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Healing and physical recovery following a stillbirth can be more difficult and complicated than healing after an early miscarriage. This is because your body continues to change and adapt throughout pregnancy. The farther along you are when your pregnancy ends, the more changes from which your body also has to recover. Bleeding and Perineal Care As with miscarriage and live birth, the lining of the uterus that had built up during your pregnancy must be shed....

It can be difficult for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to share the news of their diagnosis with others, but it doesn’t have to be. While individuals with PTSD don’t need to disclose their diagnosis to anyone and everyone, it’s important not to keep the condition from loved ones. After all, your loved ones are likely to see the symptoms of the disorder and how they affect you. Moreover, loved ones can be an excellent source of social support, which has been found to be incredibly beneficial for people with PTSD....

Racial and cultural diversity is an important topic for kids at any time, but children of grade-school age are especially receptive to these conversations. During this period, they are forming lots of opinions about themselves and the people around them. This also is when their natural curiosity about differences in appearance and cultural backgrounds can peak. Aside from being developmentally able to put cultural and racial differences into perspective, they also can learn to appreciate traits that make others different from themselves....

In the middle of a blizzard, my birthmother handed me over to my adoptive parents outside a hospital in suburban New Jersey, three days after I was born. As I grew older, we moved into progressively larger houses, my Christmas presents were more costly, and the private university I attended expensive. My parents remained married, and there was never any kind of neglect. (If anything, as a child of the helicopter-parenting generation and an Italian-American mother who didn’t work, I wanted less attention… but that’s another essay....

In the spring of 2020, playgrounds across America were desolate, with yellow caution tape stretched across the entrances, and swing sets sitting empty. Now, health experts urge schools and families to allow playground play—with some precautions, of course. Key Takeaways Playgrounds in neighborhoods and schools are open again.Playground play is beneficial for kids’ physical and mental health, but parents and caregivers wonder about the risks of letting their children use playgrounds during a pandemic....

What Does Kevin Mean? The name Kevin means “handsome.” It has Irish roots and is derived from the name Caoimhín, which originated from the elements coém (meaning “handsome”) and gein (meaning “birth"). Saint Kevin was the first well-known Kevin. Since then, many children have been given the name. Kevin is a classic, versatile name that never seems to go completely out of style. How Popular is the Name Kevin? The name Kevin arrived on the baby boy name charts in 1921, at in the 720 spot....

Max Wertheimer was one of the founding figures of the school of thought known as Gestalt psychology. The Gestalt approach focused on looking at things as a whole, suggesting that the whole was more than simply the sum of its parts. This could be contrasted with the structuralist school of thought, which was focused on breaking things down to their smallest possible elements. Wertheimer’s work and observations contributed to the Gestalt approach as well as to other areas such as experimental psychology and the study of sensation and perception....

People who have become alcohol dependent often experience withdrawal symptoms and cravings when they try to stop drinking, and these cravings can pose problems for those trying to quit. The good news, however, is that there are medications that may help manage these alcohol cravings and assist someone in their recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD). Here, we review medications that are FDA-approved, those under investigation, as well as alternatives to medication that can also help manage cravings....

There are several types of gender-affirming surgeries that are available to transgender men and some nonbinary people who want to undergo genital surgery, also known as gender affirmation surgery and “bottom surgery.” The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that approximately 50% of transgender men wanted or had undergone such a surgery. Approximately half of those men were interested in a phalloplasty, the surgical creation of a penis using tissue from elsewhere on the body....

It’s no surprise that mental health problems are on the rise during the COVID-19 pandemic. But what may be surprising to some people is that research shows older populations seem to be faring the best in terms of psychological health and younger people are experiencing the most emotional distress. Key Takeaways A survey of parents highlights the stress of additional hardships around the mental health of our kids during the pandemic....

Pets are wonderful. They’re fun, provide companionship, and give plenty of love. It’s no wonder that pets are an important part of so many families, and so many women have “fur babies” or other types of pets before they begin to have human children. But, along with all the joy, there are a few concerns since some pets pose potential safety and health risks. So, when it’s time to think about adding children to your family, you may be wondering if it’s safe to be around your pet while you’re pregnant....

If you’ve given birth or experienced a pregnancy loss, and have a negative blood type, your healthcare provider may have recommended a RhoGAM injection. RhoGAM is the brand name for rho (D) immunoglobulin. It is a drug given to people with negative blood types during pregnancy or after a miscarriage to prevent the formation of antibodies to positive blood types. RhoGAM is not the only brand of Rh immunoglobulin on the market, but it was the first developed, and the term became commonly used to refer to all Rh immunoglobulin....

Fertility drug side effects and risks depend on which medication you’re taking. Oral fertility drugs (like Clomid or letrozole) have milder side effects than injectable fertility drugs (like gonadotropins or GnRH agonists and antagonists.) The most common fertility drug side effects are bloating, headache, breast tenderness, upset stomach, hot flashes, and mood swings. The most common fertility drug risks are conceiving a multiple pregnancy (like twins or triplets or more) and developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS)....

Snow angels and sledding are a given, but there’s so much more to snow play! Whether or not it nets them a snow day off from school, a big snowfall is an awesome opportunity for kids to play outside actively. They still need their 60 minutes a day of physical activity no matter what the weather is (and remember, that’s just a minimum). So take advantage of their enthusiasm for the snow to help them get some good exercise....

Hothouse children are children whose parents push them into learning more quickly and earlier than is appropriate for the cognitive age of the children. The term comes from the verb “hothousing,” which researchers coined to refer to parents’ attempts to create a “superbaby,” in other words, a genius. These parents provide every type of enrichment they can for their child, beginning in infancy. They play classical music for their infants, and may even use flashcards to prepare their infant for reading and math....

Any kind of pregnancy loss—whether a miscarriage or stillbirth—can be devastating for everyone involved. But there are some common misconceptions about the differences between miscarriages and stillbirths, and if you’ve unsure about what distinguishes one type of loss from another, you are far from alone. In a nutshell, miscarriages constitute any loss that happens before 20 weeks of pregnancy, while a stillbirth is any loss that happens after 20 weeks. Let’s at a look at some of the signs and symptoms of each, how they are treated, and most importantly, how to nurture your mental health when faced with any kind of pregnancy loss....

Home gyms can get hot. But cranking up the AC every time you work out simply isn’t practical—let alone budget- or eco-friendly. When you need a quick cool-down, a fan can be a lot more effective and efficient. “Fans are absolutely indispensable to creating a comfortable environment for your home gym,” Ashton Ferrazzo, fitness professional and owner of Freedom Fitness Equipment, says. “If you buy one large fan, it will pay dividends during summer months, as the increased air circulation will keep you from passing out or fatiguing quickly during a workout....

Psychoactive drugs are chemical substances that change a person’s mental state. They do this by affecting the way the brain and nervous system work. Changes in brain function due to psychoactive drug use can affect a person’s perceptions, moods, and/or consciousness. Also called psychotropics, psychoactive drugs can lead to intoxication. This is often the primary reason that people choose to take these types of substances. Overview Psychoactive substances are found in a number of medications as well as in alcohol, illegal and recreational drugs, and some plants and even animals....

You may have heard about the “twin effect,” a correlation between taking birth control pills and twinning. It is theorized that if you conceive shortly after you stop using birth control pills, your chances of having twins increases. While using birth control pills, ovulation is suppressed. When they’re discontinued, it’s thought that the ovaries may superovulate, releasing more than one egg in a cycle and increasing the opportunity to conceive dizygotic or fraternal twins....

Vitamin D is often associated with a lower prevalence of depression, but the results of a recent study undermine this correlation. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in August 2020, found that vitamin D supplementation did not result in statistically important differences in the incidence and recurrence of depression compared to the use of a placebo. Key Takeaways Low levels of vitamin D have long been connected to depression and anxiety, but those findings are still up for debate....