The Baby Blues

The Baby Blues:
Emotions run cold or hot, up or down, calm and crazy the first few weeks after you have had a baby. These emotions are stronger then usual due to lack of sleep, stress, visitors, healing from birth, taking care of your baby, pain after a cesarean or stitches or breastfeeding and many other situations. You are normal to feel these emotions, but talk to your partner and family about what you are feeling. Sleep will help the most, but eating well and allowing others take care of household and baby tasks make a huge difference.

Usually the blues appear suddenly on the third or 4th day after birth. 50-75% of new mothers experience this feeling of letdown after the emotionally charged experience of birth. Symptoms may include crying, impatience, irritability, restlessness, and anxiety. Postpartum Depression:
Although 1 in 10 new mothers experience various degrees of postpartum depression, it still remains unknown how severe or when it may occur, even up to a year after birth. symptoms may include: nervousness, anxiety, panic, sluggishness, fatigue, exhaustion, sadness, depression, hopelessness, change in appetite and sleep, poor concentrations, confusion, memory loss, overconcern for the baby, uncontrollable crying, irritability, lack of interest in the baby, guilt, inadequacy, worthlessness, fear of harming the baby and/or yourself, exaggerated highs and/ or lows, lack of interest in sex.
You may have good days & bad days & you are not “going crazy”. Treatment varies, but all are temporary & treatable with support & skilled professional help. CALL your midwife or doctor if you are concerned about yourself or your partner.

From the book included with the "Sleep in a Box"
SwaddleKeeper Baby Sleep System
541 380 1389
1767 12th St. #107
Hood River, OR 97031

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Sleep article published in Style Cafe Moms Magazine

http://issuu.com/stylecafemomsmag/docs/scm_magazine_winter_2010_issue

SwaddleKeeper Baby Sleep System
541 380 1389
1767 12th St. #107
Hood River, OR 97031

www.SwaddleKeeper.com

Swaddlekeeper.com

Voted #1 best baby gift by Moms that have used the product themselves. Survey Jan. 2011. Check it out!

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Caesarean rate increase

Majority of Caesareans Are Done Before Labor
By DENISE GRADY New York Times
Published: August 30, 2010

A new study suggests several reasons for the nation’s rising Caesarean section rate, including the increased use of drugs to induce labor, the tendency to give up on labor too soon and deliver babies surgically instead of waiting for nature to take its course, and the failure to allow women with previous Caesareans to try to give birth vaginally.

Thirty-two percent of all births in the United States — nearly 1 in 3 — now occur by Caesarean section. The operations have been increasing steadily since 1996, setting records year after year, and have become the most common surgery in American hospitals. About 1.4 million Caesareans were performed in 2007, the latest year for which figures are available. The increases have caused debate and concern.

The concern arises because Caesareans pose a risk of surgical complications and research has found that they are more likely than normal births to cause problems that can put the mother back in the hospital and the infant in intensive care. Risks to the mother also increase with each subsequent Caesarean, because it raises the odds that the uterus will rupture in the next pregnancy, which can seriously harm both the mother and the baby.

Caesareans also increase the risk of dangerous abnormalities in the placenta during later pregnancies, which can cause hemorrhaging and lead to a hysterectomy. Repeated Caesareans can make it risky or even impossible to have a large family. In addition, costs for a Caesarean are nearly twice those for a vaginal delivery.

Most women who have had one or even two Caesareans can at least try to give birth vaginally, and studies have found that 60 to 80 percent succeed. But vaginal births after Caesarean sections have become increasingly uncommon.

Worries about the ever-increasing Caesarean rate led the National Institutes of Health to form a Consortium on Safe Labor, which performed a detailed analysis of electronic records from 228,668 births at 19 hospitals in the United States from 2002 to 2008. The study is the first to analyze how often Caesareans were performed before women went into labor (more than half the time) and how often after labor had begun.

The results were published this month by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and described in a telephone briefing by two of the authors, Dr. Jun Zhang and Dr. S. Katherine Laughon, from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Dr. Zhang said one thing that surprised him about the study was that a third of first-time mothers were having Caesareans. Although it was known that the overall Caesarean rate was 32 percent, some of that was thought to be due to repeat Caesareans.

The main reason for a Caesarean was a prior Caesarean. But in women who have not had Caesareans before, one factor that may increase the risk is the use of drugs to induce labor. The practice has been increasing, and the study found that induced labor, compared with spontaneous labor, was twice as likely to result in a Caesarean.

In the study, 44 percent of the women who were trying vaginal delivery had their labor induced. When Caesareans were done after induction, half were performed before the woman’s cervix had dilated to six centimeters, “suggesting that clinical impatience may play a role,” the authors wrote. Full dilation is 10 centimeters, and a Caesarean before six centimeters may be too soon, the researchers said.

Like other studies, this one found that few women were offered a chance to try vaginal birth after Caesarean.

“Physicians and patients may be less committed” to the vaginal births, the authors said.

Dr. Zhang said it appeared likely that the Caesarean rate in this country would keep increasing, though he said he hoped it would never match the rates in Brazil (70 percent) or China (60 percent). If there is any hope of reducing the rate in the United States, or at least slowing the increase, he and his colleagues said, the key is to lower the rate among first-time mothers and increase the rate of vaginal birth after Caesarean.

A version of this article appeared in print on August 31, 2010, on page D7 of the New York edition.

SwaddleKeeper Baby Sleep System
1767 12th St. #107
Hood River, OR 97031

www.SwaddleKeeper.com

Gifts for New Mothers

As the gift giving season is upon us, parents of newborns need the most important gift of all--sleep!

Parents need to know the time tested tips and tricks to help their baby settle and sleep longer. In the past, we would have been been around babies because we lived close to relatives, but most of the parents today aren't exposed to babies until they have their own.

That is why it is very important to provide the tools needed for parents to care for their babies and themselves. The Sleep in a Box is packed with videos, handouts and gear- so they are well equipped to be GREAT parents!

Check out the "Sleep in a Box" Baby Sleep System by SwaddleKeeper

Sleep well, Kim Stolte RN

SwaddleKeeper Baby Sleep System
1767 12th St. #107
Hood River, OR 97031

www.SwaddleKeeper.com

organics still strong for retailers to sell

ORGANICS STILL STANDING
It’s also critical for retailers to understand the performance of organics. According to Euromonitor, the organic category was probably the category that “most tipped to careen off the edge of the cliff during the recession. However, while the organic market posted the lowest growth of the firm’s health and wellness products, it showed remarkable growth over the five years prior (2003-2008) on its ledger — up a solid 79 percent in sales.
The recession hit the organic category hard, but Euromonitor predicts that “this does not change the fact that organic remains a key category in many markets.” Globally, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Denmark are solid markets, and the U.S. market continues to indicate a hankering for at least naturally derived — if not fully organic — products.
Hudson points to varying purchase drivers for consumers of organic products, including an interest in living “green,” reducing carbon footprints, healthier ingredients, actual (or perceived) improvements in flavor and overall taste and the baby market. to read the complete story click http://www.privatelabelbuyer.com/Articles/Special_Reports/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000883673 BABY CARE -- ANYTHING FOR BABY
by Jill Rivkin

SwaddleKeeper Baby Sleep System
1767 12th St. #107
Hood River, OR 97031

www.SwaddleKeeper.com

Breastfeeding Island

To help make breastfeeding your baby a relaxed wonderful experience that it is supposed to be, I suggest setting up for success by making a "breastfeeding island".

Once you sit down to feed your baby, you should have everything you will need for the next hour+ within reach. An easy way to do this is make up a easy to carry basket that has supplies that you can use while sitting down. The obvious is diaper and wipes, burp cloth, and other baby stuff.... But more importantly is the items YOU will need to hang out and relax while your baby feeds. Items such as: phone, paper, pen, tissue, thank you notes to write, snacks, water, ear plugs, relaxation mask, blanket and pillow.

The more comfortable you are just "sitting" there, the longer you will feed your baby. I know for me, it was hard not to watch the clock, but if I had things close at hand I was more apt to hang out and provide my baby with the glorious nutrition and time that he required and thrived on!

Dozing off while breastfeeding is a great way to nap but please make sure your baby is safe. Have your baby well supported with a breastfeeding pillow and other firm pillows so that she/he won't slide down into cracks if your arm relaxes when asleep. More information on the video that included in the SwaddleKeeper Sleep in a Box baby sleep system www.SwaddleKeeper.com

congratulations on your baby, Kim Stolte founder of the SwaddleKeeper company and mother of 3, nurse to many.....

SwaddleKeeper Baby Sleep System
1767 12th St. #107
Hood River, OR 97031

www.SwaddleKeeper.com