It would be lovely if all of your household chores disappeared when you had a positive pregnancy test. But sadly, most pregnant people still need to clean their homes while expecting. Although pregnancy is a good time to delegate chores when you can (you need your rest!), nine months is a long time to go without vacuuming and scrubbing. There are a few new rules to follow while housekeeping to keep you and your baby safe....
Having a large family can be an enriching, amazing experience. Although fewer Americans see large families as the ideal than they did during the “baby boom” of the 1950s, data from Pew Research Center has found that the number of Americans who view larger families as desirable has ticked up over the past few years. The poll found that up to 41% of Americans see families with three or more kids as the perfect size....
My relationship with unexplained health issues has been a long one. The excruciating leg and arm pain I experienced since the age of 4 was considered “growing pain” until high school when they eventually piggybacked it off of my mother’s diagnosis of fibromyalgia. At the age of 16, my mother began to grow concerned about moments when I would space out. To me, these were just random “deja vu feelings” and head sensations that I would get since I was a kid....
Antidepressants usually help to treat the symptoms of depression—but not always. Studies have found that treatment-resistant depression (TRD) affects around 30% of adults with major depressive disorder. Key Takeaways More than a third of people with depression don’t respond to antidepressants or other treatments.However, there’s still widespread uncertainty surrounding treatment-resistant depression (TRD).Authors of a new study say the first step is to establish criteria for a universally recognized definition of TRD....
Aerophobia is a type of specific phobia that involves a fear of flying or air travel. While statistics suggest that air travel is actually safer than traveling by other means including car and train, flying remains a common source of fear. Research suggests that between 2.5% and 40% of people experience flying-related anxiety each year. Estimates on the low end likely represent instances where the condition is diagnosed by a mental health professional, while those on the higher end are likely the result of self-rated symptoms of flying anxiety....
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization to Paxlovid, a prescription drug used to treat COVID-19 infections. One year later, the drug has become more widely available and used in people with mild to moderate cases of the virus. Key Takeaways Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine recently published results of a study showing Paxlovid to be safe for use in pregnant people.The study was not a randomized trial, instead, researchers analyzed data from the outcomes for pregnant people who had already taken Paxlovid to treat a COVID-19 infection....
Staying healthy during pregnancy involves eating right, getting enough rest, and moving your body. Exercise is good for your overall health, but during pregnancy its benefits are even greater. Regular exercise can help keep your energy levels up, improve some of the discomforts of pregnancy, tone your muscles to better prepare you for labor and delivery, and help you recover from childbirth faster. You may be surprised to find that you can participate in many physical activities during pregnancy....
You want to keep your baby and kids safe in the car, but one of the hidden risks is for a child to be left or trapped in a hot car. An average of 38 kids per year die from being in a hot car in the U.S. In some cases on a relatively mild day with only 70 degrees F temperatures. As a parent, you can only begin to imagine the heartbreak over these tragedies....
Whether your teen sleeps in until the last possible second or spends hours prepping in the bathroom, there’s not always a lot of extra time in the morning for a nutritious breakfast. Still, it’s important to make time for breakfast. The benefits of eating breakfast go beyond academics, however. A nutrient-rich breakfast gives children the nutrients they need for growth and development. Some studies have linked eating breakfast with better academic results and athletic performance....
Fear and anxiety often occur together, but these terms are not interchangeable. Even though symptoms commonly overlap, a person’s experience with these emotions differs based on their context. Fear relates to a known or understood threat, whereas anxiety follows from an unknown, expected, or poorly defined threat. Fear and anxiety both produce a similar stress response. But many experts believe that there are important differences between the two. These differences can account for how we react to various stressors in our environment....
Researchers believe that hallucinogens alter the perceptions of users by acting on neural circuits in the brain, particularly in the prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain involved in perception, mood, and cognition. Whereas dissociative drugs are thought to disrupt glutamate transmitters in the brain, hallucinogens are believed to affect the neurotransmitter serotonin. Hallucinogens can also affect regions of the brain that deal with regulating arousal and physiological responses to stress and panic, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) research....
When a baby isn’t breastfeeding, effective milk removal from the breasts becomes critical. Pumping exclusively can be necessary for a variety of reasons, for example: A baby is born prematurely or cannot breastfeed because of an illness or medical conditionA breastfeeding mom needs to be away from her baby for a period of timeA baby refuses to latch at the breast Some moms begin pumping for a specific reason and find that their baby prefers receiving milk in a bottle....
Food insecurity is a global problem impacting individuals and families of all economic backgrounds. It occurs when people lack access to enough food for an active, healthy lifestyle due to inadequate resources or limited access to safe and nutritious foods. Food insecurity has numerous health-related consequences including poor physical and mental health, lower academic achievement in children, and chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Food insecurity is also known as “food poverty....
Exercise is one of the best and most affordable ways to improve your overall well-being. Plus, the positive link between physical activity and mood is impressive. From a decrease in depressive and anxiety symptoms to better sleep and less stress, participating in a regular exercise program has some major perks. And while we’ve known for years that treatment approaches such as psychotherapy and medication are effective in treating depression, research over the last decade shows that lifestyle interventions like exercise can also reduce depressive symptoms and improve your overall mood....
Labor and birth are hard physical work. Women burn a lot of calories during their labor and require plenty of calorie intake to fuel this incredible energy expenditure. At the same time, the desire to eat may not be strong as both a mother’s mind and body are focused on the task at hand. A full-term pregnant uterus is one of the strongest muscles in the human body, and like any other muscle works best when provided with plenty of fuel and hydration....
When you get married, you not only marry your spouse, but you also marry their family. And while you may have fallen in head-over-heels in love with your partner, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll feel the same way about their parents. In fact, it’s pretty common to butt heads with your in-laws from time to time. Here are a few tips on what to do if you don’t like your in-laws....
Acceptance and love are fundamental human needs. Abraham Maslow, a psychologist who studied motivation and need, identified “love and belonging” as one of the five essential human needs in order to live our lives to the fullest. Many people worry that they lack the belonging and acceptance they require to meet this need. They might feel unworthy or incapable of being loved by others. This article discusses reasons why you might feel unlovable and provides suggestions on how you can cope with this feeling....
When you first quit cigarettes, it may feel as if every waking moment is consumed with one thought and one thought alone: the urge to smoke. If you pay close attention though, you’ll notice that most cravings last only around three to five minutes. They tend to come on strongly and decrease gradually until they’re finally gone. The best rule of thumb is to deal with cravings as they come, one by one....
No parent wants to think about their child getting hurt or injured, yet it’s impossible to keep your child in a bubble forever (though don’t we all wish we could?). All children are going to have mishaps, falls, and injuries—some will even be serious. That’s why it’s incumbent on all of us parents to be prepared, and that means having a basic understanding of first aid for children. Probably the best way to do this is to take a first aid class, as nothing can beat “hands-on” knowledge....
The phrase “deadbeat dad” is a familiar one, and yet it’s often misused. While the word “deadbeat” actually appears in some states’ child support guidelines, not all parents who’ve fallen behind on child support payments are willfully refusing to support their children financially. Furthermore, unpaid child support can also be attributed to women. What’s more important than labels is dealing with the actual issue. Here’s what to do if you’ve been called a “deadbeat dad” or if you’re trying to recoup unpaid child support on behalf of your children....
