Books
Co-author: Lobster Press Guide to Exploring Seattle, published by Lobster Press, Montreal
Contributing author: The Old West: Travel Historic America, published by Fodors, New York, NY
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BloGS
A Voice on a Road: Walking, Writing & Singing the Camino de Santiago
This Unplanned Journey: Taking life one day at a time
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Articles
Moms struggling with breastfeeding problems left adrift during COVID
“You are your baby’s immune system.” That’s the message Emily Pease, charge nurse for Swedish Medical Center Lactation Services, wants lactating parents to receive. Lactation consultants have another message: There is support for nursing parents — even as the COVID-19 pandemic surges again. Still, like most health and wellness services, the availability of lactation support has evolved with the pandemic.
Related Opinion: With support, breastfeeding can succeed, even in a pandemic
I can’t think of a time when breastfeeding (and breastfeeding support) might be more important than during a pandemic. While the jury is still out on whether breast milk offers protection against COVID-19 in particular, researchers are working hard to find out. But no matter the outcome of that work, decades of study already confirm that the antibodies found in breast milk protect babies against myriad other viruses and bacteria. . . .
You’ve Got This: Support for new and expectant parents from a perinatal psychologist
In the months since the arrival of the COVID-19 virus in King County, Seattle-based Dr. Leslie Butterfield, PhD, says she’s been fighting a new perinatal mental health battle — COVID-19 virus-related anxiety and fear among new and expectant parents. Many of these parents, she says, feel sandwiched between worries. Here’s here advice on getting through pregnancy, birth, and new parenthood with your sanity in tact. Read More. . .
Birth in a Pandemic: This Isn’t What I Planned
As the cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, expectant parents throughout the country are watching their dreams of their birth and the postpartum period fall prey to the pandemic. In some cases, hospitals are limiting who can attend a birth and most cases grandparents, family, and friends who were expected to come as assist when baby arrived are staying home. Here’s a look at what’s happening in the Seattle area for the past many months. NOTE: Since this article was published, doulas have returned to labor rooms. Read more . . .
A letter from your doula: What I want you to know as you prepare to give birth at this scary time
Let’s just say it out loud. Yell it, if you like, cry if you need, but get it out. This sucks. This is not what you expected. It is not what you planned. It is scary. It is overwhelming. There are a lot of unknowns as you turn the corner toward your labor, birth and the first weeks and months as a parent in the midst of a worldwide health crisis. Now take a breath. Take another. And listen to this truth: Inside you is a mother or father who knows exactly what to do. Read More . . .
From yoga classes to childbirth classes to lactation consultants, Seattle-area birth professionals are pulling out all the stops to make sure parents get the information they need to stay safe — and healthy! Read More . . .
Southern California Travel Planner
Meet the Entertainment Capitol of the World. The orginal; before Las Vegas, New York and other cities grabbed onto that title or versions of it and proclaimed themselves cities that offer the most diverse array of entertainment. No matter who uses the title, it belongs to LA where radio, television, film, live comedy, and all arenas of art are copious and ever-changing.
From historic comedy clubs to the music clubs responsible for creating some of America’s biggest names, Los Angeles is a city and region ripe for exploration, especially if you are big on Hollywood-style entertainment. Tour a stage, check out new acts, find the eateries that are hot today in LA.
Living and playing in Los Angeles means lots of time in the care. That’s because Los Angeles was designed all around the automobile. Check out of some of the region’s car spectaculars.
With Its Top Ten Ranking and Its Core of Prize-Winning Faculty, the Univerity of Washington's Creative Writing Program Is a Rising Star of Literary America. This article for the UW's Columns Magazine explores the worlds of some of that amazing faculty and what they bring to students.
When most outsiders think of Southern California visions of sand and sun are the first things to come to mind. In this article for Beyond Magazine, we explore some of SoCal’s favorite beach towns and the activities and attractions to be found there.
Supporting a woman in labor is not rocket science. In fact, at least while you are laboring at home, and even in a hospital setting, it often isn’t science at all. I’ve been serving as a birth doula for 15 years, and in that time I’ve tried every new massage…
Sidle up to the “Parenting” section in your local bookstore, and it’s easy to feel a little intimidated, especially if you are brand-spanking-new to this parenting business. That’s why we turned to the experts – 50 Seattle moms and dads who have become first time parents within the past two years – and asked them to share their favorite books on parenting through the first year. Here are their picks.
The age-old idea of a new mother “lying in” bed (figuratively, if not literally) for several days or weeks with her newborn baby has its merits. According to Dr. Jane Dimer, an obstetrician at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, multiple studies show that maternal-infant bonding, milk production and the fragile physiology of the early postpartum period all benefit from a period of quiet...
FDA Warns Against Terbutaline, Popular Drug for Stopping Early Labor
After years of promoting the drug for use in maternity care, he U.S. FDA released a warning this week that Terbutaline injections should not be used to stop pre-term labor in pregnant women because the drug may casue "serious maternal heart problems and death."
Baby Talk Leads to Better Development, So Goo Goo All You Want!
It turns out that the funny high-pitched voice so many parents use when oogling their babies is a developmental benefit to the wee ones. Research now shows using baby talk builds your baby's brain power and leads to better language development.
A breastfeeding mother should consider a pump “only if she anticipates regular separations from her baby, separations of more than three to four hours,” says Ginna Wall, RN, MN, IBCLC, head of the UW Medical Center’s lactation services. Wall is a widely known and highly respected instructor in the art and science of nursing.
IRS Gives Tax Break for Breast Pumps
Lots of Washington families will be able to take a tax deduction that was not allowed until this week – they can now claim rental or purchase of a breast pump as a tax deductible medical device. According to a report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Washington State has…
Welcoming a new baby into the world is a joyful thing. But it can be confusing to children who are all of a sudden thrust into the role of big brother or big sister. Once every month, longtime childbirth educator Penny Simkin teaches a class,...
Now that marijuana use is legal in Washington, some moms and childbirth professionals are hoping there can be an open discussion about its use to treat common pregnancy issues, including chronic vomiting, sleeplessness, anxiety, labor pain and postpartum stress. Currently, most health care providers recommend that pregnant and nursing women abstain from marijuana use. However, scientific research on the drug's long-term effects on children is incomplete and sometimes conflicting.
Reality Check (When Labor & Postpartum Don't Go as Planned)
The dreaming starts the moment your pregnancy is confirmed: you’ll enjoy nine months of carefree eating and your libido will go into overdrive; your birth will come off exactly as you outlined in your birth plan, right down to your partner in tears as he cuts the cord; you will…
Think Breastfeeding Will Come Naturally? Maybe Not.
Jennifer, a new mom who delivered this spring in Seattle, didn’t expect breastfeeding her daughter Elena to go off without a hitch. “I'd heard that it wasn't always a breeze, but I was committed to breastfeeding 100 percent. I thought we'd figure out any bumps along the way,” Jennifer says.…
Is Your Newborn’s Yellowish Skin a Sign of Serious Illness?
Is it a medical crisis if your newborn baby suddenly turns as yellowish or orangey? The answer is probably not. About 70 percent of newborns get a mild case of neonatal jaundice within the first few days of life as their systems work to remove toxins built up in the…
This Tool Get's a TEN! (Using a TENS Unit)
Mind-altering narcotics or leg-numbing epidurals are not the only means of true pain relief in labor. There are alternatives, and one that is rapidly growing in popularity is the nonpharmaceutical TENS unit. . . .
Penny Simkin Looks Back on 50 Years Serving Birthing Families
Over the years, I’ve seen many fluctuations in maternity care, women’s lives, family structure, medical economics and the impact of risk managers and litigation lawyers in defining safety in obstetrics. It seems almost as if the well-being of mother and baby is only one of many dominant controlling influences. I…
If there is one thing that Seattle childbirth education and doula pioneer Penny Simkin knows, it is this: Women never forget giving birth. And how a woman is treated during this transformative experience — whether she feels cared for, nurtured and empowered during birth or directed, coerced and ignored — matters more than whether a mother labors with drugs or without, or whether her baby comes out vaginally or by Cesarean section Seattle Woman Magazine, May 2010. This article is out of print.
Who's Best for You: A Midwife, Family Doctor or OB/GYN?
Youve gotten the clear POSITIVE on the pregnancy test, but the next big query on the path to parenthood can seem far less pink and white to expectant moms. Midwife, doctor, obstetrical specialist — who should care for my baby and me? There are a...
Looking back on their pre-parenthood days, Dan and Deborah Baumfeld describe their marriage as very solid. When they were expecting their son Olen, now nearing in on 2, they made it a rule to carve out time for each other, looked forward to growing...
Meditation: The best Rx for New Parents
Clinical psychologist and best-selling author Laura Kastner is passionate when it comes to connecting parents with the age-old practice of meditation."Every parent should meditate – every parent," stresses Kastner. . .