Although an increasing number of U.S. hospitals and other birthing centers now encourage women to breast-feed and teach them how, other common practices by staff can hinder moms from sticking with it.
A small study found that women with diverse microorganisms in their birth canals were more likely to give birth before their babies reached full term than women with less microbial variety.
Extremely premature babies, those born between 22 and 28 weeks of gestation, are more likely to survive now than they were 20 years ago. But the very youngest still have serious health problems.
She knew that breast is best. So when she couldn't breast-feed her children, she felt she had failed as a mother and a doctor. Until a wise pediatrician gave her permission to stop.
The British medical system says healthy women with normal pregnancies should give birth at home or in a midwife-led facility. But 99 percent of babies in the U.S. are born in hospitals.
Texas now explicitly allows the placenta to be taken home after giving birth in a hospital. It came about at the urging of people who feel consuming dried and encapsulated placenta helps new mothers.
Insurance coverage for maternity care is deemed essential under the Affordable Care Act. But adult children on a parent's plan still may be on the hook for the cost of childbirth. And it's not cheap.
If Kourtney Kardashian and Mayim Bialik do it, is it good for you? Pills made from a woman's placenta are being promoted for postpartum depression. But there's no evidence they help, a review finds.
Giving the newborn one last boost of blood from the placenta may help increase social and motor skills at age 4, a study finds. Earlier studies have found health benefits in infancy.