People tell you a lot of things when you’re expecting a child, but no one can really prepare you for how it feels. At times, you’ll experience things that make it seem as though you’re living out a scene from Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Kicks, jabs, gurgles, flipping, flopping — it gets wild in there, y’all. But perhaps one of the strangest pregnancy sensations is fetal hiccups. Yup, baby hiccups in the womb happen, more often than you might think. And even though you’re new to this whole mom business, you’ve probably already got the worrying sitch on lock. So, are fetal hiccups normal? Co ..read more

When a friend is in the middle of IVF, you want to acknowledge what they’re going through, but you also don’t want to say something you’ll regret. In an attempt to be helpful, and because so often people get uncomfortable or nervous and just start babbling, friends, acquaintances, and co-workers often say things to people undergoing IVF that are hurtful. As Chrissy Teigen has pointed out, simply asking someone if they’re pregnant can cut pretty deep. Remember that someone undergoing IVF is often incredibly vulnerable. Someone who is normally skeptical might believe the most suspect anecdotes o ..read more

Ah, the joys of pregnancy. Along with dealing with a changing body, wild mood swings, and all types of morning sickness, there are a slew of logistical decisions to make about the delivery of your child. Natural water birth at home or the epidural at the hospital? Breastfeeding or formula? Should you bank your baby’s cord blood in a private or public bank? Or is collecting umbilical cord blood even something you need to consider? There’s been a lot of promising talk about umbilical cord blood and the stem cells found in the cord and the placenta. Cord blood banking has come a long way since th ..read more

The findings strengthen the known connection between poor oral health and pre-term birth Certainly not all pre-term births are the direct result of the health of your gums. But a large new study has found that there’s likely a significant connection between oral health and a healthy gestation period — findings that could increase healthier deliveries and healthier infants around the world by decreasing the number of premies. Chewing gum can be a godsend for expecting mothers, especially those in their first trimester suffering from nausea.  But apparently if you’re regularly chewing sugar ..read more

Giving birth with an epidural is such a weird sensation. There you lay, bits to the wind, with at least one nurse or midwife “cheering” you on and telling you to “push.” How can you push if you can’t even feel? If you’ve had an epidural, they might as well ask you to summon a unicorn. One seems as plausible as the other, no? Enter the “walking epidural.” While it’s not exactly a new concept, walking epidurals are starting to become a much more popular way to ease the pains of labor without entirely taking away the contraction and pushing sensations. But what, exactly, is a walking epidural? Wh ..read more

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the actress says, “I wanted to be able to have my own feelings about my changing body without other people also telling me how they saw me” If you’ve ever been pregnant, you know it’s universally seen as an invitation for folks to project all of their own issues about motherhood onto you, and offer a steady stream of , opinions and advice. It is exhausting — presumably all the more so for someone like Scarlett Johansson, who inhabits the public’s gaze. If you missed the news of Johansson’s latest addition, that’s because her quest to keep her pregnancies pr ..read more

Days after revealing a desire to expand her family, Chrissy Teigen proves she’s still keeping things real this round Earlier this week, Chrissy Teigen revealed that she and her husband, John Legend, started the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process again after the loss of their son, Jack, a year and a half ago. Although Teigen has been open throughout the heartbreaking grieving process following her pregnancy loss at 20 weeks, she set some clear boundaries this time around. To start, don’t ask her if she’s pregnant. Just don’t. But in a new series of videos, Teigen shows that she’s also willing ..read more

With three breastfeeding kids under 3 years old, Graham has quickly learned the art of maximizing every second Model Ashley Graham keeps it real when it comes to all things motherhood. And after Graham recently welcomed her twin boys, things are no different. After first introducing the world to her new babes on Instagram, Graham has shared powerful snapshots of Malachi and Roman — this time tandem breastfeeding — helping to normalize breastfeeding and sharing what it’s like to nurse twins. View this post on Instagram A post shared by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@ashleygraham) In the boy’s de ..read more

Women over 35 may be especially at risk for heart and pregnancy complications after fertility treatments A new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association today found a notable increase in heart and pregnancy complications in people who became pregnant using fertility treatments. The risks increased with maternal age — but there are still lots of questions to ask and a lot more research to be done about why this correlation exists and what it means for those trying to get pregnant with assistance. Assistive reproductive technology (ART) is the umbrella term for a number of ..read more

Don’t you just love Valentine’s Day? It’s like Halloween for hopeless romantics. If you’re one of those romantics who just so happened to find out recently that you’re expecting, Feb. 14 probably seems like the perfect occasion to share your heartwarming news with the world. Honestly, some people love Valentine’s Day so much that a Valentine’s Day baby announcement sounds like a good idea even months after the actual holiday (this works out exceptionally well if you’re pretty sure you conceived on Valentine’s Day). No matter when you decide to send yours out — or post it on Instagram with a cu ..read more