disability of the arm that happens to infant and that occurs primarily due to forceps deliveries. 

Midwives Remain Available and Provide Personalized Attention: If you are looking for a friendly advisor who will stay long hours before and after the pregnancy, then there is no beating a qualified midwife. Apart from providing assistance during childbirth, midwives remain available and answer questions and provide helpful tips and services.

They Are Open to Take Your Preference and Comfort into Consideration: Midwives are almost always more flexible and they take your inputs very seriously. Whether you want a water birth or want your baby delivered in a particular room, they are always ready to accommodate. Midwives also create an atmosphere where you feel empowered. They also pay extra visits as per your request before and after the delivery.

They Provide Essential Services After the Delivery: Right from placenta encapsulation to providing infant care facilities, midwives stick around after the birth to provide assistance and guidance to the new mom. Having assisted many births, they know how to solve commonly arising problems and offer helpful advice to make the parents feel more confident.

They Are Easily Accessible: Doctors have hectic lives. So much so, that they often remain unavailable. It’s not uncommon for doctors to leave for out-of-town conferences and seminars. This means if you need your OB-Gyn to provide advice and assistance, he or she might not be available. Midwives, on the other hand, remain available and make house calls on requests.

They Are More Affordable: One of the main reasons why people often choose home births performed by  midwives is because they are cheaper than hospital births. While a home birth can cost around $3,000 a hospital childbirth can easily fetch a bill of over $10,000.

What Happens If Things Go Wrong?

Most experienced midwives often call ahead to inform the hospital that a pregnant patient is being transferred. They also follow an emergency protocol to swiftly transport the patient to a hospital if things do go wrong. 

To Your Health: Choosing the Right Detox Plan for You

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Your body needs to flush out dregs of oily food, sugary drinks, alcohol, and drugs periodically. And while it has ways of dealing with toxins, the process can take time, and the results are sometimes not visible at all.

Detoxification can hasten this process, hinging on a promise to cleanse the body of substances that can harm it. As it is familiarly known, detox also aims to provide recovery time to the digestive tract, which is at the receiving end of all eating and drinking decisions. For some, they rely on detox to lose or manage weight.

How effective is detoxification? That depends on a lot of things, such as these points outlined below.

  1. Know Your Detox Program

These are the most common methods to cleanse:

  • Fasting (e.g., not taking in food or fluids intermittently)
  • Following a strict diet of fruits or vegetables
  • Juice cleansing to get vitamins and minerals from fruits and vegetables. In some cases, drinking only specific types of liquids.
  • Taking dietary supplements like vitamins and minerals
  • Colon cleansing, which is done initially to prepare for a colonoscopy. You’ll drink lots of water or infusions. Some also use enemas for this approach.
  • Exercising to sweat out the toxins
  • Staying away from cigarettes and coffee

Some people combine one, two, or more of these programs.

  1. Identify Your Goal for Detox

Each of the abovementioned methodologies serves a purpose. If you are after weight loss, then your regimen will center on restrictive foods and juices or fasting to use your fat reserves. Colon cleansing hits closest to the digest tract. Some also take dietary supplements to get rid of drugs in their system within five days, for example.

As it is, there is no one-size-fits-all method for detox plans. What works for you may not work for some and vice versa. You can go through many options, study each one of them, and see how they align with your current goals.

  1. Love Your Gut

The health of the digestive system is at the heart of a detoxification program. You have to ensure that your gastrointestinal tract is fine amid changes in your diet and lifestyle.

Eat these foods rich in the following:

  • Probiotics—kimchi, fermented vegetables, and sauerkraut
  • Prebiotics (fiber)—banana, onion, and garlic

Also, go slow on sweets and sugary foods, or banish them from your to-eat list. Is your stomach in knots lately? Stress can affect the functioning of your gut, so you need to manage your day-to-day affairs better.

  1. Stick to Safety

Consider your body and medical conditions that may be aggravated or exacerbated by your chosen detox program(s).

Ponder on these points:

  • If you have kidney problems, be cautious about consuming large quantities of juices. They may contain oxalate, a waste product that has been a leading cause of kidney stones.
  • When you detox in the form of laxatives, tea, and coffee products, you are likely to experience diarrhea. Just be mindful of this “inconvenience”—read the instructions—when you have plans for the day.
  • Juices are not a substitute for a full meal. One of the nutrients that get lost when you extract the juice of an apple or any fruit, for that matter, is fiber.
  • While you can survive with no food for a few hours, you may have to deal with headaches and dehydration.
  • Be careful with enemas because they may cause far more harm than good.

For all the potential benefits that detoxification offers, make informed decisions. Find out what works best for your current needs and your body. Ultimately, you want to get rid of toxins and keep yourself fit and healthy.

Pros and Cons of Contact Lenses Compared to Spectacles 

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If you are a person who doesn’t have the perfect 20/20 vision, you should think about coming up with a way to fix it. You have two primary options to go ahead. You can purchase contact lenses, or you can go ahead and settle down with spectacles. According to statistical information, it has been identified that many people tend to get confused when they are trying to decide between spectacles and contact lenses. That’s because both these methods are in a position to help you overcome the vision-related issues and end up with achieving 20/20 vision at the end of the day. We will explain them in detail. You can go through this list of advantages and disadvantages of both contact lenses and spectacles. Then you will be in a position to make a better decision and go forward with one of them.

What are the benefits of spectacles?

Spectacles or eyeglasses that you can get to your eyes can be divided into two main categories. They include single vision glasses and multifocal glasses. The unique vision glasses are in a position to correct issues related to distance vision. On the other hand, multifocal lenses can help you overcome vision-related issues. Most of the glasses that you can purchase out there are made out of plastic. These lenses are lighter. They are provided with a special coating to provide enhanced protection to the eyes. However, there is a high possibility for them to get scratched. Wearing glasses are extremely easy. You just have to put them on and start working. You will not need to use specialized cleaning solutions to clean your glasses regularly.

You will also be able to purchase glasses in many different frames. In fact, there is a possibility to go for a frame, which matches perfectly well with your style. If your vision remains the same, you will not have to worry about changing the glasses on a regular basis as well. This can help you to save a considerable amount of money in the long run. It is one of the most prominent benefits that you can receive over contact lenses as well. On top of everything, people who use spectacles don’t have to go ahead and touch their eyes. They can take out the glasses. You will also be able to put on the glasses at any given time you want, and it would only consume a few seconds.

What are the drawbacks of spectacles?

Glasses are in a position to distort your vision. In case if there is strong astigmatism or a prescription at the edge of the lens, there is a high possibility that you can end up with a distorted vision. Spectacles are quite inconvenient as well. That’s because they are bulky. You will come across the need to carry these spectacles along with you. While you are carrying the glasses, you need to be extra careful about their protection.

Most of us don’t like the weight of glasses as well. They are in a position to put an unwanted burden on us. In addition to that, the spectacles are in a place to create unwanted pressure on the ears as well. You can also find a few individuals who don’t like glasses because of the way how they look. There is a high possibility for the glasses in spectacles to fog up, especially when you are walking under rainy conditions. They are not the best option available for people who are engaging with sports and other physically intensive activities.

What are the benefits of contact lenses?

Contact lenses are a thin disc, which is made out of glass or plastic. You will be positioning this disc right on top of your eyes to correct the vision. There are two different types of contact lenses, as well. Out of them, soft contact lenses are made out of plastic, whereas hard contact lenses are made out of glass. Contact lenses are in a position to deliver a more natural vision to you when compared to glasses. That’s because contact lenses would move along with your eyes. There won’t be anything to block what you can see.

Besides that, the contact lenses never fog up when it is rainy or cold. If you are a person who is playing sports, you will never be able to wear spectacles. In such a situation, you can stick to the contact lenses. Most of the people feel that they look better when wearing contact lenses. Therefore, you will also be able to think about using contact lenses to enhance your appearance while correcting your vision. Coloured contact lenses are in a position to provide the best possible assistance to you with it.

What are the drawbacks of contact lenses?

When you are using contact lenses, you will have to focus a lot more on taking care of them. You will need to purchase specialized cleaning solution to clean the contact lenses. In addition to that, you should also be mindful about the right procedures to store your contact lenses as well. If you ignore these facts, there is a high possibility for you to end up with getting an eye infection. You should also follow some ground rules while you are wearing contact lenses. For example, you must thoroughly wash your hands before you use contact lenses. This will consume a lot of time, as well. You will also need more time to get used to the contact lenses, instead of wearing glasses.

Conclusion

By now, you would have a clear understanding of the comparison between wearing spectacles and contact lenses. With this understanding, it makes it easier to consider which would be the best for you based on what would you like to achieve at the end of the day. Everyone has a different need and you need to make a choice based on what is best for yourself and not for others. Cost would also be another factor to consider and your option should be based on your available budget at that point of time as well.

5 Tips for Talking About Sexual Health

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Source: Unsplash | HOP DESIGN

Money, religion, politics, and sex. These are the four topics that most people would like to avoid in polite conversation. Yet, the reality is that there’s a time and a place to discuss each of these touchy subjects. And sexual wellness can have a big impact on your overall health. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make talking about sexual health with a new partner (or an established one for that matter) any easier. That’s why we’re going to share five tips for discussing the most taboo topic of all. Check them out here:

Find the Right Place

As we mentioned above, there’s a time and a place for discussing sensitive issues like sexual health. A crowded airplane, for instance, is not that place. Make sure that you and your partner have plenty of time and privacy to hash out any issues you’ve been harboring. Speaking about sexuality in public can be hugely embarrassing and frustrating for your partner –– particularly if they’re surprised by the conversation.

Get Educated

The reality is that many people don’t know the first thing about sexual wellness. Most people don’t know the difference between common conditions like a yeast infection and a UTI, for example. Before you speak with your partner about sexual-health concerns you have, make sure to educate yourself thoroughly on the issue. The last thing you want to do is spread false information or health myths.

Be Honest . . .

If sometihng is bothering you about your sex life, then make sure to speak up. Talking about issues like fertility, STDs, or personal sexual hygiene is always going to be awkward to a certain degree. However, the alternative is less-than-ideal. In fact, ignoring sexual wellness issues could lead to serious health problems down the line. It’s much better to be direct and honest with your partner to protect both your and their well-being in the long run.

. . . But Also be Considerate

Say, for instance, that you’re concerned you may have an STD. Your first reaction might be to get angry with your partner. This is not a good idea, though. In truth, many people suffer from STDs and don’t even realize it. So before you begin any conversation about sex with a partner, always consider their feelings first and approach the discussion with a caring mindset. Otherwise, you’ll be likely to spark an unproductive argument.

Be Proactive

Worried that you or your partner might have a sexual health problem? Then don’t speculate about it –– instead make a plan to find STD clinics near you or schedule a joint visit to a medical facility. By taking the bull by the horns, so to speak, you and your partner can address any lingering concerns about sexual wellness and enjoy a healthier and happier partnership as a result.

What Happens During the Second Trimester of Pregnancy

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What Happens During the Second Trimester of Pregnancy

A lot can happen throughout your pregnancy. There will be highs and lows as it progresses—each trimester different than the others.

For some expectant mothers, the first trimester is where all the bad stuff happens: morning sickness, nausea, lightheadedness, mood swings—you name it! You’re dreading to know what’s in store for you next. But what really happens in the next trimester?

Whether you’re preparing to bear a child or nearing the second trimester yourself, this guide will help you learn what to expect during months 4 to 6 of pregnancy.

The Momma’s Guide to the Second Trimester

Good news! By the second trimester, you should expect all the nasty stuff that irked you in the last three months to fade. Your energy and mood are back—it’s like being your old self again.

Many expectant moms love the second trimester. They regard it as the easiest stage throughout their pregnancy.

While you’re feeling a lot better, you will experience major changes during this phase. And it’s important to know what to expect to help you prepare for them.

Your Baby’s Growth

Your baby is growing fast! As you enter week 18, your baby will weigh as much as a chicken breast. He or she will likely pack on the pounds by the end of the second trimester.

Another thing to be excited about is the fact that you can now feel little jabs and kicks in your belly!

Here are more fetal developments you can expect:

  • Skin, hair, and nails.Your baby now has tiny hairs—and eyelashes too. He or she will be covered with a downy fuzz known as lanugo. Vernix caseosa follows on; this greasy layer will protect your baby’s skin from the acid in amniotic fluid.
  • Your baby starts sucking and swallowing to prepare for life outside the womb.
  • Your baby’s brain now regulates his or her heartbeat. You should clearly hear it with a stethoscope come week 20.

Your Changing Body

During the second trimester, your body should be transforming from looking plump to actually looking pregnant. For some women, certain symptoms from the first trimester may persist, but there will be new changes as well.

  • Breast enlargement. Your breasts will continue to grow to prepare for breastfeeding. On the brighter side, much of the tenderness you’ve felt from the previous trimester should be wearing off. It’s best to go one size up or more when wearing a bra to keep you more comfortable.
  • Heartburn and constipation. During this stage, your body is producing more progesterone, a muscle-relaxing hormone. It affects the esophageal muscle that keeps the acid and food down in the stomach and pushes your food through the intestines. You can avoid heartburn by having small frequent feedings. Meanwhile, taking more fiber and extra fluids should keep constipation at bay.
  • Skin changes. A dark line on your abdomen, called linea nigra, will start to appear. This skin change is usually temporary and should fade away after giving birth. You may also notice spider and varicose veins appearing on your legs. This is due to the increasing pressure in your lower limbs.

Your Weight Gain

Expect to gain pregnancy weight during the second trimester. This is due to your growing baby and your increasing appetite. If you had a normal weight pre-pregnancy, it’s advisable to gain around one pound a week, with a total of fourteen pounds throughout the trimester.

But don’t overdo it. Packing on way too many pounds increases your chances of pregnancy complications, such as gestational diabetes and hypertension.

It’s best to discuss weight requirements with your doctor so you’ll know how much weight to gain throughout pregnancy.

Your Prenatal Care

Prenatal care during the second trimester will focus on your baby’s development and detecting any pregnancy problems.

Your healthcare provider will regularly check your weight and blood pressure, as well as the size of your uterus. Your doctor will often want to listen to your baby’s heartbeat. He or she can suggest a screening test using a reliable ultrasound transducer to find out your baby’s sex.

You’re almost there!

While you’re waiting for your belly to pop, take advantage of the second trimester. Pamper yourself while you can. The third trimester is on its way, and before you know it, you’ll be holding your tiny bundle of joy in your arms.

Image: https://www.babble.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/489226561-624×416.jpg

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