Images courtesy of Carissa Long
When I used to daydream about giving birth, I would envision an all-natural delivery with dim lights and soothing music, where the midwife would immediately place the baby on my chest so I could breastfeed right away. The reality ended up involving a terrifying C-section, having my baby whisked away, not holding her for 10 days and pumping around the clock. Nothing went as planned, but it was a beautiful miracle in its own way.
My pregnancy was uneventful up until the 29-week mark. Our baby looked perfect during our 20-week anatomy scan, but was positioned in a way that prevented the doctors at...
Image courtesy of Dr. Olivia Chang
Sarah is an 18-year-old woman from a small village in Malawi. After a missed menstrual period, she found out she was pregnant – something she had not planned for. She sought out her village elders for help, who directed her to an “auntie.” This auntie performed a procedure with a cassava root to induce a miscarriage.
In the immediate days following her visit with the auntie, Sarah began to experience intense pain, fever and worsening fatigue. When Sarah arrived at the nearest health center, she was referred to Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe, Malawi, where Texas Children’s Hospital and...
Images courtesy of Katie Hurlbut
Time is something every grieving parent wishes they had more of when saying goodbye to their child. Our daughter, Ella Grace, passed away seven weeks after birth due to complications from an infection in September 2015. We felt rushed after she passed away, and we had very little time for our family to come and say goodbye to her.
Thankfully, we’ve been so very blessed by the support we received from our family and friends since Ella’s passing. In June 2017, after fundraising, we were able to open a Butterfly Bereavement Room at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women in their...
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You can’t dispute the evidence – breastfeeding provides profound health benefits to both mother and infant, and as a result, the community at large. However, many wonder how breastfeeding is facilitated once a newborn, too small or sick, requires a lengthy hospital stay. Luckily, Texas Children’s offers a wide array of services and resources to ensure mothers can provide mother’s own milk (MOM) to their infants in our care. As breastmilk-feeding mothers can attest, it definitely takes a lot of effort to express breast milk up to eight times a day....
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It’s important to treat your body well and regularly practice proper hygiene, especially when it’s your time of the month. Thankfully, most of us are lucky enough to have access to clean water and a wide variety of affordable menstrual products. I get a lot of questions regarding hygiene during menses, which helps me identify some of the more common mistakes women are making in the process.
Don’t use scented toilet paper, tampons or pads. These can be very irritating to your skin and might even cause burn-like symptoms. Make...
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