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Natural Vs Traditional C-Section

To say pregnancy is a time of anxiety may be one of the bigger understatements one can make. Expecting mothers have a range of questions and worries, the least of which may be, “Will I ever get my bikini body back?” In a time of such uncertainty. it’s nice to know that there are people out there who understand, and want to make the experience of pregnancy and delivery as stress-free as possible. Behold, the gentle Cesarean. While still surgery, the gentle Cesarean incorporates the elements of natural birth to the procedure to make it less invasive and more celebratory. Here’s the way it works:

What Makes the Gentle Cesarean Gentle?
Un- rushed Birth
Birth is not rushed, so mommy doesn’t feel like an object being pushed through an assembly line.

All Eyes On Mom
More attention and focus is given to the mother and the birthing partner.

Relaxed Atmosphere
The birthing room is quiet and filled with calming music or music chosen by the mother. ( Metallica is not advised.)

No Sheets
Mommy can see the baby being born via mirror reflection. In most C- sections, a sheet is placed in front of the mother. Gentle C- sections invite the mother to view the birth in mirrors and doctors are encouraged to be more forthcoming about the procedure than in the conventional C-section, so the mothers can feel more a part of the experience.

vine vera banner presents Natural Vs. Traditional C-Section

Slow Hand Doc
With the goal on simulating a vaginal birth, the doctor may delay the process of pulling the baby through the abdominal incision. For example, after the baby’s head is out, the doctor may leave the body inside the uterus for a few moments longer to let baby squeeze lung fluids through its nose. In vaginal births, this squeezing occurs naturally and helps the newborn to avoid infant respiratory distress syndrome, commonly associated with Cesarian births.

The Umbilical Chord Is Left Intact For a Longer Period. In traditional Cesareans, the baby is lifted out and the cord is cut immediately. In gentle Cesareans, chorcordis not cut until the mother and child have made skin to skin contact.

Skin to Skin Contact Occurs Immediately
Skin to skin contact is a central feature of the gentle cesarean. It has been shown that immediate contact with the mother makes the experience of birth less stressful for a child; the child is less likely to cry, is better able to regulate their breathing, reaches a stable body temperature more quickly, is likely to have more balanced blood sugar levels. Skin to skin contact is also an important component of emotional bonding between mother and child and helps to reduce risk or postpartum depression.

Immediate Breast Feeding Is An Option
Mothers can choose to breastfeed baby immediately if she desires.

To Have a Gentle Cesarean
If you want to consider the option of a gentle C- Section, add a C-Section Birth plan to your original plan. Be sure to discuss things like skin to skin contact, delayed cord clamping and slow birthing with your doctor to make sure you are on the same page when it comes to the birthing experience. Note that this will not pre destine you for a C- section, but if it becomes an eventuality, you will be prepared.

What do you think of the Gentle Cesarean? Let us know!

Woman checking pills

A List Of Items To Toss From Your Medicine Cabinet ASAP

Humorist and author Erma Bombeck once famously wrote, “My theory on housework is, if the item doesn’t multiply, smell, catch fire, or block the refrigerator door, let it be.” Operating on this logic, one could make a case for neglecting to clean out the medicine cabinet. After all, it’s highly unlikely you’ll find your antibiotics overrun with germs, right? Although there may be some attractive qualities to this theory, there may be some detriments to leaving your medicine cabinet unexamined for too long. The AMA recommends that you clean out your medicine cabinet once a year, and with spring cleaning upon us, this may be an ideal time. Here are some guidelines on doing just that.

What to Discard
Sara Bingel, PharmD, clinical pharmacist at Mount Sinai Hospital says, “In general, I would say many oral medications are safe to take a year or two beyond their marked expiration date.”

Items to save after expiration include pain relievers, allergy medications, like Benadryl, aspirins, stomach medications, like Tums, headache pills, and cold and flu pills.

Items to toss include itroglycerine for chest pain, life saving medications, antibiotics, liquid/suspension medications, and children’s meds.

Life-saving Drugs
When it comes to lifesaving drugs, it is crucial to heed expiration dates. The FDA requires medication manufacturers to find out how long it takes for drugs to reach a potency of 95%; after that, it is expired. That means that, when it comes to life saving meds, it’s all about getting the right amount into your body. Says Michael J. Negrete, PharmD., “I might be willing to roll the dice with cough syrup. It’s no big deal if the potency is down and it doesn’t help my cough. But imagine, with an Epi-pen, which keeps people from going into anaphylactic shock, not working.”

Woman at medicine cabinet

Store Meds Well
Expiration dates operate on the assumption that the unopened package is being kept in a cool, dry, dark place. While an untampered with package of Benedryl stored in a dark drawer in dry conditions is likely to be effective for years after its expiration date, one stored in a humid bathroom may be a very different story.

Take Visual Cues
When it comes to determining what to throw out of your medicine cabinet, there are some things you can judge for yourself. You don’t want to take a pill that crumbles in your hand and ineffective aspirin tends to smell like vinegar. Negrete advises that you, “Be suspicious of anything that looks out of the ordinary.”

Hold On To Solids, Lose the Liquids
Liquids, gels, and suspensions (in which the active ingredients is suspended in a liquid) tend to lose their potency more easily than pills and are also at risk of bacteria contamination, Bingel says, “Think rancid milk.”

Toss Children’s Meds
Paul Langevin, MD., director of cardiac anesthesiology at Waterbury Hospital comments, “Because children are smaller and their metabolic systems aren’t fully developed, I wouldn’t hang on to kids’ meds past the expiration date. Plus, a lot of medications for children are prepared in suspensions so the kids will take them and those flavored liquids can decompose and acquire bacterial growth.”

Are you cleaning out your medicine cabinet once a year? When the last time you went through your meds was.

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