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Prenatal stress Find ways to manage it
Inside
Ways to manage prenatal stress...................................17 Is exercise safe in pregnancy?.......................................19 Faith in Vermont ...............................................................23 Keeping breasts healthy while breastfeeding.............24
By CHRISTY LYNN It’s true, getting and being pregnant may be one of the most inherently stressful processes we go through. Starting with the choice to try to conceive, questions about how fit you are to be a parent and realizations of how much you don’t know come flooding in. You might suddenly ask yourself why you didn’t pay more attention during sex ed, or ask yourself why you never knew all of these facts that suddenly are ruling your reality. For example, many women (and men) don’t know that much about (See Prenatal, Page 18)
ONE-YEAR-OLD Parker Perrotte of Ferrisbergh at College St. Children’s Center.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
Addison Independent, Monday, February 26, 2018 ~ Babies and Families ~ PAGE 17
PAGE 18 ~ Babies and Families ~ Addison Independent, Monday, February 26, 2018
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Prenatal bly enough hours or days or months left before (Continued from Page 17) fertility (or lack thereof) until they start trying to your due date to get all the preparations done, get pregnant. Back when we first had “the talk” it’s important to prioritize your own sanity and we might have been scared into believing that let it go. eggs were just hanging out in a row, waiting for Healthcare providers also suggest maintainthe first sperm to come along and a single in- ing an exercise routine throughout pregnancy, stance of unprotected sex meant a baby would even if it’s a very low-impact, light activity like be on the way. And of course, that could happen. swimming, walking, stretching or yoga. ExerBut it would be very, very lucky. cise helps stimulate the mind and body in proInstead, for most couples, ductive and healthy ways, as timing needs to be perfectly well as encourages deep breath“Coping mechanisms coordinated and luck on your for stress vary widely ing which is good for the fetus. side. Most fertility doctors based on the individuals Get plenty of sleep. Shift your don’t get concerned about involved, but the basic bedtime earlier and give yourinfertility until after a year idea is the same for all: self plenty of time in bed to balof unsuccessful efforts to get give yourself a break.” ance the extra work your body pregnant. is doing to help your baby grow. Most people also don’t recLimit the amount of unveriognize how common it is to miscarry, especially fied information you take in. Resist the urge to in the first trimester. National statistics show that troll the internet, reading about all of the worstone in five pregnancies results in miscarriage, case scenarios and making yourself more afraid 80 percent of those occurring within the first 12 of messing up. weeks. Seeking information, reading books and talkSo, yeah, that’s stressful. ing to friends, family and health providers can But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. be extremely helpful in planning to welcome a Once pregnant, hormonal shifts can eas- new baby to your family, but reading about all ily escalate moodiness, anxiety and feelings of of the rare and unfortunate conditions that you uncertainty. Unsolicited (or solicited) advise likely aren’t at risk for probably won’t help. from friends, family, co-workers or even perfect Find support people that you can talk to so strangers can easily catch you off guard as they you’re not keeping all of your worries to yourtry to help by sharing the latest trending stud- self. Many times talking through what you’re ies about what foods to avoid or what parenting anxious about will help alleviate the concern. practice is sure to be the key to rearing a genius. Make sure you talk openly with your partner; Practical stresses have their place, too. The chances are he or she feels many of the same process of having a baby is a financial burden stresses and you can help each other get through for many women. According to a USDA report, them. Support groups for other parents who are the average middle-income family will spend experiencing the same phases of parenting can roughly $12,000 on child-related expenses in be a great resource and can help articulate some their baby’s first year of life. By age two, parents of the emotions you are feeling. are up to more than $12,500 per year. At the end of the day, recognize that childAll parents want the best for their children, birth is perhaps the most common miracle we so they don’t want to skimp on the money they know. Regardless of how hard you try or how spend, but for many that amount is 25-30 per- much you know, most babies turn out just fine cent of their annual incomes. and most parents get the hang of it without any Scheduling time off work as well as child- catastrophic failures. Just let nature do it’s thing. care are additional causes of anxiety and require planning and a lot of hard decision-making. Many childcare facilities do not accept infants and waiting lists can be so long that couples who put their names on a list the day they have a positive pregnancy test still can’t get in when their child is ready. Never mind the endless curiosity about how your baby is developing, whether everything is fine and normal, what’s happening within your body and who you’re growing within. So it’s no wonder that stress is commonplace among new parents. Moderate amounts of stress are nothing to be concerned about, and, considering the number of new experiences and emotions you’re facing, to be expected. But health experts warn that extreme levels of stress can be harmful to pregnancy. Some studies suggest that high stress during pregnancy can result in premature birth or low birthweight. Coping mechanisms for stress vary widely based on the individuals involved, but the basic idea is the same for all: give yourself a break. 11-MONTH-OLD Casey Corrente of Cut back on the number of commitments Middlebury at College St. Children’s Center. you make and take time to relax and slow Independent photo/Trent Campbell down. While it can feel like there aren’t possi-
Addison Independent, Monday, February 26, 2018 ~ Babies and Families ~ PAGE 19
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Is exercise safe in pregnancy? By ALEXIS CASWELL these things should be taken into account. Congratulations, you’ve found out you’re They also mention that although yoga itself pregnant! You’re taking all your folic acid, is great, the very trendy “hot” yoga should eating the appropriate amount of calories, be avoided, as you are trying to avoid the and getting plenty of rest. What about exer- possibilities of getting dehydrated. cise? Is it necessary? One of the normal Prenatal yoga classes are usually available symptoms of pregnancy is weight gain, in our area, but if you’re not finding any of and it often shows a healthy pregnancy if those local pregnancy spinning classes that you pack on a few extra pounds. But you you’ve just been dying to try, remember that see pregnant women going to yoga classes, you can always modify any existing class. and pregnant celebrities rolling in and out You can attend some group fitness classes of the gym. But how safe is it? And how within reason as long as you modify the important is it to get regular exercise while intensity to suit your health. This is another you’re busy growing a human and living question you can ask your doctor, what your life? The first thing you intensity should your bike should always do is consult or elliptical be set to? And your doctor, as you do with always remember to open everything in pregnancy. Each “Physical exercise does a line of communication pregnancy is different, and no not increase your risk of with your class instructor. exercise advice is meant to be miscarriage, low birth They need to know that appropriate for every person. weight, or early delivery.” you’re pregnant and that So, back to our first question: you want specific guid“Is it safe?” The American ance on how to appropriCollege of Obstetricians and ately adjust the class to fit Gynecologists (ACOG) has guidelines about your needs. everything when it comes to pregnancy and Emily Miner, a personal trainer at birth, including guidelines for exercise for Middlebury Fitness, said that there were pregnant women. “Physical exercise does several things to consider when modifying not increase your risk of miscarriage, low any workout. “Modifying all depends on the birth weight, or early delivery. However, it person and the pregnancy,” Miner said. She is important to discuss exercise with your mentioned there are even different modifiobstetrician ... during your early prenatal cations for different trimesters, as after the visits.” first trimester you should no longer be lying So, after you’ve spoken to your doctor and supine on your back. been given the green light to work out while Emily trains people with TRX, a suspengrowing your proverbial bun in the oven, sion training system. She said that it is a what’s next? Well, recognize that working way for people to train with their extra body out when you’re pregnant isn’t really just weight in a safe manner. “I’ve had a client about stopping excessive weight gain, it’s who trained TRX right up until she gave about keeping you heart rate up, working birth,” Miner noted. She has known of some your muscles and staving off any complica- people even training with their babies after tions or chronic health issues. You want to giving birth, strapping them in a baby carrier be healthy, and exercise can decrease your against their chests and working out. Miner risk of gestational diabetes. Gestational is a strong advocate for TRX. Other trainers diabetes affects, on average, 18 percent of have their favorite routines. women during pregnancy. It can also reduce Should you start exercising during pregback pain and strengthens your heart and nancy if you’ve never been into exercisblood vessels. ing before? Yes, of course. Everything The type of exercise you chose to under- in moderation, and take baby steps. The take is important. Now might not be the American College of Obstetricians and time to begin intense Crossfit. According to Gynecologists has a guideline for that as ACOG your joints are more at risk for injury, well. They say swimming, stationary biking your balance is different now that your and walking are all great ways to get active center of gravity has shifted, and ultimately, during pregnancy. your increased need for oxygen means you And always remember to bring water and can get short of breath more easily. All of snacks! Your body will thank you.
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PAGE 20 ~ Babies and Families ~ Addison Independent, Monday, February 26, 2018
Your health and well being are important at every stage of life, always consult our
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Addison Independent, Monday, February 26, 2018 ~ Babies and Families ~ PAGE 21
Laura Weylman, MD Primary Care - Vergennes Area of Interest: Pediatrics & Geriatrics
Natasha Withers, DO Primary Care - Bristol Area of Interest: Women’s Health
Cassidy Heisler, PA-C Primary Care - Bristol Area of Interest: Adult Medicine
Meredith Walker-Hanson, FNP Pediatric - Middlebury Area of Interest: Childhood Obesity
Jeffery Abell, PA-C Primary Care - Middlebury Area of Interest: Adult Medicine
Emily Gaukler, MD Primary Care - Middlebury Area of Interest: Adult Medicine
Monica Benjamin, FNP Pediatric - Middlebury Area of Interest: Adolescent Health
Lauren Bierman, DNP Primary Care - Middlebury Area of Interest: Geriatric Care
Kenneth Harris, MD Primary Care - Middlebury Area of Interest: GI
Ariel Gallant Bernstein, MD Pediatric - Middlebury Area of Interest: Transgender Health
Renee Bratspis, MD Primary Care - Brandon Area of Interest: Women’s Health
Todd Smith, APRN Primary Care - Brandon Area of Interest: Primary Care
Meet the Newest Faces of Primary Care. Over the past two years we’ve welcomed 12 new primary care providers throughout Addison and Rutland Counties. We are committed to keeping your care local and accessible. All our new providers are accepting new patients. Visit us online at UVMHealth.org/PMC or call to book an appointment today: (802) 388-8850
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Addison Independent, Monday, February 26, 2018 ~ Babies and Families ~ PAGE 23
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Our six-year-old has a winter adventure to last a lifetime It was this year’s peculiar cocktail of sub- impossible, unfortunately. But we are interested zero temperatures, accumulating snow, thaws in being as safe as possible. So that is reflected with mixed precipitation followed by a return very obviously in children’s culture in America to freezing temperatures — combined with the these days.” heavy clay soil and topography of our property Davis was speaking about her fascinating — that turned our yard into a skating rink. short documentary film, “The Land,” which If you didn’t know any better, you’d think focuses on an adventure playground in North we had three ponds on our land, when what Wales called The Land in order to explore we really have are three huge concepts of play, risk and hazard. frozen puddles. This distincLast month, I drove — too fast, tion means nothing to my because I was running late — daughters, who slip and slide down icy roads in a slushy rain with abandon over the smooth in order to attend a screening and expanses of ice in their snow discussion of “The Land” at my boots. Where air has gotten in daughter’s preschool. between the ice, they stomp The adventure playground on the top layer so it fractures movement emerged out of postinto thin shards that they pick World War II Europe; some of the up and eat — nature’s original first adventure playgrounds in the popsicles. UK were bomb sites. The hallMy husband and I, with marks of adventure playgrounds higher centers of gravity and are: unrestricted play, lack of work to do, snap metal cramadult-manufactured structures, pons onto our boots when we moveable parts, and the presence go out to walk the dog or feed of trained playworkers. At The the poultry. We walk gingerly Land, children climb trees, use and drive slowly. We play it saws, hammers, nails, and paint By Faith Gong safe. to build their own structures, Safety is a concept that’s and experiment with fire. One of embedded deep within our the playworkers interviewed for DNA: We carry within us a will to survive, Davis’s film draws a distinction between risks combined with the knowledge — often subcon- and hazards: His job is to allow children to take scious — that we are always hunted by death. risks, while keeping them safe from hazards. This tension leads many of us to seek safety It’s an important distinction, and one that by avoiding what we judge to be hazardous seems to be gaining ground among American situations. parents who are tired of worrying, who see the What’s surprising, after millennia of human cost of overprotected, overscheduled children existence, is how poorly we judge actual who prefer to stay indoors on their electronic hazards and how inconsistent we are in our devices. Still, the numbers are telling: While survival attempts. For example, I wore cram- there are over 1,000 adventure playgrounds pons as I walked across the ice to the poultry throughout Europe, there are only five in the coops this morning, but then I ate bacon for United States. breakfast and drove a car to town, despite docuWhile we may acknowledge that risk is part mented evidence that both of those things may of life, we do our best to remove it from the shorten my lifespan. lives of our children. We tear down wooden Still, the delusion persists that we can prolong playgrounds (splinters!) and replace them with our life by adhering to various safety measures. sleek plastic structures atop synthetic padding. Our desire for safety informs how we interact We schedule every minute of our children’s with the world; should we become parents, it time with enrichment activities in order to informs how we raise our children to interact “keep them out of trouble.” We have become with the world. so fearful of danger, of lawsuits, of guilt, that Filmmaker and Middlebury College profes- we’ve become a culture of worrying, hovering sor Erin Davis said in a 2015 interview on micromanagers dubbed “helicopter parents.” NPR: “Something that’s hard for us to accept One day last month, I allowed five children is that safety, security, is a myth to a degree. — three of my own, and two of their friends — There’s no such thing as complete safety; it’s to embark on an unsupervised adventure in the
Faith
In Vermont
woods bordering our property. These children ranged in age from four to eight. In a nod to safety, I sent them off with two walkie-talkies (I kept the third.) From the kitchen window, I watched them run across our back field, down to the frozen beaver pond at the edge of our property, and toward the rocky ridge beyond. They’d been gone about 20 minutes when I realized the drawback of the walkie-talkies: Apparently, it’s slightly beyond the ability of four-to-eight-year-olds to hold down the button on the side of the walkie-talkie the entire time one is talking. Therefore, our exchange sounded something like this: SIX-YEAR-OLD: [crackle-crackle] Faith? ME: Yes?!? SIX-YEAR-OLD: [crackle-crackle] ME: Hello?!? Are you there?!? Is everything OK?!? SIX-YEAR-OLD: [crackle-crackle] ME: Hold down the button the whole time you’re talking! SIX-YEAR-OLD: [crackle-crackle] … She’s stuck up on a cliff! I wasn’t too worried. We don’t live in the high Rockies; I knew that what was a “cliff” to a six-year-old is what most of us consider a “slope.” All the same, when my daughters’ friends’ mother came to pick them up and the children still hadn’t emerged from the woods, I pulled on my boots and coat to investigate. As I slipped and slid and smashed to my knees attempting to cross our back field, I realized my error: I’d pulled on my regular snow boots, not the boots with crampons attached. The field was icy, but because I’d become used to the easy safety of walking across ice with
metal spikes on my soles, I was unable to navigate ice without them. When I reached the beaver pond, I was greeted by five exuberant children who had just descended the ridge. “She almost DIED!” they shouted. “We saved her life!” I pieced the story together bit-by-bit. The ice was the culprit, having turned the rocky slope into a slippery slide. One of my daughters had lost her footing and grabbed a tree root for support, and then refused to let go and descend the slope herself. She was eventually “saved” by her older sister and friend. That this had been a near-death experience was emphasized repeatedly in the retelling. Oddly, it contained none of the terror or trauma that one would expect a brush with death to entail; instead, the news that “she almost DIED” was delivered almost … joyfully. Perhaps because she hadn’t died. Perhaps because they felt empowered to have encountered risk and solved it themselves. So perhaps, when we protect our children from all danger, when we attempt to insulate them from injury, when we only allow them to cross the ice wearing crampons, we are denying them the full joy of being human: the thrill of taking risks, the euphoria of navigating tricky situations, and the immense gratitude for life that can only come from acknowledging the reality of death. Faith Gong has worked as an elementary school teacher, a freelance photographer, and a nonprofit manager. She lives in Middlebury with her husband, four daughters, assorted chickens and ducks, and one anxiety-prone labradoodle. In her “free time,” she writes for her blog, The Pickle Patch.
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Tips to keep your breasts healthy while breastfeeding (MS) — Breastfeeding is a natural, cost-effective and healthy way to provide sustenance to a growing baby. The American Academy of Pediatrics and Health Canada advise that mothers should breastfeed their infants exclusively until around six months of age. While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says eight in 10 American women initiate breastfeeding right after childbirth (the Canadian Women’s Health Network says nine in 10 Canadian mothers do so), many mothers do not make it to six months.
Breast health and overall health may affect mothers’ abilities to continue breastfeeding. Women who want to make sure they continue breastfeeding for six months or longer can learn about the various ways to facilitate breastfeeding, including how to care for the breasts and body. Some of the more commonly cited reasons women give up on breastfeeding include problems with milk supply and difficulty with breastfeeding techniques. According to the Cincinnati
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Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 95 percent of breastfeeding problems are reversible with adequate support. MASSAGE Massaging the breasts can help clear milk ducts and cause milk to flow more freely. This helps empty the breasts and trigger a higher milk production. Breast massage may also improve skin tone of the breasts by increasing blood circulation within. WASH AND MOISTURIZE Use warm water in the shower or bath to keep breasts clean. Baths and showers also can help with any breast discomfort. Do not use soap, as this can remove the natural oils produced by the Montgomery glands located in the areola. These oily secretions keep the areola and the nipple lubricated and protected. Compounds in these oils may also spark a newborn’s appetite. After washing or nursing, apply lanolin or a little breast milk to keep nipples supple. Breast pads can help control leaking breasts, but pads should be changed regularly. EAT PLENTY OF HEALTHY FOODS
Many breastfeeding women report feeling more hungry than usual. The Canadian Women’s Health Network says to choose the higher end of serving sizes and select nutritious foods to help boost energy. The body needs extra calories to make breast milk. Also, drink plenty of fluids to replace the liquid the baby has nursed. PROPER LATCH AND POSITIONING Make sure the baby is well positioned and latches on correctly to alleviate nipple soreness. Vary positions throughout the day. Allow the baby to empty each breast sufficiently. Break the suction of the baby’s mouth by placing a finger in the corner of his or her mouth before removing the infant from the breast. Speak with a doctor or lactation consultant for tips on promoting proper latch and positioning. BREASTFEED REGULARLY It’s good to feed babies between eight and 12 times per day so that breasts have a chance to empty fully. Both breasts should be fed upon equally. Regular feedings can help prevent plugged milk ducts, engorgement and an infection called mastitis.