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The moment that you have been dreaming about for years has finally arrived and you and your husband are expecting your first baby! You care about your physical and mental health and wish to provide your baby with the best start possible. You believe in living an active, healthy life and plan to continue exercising throughout your pregnancy.

Since 1895, Providence Place has been helping young expectant mothers faced with unplanned pregnancies and couples wanting a child on their own.

Support for Birth Mothers & Young Adults with Disabilities When You Need Help, You Need it Now Providence Place is Right Here 24/7 Pregnant - Now What? It's important to know your options - and there may be more options than you think. Providence Place has been helping young women facing an unexpected pregnancy

Surrogacy is a path that many couples who are unable to have children of their own have chosen due to the intimacy and experiences involved in the process. There are many things that should be taken into consideration before you make the choice of becoming a surrogate mother. You should first speak with an attorney and/or an adoption agency specializing in surrogacy. They can provide you with a list of things to consider and agencies available to start you on your way, educate you on your rights as well as those of the adoptive couple and what you can expect and what is expected out of you. When you consider on becoming a surrogate mother, you also need to decide whether you will be an independent surrogate or agency surrogate. As an independent surrogate, you need to be responsible for your own arrangements, finding the right couple, working out a contract and, if anything goes awry with the arrangements, you will be responsible for finding another couple. As an agency surrogate, all of these arrangements and legalities are managed for you by your agent. Either route you choose, make sure that you have consulted an attorney who specializes in surrogacy and adoption to serve your best interests. The next step in becoming a surrogate involves the physical aspects or extent of the measures you are willing to take to become pregnant. You need to decide if you are willing to undergo artificial insemination, hormone therapy and/or in vitro fertilization. Each of these measures are time consuming and not fail proof, so it is always best to have an alternate plan, if possible, in case your first choice for conception does not work. Finally, once an agency or attorney is employed in your journey to becoming a surrogate mother, psychological and physical tests need to be done to make sure that you are healthy enough to carry a child to term and that there are not any past medical or family histories that may cause pregnancy or genetic issues. Extensive counseling will be

Surrogacy is perhaps one of the most selfless acts that a woman can bestow upon a couple in need of a child. Surrogacy, however, can come with both physical and physiological risks that may or may not be easy to recover from. Understanding what the psychological risks of surrogate motherhood can make the transition from carrying a child to relinquishing that child easier. The psychological risks of surrogate motherhood may be a heavier burden to carry, but pre-screening and on-going counseling both before and after the event can help surrogate mothers adjust. There are four areas that are of particular interest in the psychological aspect of surrogacy: contact (bonds), control, closure and ethics. Surrogate mothers form relationships with the couples they surrogate for and that bond may perhaps be even stronger than the bond they may feel for the child they are carrying. They see and talk to their couples regularly and become used to the caring bestowed upon them from their couples. These bonds are strengthened by the routine prenatal visits, maternity clothes shopping, calls to see how they are feeling or if they need anything for comfort. These routine events cause them to become almost dependent on their couples and some surrogates report even becoming depressed after the birth not because of having to relinquish the child, but because they no longer have a reason for contact with their couples. Another one of the psychological risks of surrogate motherhood is that of closure. Often, this can go hand in hand with every contact or bonding issues. The routines and relationships developed between the surrogate, couples and medical staff that often make the transition from pregnancy and surrogacy to the birth and farewell stage that makes it difficult. Not only does the surrogate have to deal with the loss of a child, per se, but also the loss of those unique and caring relationships and routines that they have grown used to over the previous nine months. And fina

Surrogate motherhood is an option for couples who are unable to have children, whether it be from age, infertility, or some other medical issue. It is also for women who can have children but choose not to have the pregnancy experience. The other option for women to have children is via adoption. Surrogacy can be accomplished by one, of two ways. In most cases, a man's sperm is instilled into the surrogate by a procedure called artificial insemination. If this is done, the surrogate is considered to be the biological and birth mother of the child. Another name for this type of surrogacy is traditional surrogacy. The other way surrogacy may be accomplished is by the man's sperm and woman's eggs being implanted into the surrogate. This process is known as vitro fertilization. In this case, the surrogate is not the biological mother but is still considered the birth mother of the child. This type of surrogacy is gestational surrogacy. Surrogacy has both supporters and opponents, and both parties have strong arguments that work in their favor. All that are against surrogacy feel it is unnecessary and it dismembers a woman's body, especially considering that surrogacy is a profitable transaction. Many build their belief against surrogacy on their religious beliefs, while others base it on political and legal beliefs. Roman Catholics are strongly against surrogacy and feel surrogacy takes away from the sacredness of marriage and the connection between father, mother, and child. They also feel that commercial surrogacy is greatly offensive. In commercial surrogacy, a child's birth is turned into a financial matter. They feel it turns women into reproductive robots and exploitation of children. Other groups that oppose to surrogacy are feminists. Many feminists will argue that surrogate women are pressured or forced into being surrogates when they really do not want to be. Feminists have even gone so far as to call surrogacy a reproductive prostitution. On

There are many changes that women go through during pregnancy. Some, like enlarged breasts and milk production, are pretty obvious ones. Some, for reasons I can't understand, are never written about in medical journals. I think it's a conspiracy...

Getting a good night's sleep with a newborn baby in the house, as many parents know, is not going to happen anytime soon. Despite the odd waking hours of babies, the first 6 months of life are critical to helping a baby set their circadian rhythms (regular sleeping and rising patterns) that will stay with them for years to come. Some babies, however, may have some hurdles to overcome as a new study explains babies' with depressed mothers experience disruptive sleep.

Certain fish can provide an excellent source of the essential fatty omega 3, a nutrient that is vital for healthy infant brain development. Years ago, expecting women were encouraged to consume fish to increase omega 3 intake, but that recommendation had tapered off due to the high amounts of mercury in fish from our polluted waters. A new study found that moderate consumption is most beneficial for both mother and baby.

There are plenty of decisions to consider during pregnancy. Opting for prenatal testing, selecting a doctor for your baby, and deciding who will be present during your baby's birth are among the more challenging decisions you'll need to make. But where you choose to give birth - whether in a hospital or in a birth center setting - is one of the most important decisions you'll make before delivery.

In the happy haze of early pregnancy, you're probably already thinking of baby names and planning to shop for baby clothes. The reality of labor and birth may seem extremely far off - which makes this the perfect time to start planning for the arrival of your baby by creating a birth plan that details your wishes

A pregnant woman who is exposed to airborne pollutants at work increases her baby's chance of developing asthma later in life, a new study has found.

Moms are welcome to share their ideas and suggestions on pregnant care, child care and more related to moms at www.delhimoms.com

mamasarecool.com is much better source.