Pregnancy & Birth Related Articles & Blog Posts

May is Pregnancy Awareness Month — a month of events and media that celebrate this special time in a woman’s life. The activities this year are being kicked off with the 6th Annual Signature Pregnancy Awareness Month™ Event on Sunday May 5th from noon to 4 p.m. in Santa Monica. Dr. Greene is speaking at the kick-off [...]

Becoming a birth doula was one of the best and most rewarding decisions I’ve ever made. I cannot express with words the sheer joy I have experienced at each and every one of the 50+ births I’ve attended throughout my career as a doula. Although most of my “work” as a doula at the present [...]

When it comes to dads and doulas couples can have a myriad of concerns, but the truth is both play a very important role.  As a doula and mother who knows firsthand how important dads and doulas can be, I’d like to address some of the most common concerns – because dads and doulas make [...]

Many women and couples are now choosing to hire a professional birth doula to support them during their birthing journey. If you’re considering hiring a doula, here are some tips on where to find one, and what you should ask her before you seal the deal. If you are looking for a birth doula, I [...]

I’ve had a birth doula present at 3 of my four births, and at the birth where a doula was not present I had a 50+ hour labor, an epidural, a vacuum delivery, an episiotomy, and many regrets.  Sure, in the end a healthy mom and baby is what counts, but having a doula at [...]

When I tell someone I’m a birth doula, the number one question that follows is…what’s that? Thankfully, I’m delighted to answer this question!  I believe the more people who are informed about doulas, the better birth outcomes will be. Numerous studies have found that a doulas presence tends to result in shorter labors with fewer [...]

Last week I was honored to be one of the speakers at TEDxBrussels along with Steve Wozniak, Mitch Altman, Xavier Damman, Eri Gentry, Tito Jankowski, Peter Jansen, Jeroen Raes, Aaron Rowe, Monte Stettin, and many other personal heroes. When I was asked to speak last spring, I knew this would be the ideal opportunity to [...]

Tick tock. Tick tock. TICC TOCC. At the moment of birth, only about 2/3 of the baby’s blood is in the baby. The remaining third is still in the umbilical cord and placenta. During the third stage of labor, which lasts from the delivery of the baby to the delivery of the placenta, the cord [...]

Autism diagnoses have increased rapidly over the last two decades; so has the number of women taking antidepressants during pregnancy – from somewhere between 1% and 6% in the early 1990s to 7-13% more recently. The most common antidepressants alter serotonin levels; children with autism tend to have atypical serotonin levels in their blood. Antidepressants [...]

A new technique could revolutionize the diagnosis of Down syndrome in a way that mothers will love. All it takes is 1/2 tsp of the mother’s blood for stunningly accurate results. Then Not long ago the plan was for every pregnant woman over the age of 35 to be offered amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling [...]