Pregnancy Articles by Ann Douglas

How to love this awesome adventure, morning sickness, stretch marks, and all.

Pregnancy Health and Wellness

• Mindfulness During Pregnancy and Early Motherhood: It’s impossible to overlook the physical changes of pregnancy. But, as dramatic as those changes may be, the invisible transformations you experience en route to motherhood are every bit as far-reaching.
• Awakening the Senses: Pregnancy Body Changes: How your senses are affected by the hormonal changes of pregnancy.
• Pregnant With Possibility, Bursting with Life: Your body knows exactly what it needs to do to prepare itself for pregnancy, birth, and beyond.
• Feed Your Pregnant Body Wisely: Pregnancy is not supposed to be a nine-and-a-half-month ticket to the buffet — nor is it supposed to be a nine-and-a-half-month exercise in self-denial.
• The Pregnancy Workout Guide: You're exercising for two, baby.
• Your Top Ten Pregnancy Sex Questions Answered: There's no need to spend the next nine months fumbling around in the dark, looking for answers to all your pregnancy-related sex questions.
• Have Belly, Will Travel: Planning to take your belly on the road? Here are some tips on staying comfortable whether you're travelling by plane, train, or car.
• Sleep Deprivation in Pregnant Women: It's normal. It's also very, very frustrating.
• Unusual Pregnancy Complaints: Belly-button soreness, skin tags, dry eye? Yep, they're all pregnancy-related.
• Top Ten Pregnancy-Related Aches and Pains: Looking for the (pregnancy) complaint department? It's right here.
• Just Say Spahhhh: Spa Do's and Don'ts for Pregnant Women: Nurture your inner diva by treating yourself to a day for two at the spa.

Pregnancy Worries

• First-Trimester Worries: Here's what you need to know about the top ten first-trimester worries that are most likely to have you pacing the floor at 3 a.m.
• Second-Trimester Worries: How to worry less during the middle trimester of pregnancy.
• Third-Trimester Worries: Reassuring words about your third-trimester worries.
• 5 Pregnancy Stressbusters: Healthy ways to manage stress during pregnancy.
• Older Women More Likely to Perceive Pregnancies as High Risk:  Older moms, including those who are experiencing low-risk pregnancies, are more likely to feel that their babies are at risk.
• Fetal Movement Counting Reduces Maternal Anxiety: Pregnant women who monitor their babies’ movements via fetal movement counting during the third trimester tend to be less anxious about their babies’ wellbeing than other pregnant women.

Pregnancy and Pop Culture

• Pregnancy Photo Shoot a Rite of Passage for Moms-to-Be: Ever since Demi Moore made headlines 20 years ago by posing pregnant and in the buff on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine, the pregnancy photo shoot has become a rite of passage for many moms-to-be. Don't miss the pregnancy photo gallery with the article.
• Pregnant Brides Fuel Maternity Gown Demand: Here comes the bride — and she’s not making any effort to hide the baby bump under her form-fitting maternity wedding gown.
• TLC Show I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant Taps Into Fear of Childbirth: Reality TV shows like I Didn't Know I was Pregnant exist because our culture has so much fear of childbirth.
• The Best and Worst Video Moments: Pregnancy and Babies:  The camera has always been fascinated with babies. Just think of the rolls and rolls of photos your parents took of you (assuming, of course, that you were lucky enough to be a first-born child).
• Giving Birth? There's an app for that: It takes a village to birth an app. That’s what childbirth educators Amanda Hanson and Judith Nowlin discovered when they conceived iBirth (www.ibirthapp.com), an iPhone app for parents-to-be.
• Making the Mommy Bloggers' List: You’ve just made a list of top mommybloggers. Should you celebrate or brace yourself for some less-than-kind remarks from bloggers who didn’t make the cut?
• A Guide to Books About Pregnancy and Babies: Just take a quick stroll down the pregnancy and baby aisle of your favourite bookstore, and you’ll find plenty of titles to choose from.
• Do You Know This Pregnant Woman? (Maybe She's You): All women handle pregnancy differently. Here are some of the personalities you may encounter at your prenatal classes.
• Mother Guilt: The Gift That Keeps Giving: Did your guilt-o-meter start spinning out of control the moment you found out you were pregnant? Congratulations! You're officially in training for the ultimate of guilt trips -- motherhood!
• 12 Myths About Predicting Your Baby's Sex: Since the beginning of time, expectant parents have tried to guess whether the baby they are carrying is a boy or a girl. Here's the scoop on seven of the most prevalent myths about predicting your baby's sex.
• Learning to Love Your Pregnant Body: Here are six great reasons to fall in love with your pregnant body.
• Pregnant Women, Babies, and the Flu Shot: Here's what you need to know to protect yourself and your baby from influenza, an illness that can lead to serious complications, including pneumonia.

Perinatal Mood Disorders

• Breaking the Silence on Prenatal Depression: Mothers should be screened for the warning signs of depression long before delivery day.
• Depression: A Risk Factor for Preterm Birth: A recent study published in the medical journal Human Reproduction found that depressed pregnant women are twice as likely to give birth prematurely as pregnant women without any symptoms of depression. 

Ann Douglas is the author of The Mother of All Pregnancy Books and numerous other books about pregnancy and parenting.