http://cache.jezebel.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jezebel.com.png http://jezebel.com/tag/birth http://jezebel.com/tag/birth

Last month, 52-year-old Mark Aulger was very sick with complications from his treatment for colon cancer. His wife Diane was pregnant and was just two weeks from her due date when the doctor informed them that Mark's condition was fatal. When he was told he only had five or six days to live, Mark said "I'd like to see the baby." Diane, 31, and her doctor decided to induce labor, and she gave birth to the daughter Savannah on January 18th, with Mark's hospital bed right next to hers. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5884538&view=rss&microfeed=true

A woman in China will be getting quite a good arm workout while caring for her newborn son. He was born this past weekend and weighed in at a hearty 15.52 pounds. That is a lot of baby. His mother, a 29-year-old woman from the Henan province, gave birth to him via C-section, which is probably a good thing in terms of being able to keep her pelvis in working order. His parents, who are both of average size, named him Chun Chun. He is believed to be the largest newborn on record since the country was founded in 1949, but, as impressive as Chun Chun's birth weight is, he won't be claiming the Guinness World Record. That apparently belongs to a baby born in 1879 that weighed in at 23.7 pounds. Once they cross the 20 pound mark, maybe we should just skip calling them babies and classify them as newborn toddlers. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5883561&view=rss&microfeed=true

One million packages of birth control pills have been voluntarily recalled after their manufacturer has announced that the drugs might not contain enough hormones to prevent pregnancy. So instead of calling them "birth control pills," it might be more accurate to refer to them as "one-a-day useless hormone candy." More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5881249&view=rss&microfeed=true

In a truly awful act of violence, an Afghan man strangled his wife to death after she gave birth to a second daughter instead of the son he had wanted. The 22-year-old woman, whose name was Estorai, had previously told her family members that her husband was unhappy with the birth of their first daughter and had threatened to kill her if she gave birth to another girl. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5880757&view=rss&microfeed=true

When most people picture the birth of their child, it does not include speeding down a highway frantically trying to film with a cell phone camera while their wife pushes the baby out in the front seat. And yet that is exactly how things went for one Texas couple. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5879475&view=rss&microfeed=true

On New Year's Eve, three babies managed to enter the world in a different day, month, and year than their twin. In Minneapolis Beckett Humenny was born 6:40 p.m. Dec. 31, 2011, and his sister Freya followed at at 12:26 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2012. In Buffalo, New York, Ronan and Rory Rosputni were born at 11:37 p.m. and 12:10 a.m. respectively. Meanwhile in Tampa, Florida, Jenna Bear was born in last minute of 2011, and her sister Leah joined her at midnight. Blake Bear, the girls' father, says, "It's a great way to end the previous year and start the new year." Not to mention a great reason to demand separate parties when they're older. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5872536&view=rss&microfeed=true

It seems almost impossible that you could be separated from someone for 77 years, and then all of a sudden, with a single lucky phone call, they could be back in your life. But that's exactly what happened to Minka Disbrow. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5872510&view=rss&microfeed=true

It's Pregnancé no more because reports are coming thick and fast that Beyoncé is having her baby – with talk that she's probably crowning this very moment! With nurses and security at New York's St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital being advised to prepare themselves for a high-profile client checking in to give birth late yesterday, word on the maternity ward is that it's none other than Mama B. Though this hasn't been confirmed, two gossipy nurses have said that the VIP has booked out half of the Labor and Delivery Suite at the hospital – the same one where friend Alicia Keys gave birth last year. It's just as well that Beyoncé and Jay-Z are insanely wealthy because otherwise their baby girl would have been forever cursed to receive the lame twofer "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!" gifts that disappoint many late December children. Congrats, y'all! [Media Takeout] More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871507&view=rss&microfeed=true

A woman in Tasmania was wrapping presents by her Christmas tree when she got a very special surprise gift: a baby girl! She went into labor on Christmas Eve, of all times, and by the time the ambulance arrived she was too far along to be taken to the hospital. So she had the baby right there under the tree! Her daughter was delivered at 12:06 on Christmas Day. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871163&view=rss&microfeed=true

Here's an interesting example of how to interpret scientific results - and draw policy implications from them - from the world of birth practices and safety. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5869719&view=rss&microfeed=true

Planning your particular labor experience is a lot like communicating what kind of haircut you want to your stylist. You start out with this really great image of something fantastic and awesome (i.e., not "the Rachel"), and then you end up with something that, in the end, seems very much in the spirit of said awesomeness, but, you know, on your particular type of human head. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5867731&view=rss&microfeed=true

We've heard of women delivering their babies in all sorts of strange places, but a Maryland woman may have found one of the most awful ways to usher a new life into the world: In an airport, on the bathroom floor, during one of the busiest travel days of the year. The woman had just stepped off a flight at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, so she was actually lucky that she didn't have to give birth in the aisle of an airplane. The mom isn't releasing any personal details, but she and her son are healthy. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5863631&view=rss&microfeed=true

This year, rather than fix the economy or create jobs, American lawmakers have opted to focus their attention instead on working their evangelical butts off to make sure that there are as many obstacles between a woman and reproductive control as possible, using esoteric imaginary justification to introduce legislation that would be disastrous if enacted. The impact of restrictive abortion laws is not a mystery; dozens of countries around the world already severely restrict women's access to reproductive health services, and, to put it lightly, life for women in those countries is hardly a picnic. In fact, from what we can glean, an America without legal abortions would be pretty terrible for everyone. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5856197&view=rss&microfeed=true

Apparently moms go to great lengths to avoid giving birth on Halloween. And even their bodies conspire to keep babies from popping out on the scary holiday. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5854764&view=rss&microfeed=true

Johanna Kearns just got a very special gift for her 16th birthday: the red 1989 Toyota Corolla that she was born in. Yes, her parents waited a bit too long to leave for the hospital, and her mother Nancy ended up delivering baby Johanna while crouched in the backseat of the car. This Ohio family seems to have a good sense of humor about the whole thing, and they've even given the car a few nicknames, including the "Birthmobile" and "The Placenta." All these years later, the car has 188,000 miles on it but is still going strong. Of the gift, Johanna says, "I like this car. It's like my baby, even though I'm more like its baby." It may be a little weird to drive around in the car you were born in, but it's definitely better than driving around in the car you were conceived in! More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5848075&view=rss&microfeed=true

Are paintings and plays too dull for you? Perhaps you'd rather get your art in the form of watching an actual woman give birth for real right in front of you? Now you can do just that at a gallery in Brooklyn. A pregnant performance artist named Marni Kotak is planning to give birth to her first child in front of an audience at the Microscope Gallery in Bushwick, obviously. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5848035&view=rss&microfeed=true

Last week when Marriah Love went into labor, she and Kaleb Benge rushed down Interstate 80 in Iowa to get to the hospital. However, their daughter decided to made her debut in the front seat of their Chrysler minivan. Love says that as Benge was driving, "She started coming out. I didn't even have to push, she just came out and I pulled her the rest of the way out." Benge said: More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5837441&view=rss&microfeed=true

You may want to wait until after lunch to read about the latest fad in childbirth: placenta-eating. The practice has been around for a while, and many animals do it, but it's now enjoying renewed popularity among humans. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5833258&view=rss&microfeed=true

When she was 20 weeks pregnant with twins, Andrea Goodrich was told fluid was leaking from the placenta and she would definitely miscarry. However, her daughter Nico lept into action (or randomly shifted in the womb) and plugged up the tear in the amniotic sac, allowing the pregnancy to continue to 30 weeks. Today Nico and her sister Kiki are seven months old and perfectly healthy. "When they get older," says Goodrich, "We will tell both of them the reason they have such a special bond isn't only because they shared a womb but because before they were even born, Nico saved Kiki's life." More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5830834&view=rss&microfeed=true

Scientists thought that the placenta just passed nutrients from mother to fetus and was good for little else, other than horrifying the internet when crafted into a stuffed animal. But now researchers have found that it performs a protective function too: If the mother is starving, the placenta will feed itself to the fetus to prevent brain damage. When mice weren't fed for 24 hours in the middle of their pregnancies, scientists found that the placenta started breaking down and recycling proteins in its cells. The nutrients were passed to the fetus so hypothalamus development could continue even while the mother wasn't taking in food. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5827178&view=rss&microfeed=true

Many women are concerned that once they're in labor, their doctors will ignore their birth plan. Halina Jane Gillett is suing Professor Jeffrey Robinson, one of Australia's most respected obstetricians, because she says he disregarded a request for a caesarean — from Gillett's mother in 1985. Instead, Robinson chose to deliver her using forceps, which she claims left her with a debilitating condition. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5826815&view=rss&microfeed=true

Police officer James Kneipp just happened to be driving by a Newark, NJ McDonald's when a patron got his attention and caused him to pull over. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5823684&view=rss&microfeed=true

Holy shitsnacks. Ptak Science Books came across this crazy apparatus by accident, and from what we can gather, this was an actual proposed idea by a married couple named George and Charlotte Blonsky. Brace yourselves. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5807387&view=rss&microfeed=true

Last fall, 27-year-old Ohad Ben-Yaakov was injured in an accident at his part-time job, and he died after two weeks in a coma. Ben-Yaakov wasn't married, nor was he in a relationship. No woman was pregnant with his child. Nevertheless, his devastated parents believe it's not too late for them to become the grandparents of his offspring. And because they live in Israel, the world capital of in-vitro fertilization and a country that regularly pushes the envelope on reproductive technologies, they might get their wish. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5785683&view=rss&microfeed=true

This handy graphic does some heavy number-crunching on the state — and financial state — of American childbirth. Worth noting: a 24-hour hospital stay for a birth without complications costs $8,000-$10,000. It doubles for a c-section, and this helps add up to the astronomical amount we, as a country, spend on bringing life into the world. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5783492&view=rss&microfeed=true

While the headline sounds a little Beverly Hillbillies, the circumstances of the birth of baby Finnean Connell were more along the lines of The Six Million Dollar Man. We can repair him! We have the technology! More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5758826&view=rss&microfeed=true

Videocameras and even cell phone cameras are forbidden in some delivery rooms. Supposedly they violate the staff's rights and create a "media circus." Hospitals probably won't mention their other concern: Recordings are being entered as evidence in medical malpractice suits. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5751816&view=rss&microfeed=true

The rate of home births is dropping in England. Cue finger-pointing. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5720447&view=rss&microfeed=true

For the first time ever, a woman gave birth inside an MRI scanner, allowing doctors to watch the movement through the birth canal from beginning to end. Here's a video with images throughout the process. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5708217&view=rss&microfeed=true

Some women apparently suffer from "tocophobia" or an "unrelenting fear of childbirth." But is this really that irrational? More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5705342&view=rss&microfeed=true

Research suggests that a fetus is sensitive to the flavors and smells of the mother's food. The brain physically changes in utero and aligns its preferences; this may explain one's penchant for eating peanut butter by the spoonful. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5703276&view=rss&microfeed=true

Using 3-D and 4-D scanning equipment, British doctors have captured an image of a 17-week-old fetus smiling. Though this will likely be misconstrued by anti-choice groups, multiple doctors say the smile does not mean the unborn child can experience emotions. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5661242&view=rss&microfeed=true

Madeline Holler thought watching their brother's birth would be a great learning opportunity for her two daughters. It was more like an opportunity for sobbing. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5649932&view=rss&microfeed=true

The LA Times' Ministry of Gossip asked screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg about Twilight: Breaking Dawn being split into two movies. One of which will, as fans know, involve Bella's pregnancy with a vampire fetus that tries to kill her. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5563999&view=rss&microfeed=true

I have been baffled by the recent backlash against dads in the delivery room, one of those things that seems to make such perfect sense to me that I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the counter-argument. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5560402&view=rss&microfeed=true

We've all heard of birth-gasms, so why not blissful birth-trances? More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5547315&view=rss&microfeed=true

Going by Hollywood movies alone, birth involves nothing more than zany rushes to the hospital, screaming for drugs, horrible pushing, and a soft and glowy presentation of Junior. So easy! Watch the reel and become a believer. [Vulture] More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5522190&view=rss&microfeed=true

A California woman who underwent fertility treatments has given birth to octuplets, but a new test may make the implantation of multiple embryos unnecessary, as doctors can now check the viability of eggs before fertilization. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5507217&view=rss&microfeed=true

One guy (okay, doctor) asks, "Could men be more of a hindrance than a help in the delivery room? More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5412836&view=rss&microfeed=true

Ever since women fought against twilight sleep being used in hospitals, questions about giving birth and what practices are helpful or harmful has captivated public conversation. A growing movement hopes to draw attention to the overuse of Caesarean procedures. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5384982&view=rss&microfeed=true