The Baby Bump Project

Study examines changing attitudes to the 'baby bump' - ABC Hobart - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

2011-10-13T15:46:00.000+11:00

A little bit of media coverage of my new study......

Study examines changing attitudes to the 'baby bump' - ABC Hobart - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

New research project!!!

2011-09-22T13:17:00.003+10:00

Oh it has been such a long time since I've posted here...but let me tell you, I have been a busy little bee. Now, that I've finally gotten my self sorted out I can tell you about an exciting new research project that I am starting. Basically, I am looking for pregnant women in Hobart, Tasmania.

I am looking for participants who are willing to share their experiences as pregnant women. If you are 18-50 years old and pregnancy (approx. 3-4 months or 12-16 weeks), I would like to invite you to take part in a research project that would involve taking photographs of yourself and your life during pregnancy/postpartum (digital camera provided) and then talking about the photograph you have taken in a series of interviews.

If you live in Hobart and this sounds good to you...please get in touch.

meredith.nash[at]utas.edu.au

Mariah: the pregnant oversharer

2011-04-15T11:00:00.004+10:00

There is a point when sharing every morsel of information about your pregnancy is too much information. Case in point: Mariah Carey. She has posed on 2 magazine covers naked and pregnant, posts incessantly on Twitter and has broadcast the intimate details of every aspect of pregnancy and her relationship with her husband for the world since the first announcement of the pregnancy. I'm over it. Just on her website, her 'team' has posted that her fans can choose her twin babies' first outfit.

While social media has it's benefits, you wonder why some of these celebs are constantly posting. Is it the fear of being alone? Are they comforted by knowing that someone, somewhere in the world will be there reading their thoughts? I wonder why Mariah doesn't want to keep some of this to herself. Sure she gets paid for all of the magazine covers but when you have the media in your face all of the time, wouldn't you want to have just this one thing that you can have that's just for you?

Tori S. preggers

2011-04-15T10:46:00.004+10:00

So no one could be more excited than me about Tori Spelling's announcement of her third pregnancy! I followed her first two pregnancies and now I have a third opportunity to ~~make fun of~~ follow her ~~incessant whingeing~~ insightful thoughts about weight loss and dieting. She debuted her new bump on EXTRA this week after announcing her little bun in the oven on Twitter. According to the Chicago Tribune, Tori surprised her husband Dean with the news: “I wrapped up the pregnancy test in a box and bow and gave it to Dean as his Valentine’s Day gift,” she tells People. “He was beyond surprised.”

TOTALLY TORI FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS!

Ryan Phillippe/Alexis Knapp debacle

2011-03-21T09:15:00.004+11:00

Rage: So the word is that Ryan Phillipe's ex, Alexis Knapp is pregnant with his child. What annoys me is that everyone has been writing about this woman as though she is trying to con Phillipe into giving her money/support. A recent headline from US read that she 'blindsided' him with news of the pregnancy. She is saying she doesn't want any help from him. She's happy to be pregnant and just thought he should know. I love how it's the woman that gets judged for getting knocked up while men get treated as though they really didn't think that having sex would potentially lead to a pregnancy. PUHLEASE!

Food for thought!

2011-03-21T09:10:00.002+11:00

Via: Ultrasound Technician

Kourtney Kardashian loves breastfeeding

2011-03-07T09:32:00.003+11:00

For once in a blue moon, this post is devoted to saying how great Kourtney Kardashian is for revealing that she breastfed her baby Mason for 15 months before weaning him. The Daily Mail reports that she wrote:

Kourtney wrote: 'My love affair with breast feeding has come to a sad end.

'I seriously could cry just thinking about it being over. I love what a beautiful experience I had with my son and just wanted to share it.'

She says she gained 5lbs since stopping breastfeeding.

When did you wean your baby?

Eva Herzigova bares all

2011-03-02T09:52:00.003+11:00

Oh my! Eva Herzigova, 37, features on the April cover of Bazaar, 7 months pregnant with her second child. She reflects on motherhood the second time around:

"Being pregnant is less about being sexy than being sensual. You feel very feminine. There are all these special hormonal enhancements.

"You really blossom, especially in the first three months: my skin and my hair were in great condition; my breasts were like 'wow'; it was like I'd had a facelift and breast-enhancement surgery. It's amazing refinding the body that you used to have in your twenties."

Breast milk arrives in a cone

2011-02-25T10:18:00.004+11:00

It doesn't take much for retailers to try and cash in on motherhood.

A London restaurant, the Icecreamists, is now selling 'Baby Gaga', or breastmilk ice cream.

According to the Daily Mail, the ice cream is served by a waitress dressed up as Lady Gaga.

British mums were asked to donate breastmilk online. If you want to try the ice cream, save up, because it's going to set you back about $22.

Wouldn't all of this donated breastmilk be put to better use if it was donated to actual babies? And shouldn't the restaurant consider donating a portion of the very hefty proceeds from this ridiculous product to a breastmilk bank?

Real Housewife reveals all

2011-02-24T10:22:00.002+11:00

I must admit that Real Housewives of Atlanta has been my guilty pleasure and the reason I watch the damn show is because I can't get enough of Kim Zolciak with her big hair and bad singing. Anyhow, to get you up to speed, Kim dropped Big Poppa and is now with a new man, football player Kroy Biermann. She's 6 months pregnant and of course, because Kim doesn't do anything small, she has posed for this week's edition of Life & Style in lingerie. Among other things, Kim says she's eating more than she has in her previous pregnancies and that she feels 'more in touch with her body now', whatever that means.

Rachel Zoe doesn't eat during pregnancy: shock/horror

2011-02-14T17:44:00.004+11:00

For anyone that follows Rachel Zoe, stylist to the stars, you would know that she's pregnant and if you have really been paying attention, you would have noticed that it is almost impossible to tell that she is 8 months pregnant. Blamed for making Nicole Richie and various other celebs stick-thin in order to fit into her fashion, Zoe has recently been quoted by a "source" in In Touch Weekly as saying that she is not used to eating 3 meals a day which is why she hasn't gained much weight during the pregnancy. One doctor speculates she hasn't gained more than 15 lbs (and with her tiny figure, you can hardly tell).

For the sake of your baby and all of the women who religiously follow your every move, please eat up. Low birth weight babies are prone to a host of health problems! Besides pregorexia chic is so 5 years ago....

Pink shows off her belly in her own gorgeous photo

2011-02-05T18:14:00.003+11:00

Wow. I just fell in love with Pink.

Tired of having unflattering photographs (like this) taken of her during pregnancy by the paparazzi, Pink has hit back with her own gorgeous pregnancy photo (above) that she uploaded to her Twitter feed this week saying:

"ALRIGHT... because paparazzi of today have absolutely no photograhic skill or artistry whatsoever, and their pictures are hideous...."

Gotta love the fact that 1) she screwed the tabloids out of money from photo sales and 2) she has taken control of the documentation of her pregnancy. WIN!

Miranda Kerr boasts about being stretchmark-free

2011-02-05T18:03:00.002+11:00

Oh Miranda Kerr. You know when I was all pro-Miranda a few weeks ago when she published that lovely breastfeeding photo on her blog? Well, it didn't take her very long to start to start to use her pregnancy to push some of her organic beauty products on other mums. This week, in her blog, the supermodel boasts that she doesn't have any stretch marks following her pregnancy with baby Flynn:

"I am so excited and just wanted to share with you how my pregancy skin routine has helped me to prevent any stretch marks. As you know I had a huge belly (carrying a 9lb 12 ounce baby) and was convinced I would have stretch marks as a result. But I am so happy to report that my combination of daily body brushing and applying KORA Organics Body Lotion twice a day have helped me to prevent stretch marks."

She didn't get any stretch marks. I'm irked by the fact that she has decided to use her lack of stretch marks as an opportunity to sell $45 moisturiser to her readers. Firstly, who the hell has $45 to spend on bloody skin cream? Secondly, there is no evidence that creams actually work in preventing stretch marks. Scientists are divided as to what you can do to make them appear less prominently on your body. There is no evidence to suggest, however, that you can prevent them entirely. Genetics appears to play a significant role as to whether you are prone to getting them when you are pregnant.

So, in short, I would have liked to hear about Miranda's post-baby body minus the sales pitch.

Pregnancy sex is safe

2011-02-04T08:59:00.004+11:00

You can tell Valentine's Day is just around the corner because headlines are ablaze with news that sex during pregnancy is safe (that is, if you were previously worried about getting it on before) so basically you can shag until your heart is content without fear of going into early labour.

The news comes from some Canadian doctors who published their study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. My guess is that they basically have done a review of earlier studies (although I can't find a citation for their article anywhere)....

Sex during pregnancy is still taboo to talk about as I found when I was writing an article for Cosmo Pregnancy about sex back in 2008. It seemed really strange for me at the time considering that maternity lingerie, for instance, was making its mark in the maternity market and we had already been exposed to the idea that pregnancy is sexy via celebs. I was supposed to interview women about their pregnant sex lives and let me tell you, it was hard to find women who were willing to talk and have their photos taken for the article.

Anyway, were you/are you worried about doing the deed while pregnant?

J.Lo blah blah blah

2011-02-02T14:27:00.001+11:00

J.Lo won't be giving pregnancy advice anytime soon.

"Everybody gives you a lot of advice when you are pregnant, which I find a tiny bit annoying, so I'm not going to give any."

J Lo added, "But I did read What To Expect When You Are Expecting by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel. You can go day-by-day with that. It's awesome."

Hmm. From someone who doesn't like being told what to do, how could you actually enjoy reading one of the most prescriptive guidebooks for pregnancy available?!

Miranda Kerr: cover of Vogue Australia

2011-02-02T14:07:00.005+11:00

How on earth did I miss this??

Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr (who just gave birth to her first son Flynn with partner Orlando Bloom) was the first woman to appear pregnant on the cover of Australian Vogue this month.

Inside the accompanying spread, there is also a photo of Kerr naked and pregnant.

Kerr also posed naked and pregnant for W, snapped by legendary photog Patrick Demarchelier.

"For me, family is life," Kerr, 27, told the fashion magazine who photographed her nude from the side while she caressed her baby bump.

"The decision to start one wasn't complex at all," she added.

Blossom preaches on parenting

2011-01-28T09:17:00.005+11:00

Oh, you know it's a good day when you get to talk about Blossom (aka Mayim Bialik) in a post. As quite possibly one of the foremost fashion influences in my life when I was 13, Bialik (now with a PhD in neuroscience, 2 kids, a revived acting career and voice of 'attachement parenting') has a new role as 'mommy blogger' (gag!) for Today (US), the breakfast 'news' (who are they kidding) show.

In her first post, Bialik has managed to press a few buttons with her writing about a typical day in her life as a parent. Now, whilst Bialik has been something of a postergirl for attachment parenting and natural childbirth, in this post she claims that she isn't in to labels and just does what feels right to her (even though she has referred to herself as living in an attachment parenting household before). Fair enough.

According to the actress, "This is not some fandangled new Hollywood trend. We parent the way people have parented for hundreds of thousands of years. So hang on to your hats and prepare for a view into my household."

What annoys me, however, is that following her abhorrence for being labelled, she then provides a laundry list of several things that she and her husband do regularly as part of their parenting (for example, co-sleeping, extending breastfeeding, baby wearing, 'gentle disipline'). Now, if she doesn't want to refer to these actions as 'attachment parenting', I'm not sure what else you would categorise them as. Instead of discussing why she thinks what she does works best for her family, there is a tone of self-righteousness in her descriptions.

For example, "Natural birth is not something to “try for” and feel bad you couldn’t do. Our country needs to step up to the plate in educating women about the benefits of natural birth, and we need to help women actually do it – not just hear about it." Okay, well if she is trying to say that women shouldn't feel badly about themselves if they are not able to have a natural birth, it doesn't make sense then to append that with a statement implying that women should be having natural births because they are better.

If Bialik is aware of all of the stereotypes of attachement parents (" I know what you’re thinking: AP parents are self-righteous, privileged, over-psychoanalyzed martyrs who (especially if they are celebrities) pretend to have the time, energy, patience and abundant love to be with their kids all the time without giving them any limits, boundaries or sense of independence.") then perhaps she should change people's minds about AP, live up to the label and be proud of it, rather than playing in to those very same stereotypes in her mightier-than-thou attitude to parenthood and, out of fear, refusing to identify with a community of parents who practice what you preach.

'Family shields' in Arkansas 'protect' young shoppers from gay parents

2011-01-27T10:14:00.004+11:00

It's times like this that I remember that everyone in the US actually doesn't share my worldview nor do they live in a blue state. Just as Elton John and his longtime partner David Furnish have welcomed their new baby into their home, Harps (with 60 retail stores across the US) have placed a 'family shield' (like the covers you generally find over porn mags) over the picture of Elton and his family on the cover of US weekly in order to 'protect' young shoppers. The company claims that they have not done this in every store but only in response to customer complaints. The photo has hit the internet thanks to @jennhudd, a Harps shopper who was appalled by the shields she saw in Arkansas (and promptly tweeted!). What is so hilarious is that while some parents must have complained about the US weekly cover because they think gay parenting is disgusting, unnatural or objectionable, these are probably the same parents that are happy to allow their children to play violent video games and who wouldn't bat an eye at the porn mags or other similarly degrading images of women that their children are exposed to everyday. In effect, this 'family shield' is suggesting that the depiction of two men in a long-term, loving relationship as partners and parents is equivalent to pornography. That a 'family' photograph is in need of a 'family' shield is laughably ironic but also so, so sad.

If this is appalling to you, call Harps on 877-772-8193 or use their contact form if you'd like to register your complaint.

UPDATE: Turns out Harps has decided to remove the family shields at the one offending store.

Clijsters slams pregnancy rumour with panache at Oz Open

2011-01-21T12:57:00.005+11:00

Oh if only all famous women responded to unsolicited uterus updates like tennis pro Kim Clijsters.....This little tidbit from Melbourne made my day:

Here's the story: David Cup coach Todd Woodbridge texted one of Clijsters friends, Rennae Stubbs speculating that Clijsters was pregnant again, specifically: "She looks grumpy and her boobs are bigger."

Stubbs told Kim about th e text and as Woodbridge interviewed Clijsters on court after her second round win over Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro at the Australian Open, Clijster's decided to get Woodbridge back...(you can watch the deliciously mortifying footage here)

"You thought I was pregnant," Clijsters said.

Woodbridge, turning a deep shade of purple, shot back, "Well, I guess we've got to ask, are you?"

Clijsters said that no, she wasn’t, but that wasn't the end of it. She read out the text to the crowd:

"You said: 'She looks really grumpy and her boobs are bigger!'"

Woodbridge was mortified, saying: "Well that's the end of my TV career, so thank you very much."

I just love this. While women have alot of reasons to absolutely hate celebrity mums for all of their money and seemingly easy lives, I have to say that the unsolicited uterus speculation really gets to me. It's no one's business to ask a woman if she's pregnant and a million other inappropriate reproductive questions. Clijsters was absolutely correct in making this clear to a man who had no business inquiring about her body based on stereotypes (I mean seriously, 'looking grumpy' could describe most working mothers around the world on any day).

GOLD.

Nicole Kidman has new baby

2011-01-20T13:40:00.002+11:00

In a surprise to the world, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban revealed that they have welcomed the arrival of their new daughter, Faith Margaret through a surrogate in the US. While surrogacy is a fairly standard procedure among couples in the US and abroad, Kidman and Urban have sparked controversy by referring to their surrogate by the technical term, 'gestational carrier'.

"It all sounds like terms from a lawyer-drafted contract -- ghastly," one person tweeted.

That Kidman and Urban most likely paid the surrogate is also the source of debate. While the couple say that they went to the US for the surrogacy because they can fly under the radar more easily as a celebrity couple, it is well known that surrogacy for payment over basic costs is illegal in Australia.

I would guess that Nicole Kidman using the technical term because it helps her to distance herself and her new baby from the birth mother: She clearly wants to be known as the 'mother', whereas the surrogate is just the womb.

Miranda Kerr: first photo

2011-01-20T13:37:00.004+11:00

How gorgeous is Miranda Kerr and her new bub? Miranda recently posted this beautiful photo on her blog that she is enjoying motherhood and that her natural birth was no cake walk.

"On the 6th of January I gave birth to our beautiful little son Flynn. He weighed 9lb 12 ounces (a very healthy and big baby boy). I gave birth to him naturally; without any pain medication and it was a long, arduous and difficult labour, but Orlando was with me the whole time supporting and guiding me through it. I could not have done it without him."

I love that she has chosen to be honest and say that natural birth is beautiful but it's not easy....AND she's showing the world that she is breastfeeding!

Natalie Portman compares self to whale

2011-01-20T13:33:00.003+11:00

Just as Natalie Portman waxes about how unflustered she is about gaining pregnancy weight, at the Golden Globes (side note: did you see her Victor & Rolf gown? AH-MAZING), she says: “I hope I’ll get to lie in bed and eat popcorn and watch TV for the rest of it,” she laughs. “Not always be out in public looking like a whale, but it’s all nice energy that everyone is showing.”

Nat? You were setting such a good example!

Gwyneth Paltrow needs dose of reality

2011-01-20T13:29:00.003+11:00

Once again Gwyneth Paltrow confirms just how out of touch with reality she really is. In response to a GOOP reader's query about combining a successful career with motherhood, Paltrow's answer is simple: a $2,300 coffeemaker, a personal trainer, and an assistant.

Maternity clothes: keep or castaway?

2011-01-16T11:26:00.003+11:00

For those of you that have been following BBP for awhile, you already know that much of my passion for pregnancy aside from all of my ranting about 'fat' and bodies is maternity fashion. I can't get enough of it and I love to follow the trends. Nevertheless, while it may appear that women are overwhelmed with choice now when it comes to choosing what to wear, when I was writing my PhD thesis back in 2006, there was almost no academic work being done on the topic. So I'd like to think that I'm a bit of a pioneer ;-) ANYWAY, one of the more fascintating things that I realised was that as I talked to pregnant women I became more interested in was what women did with their pregnancy clothing once they were no longer pregnant. Were the clothes given to a pregnant friend? To a second hand shop? Thrown in the bin? For many of the women in my study, even though they hated a lot of the clothing that they had to wear (maternity jeans are never perfect no matter how expensive or designer they are...), several women said they were hesitant to just get rid of them even if they were not planning on having another baby any time soon or ever. This article by Kate Haas for Salon is excellent because it reminded me so much of some of the themes that came up in my research about maternity clothing when it comes to the circulation of pregnancy clothes between women (mothers and daughters but also girlfriends) and the emotional significance of clothing during pregnancy but also more generally (for example, wedding dresses). Haas recounts having her mother offer up her old maternity clothes and not being interested in them given their preponderance of horrible patterns, ugly buttons and generally unflattering shapes. She doesn't want to wear them but at the same time realises why her mother kept them for so long.

Did you inherit maternity clothes from your mother? Your girlfriends? Did you keep your clothes or did you pass them on? If you kept some of your pregnancy clothes which items did you keep?

Possibly another book mums don't need...

2011-01-16T11:12:00.003+11:00

As I have been re-visiting my hometown of Chicago for the last few weeks, I find myself gravitating to my favourite bookstores, the majority of which are now overrun with Alison Sweeney's new tome, The Mommy Diet. Sweeney, host of the The Biggest Loser (US) claims that this book reflects her new found sensitivities surrounding pregnancy weight gain and the pressures to lose baby weight quickly. While I am usually all for positive reading material for new mums when it comes to body image, there are several things that bother me about this book. Firstly, Sweeney (in spite of what are probably good intentions) is inextricably linked with a television show that puts ordinary but very obese individuals through the paces to lose extraordinary amounts of weight in a short period of time. While she acknowledges that this environment led to her own anxiety about losing weight postpartum, I still think that it is difficult for other mums who are inevitably going to read this book to separate her from the context from which she has become famous. Secondly, while Sweeney reiterates that the book is meant to be a book for 'healthy' pregnant and post-pregnant bodies, I find it bizarre that a book that is meant to be about 'health' or mindful eating/exercise has the word 'diet' in the title. Call me crazy, but I think most of us have pretty explicit pictures of what 'diet' means and it usual brings to mind pictures of restrictive eating and lots of exercise in order to lose weight which I think seems to contravene what Sweeney is intending to do with the book. The book is a month-to-month guide to weight loss which, to me, isn't much different than any of the three million other books on the market that purport to be 'different' and all about 'health' when really they are just diet books in disguise. I think the whole premise of the book is hypocritical. Although Sweeney says that she didn't lose her baby weight quickly, nevertheless, she lost it and I think she would be lying if she suggested she didn't have lots of support to do so.

Has anyone out there actually bought the book or have you seen it? What do you think of it?

Portman pounded with pregnancy questions

2011-01-15T05:43:00.003+11:00

As all eyes around the world have fixated on Natalie Portman for her dual roles as ballerina in Black Swan and mum-to-be, Portman has been asked endlessly about what she is eating, how she feels about pregnancy and whether she is worried about gaining weight after allegedly losing 20lbs for her role in the movie. I laughed to myself, however, when I read today that Portman is planning to step out of the spotlight after the birth. I wish her the best of luck with that. If the first few months of her pregnancy are any indication and considering that she has four movies coming out in 2011, the chances of Portman having a little privacy are slim to none. She is being a good sport about the interest in her life:

“It’s very positive interactions, I have to say,” Natalie told MTV News of the public knowing about her pregnancy. “The weird thing is … people knowing something that is so private but, I mean, you get used to that. It’s just wild to walk down the street and have a complete stranger be like, ‘Congratulations!’ It’s so nice, but it’s a new experience to have people know that much about your most private things. [But] it’s all good.”

Let's hope so.

BBP resolves to have head no longer in sand

2011-01-13T12:30:00.005+11:00

Geez..has it been this long? A new year and a renewed commitment to blogging as my new years resolution. For those of you who have been wondering where I have been, well, I've been traveling around the world on a much needed holiday after a wild and wonderful year of research and teaching.

I have returned to the world of pregnancy to relish in the thought of supermodel Miranda Kerr pushing out a 10lb baby, Kate Hudson carrying the love child of a rockstar, Natalie Portman announcing her pregnancy in the midst of her publicity tour for Black Swan in which she plays a ballerina gone mad and Kelly Preston and John Travolta presenting their new son Benjamin to the world via the most relevant news source, People magazine.

When it comes to parenthood, what are your resolutions for 2011?

Brit teens clueless about birth

2010-10-07T10:39:00.002+11:00

No wonder teen pregnancy rates are so high in Britain.

A new poll reveals that 20% of18 to 25-year-olds think pregnancy lasts one year.

10% believe eating red meat influences the sex of a baby.

Here's my favourite part: 20% thought the umbilical cord was a musical note.

To drink or not to drink....is still the question

2010-10-07T10:29:00.002+11:00

A new study released yesterday looks at the effects of drinking alcohol in pregnancy drawing on data from 11,000 children born in the UK between 2000 and 2002.

Several contradictory studies have been published over the last few years and the advice to women has ranged from not drinking at all to having a few drinks with no consistency.

The results of the study suggest that women can have at least one glass of wine per week without harming their foetuses, and that, in fact, children who had mothers who drank a little every now and then have fewer social problems and scored higher on cognitive tests.

Children who had mothers who drank heavily during pregnancy did poorly on cognitive tests and were hyperactive.

Sounds reasonable, right?

Wrong.

1) The study is retrospective which means that they asked women what they drank during pregnancy well after the time that they were pregnant.

2) W0men who are affluent and highly educated tend to drink less during pregnancy anyway so babies are inclined to fare better on cognitive tests based on the socio-economic status of their mothers external to any influence on their development via drinking.

So, the jury is still out on drinking. Do you think avoiding alcohol is the best solution?

Jessica Alba loves...and then hates...the ways she looks post-baby

2010-10-07T10:23:00.001+11:00

Jessica Alba has revealed to GQ that she loves her post-baby body: “My breasts are saggy, I’ve got cellulite, my hips are bigger, but I love it.” In the same breath, however, she then says “Every actress out there is more beautiful than me. All better looking than me. I’ve seen them without makeup, so I know.”

*Sigh*

Miranda Kerr walks the runway

2010-10-05T14:40:00.004+11:00

Wow. It's been a long time since I last posted. Let me break it down. As an academic, sometimes, I find it pretty hard to find the time to blog. I teach a lot and often find myself getting lose in the world of undergraduates and generally forget about the world of pregnancy for awhile. In fact, sometimes I just need a holiday from pregnancy. It consume my life inside and outside of academia and every year I always take a few months off. So there you go. Sorry if you thought I left you forever...

Well, I'm back now and there's no better way to return this world than with a post about Miranda Kerr revealing..or should I say not revealing her baby bump at Paris Fashion Week.

Apparently, Lady Kerr walked the Balenciaga runway wearing an oversized houndstooth coat which gave no hint of her 5 months pregnant belly. After the show, she wrote on Facebook: "I was so flattered that Nicholas asked me to walk for Balenciaga even though I'm pregnant! He is an artist and a wonderful soul. Guys, I'm off to bed and hopefully I will get a chance to talk to you over the next few days. Lots of Love Miranda xxx"

Image source: Getty Images

Couples sue doctors for failing to diagnose Down's Syndrome

2010-07-21T09:33:00.003+10:00

Two couples in Victoria are suing their doctors for failing to diagnose Down's Syndrome antenatally. They argue that they are suffering 'psychiatric injury' and would have liked to have had the opportunity to terminate their pregnancies had they known about the diagnosis.

This is tricky. At the moment, we live in a time of unprecedented access to foetuses through technology. We are able to 'see' foetuses as early as a few weeks into a pregnancy, doctors can perform surgery on them and there are a slew of prenatal tests that can tell women if their foetuses have chronic ilnesses. Many women who participate in a medical model assume that doctors and technology are fail safe options when it comes to monitoring a pregnancy. But what happens when biomedicine gets it wrong? Or in this case a doctor may have failed to pick up Down's Syndrome? Is it fair that a couple can sue the doctor? Technology has become so sophisticated that we often forget that it is a person that actually has to diagnose and analyse tests results. Who's at fault here? The doctor for allegedly missing the diagnosis or the couples for getting pregnant 'alter in life' when the risk of having a child with Down's increases? What do you think?

Bethenny Frankel anoints herself Empress of Pregnancy Fitness

2010-07-16T10:28:00.002+10:00

Sweet baby Jeebus. Why is that being a reality tv 'star' somehow qualifies you to write books about crap that you don't know anything about?

Case in point: Real Housewives of New York 'star' and celebrity chef Bethenny Frankel has said that she is writing a book called Naturally Fit Pregnancy. If you remember, Frankel was in the media recently for losing nearly 30lbs in 3 weeks following the birth of her first child.

Here's the thing: Frankel recently revealed that she has been anorexic and bulimic in her life. Her mother was also bulimic. I'm not sure that with (some might speculate) unresolved eating issues and who lost a ridiculous amount of weight following her first birth should really be giving advice to everyday preggo gals.

Besides, there's no such thing as 'naturally fit'. Women who are 'fit' working bloody hard to be 'fit'. Let's not kid ourselves here.

Kourtney Kardashian passes out trying to lose baby weight

2010-07-13T11:19:00.003+10:00

Oh Kourtney, silly girl.

Well, it wasn't so long ago that Kourtney Kardashian (KK) was banging on about how quickly she lost her baby weight in Life & Style mag. According to New York Daily News, if you watched Sunday's episode of Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, you would have seen the physical costs associated with her extreme dieting.

In the episode, Kourtney is running and finds herself passed out, having eaten nothing for the day (in anticipation of the upcoming Life & Style photo shoot).

"I've been obsessing about this weight thing a little too much," she says. "I'm so embarrassed that I punished my body for a photo shoot."

Well, I guess we can all thank Kourney for admitting that her post-baby weight loss wasn't as easy as it is portrayed on the magazine. On the other hand, it makes me so sad that rational human beings can be forced into going to ridiculous lengths to look good for the media. All of the working out and dieting she did was probably for nothing considering so many of the images we see are airbrushed anyway!

Forever 21 launches itself into maternity market, cutout vests, leggings and all.

2010-07-13T11:07:00.003+10:00

So it seems that Forever 21 (that shop where everything is sized for a 12 year old) is launching a maternity line.

Questions that spring immediately to my mind:

1) What woman would want to wear maternity clothes from a shop that considers this or this to be 'outerwear'?

Oh, that's right...a 21 year old.

2) Why on earth is Forever 21 stepping so clearly outside of their market?

Oh, that's right...they're not.

Let me explain. The maternity duds are only available in Arizona, Alaska, California, Utah, and Texas.

Why these states? Well, the girls over at Gloss point out that three of these states (Arizona, California and Texas) have some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the US. Utah and Alaska are otherwise a mystery to me.

So there you have it. Forever 21 can see dollar signs in tragedy. Natch.

If only actresses could get a clue..

2010-07-11T12:41:00.004+10:00

Once upon a time, I used to really like Gwyneth Paltrow. She maintained some semblance of down-to-earthness in spite of her elite family and private school upbringing.

Then one day, the lovely actress who wore the bubblegum pink Ralph Lauren gown to the Oscars, had children and got married. The down-to-earth girl became this evil, warty Mother Superior. As if overnight, everything Gwyn did was better than everything else. She started an arrogant Martha Stewart wannabe website called GOOP with the goal of trying to 'enrich' the lives of everyday people (but let's face it, she's writing for women), most of whom don't have a clue what a macrobiotic diet is and buy their clothes at K-Mart.

Gwyn has been in cohoots with trainer to the stars, Tracy Anderson, herself under fire for her spouting her mouth about why being skinny is the only path to happiness. But that's another story for another day.

Today, Gwyn blabbed to the Associated Press about working out post-pregnancy. While she admits that getting the weight off was no small feat (back in my good books), she immediately says that women should 'make time' and have no excuse not to exercise (oh Gwyn, back in my bad books). Specifically:

"Every woman can make time - every woman - and you can do it with your baby in the room," she said. "There've been countless times where I've worked out with my kids crawling around all over the place. You just make it work, and if it's important to you, it'll be important to them."

Hmm. Gwyn, let's just focus on the fact that you had Tracy Anderson come to your house everyday to exercise with you. You did not have to actually go anywhere with your kids to exercise or find a gym with a childcare or a willing grandparent/friend to look after your kids so you could exercise. That's right. YOU HAVE A GYM IN YOUR HOUSE.

What pisses me off even more is that you undoubtedly have had a hand in the new Tracey Anderson Post-pregnancy workout DVD.

1) Tracy Anderson is hardly a role model for post-pregnant women who feel crap about their post-pregnancy bodies 2) Neither are you.

SHUT UP.

Disney to make maternity clothes even Minnie wouldnt want to wear

2010-07-05T11:12:00.002+10:00

Hmm. Just when you thought that maternity clothes were moving into 'fashion' as opposed to 'frumpy, Disney has announced it is creating a new range of maternity clothing.

What better way to say I'm pregnant, than with Mickey Mouse...

All I can say is YIKES.

Alicia Keys, working her bump in satin

2010-07-05T11:10:00.002+10:00

Could Alicia Keys look any hotter in this magenta satin maternity frock?

P.Rad, in the news again

2010-07-05T10:50:00.003+10:00

Paula Radcliffe just ran the Jane Tomlinson 10k and while she ran 15 minutes slower than her world record time, the 7 months pregnant elite runner looked the picture of relaxation as she strode to the finish line with her 3 year old daughter, Isla. Old P.Rad has been coming under a bit of fire lately, considering her training regimens have been the subject of public discussion as there are many folks who are still a bit freaked out by pregnant women running right up until they give birth.

The Telegraph, however, recently published Paula's 'Day on a Plate' listing what out what she eats by the hour:

"7.45am Fresh lemon juice and coffee (decaf because I'm pregnant), and a bowl of porridge with water instead of milk as I'm a bit lactose-intolerant.

8.30am Drop off my daughter at school then do my first run. Normally, I do 10 to 23 miles, but while I'm pregnant I stick to eight miles. I trained all through my first pregnancy, and was running the day before I gave birth!

10.30am A big brunch – cereals with soya milk and fruit – then weights in the gym.

12pm Half an avocado and a tin of salmon. Sleep for a few hours.

5.30pm Toast with Marmite or honey and a banana. More running, but a shorter route.

7pm Nibble on almonds while I stretch.

7.30pm I try to eat within half an hour of training. My husband makes pasta with vegetables. Fruit and soya yogurt afterwards. I love to eat adventurously, but before a marathon it's simple brown rice or grilled chicken."

While I'm no dietician, I wonder how ethical it is to publish the diet of an elite athlete in a mainstream newspaper considering lots of women might take this as 'advice'.

What do you think of Paula's diet?

Keepsake pouch for your positive pregnancy test: awesome or icky?

2010-06-24T11:30:00.007+10:00

Hmm. According to e.p.t. (you know, the makers of those preggo tests) one of the 'most beautiful' moments in a woman's life 'occurs in the bathroom'. In a survey commissioned by the company, 67% of women said that they kept their positive pregnancy test and many women expressed the desire to have a keepsake pouch to store it in for all of eternity.

My question to you: Did you save your pregnancy test?

Click here to record your response

Poor Kim, only wants to look at boobs if their her own.

2010-06-22T10:21:00.006+10:00

Gotta love the Kardashians....

So the other day Kim tweets (above) that she's disgusted by another gal breastfeeding her baby at a restaurant. I was disappointed to read this considering her sister Kourtney recently had a baby so you would think that Kim would have been sensitive to such things.

As it turns out US magazine has been doing a poll as to whether readers agree with Kim and her ridiculous comments. Honestly, I'm amazed that almost 3000 people agree with her. Whilst the vote is split almost 50/50, I'm stunned that people still think that women need to cover up their breasts when they feed a child.

Considering the amount of skin that Kim displays as part of her 'job' of being a corporeal vessel for advertisers, it is amusing that she doesn't see that boobs are boobs whether they are feeding babies or hanging out of some skanky dress.

Looks like we all know what Kim is buying Kourtney for Christmas this year....

Natch.

Stop whining and 'man' up

2010-06-18T10:50:00.005+10:00

Oh dear...it appears that men are getting a little sensitive about being 'overworked and underappreciated' for not being recognised enough for all of the hard work their doing in the domestic realm. A recent article from The Age suggests that male partners and husbands are feeling angry because they too are just as overworked as women. The article cites that a 2006 study into how Australians used their time found that men spent a combined average (over seven days) of 11.44 hours per day performing professional, childcare and domestic tasks. And women? They came in at a combined average of 11.35 hours - nine minutes less than the men.

Now, I may get slammed for this (or maybe not?) but I have to say, that I really can't feel too badly for men on this front. Whilst I think it is brilliant that men are stepping up and sharing in the domestic load with their female partners, the truth is that no one should get a gold star for cleaning the bathroom. The only reason women have been banging on about having their work recognised for so long is because WOMEN, for the bulk of human history, have been doing the caring and cleaning work for the family almost exclusively. It is only recently (I mean broadly, since the early 20th century) that women have had real opportunities to be in the paid workforce.

So what if men are doing are feeling overworked? SO THEY SHOULD.

Truth is (at least according to a new study), most men are lying about their 'work' in the household. According to an article in Slate:

"Social psychologists call this aspirational lying—the unconscious shading of the truth to make us appear smarter, more generous, and closer to the person we want to be."What you want leads to what you do. If you say you're doing more, it really is a measure of the societal change," said Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute. "If it were not OK to be doing things with your kids and to be nurturing them— not just bringing in the money—you might lie in the other direction."

Pregnancy is almost never recognised as 'work' in itself. Ask any gal who's had kids and she will tell you that the work begins at conception and doesn't end until the kids go off to university (and even then, statistically, lots of kids are living with their parents until well into their 30s...yikes). Even without children, I still struggle with my partner when it comes to sharing the domestic load. Inevitably, I always end up doing more and I can't imagine what it would be like (and honestly, I worry about it) when we do have kids. I really struggle with this as a feminist.

Now that educated middle-class women are reaping more of the benefits of feminist movements and greater access to the paid workforce, I hardly think the time is ripe for men to 'blame' women for their achievements. I don't think any woman needs to feel guilty if the tides are turning in her favour.

Seriously, guys, if you're partner carried your child for 9 months, the least you can do is man up and do 9 more minutes a week of cleaning. Yeah, that's right. MAN UP (besides, you're probably lying about it anyway *snigger*)

Japan: the best place to give birth?

2010-06-17T11:43:00.003+10:00

Japan is one of my most favourite places to travel. After this morning, I feel a little more in love with the country upon reading an article about the increase in pregnancies among 'older' women. When I first started reading, I expected that the article would turn into a rant about why 'older' women are 'high risk' and need to be managed medically more so than other women. But then I read something that caught my eye: Japan has one of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world: 6 per 100,000 births (lower than the US, Britain, Finland and Canada).

Why is it so low?

Well, the picture is complicated. Much like other developed countries Japan has a technologised/medicalised approach to pregnancy and birth. Women who are 35 years + are seen as 'older' mothers. Birth choices for women are still circumscribed by the limitations placed upon them by health professionals in hospitals, however, not to the same extent as in other countries like the US.

Surprisingly, use of epidurals is much lower in Japanese hospitals. This is in part due to the more practical reality that there is a shortage of anesthetists. As you might know, the use of epidurals has been linked with an increased risk for caesarean section.

While most Japanese women give birth in hospitals, there is a small proportion of women who give birth in birth centres, called josan-in. These centres are set up like a traditional Japanese home and offer women care by a team of midwives. Centres offer maternity yoga, cooking classes for post-birth diet and nutrition counselling as well as a pool for water births.

What I found most interesting, however, was that this article, whilst couched in the language of 'women over 35 are high risk' blah blah blah, in fact, the piece ended up being about the importance of women over 35 being IN CONTROL of their pregnancies. As one obstetrician notes, the worst thing women can do is let a doctor be in control of their decision making. This is vastly different from what I perceive to be the perception of health professionals in other parts of the developed world. Women ('older' or not) are so often viewed as incapable of making decisions when it comes to birth that in a conservative environment like Japan, it is refreshing to see that obstetricians do not shove tests on women and whilst operating in a medicalised system, see the importance of women doing pregnancy and birth on their own terms.

Claudia Schiffer bares all for German Vogue

2010-06-14T10:48:00.004+10:00

Supermodel Claudia Schiffer is naked and pregnant for the June issue of German Vogue. Shot by Karl Lagerfeld, the photo is reminiscent of Demi Moore's 1991 Vanity Fair cover photo taken by Annie Leibowitz. Schiffer turned 40 this year and the entire issue of the magazine is dedicated to her. She's featured in a number of 'controversial' shots in the centre spread as a pregnant nun and a dominatrix. She says:

"I’m a lot more self-confident than I used to be. To some extent I owe that to my children and my husband. I know what I’m doing and what I want. I have control over myself and that feels good.

"I’ve never hidden the fact that I used to be shy, even when I was 30. However, I might have been self-conscious on the inside, but I was never inhibited about my body. I never had a problem with stripping in front of the camera. Maybe that’s because of how I grew up. Back home we never used to knock at the bathroom door. No, I’ve never been prudish."

Schiffer gave birth last month to her third child, Cosima.

Forget about buying preggo clothes: RENT THEM

2010-06-10T10:45:00.002+10:00

If you're the kind of gal that likes the idea of designer fashion without the price tag, now you can hire boutique maternity gear from a new company that launched on Monday: Rent Maternity Wear.

Featured in the LA Times, the company has a limited collection of designer gear that you can rent starting from $35 per week. They also have lots of formal dresses which can cost up to $70 but in the end, I suppose it's cheaper than buying a formal maternity frock.

Would you hire maternity clothes?

Paula Radcliffe: pregnant and running

2010-06-10T10:05:00.003+10:00

As an avid runner, Paula Radcliffe has always been one of my running heroines. I've written about her and running during pregnancy a number of times in the last few years. Well, she's pregnant for the second time around and the Daily Mail recently did a feature on her as she prepares for London 2012.

My girl Paula is still running 14 miles per day in her 5th month of pregnancy:

"I've been running around seven miles in about 45 minutes twice a day, combined with altitude and gravity training on a specially designed treadmill."

American marathoner Kara Goucher is also pregnant and she has been getting tips from Paula on how to proceed with training.

It is generally accepted that running in pregnancy is safe as long as you don't start running when you become pregnant or get too overheated. If you are a seasoned runner, there is no problem with keeping up your normal routines.

What worries me, however, is that in publishing her training regimen (even though Radcliffe is an elite athlete) there are still surely some women out there (who are not elite athletes) that will think that they aren't exercising enough or that they need to keep up with one of the greatest female marathoners in recent history.

What do you think? Are you proud of Paula for being a running queen? Or is it unethical to tell the world about her pregnancy training regimen?

IVF mothers should not be allowed to have abortions according to one British doc

2010-06-08T11:57:00.006+10:00

According to a recent article in the Daily Mail (Daily Fail, if you ask me), "an average of 80 abortions are carried out in England and Wales every year on IVF babies." The author, Mohamed Menabawey, is a consultant infertility specialist at the London Bridge Fertility Centre and he is apparently appalled that women who have IVF abort the foetuses that they do not want to carry. According to Menabawey, if you are desperate enough to go through the pain and effort to conceive through IVF you should be thankful that you have any foetuses at all. 'Aborting' , according to this fertility doctor, is wrong and 'social abortion' (his term, not mine) is much different to 'medical abortion' (where physical abnormality is involved).

OMG this makes me so angry!

If Menabawey is a medical doctor, I find it extremely troubling that he would moralise about the personal choices of his patients in a national newspaper. I have no problem with doctors not agreeing with abortion but I do have a problem with forcing their own beliefs on patients. Under the Hippocratic Oath, doctors agree to do no harm to their patients. Encouraging women to keep foetuses that they do not wish to carry through into a full-term pregnancy or moralising about how these women are 'bad' is harmful and frankly, if a woman chooses to go through IVF and then changes her mind in the end, THAT IS HER CHOICE.

It is stunning that in 2010 we still have highly educated professionals placing limitations on choice. Whether a women chooses to terminate a pregnancy for 'social' or 'medical' reasons is NOT the doctor's concern. Menabawey seems to suggest that his IVF patients are 'bad' women for not consulting him before choosing to terminate an IVF pregnancy!

Thumbs down, no hugs.

Reflections on blogging and the world of mothers

2010-06-08T11:45:00.003+10:00

Every wonder how I got into this whole blogging thing? I recently wrote a reflective piece on being a feminist, blogger and pregnancy researcher for Third Space:

"The mass media is a world without footnotes, where a phone call to an 'expert' constitutes 'research' and where using academic language is your death sentence..."

Intrigued? Read on and lend me your thoughts.

Bethenny Frankel: the ultimate post-baby 'skinny girl'

2010-06-07T10:05:00.002+10:00

One of my favourite activities when I go to the US involves catching up on watching the 'Real Housewives' series. While I'm more of an Orange County kind of girl, every so often I dabble with the ladies of the New York crew. Bethenny Frankel, owner of Skinny Girl cocktails and cookbooks is now being slammed for her post-baby body which is featured in the new Us magazine. Apparently, Frankel lost 29of the 35 lbs she gained during her pregnancy in 3 weeks. Frankel had a Caesarean, five weeks early and her daughter Bryn was underweight(duh?).

The question now remains as to whether Frankel is sending a 'bad message' by being the ultimate 'skinny girl' two minutes after giving birth. This is my take: I don't think it necessarily sends a 'bad message' that women lose weight after giving birth. Some women shed weight quickly post-birth and to be honest, we have no idea how Frankel lost her weight. She is a small woman to begin with so it's entirely possible that the weight just fell off. Thus, I don't think it's fair to judge her straight away. On the other hand, given that her career as a chef has moved her into the market for diet cookbooks and various other bizarre 'skinny girl' recipes, I think it would be hard to say that Frankel isn't a little obsessed with how she looks and would probably go to great lengths to maintain her 'skinny girl' image. According to the New York Post, Frankel wrote in a blog post, "Growing up in an extremely dysfunctional and toxic series of households bred me for an obsession with food and diet and weight," Frankel wrote in a blog post on Bravo.com.

So if anything I guess I feel sorry for her. It sucks to live your life worried about what other people think of you. I hate that so many women get weighed down by all of this crap.

Pregnancy = no housework. Hooray?

2010-06-03T15:20:00.004+10:00

A new study suggests that when women do 'boring' tasks like housework,
they are 25% more likely to give birth prematurely.

Apparently, such 'mindless' chores raise their level of stress hormones.

Maybe we can see this as a great way for women to heap all of their
undeserved housework on their partners.

Or maybe this suggests that it is problematic for women to be active
during their pregnancy and that they are too fragile to move around and do
things.

Or maybe it just means that foetuses are feminists and trying to save mum
from menial labour?

Kelly Preston: Having a baby at 47

2010-06-03T11:00:00.004+10:00

So it appears that Kelly Preston, actress and wife of John Travolta (age 56), is pregnant AT THE AGE OF 47.

Today they have released a statement to People describing the pregnancy as a 'miracle'.

'Miracle', my arse.

Aside from all of the gay rumours circulating lately about JT, everyone with half a brain cell could probably figure out that they have probably been undergoing fertility treatments for quite some time now. As reproductive specialists suggest, it's a rarity for a woman to become pregnant on her own after age 45." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2008 there were 0.7 births per 1,000 women ages 45 to 49, compared with 9.9 births per 1,000 women ages 44 to 40.

As much as Celine Dion makes my skin crawl, at least the gal has had the guts to be open and honest about her age and the fact that women over 40 don't get pregnant miraculously. I mean, seriously, that's like suggesting storks drop babies on your front porch.

What do you think? Are Kelly and John too old to parents again?

Celine Dion: her heart will go on x 2

2010-06-01T09:40:00.002+10:00

Weeeelllll folks. What a long, strange two months it's been.

And what better way to re-enter the world of blogging than by posting about my favourite person in the entire world: CELINE DION.

No really, she's the devil but the lady has finally gotten herself pregnant after six attempts with IVF. And she's pregnant with TWINS.

"It's stressful but I'm relaxing. I look at my little belly. I do almost nothing," she says. "If you tell me I have to stay in bed, I will stay in bed until November, when the babies are born. To bring them into the world, there's nothing more important than that. It's incredible."

What I find interesting about the whole situation was this:

"My doctors had to constantly reassure me. I [wanted] to see the babies," she says. "Each week I had sonograms. I heard their heart beats."

Considering ultrasound still has not been proven totally safe (One or two is okay. Ten? Not so much), it is odd that she would have an ultrasound every week. It's all very Tom Cruise, if you ask me.

Anyway, glad to be back

Kendra Wilkinson has stretch marks shock horror

2010-03-10T11:31:00.004+11:00

In an epic revelation, it appears that Kendra Wilkinson is starting to come to grips with the fact that motherhood changes your body. According to Us, in the second season of her reality show on E!, Kendra reveals that she has stretch marks and claims that she doesn't look 'sexy' anymore.

"What the hell is this?" Wilkinson asks her husband, as she lifts up her suit top to reveal her stretch marks. "I want to look sexy for you again!"

What bothers me the most about this is 1) she is feeling badly about herself after having given birth only three months ago (this is so sad!) and 2) she wants to regain her figure for her husband and not for herself.

While I rag on Kendra a lot, it's moments like these that I wish that average women saw more often. Celebrities are not 'perfect' and they work really hard to achieve slender bodies. What is particularly interesting about this snippet is that for someone so unfailingly vacuous, you have to feel a little bit sorry for her. I think there is genuine disbelief; for someone so used to managing her appearance and relying upon diet and exercise to keep herself thin, the very idea that somehow your body can change totally outside of your control is actually probably very difficult for someone like her to cope with. I wouldn't be surprised if the next thing we hear from her is that she's going to have plastic surgery.

It's bad enough to have your post-birth body judged when you are not a celebrity; it's even worse to feel horrible about yourself with the world watching your every move.

Shiloh Jolie-Pitt: 'gender bending' debacle

2010-03-05T13:00:00.003+11:00

This is outrageous. We have definitely gone to the bad place if it is now appropriate 1) to make 3 year old children the subject of tabloids and 2) to attack 3 year old children publicly who have no means of understanding or responding to the things that are being written about them. If anything we should all be applauding Shiloh for her desire to look different than most girls her age (*cough* *cough* Suri Cruise).

"Shiloh is pushing the boundaries of a tomboy look and crossing over to cross-dresser territory," Alana Kelen, senior fashion stylist at VH1, tells Life & Style. Celebrity stylist Gili Rashal-Niv agrees. "I get that times are tough but does Angie really need to have Shiloh sharing clothes with her brothers? Hopefully we won't be seeing Maddox in one of Shiloh's dresses any time soon."

Cross-dressing? Are you f-ing kidding me?! What pisses me off even more is that Angelina is being blamed for her wardrobe. Anyone with a 3 year old knows, children are more than capable of choosing their own clothes at that age and most parents also know that it is almost impossible to force a 3 year old child to wear something that they don't want to wear.

Life and Style you should be bloody ashamed of yourselves.

Pregnant women banned in Vegas

2010-03-04T14:42:00.005+11:00

Talk about hypocrisy!

Bravado, the manufacturer of cleverly designed breastfeeding bras, has recently run into some trouble when it comes to showing off their wares. Since 2008, the company has been entering trade shows in order to expand their market. Their 'booth' at the trade show features a runway with pregnant models wearing the bras. The 'models' however are not 'models' in the traditional sense; they are the company's typical customers at various stages of pregnancy. In an interview with the NYT, Kathryn From, chief executive of Bravado, noted that every so often a small percentage of people complain about their decision to feature pregnant women. Ironically, the company was recently prohibited from staging their runway show in Las Vegas at Blush Boutique Nightclub, owned by Wynn:

“We did not feel it appropriate to feature a very pregnant model in a nightclub, at midnight, where alcohol was being served,” Jennifer Dunne, a Wynn spokeswoman, wrote in a statement responding to questions. “Our team made a judgment call which we feel was correct given the environment and circumstance.”

In a city where day and night collide, where prostitution, gambling and inebriation are the orders of the day, one wonders how on earth a nightclub in the city of sin could possibly get on their high horse about a few pregnant women flogging some maternity bras.

I am consistently amazed by the ways in which pregnant bodies continue to cause moral panic in spite of the fact that it would appear that we are so inundated with naked female bodies in general.

Octomum dropping bombs: not good

2010-02-25T10:38:00.002+11:00

Geez Louise.

We haven't heard much from Octomum lately but she's back in full force on two fronts 1) admitting to Us mag that she lost all 145 pounds of baby weight 'for the money' and also saying that she's not ruling out another baby in the future and 2) showing up on The View acting crazy like she hadn't taken her meds. She's so hyper on the show that Whoopi Goldberg asked: “Do you understand that some people think… maybe you’re not quite all there?” The audience applauded.

“I love your question,” Suleman responded.

OMG!

Leather leggings, maternity unitards and stilettos OH MY.

2010-02-23T10:15:00.006+11:00

Okay so as many of you know, following in the footsteps of Nicole Richie, Heidi Klum is doing a maternity line for A Pea in the Pod called Lavish. Now, Klum was quoted recently in Us mag as saying that her pieces would be a bit edgier and she was including, among other things, leather pants and glitter tops. But seriously, while I'm all for looking stylin hot when you are preggers, can you seriously envision yourself wearing LEATHER LEGGINGS when you are knocked up?! Or what's worse, could you picture yourself wearing a maternity unitard? I mean it's like if you don't have an absolutely flawless figure without an ounce of fat on you, how on earth could you possibly wear either of these pieces? And by the same token, leggings/leotards DO NOT (I repeat, DO NOT) qualify as being fully attired. Leggins are not trousers, by any stretch of the imagination. Leotards cannot replace tops/dresses without some kind of bottoms. So if you stay with me and my logic, a unitard is not a suitable replacement for a top and trousers. In fact, I'm not sure a unitard should be seen anywhere outside of a dance performance, and even then I think we're skating a fine line between 'too much information' and camel toe.

I rest my case.

EPIC FAIL.

Keep the egg timers in the kitchen

2010-02-22T10:03:00.003+11:00

As if there aren't enough women in their mid-late 30s with a biological clock the size of Big Ben....

And now we have something called the 'egg timer', a simple blood test provided by IVF Australia that will allow women to know just how fast their biological clocks are ticking....for $65 you can find out how many eggs you have left...

"I think this is a big step forward," medical director of IVF Australia, Assistant Professor Peter Illingworth, told The Sunday Mail.

"For a woman who is facing decisions about how active they should get about chasing her fertility in one way or another, it's information about what the future may hold for her.

"For a 30-year-old woman, it gives her an idea of whether she's at risk of having an early menopause or she's got plenty of time to carry on and have a baby."

I'm not impressed..or at least I'm of two minds about this. For women who have been struggling with infertility, knowing exactly what kind of situation you are facing in trying to get pregnant can be extremely useful. What worries me is that this sort of 'fertility alarm' only contributes to the cautionary tales fed to women at increasingly earlier ages about having children (which perhaps coincidentally comes at a time when more women are being educated and are working in the paid workforce than any other time in history).

Researchers say that this test relieves women of the 'anguish' of 'uncertainty'. Yet, isn't this what reproduction is fundamentally about? Lots of social commentators have been banging on about how this tests gives women 'choices'. Well, as you all know, 'choice' for me, is a big yay. But, on the other hand, what kind of 'choice' is this really? You either get pregnant because you are 'running out of time' or you have to live with the knowledge that your clock is ticking sooner than you may be ready to shut it off. I think it's a loaded 'choice' and puts a lot of pressure on women who are already feeling it without having a test tell them they are getting older.

Chiarakruza lands at Target!

2010-02-11T10:31:00.003+11:00

Guess who's landing at Target stores on 15 Feb?

That's right. Chiarakruza, maternity designer to all the celebs. This is the first time that Target is branching off from Liz Lange (the doyenne of celeb maternity fashion).

So hurry up and get knocked up because these pieces will be going fast!

Kendra does Ok! (again), debuts post-baby bod

2010-02-11T10:12:00.003+11:00

Okay so I have a few things to say:

1) Surprise, surprise. Kendra is on the cover of Ok! again. I think she must be on contract with them.

2) ALLEGEDLY, she's lost 25lbs in 8 wks (that is, she gave birth 8 WEEKS AGO) after gaining 55lbs during her pregnancy AND having a caesarean.

How has she done it?

Kendra says she’s doing “45 minutes of hardcore training and weightlifting” followed by running and walking on a treadmill until she’s tired.

How has she really done it?
Crash dieting and ridiculous eating regimens (or perhaps by eating regimens I should say not-eating regimens). Everyone knows that you're supposed to wait about 6 wks post-caesar before exercising, which she clearly hasn't done. And hello? What about breastfeeding? If in fact, she is breastfeeding, losing that much weight so quickly can't be good.

Is anyone else sick of this? FOR REALS. I haven't even had a flipping baby and already I'm feeling the pressure.

Say bye bye to bras?

2010-02-10T09:15:00.006+11:00

OMG. So I went to Phuket, Thailand in 2008 for a story that I writing for a magazine here in Melbourne. I watched some Aussie mums have post-baby breast implants and, let me tell you, it looked pretty gosh darn painful.

Apparently, there's a new surgery using Breform which is a breast enhancement that functions like a sports bra under the skin or as the manufacturer says it's an 'internal bra system' (yikes, a 'system'...sounds like a machine from the future). The benefit of this new technology is that it prevents the skin from stretching or sagging unlike traditional implant surgery. The Breform is made of a special mesh which, upon being placed underneath the skin, will over time become incorporated into the breast tissue.

The Breform has been licensed in Europe but the USFDA says it will be about 10 years before Breform is approved; it needs to undergo lots of testing but preliminary studies show that it's pretty safe thus far. In spite of the good results, some experts are concerned that the Breform will be dangerous or present a cancer risk for pregnant or breastfeeding women whose breasts might outgrow the internal bra.

Hmm. Impants that leak or mesh that you can potentially outgrow? Can you think of anything worse?

Photo credit: www.Breform.com

Feeding tops that are fabulous

2010-02-09T10:46:00.004+11:00

Stop what you're doing.

I just found a breastfeeding top with FLUTTER SLEEVES.

Oh so stylish, not too expensive and with hidden slits for easy feeds.

In a word, awesome.

Duggars need to invest in the Pill

2010-02-09T10:33:00.003+11:00

So this week in People, the Duggars are back and talking about the 'emotional' birth of their 19th child (as I type this, my heart stops for a minute...NINETEENTH CHILD! O.M.G.). Born at just 25 weeks, this latest addition, Josie, was so premature she now is suffering from a cascade of health problems.

What kills me is that in spite of the fact that this little baby has been teetering on the brink of death and considering Michelle herself suffered from preeclampsia in this pregnancy, the Duggars are still going on about how Josie isn't necessarily going to be their last child. According to People:

"[The Duggars] remain committed to their belief that "each child is a gift from God" and are open to having more. Michelle knows how their position is likely to be viewed, particularly following Josie's arrival. "When I say we would love more children, we open ourselves up for attack," she admits.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Aside from the fact that having 19 children is insane (I'm sorry, it is. End of story). All of the stories written about her bang on about her being a 'miracle baby' yet no one has even bother to question the mental health of a couple who would potentially risk the life of another child in this way. I mean how selfish can you be? And while all of us are reeling and even a little giddy with the prospect of the Duggars becoming parents to a 20th, no one seems to even care about the fact that Baby Josie is barely hanging on to life in a bad way.

19 children = EPIC FAIL.

Tips for young players

2010-02-03T12:58:00.003+11:00

Gisele Bundchen: if you're out there, read this.

Seriously, you've been a mum for 5 minutes. Just because your birth was 'painless' and you supposedly didn't gain any weight during your pregnancy and your baby is a 'little angel' doesn't mean you have to be so smug. We know you're a supermodel, you have shiny hair and you get paid to put your clothes on (and ironically, more often to take them off).

Motherhood is not a competition.

Kourtney Kardashian calls Ok! fake

2010-01-27T10:22:00.004+11:00

It's not everyday that I want to give mad props to Kourtney Kardashian. For those of you who may have forgotten, she gave birth to her first son Mason in December. Kourtney has come out with guns blazing, stating publicly that the Ok! magazine cover which features she and her new son with an accompanying story about her post-baby weight loss secrets is all talk and no truth.

Kardashian told WWD that not only was she never interviewed for the Ok! story in the first place, the photo that appears on the cover is actually a photo taken seven days after Mason's birth by Albert Michael of StarTraksPhoto.com. The cover image has been touched up to make Kardashian appear thinner on OK’s cover than in the original photo, which first appeared as part of the Jan. 11 issue of Life & Style.

As the original image (on the left) shows only Kardashian's upper body, Ok! clearly took it upon themselves to reconstruct the lower half of her body for the cover photo. Kourtney even tweeted about the retouch:

"One of those weeklies got it wrong again...they didn't have an exclusive with me. And I gained 40 pounds while pregs, not 26...But thanks!"

I'm really happy that a celebrity actually has admitted to the absolutely ridiculous body abominations that are regularly appearing in the tabloids. It's bad enough that new mums feel that they have to compete with celebrities to drop their baby weight, but when the post-baby bodies that are slapped around the weeklies are also being re-touched (and literally fabricated) to the hilt, it makes you realise that it actually is impossible to achieve the body shapes featured in the magazines.

Good on you Kourtney for coming clean!

Looks like the secret to post-baby weight loss isn't diet and exercise. It's Photoshop

Another one bares her bump

2010-01-25T11:09:00.003+11:00

So, you might not know who this lovely lass is but she's the latest wife of Flavio Briatore, the same man who inexplicably has gotten with the hottest women in the world, including Heidi Klum (he is the father of her daughter, Leni). Anyway, his new wife, Elisabetta Gregoraci, 28 (and 30 years younger than Flavio), the former Wonderbra model recently posed preggo and in lingerie for Italy's Chi magazine.

Gregoraci said she decided to pose in order to 'stand up for other mothers'...um, whatever that means.

More things you don't need

2010-01-21T10:23:00.003+11:00

Just when you thought that manufacturers couldn't come up with anymore ridiculous products for this generation of mums-to-be....Then there was Ritmo, a prenatal music player described as an 'advanced sound system for you and your baby'. Basically it's a soft belt with speakers that you wear around your belly so you and your foetus can listen to the same music. While there has been a lot of buzz lately about the premature babies gaining weight by listening to Mozart, there is little evidence that foetuses will become smarter or more coordinated as the makers of Ritmo seem to claim. "There is no evidence that playing music for a baby to hear before birth boosts either music ability or intelligence,” says, Tracy Dennis associate professor of psychology at Hunter College.

Verdict? Save your money and worry about improving your baby's intelligence after its born.

Thumbs down.

Octomum flaunts her post-baby bod

2010-01-21T10:13:00.003+11:00

Wow! So we all know that Star isn't the most reliable of sources but in this cases, pictures don't lie. Nadya Suleman (aka Octomum) is looking unbelievable since giving birth to her babies just one year ago. She claims there was no plastic surgery involved and apparently has no stretch marks in spite of going from 270 lbs to 120 lbs post-birth. Can't say I love the idea of parading around in a bikini for a crappy tabloid photo shoot but if she really did it without surgery, well...dang!

WTF?

2010-01-20T13:55:00.004+11:00

So it comes to my attention that Lionsgate Films has acquired the films rights to the classic pregnancy guide, What To Expect When You're Expecting. I don't know about you, but I think this is very strange and wonder if anyone at Lionsgate has even looked at the book. It's basically a list of everything you shouldn't do during pregnancy, replete with long lists of ways in which a woman can potentially kill her foetus.

Alli Shearmur, Lionsgate president of motion picture production, said:“‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’ is a brand that knows no boundaries, and millions of readers can attest to the warmth, wisdom and humor of its voice.”

Uh, humour? Warmth? Are we talking about the same book? I think Heidi Murkoff relishes in scaring women into thinking that even looking at certain foods will result in the termination of their pregnancy.

Thumbs down.

South Korea abortion debate heats up

2010-01-11T05:00:00.003+11:00

If there is one thing I love about being in the US, it's being able to read the New York Times in its paper form and not staring at the 'pages' on a screen.

Anyway, I was intrigued by an article about abortion in South Korea, an issue that has rarely come to the fore as a topic of public interest. Abortion, whilst illegal in all but exceptional circumstances, has long been practised by obstetricians and gynecologists on the sly for cash payment for willing patients considering abortion is not covered by health insurance. In the face of an impending fertility crisis, abortion is coming under closer scrutiny as government officials worry that more aborted foetuses will put the nation at risk. According to the NYT:

"For decades, the South Korean government tended to look the other way, seeing a high birthrate as an impediment to economic growth. In the 1970s and 1980s, families with more than two children were denounced as unpatriotic, with official posters in South Korean villages driving the point home. Until the early 1990s, men could be exempted from mandatory army reserve duty if they had vasectomies."

With medical professionals now banding together against illegal abortions in light of their own guilt surrounding their participation in performing the procedures, there is increasing concern that women who are forced to have unwanted babies will either travel abroad to have an abortion or abandon their babies. Cash bonuses are now available for families with more than two children as well as greater financial aid for single mothers in need and vouchers for couples seeking help at fertility clinics.

Not unlike Costello's urge for Australian families to have one baby for mum, dad and the nation, South Korea looks to be on a dangerous road where women's reproductive rights are infringed upon. Whereas a foetus was just a foetus, now a foetus is implicitly a son or daughter.

Too many ultrasounds

2010-01-10T11:02:00.002+11:00

A recent Canadian study suggests that women with uncomplicated pregnancies are having too many ultrasounds. According to the study, out of 1.4 million cases of pregnancies studied from 1996 to 2007, 37 percent of the pregnant women were having three or more ultrasounds. 20 percent of women were having more than four tests.

How many ultrasounds have you had in a single pregnancy?

Love you, want to be you

2010-01-10T10:57:00.003+11:00

And more from the annals of 'must be nice':

Leap Year actress Amy Adams is rocking her first pregnancy with a custom wardrobe from style queen Carolina Herrera. Herrera has been reworking her current collection to suit Adams and let me tell you, it sure beats shopping for maternity at Target.

Oh no you didn't!

2010-01-10T10:41:00.002+11:00

Oh no you didn't!

Guess who is launching two new maternity lines?

The Kluminator's newest project is pregnancy fashion. She's designing two lines for A Pea in the Pod and Motherhood Maternity named Lavish and Loved *groan* respectively.

Heidi explains the cheeseball names thus: "I chose to call my collection for A Pea in the Pod Lavish because there is no grander name to express everything you want to give yourself and the child growing within you," Klum said in a statement. "For Motherhood Maternity, Loved is a celebration of new life and the love around you and your baby."

Wonder what Christian Siriano thinks considering the Project Runway contestant just launched his own line of maternity wear called Fierce.

Babies, breastfeeding and parenting gadgets

2009-12-30T05:56:00.004+11:00

The recession getting you down? Well, we can all be thankful for one thing: economic hardship is a prime time for encouraging mothers to breastfeed. "You can save $1,000 to $3,000 a year just by breast-feeding," says Gina Cicatelli Ciagne, director of breast-feeding and consumer relations for Lansinoh, which sells breast-feeding accessories.

Speaking of breastfeeding, has anyone out there used one of those monitors that reminds you when you had your last feed? Well, I came across this new fangled device from Itzbeen called the 'Baby Care Timer' which is "a multi-purpose nursery tool that helps new parents remember the basic details of baby care. The ITZBEEN™ has four timers that count up with the touch of a button, and a host of other helpful features, all designed with the needs of a new parent in mind."

Sounds pretty impressive, eh?

But considering these hard economic times, is $24.95 money well spent on what appears to be a machine from the future?

Do you need all these bells and whistles and beeps to keep track of a baby? I mean it's a baby, not a bomb. The company claims it's made with the 'sleep-deprived' 'frazzled' parent in mind. Sure, it's rough to be awake for the first five years of your kid's life but again, parents get tired, because that's part of the deal. Besides, babies are pretty good at telling you what they need. Crying, after all, is one of the most strategic adaptive mechanisms that has told mothers and fathers since the beginning of time that a baby needs something.

What ever happened to good old fashioned parental instincts!?

Hooray for homebirth

2009-12-24T06:39:00.003+11:00

Well, hell has frozen over.

Just when I thought that the fight for homebirth in Victoria was stuck at the corner of 56th and Never Gonna Happen, Health Minister Daniel Andrews just announced that the State Government had allocated $400,000 for midwife-led home births through Casey Hospital in Berwick and Sunshine Hospital in Melbourne's west. A regional health service will also participate, but the Government has yet to decide which one.

For women who have relatively uncomplicated pregnancies, this is fantastic news and as long as the trial works over the next year, the project will be expanded throughout the public health system. While undeniably this is no good for women who may want to have a homebirth following previous caesareans (VBACs) or who are considered to be 'high risk' (e.g. obesity, 'older' mums), the fact that the State Government has actually listened to the enormous amount of feedback provided by homebirthing mums and midwives is astounding and shows real promise for a health system that can provide high quality care for women who don't want to birth in hospital.

Yay!

The charmed life isn't always so charmed

2009-12-23T01:50:00.003+11:00

Lily Allen's angsty lyrics about heartbreak and deadbeat boyfriends may have made her an international success but in a candid interview, she talks for the first time about her widely publicised miscarriage:

"I couldn't even compute the emotions going through my head, but I was having to put out a press release about my miscarriage... I had this public sympathy for about five days and then everyone was on my case again and I didn't know what was happening to me… I just didn't deal with it at all. I didn't even start beginning to deal with it until the baby's due date. Then it just hit me like a house collapsing. I have therapy on and off but at that time it really helped me. Then I started to deal with it and move on. I still get sad. I still think. I don't mark (what would have been) my baby's birth but it's always there. […] I've had really bad, unbelievably awful times, but if I hadn't had them I wouldn't get the happiness I've got now. I'm very grateful because I could have turned down a very different path. It could have been awful. It really could."

Although I said in an earlier post that miscarriage isn't a news item (and it isn't), I think it's a great step forward for famous women to acknowledge that the a celebrity life is not always happy or easy or glamorous. On the same note, Sarah Jessica Parker spoke to Parade magazine and acknowledged that post-baby weight loss is very hard for 'real' women. "I hear a lot of actresses pretend they don't have help, and that can't be true," she says." It's really unfair to working women in America who read celebrity news and think, 'Why can't I lose weight when I've had a baby?' Well, everyone you're reading about has money for a trainer and a chef. That doesn't make it realistic. They don’t have the kind of help that I have if I need it," Parker tells PARADE. "I’m allowed to be a working mother because frankly, I can leave my child with someone I trust and love and a lot of mothers can’t do that."

Wrapping up the post-baby bloat

2009-12-21T11:23:00.003+11:00

Christmas may have come early for this (former) Girl Next Door but Kendra Wilkinson is dead set on dropping her baby weight in record time (surprise, surprise). In the latest edition of Ok!, she vows to lose the 55lbs she gained during her pregnancy. “I used to have some sexy abs, but I was like, ‘There they go,’ ” Kendra gushed to OK!.

Let's hope Kendra takes it easy. She had a caesar (again, surprise surprise) and we all know you need to wait about 6 weeks until getting back on the treadmill.

Hi honey, I'm home.

2009-12-20T04:21:00.003+11:00

Hello everyone! I bet you were wondering where in the blaze I've been. Well, after a long and crazy year of blogging, it came time for me to take a little break from the business for a while..

So I jetted off to South America to do some trekking in Patagonia for a few weeks, chilled out (literally) near some glaciers, hung out with penguins, and travelled to the southern most city in the world. Hopefully, I haven't lost too many of you in my absence but I'm revitalised and ready for another holiday season of blogging from the frontlines in Chicago for the next month.

So to kick off my first blog post back from holidays, I was surprised to read The Army general of U.S. forces in Northern Iraq has banned pregnancy among military personnel in his command, even among married couples. Basically, if you get knocked up on deployment you will be court martialied. Ouch.

In other news, Tom Brady and Giselle Bundchen have named their new baby Benjamin.

Not to mention talk of placenta smoothies and placenta holiday revenge...

But if you are really stumped on what to get your childless friend for Chrissie this year, how about Yotaro, a Japanese baby simulator?

Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a stuffed animal bear with a 'baby' face projected on it

Miscarriage is not a news item

2009-11-13T12:31:00.004+11:00

There must be something wrong with me this week *feels forehead*

First, I feel sorry for Kourtney Kardashian, and now I feel sorry for Celine Dion.

For those of you that aren't with it, Celine announced her second pregnancy a few weeks ago after many years of unsuccessful IVF cycles. Turns out she has had a miscarriage, which for non-famous women is bad enough, but when you're famous and you already jumped the gun and did the big tell-all, the whole backtracking and justifying can make a terrible situation even worse. What makes me enraged is that 1) Celine Dion's miscarriage has become a 'news' item and 2) all of the headlines (544 of them to be exact) in the last two days are referring to her 'failed' pregnancy with a good dose of underlying moralising given that she is in her 40s and her husband, well, he's much older.

In case everyone in the world has forgotten, miscarriage is a natural part of reproduction. It happens and even though I will never forgive Celine for bringing 'My Heart Will Go On' into the world, give the woman a damn break. After all, this exact situation is what supposedly drove Lily Allen into a serious depression following the media explosion surrounding her miscarriage last year.

Birth in the TMFI generation

2009-11-12T13:21:00.001+11:00

Um, overshare much? Minnesota gal, Lynsee (is that a postmodern spelling of Lindsey?) and her partner Anders decided to livestream the birth of their child, Solveig. Sorry, but I don't really see the point. Why on earth would you have any desire to potentially show off your lady purse to a bunch of strangers?

"We wanted to share this experience," Lynsee said. "If I were in a classroom, I'd be teaching about development. It was a way for me to teach… A way for me to use myself as a textbook."

Again, thanks but birth isn't the 9pm news.

Weight gain is a sisterly affair

2009-11-10T11:15:00.002+11:00

Oh how quickly things change. It was only 4 days ago that Kourtney Kardashian was blabbing about how much she loved being pregnant, how gaining weight was totally natural and how excited she was about becoming a mother.

Well, the honeymoon is over and Kourt has had it with the pregnancy pounds. "I gained three pounds since yesterday!" she complained to E! News. "I weigh myself every day," she explained. Her pregnancy total as of Monday night: 26 pounds.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that her sisters, Kim and Khloe are both dieting with Quick Trim and have been for the past few months? Kim thinks so:

"She is anxious to get on the same plan as us. She sees a definite difference in weight loss from us. I feel like I am in the best shape of my life right now."

The research on body image states unequivocally that sisters are the extremely important when it comes to female body image. Most women compare their bodies to their sisters and eating disorders are known to run in families, particularly in households where teenage girls are competing to be the best and the most beautiful. It doesn't surprise me that Kourtney is having a hard time gaining weight. How horrible would it be to listen to all of the praise heaped on to your sisters for their weight losses and you continue to pack on the weight?

Maybe, for the first time ever, I actually feel a bit sorry for old Kourt.

Kourtney Kardashian: Motherhood is totally hard

2009-11-06T14:00:00.002+11:00

For someone who is famous only for having a marginally famous father, Kourtney Kardashian has sure been making the tabloid rounds blabbing about how much she loves being pregnant.

"I'm totally excited to gain weight, and I'm embracing it," she tells Life & Style. "I run around naked all day at home! I like that my body is changing. It's a beautiful thing." I suppose that I should be happy that Kourt is 'embracing' her preggo bod but nothing about her seems particularly genuine and it seems like this baby is more of a publicity grab than anything.

This is my favourite part of the article:

"Scott (her partner) and I have been going to different parenting classes," Kourtney tells Life & Style. "They made me nervous at first, putting all kinds of information into my head, but they're helpful. They're a fun thing for Scott and me to do together."

God forbid information gets into your pretty little head, Kourt.

Birth: Live

2009-11-04T08:56:00.003+11:00

Lynsee, a 23-year-old teacher in Minneapolis, is expecting her first child any day now. And she's decided to share the whole experience with the world through a web cast from the the Twin Cities’ Moms Like Me website, which will broadcast the birth from the hospital as it happens. Only Moms Like Me members will be able to leave comments during the event, though anyone with an internet connection will be able to watch the live feed.

“We wanted to document the pregnancy and create a one-of-a-kind memento for our baby to have forever,” Lynsee told the website's partner KARE-TV 11, which is also following her pregnancy (she requested that I not publish her last name, for privacy reasons). "You'll be at some of the doctor's appointments... You'll be there in the delivery room, tastefully, but you will be there.’’

Apparently, Moms Like Me reps claim that this is also about trying to direct more traffic to their website in the spirit of TLC reality programmes.

Would you broadcast your birth? It's not like you can log off in the middle of a contraction. And seriously, why on earth would you want to share your lady purse with the rest of the world.

Sounds a little too much like Balloon Boy and his attention-seeking parents.

Scary.

2009-10-31T13:30:00.000+11:00

Happy Halloween!

Teen Vogue debuts teen pregnancy

2009-10-28T09:50:00.004+11:00

You might not believe it but the model on the left, Jourdan Dunn, is pregnant. And 19. When Teen Vogue editors booked her for the gig they didn't know she was pregnant until she revealed the news for a feature on she and her fellow model friend Chanel Iman (on the right). While the pregnancy is not explicit, it is heartening to know that Editor-in-Chief, Amy Astley said the editors of the mag had no intention of pulling her from the Nov edition.

"Teen pregnancy is a difficult, real-life issue that Teen Vogue readers (with an average age of 18) are mature enough to be exposed to," Astley said in a statement. "Teen Vogue felt it was important to support, not punish, Jourdan Dunn, who contributed to a beautiful photo shoot and who will surely have an ongoing and successful career in fashion."

But, I wonder, if Jourdan was visibly pregnant would they still have put her on the cover of a 'teen' magazine given all of the moral panics about teen mums? Jourdan is almost eight months pregnant now and due in December so obviously the shoot was done very early in her pregnancy. As I noted in an earlier post, Jourdan and her belly were featured in a sort of Gladiator-esque pregnancy corset by Gaultier during Paris Fashion Week.

Of her pregnancy, Dunn has said: "All I could think about was what my mom was going to say, my agency, my boyfriend. When I told my mom, she started crying and blaming herself. She got pregnant with me at the same age, and she said, 'I don't want you to have to go through what I did.'"

Sure it is great that Vogue editors didn't want to 'punish' Dunn for her pregnancy but one wonders whether the realities of young parenthood are made clear to the readers of Teen Vogue in the issue. Dunn is a beautiful woman but pregnancy for celebrities or in the world of fashion is invariably enrobed in glamour and it might have been more useful or perhaps progressive on behalf of the magazine to allow Dunn to express some of her worries about parenthood in order to educate other young women as opposed to pretending that everything is great.

Love your cervix

2009-10-27T09:46:00.004+11:00

Have you ever wondered what your cervix looks like? How about after you've given birth?

Then you MUST check out The Beautiful Cervix Project created by a student midwife. This is an ode to being a woman, where cervixes aren't objects of a medical gaze, but objects of beauty in their own right. The creator not only photographed her own cervix throughout her menstrual cycle, but also has loads of photos of cervixes at different stages of life.

Octomum drops her weight

2009-10-26T09:23:00.003+11:00

Photo credit: splashnewsonline.com

Holy mother of octuplets! Have you seen Octomum!?

Like a pregnant version of a linebacker, Nadya hit 270lbs during her pregnancy and now she's back into her pre-baby jeans after a weight loss of 145 lbs without a trainer or surgery.

Losing 40 pounds immediately after delivering her octuplets, Suleman says she felt compelled to join a local gym after their birth. There, she fits in thrice-weekly midnight workouts (while a nanny watches over her sleeping children) with strength training but no cardio. "I get enough of that with the kids," Suleman, who gets by on three hours of sleep, tells Us.

Well, can't say that working out at midnight seems very healthy but I suppose it's better than dropping straight into the plastic surgeon's office.

Breastfeeding is awesome in New Zealand

2009-10-22T10:52:00.002+11:00

Check out a super new public breastfeeding campaign in New Zealand.

"Although New Zealand has breastfeeding rates that are consistent with other OECD countries, rates are low at six weeks, especially among Māori and Pacific women,” said Ministry of Health Deputy Director Margie Apa. She went on to say that barriers to breastfeeding, including “lack of breastfeeding support and information, mothers returning to paid work and finding it hard to continue breastfeeding, and negative attitudes to breastfeeding from the general public and family members” tend to more adversely affect minorities, teenage parents and low-income moms.

Small country, so progressive.

Kendra: TMFI

2009-10-22T10:22:00.002+11:00

Ah Kendra. Miss ex-Playboy has opened up to In Touch about all things pregnant, including her discovery that her breasts are leaking milk to which she responded by screaming and likening herself to a cow.

How much weight have you gained so far?
Kendra Wilkinson: I have gained 40 pounds. I still have a month-and-a-half to go. I was 110 or 115 and now weigh 150.

How do you feel about the weight gain?
KW: There are things I love about it. I love that my hips are growing, even though it hurts. I want that butt and am starting to get it, so I’m excited.

What have you been craving?
KW: I’ve been eating a lot of breakfast — eggs, bacon and cheese sandwiches with wheat toast, a lot of waffles with peanut butter. Peanut butter is my biggest craving. I actually put bananas and syrup all over it, too.

Even though I don’t usually eat much meat, I’ve been eating a lot of ribs with barbecue sauce and steak. Also, my craving for chocolate came back. I never ate it before because it gave me migraines.

Has it changed your sex life?
KW: Yes, it’s changed our sex life — for the worse [laughs]. I am a wild girl in bed and I can’t really be that wild anymore because I have limits now. I have 40 extra pounds in my belly, so I get tired easily.

But no, of course, it’s still great. I have a great man in bed, he definitely knows how to please me. But, yeah, we’ll be better after when we have more energy!

Do you feel prettier pregnant?
KW: I have never felt this beautiful! The one thing I love about being pregnant is my skin, I used to have the worst acne. My whole life it’s been horrible — on The Girls Next Door, it was disgusting. This is the best skin that I have ever had in my life!

What’s the best thing about being pregnant?
KW: The greatest thing is probably just feeling like a queen. Everybody does everything for me. And Hank is always just giving me unconditional love — that different type of love that I’ve never felt before.

Caesarean = rape?

2009-10-20T12:17:00.004+11:00

Image credit: www.caesarean-art.com

As we all know, the caesarean rate (emergency and elective) has risen dramatically over the past decade in most of the industrialised world and 'natural' childbirth has become something of a vestigial organ.

For many women, a caesarean is not only painful but also traumatic. Somehow birth has become only about a healthy outcome and not necessarily about the process or the woman actually giving birth. There is now a growing subculture of women who compare their caesarean births to rape given the lack of control they felt they had over their bodies, the antagonism of hospital staff towards their birth choices and of course, feelings of violation. Recent articles about birth rape are linked to the story of an Arizona mother, Jessica Szabo, who wants to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) but is being refused by her local hospital. The hospital argues that all VBACs must have an 'elective caesarean'. In fact, she's so mad that she has written the following message on her minivan:

"Page Hospital enter my body without my permission ... sounds like rape to me!"

There is even an anonymous website devoted to caesarean-inspired art evoking the trauma and pain some women associate with the procedure. Truly haunting (see above).

What do you think?

Foetal fascinations

2009-10-14T10:39:00.006+11:00

So, I'm sure all of you pregnant gals out there have been wondering how you can commemorate your foetus' first photo more spectacularly than just shoving the thing in your purse and yanking it out for every person that notices that you're pregnant.

How about a turning your ultrasound image into a decorative canvas? Or a personalised ultrasound postage stamp? Or, my personal favourite: CUFFLINKS.

Has the world gone cuckoo? Cufflinks? Seriously?

I think I need a little lie down.

Baby bumps on the catwalk

2009-10-12T08:55:00.006+11:00

Hello, again. Excuse my absence, I've had a serious case of essay-marking-itis. Basically, that entails me sitting in an office for 12 hours a day marking essays until my hands crumple with fatigue from typing.

Anyway, looks like pregnancy chic was making it big at Paris Fashion Week....

Singer Roisin Murphy, who also happens to be 7 months pregnant, wore the peach coloured tutu (above) to a Paris fashion show. It was designed by Victor & Rolf.

Speaking of wacky pregnancy fashion, Jean Paul Gaultier created a pregnancy corset for pregnant British model Jourdan Dunn.

Um, not so sure about the pregnancy corset but definitely not so much on the tutu.

Heidi does pregnancy covered in chocolate

2009-10-05T08:59:00.003+11:00

Oh Heidi. It appears that the Kluminator not only has an entire book devoted to her beauty, Heidi revealed on Ellen that she also appears naked and pregnant and dripping in chocolate sauce.

The model, snapped by famous photog Rankin, said:

"We were doing our normal shoot and afterwards he said, 'Let's do some pictures for the book.' I said, 'I would love to be covered in chocolate.'

"So someone ran out to the store and got, like, I think, seven or eight of those squirty chocolate things and they just squirted it all over me and he took the photo.

"It was yummy... especially when you're pregnant."

Wondering how she got the chocolate off? "I licked half of it up."

Oh and weirdo Ellen gave Heidi a pair of baby high heels because she's convinced Heidi is having a girl. Um, me no likey.

Moral panic Friday

2009-10-02T17:56:00.002+10:00

So, here's a game I like to play that I call 'how to ruin your baby's life before it's even born'.

Just go to Google News and type in 'pregnancy' and see what headlines you get:

Smoking in pregnancy risks psychotic children

Obese women have higher risk of giving birth to baby with heart defect

Stillbirth in first pregnancy raises risk for subsequent pregnancy

Anti-depressants pregnancy risk

I actually miss the days when a news search about pregnancy immediately brought up fluffy stories about celebrities and maternity clothes.

Porn star beauty tricks, post-baby bodies and beautiful cervixes

2009-10-02T09:05:00.004+10:00

A bit of a recap of the week:

Well, Jenna Jameson has actually started a blog in which waxes on the benefits of being 'totally tan' all the time and tips for quashing stretch marks:

"Well, like most women, the thought of huge cherry red slash marks running the length of my pubic bone to underboobs, was enough to make me cringe. I had seen and heard many different methods to ward of stretch marks, but I never knew of any that were tried and true."

Now, she just needs to do something about that midriff top.

Elen Pompeo has debuted her 2 weeks post-baby body and is taking a little break from Grey's.

For those of you that actually care about The Hills, Spencer Pratt is whingeing about how Heidi is trying to get pregnant and now he's afraid to have sex with her. Poor little muffin.

Oh and have you ever wondered what your cervix looks like after you've had a baby? A student midwife and doula has started the Beautiful Cervix Project and she has taken some amazing and very generous photos that will blow your mind.

Working mums are bad mums

2009-09-30T09:53:00.004+10:00

Welcome to this week's first cautionary tale.

Headlines are blazing upon the announcement of data from a UK study declaring "Working mothers' children unfit". What do they mean? Oh well, that apparently women who work more than 20 hours per week end up with fat, lonely and basically maladjusted 5 year olds.

And they didn't even bother to look at the male partners because they decided that the women's working hours fluctuated more. Professor Catherine Law, who led the study, is careful to state that this study does not mean that women should not work, rather parents need to be better supported. But seriously. This is the same research group that found that children are more likely to be overweight by the age of 3 if their mothers work. These results will inevitably be used against women in some form or another.

Sally Russell, a spokesman for Netmums, said: "The stress and guilt associated with being a working mum is something we are all too well aware of. This report adds to that guilt.

"With many more mums having no choice but to work these days and with government policy actively encouraging it, it is difficult to know how mums can do better. "

We should be applauding mothers for returning to work and managing their households and not 1) not punishing them for working out of desire or necessity or 2) pitting women who work and women who do not work in paid employment against one another. This research, whether it was intented or not, only fuels already entrenched debates about motherhood and who is a 'good' mum and who is a 'bad' mum.

Jenna Jameson is not just a porn star.

2009-09-30T09:45:00.002+10:00

You have been warned. Oh and she wants you to know that she's not just a porn star.

News you can use

2009-09-28T10:15:00.006+10:00

Monday news roundup:

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada says a C-section should not be offered to a pregnant woman unless there is a valid medical reason to perform one. But, a University of British Columbia study found that 2 per cent of obstetricians were in favour of a woman's right to choose a C-section for herself, even in the absence of a medical indication.

Speaking of caesars, Charlotte Church says giving birth naturally was pretty rough: "It's absolutely, disgustingly horrendous.It's shocking I tell you that. I had both babies at home, two home births, just with gas and air. It was horrendous. I mean it was amazing and awesome and crazily whatever, a completely different experience but you know, I might do it again because I'm a little bit of a sadist that way."

Over in supermodel preggo land, the maternity style wars were on as Heidi Klum and Gisele Bundchen tooled around town with their bumps in all their glory

In case you missed it, Shiloh Pitt, 3, lost her front tooth. This has prompted such heated internet discussion, forcing Brangelina to issue a press release answering questions about the obvious gap in Shiloh's smile. Most people think Shiloh is too young to start losing teeth, so most of the web is settled on the idea that Zahara either clocked her in the face or she has been eating skittles for breakfast.

Speaking of half-pint celebs, Suri Cruise is not only a style maven for other three year olds, her mother, Katie Holmes points to Suri as her inspiration for her new fashion line she is launching with her stylist Jeanne Yang: "It has been my dream forever to be in fashion and I'm truly inspired by my daughter Suri. She just loves dressing up so I decided to launch this exciting venture with Jeanne." Um, let's just hope that her new line doesn't include sparkly shell shaped handbags or kitten heels.

Oh, and Nicole Richie has snapped back into her size zeros in just under 2 weeks. Ho Hum.

Maternal mortality is not sexy enough for the media

2009-09-24T10:14:00.004+10:00

Photo credit: Marco Vernaschi, Pulitzer Center

Sometimes being a feminist academic and living in a wealthy industrialised country can screw up your view of the world.

Seriously, hear me out.

I've spent the last few weeks, recovering from a hangover of media blitzing about homebirthing and thinking about where women's interests are really best served when it comes to birth in Australia. It's so easy for me to say (and trust me, I have been) that women should be encouraged to have alternative birthing plans outside of the hospital. At the same time, however, as I teach a university subject about a history of medicine (and I hate myself a little bit for saying this) medicine has done great things for women when it comes to birth.

Don't get me wrong. I've always harbored a healthy skepticism for biomedicine and particularly obstetrics/gynecology. But before I get inundated with a barrage of emails about how evil obstetricians are and what a bad feminist I am, I have to say that each day as I scan the daily news items looking for inspiration for the blank space in front of me, every single day I flick through stories about women dying in birth in the far reaches of the world. Sometimes I write about them and sometimes my mouse keeps moving because I have the luxury (and many of you do as well) to fast forward on from tragedy if I feel like it.

But not today.

Marco Vernaschi, an Italian photographer, started off photographing war but has since moved his focus to maternal health care, particularly in Guinea-Bissau, one of the world's most dangerous places in which to be pregnant. One in eight women die giving birth and babies often don't survive the first two days of their lives.

"Standing in the only operating room in the only medical hospital in all of Guinea-Bissau, Marco Vernaschi watched a nurse take an unsterile needle out of her pocket and, without anesthetic, suture a woman’s vagina after a difficult childbirth. The woman screamed. Mr. Vernaschi took a photograph. Moments later, she was required to walk out of the filthy room and go home."

Vernaschi is now trying to shed light on the absolutely heart wrenching stories of life and death, of both mothers and babies with his photos. As I looked through these images, of women waiting on a dirty floor to give birth, of seeing women on rusty gurneys, babies dead and waiting for burial, it makes me feel very lucky to have the opportunity to live in a country where, even though birthing options are not perfect, at least women have the hope for change.

Hospitals have never been the perfect solution to such a natural process, but living in Australia, we rarely worry about dying from unsterile needles or just from having to wait too long for medical care. Medicine still saves women from pain and death and suffering.

Look at these pictures and thank your lucky stars for your life.

Suri Cruise: fashion maven

2009-09-23T10:42:00.004+10:00

Spotted: Suri Cruise in kitten heels.

The Daily Mail is speculating that our little Suri with the fringe on top is 'growing up too fast'.

At the moment, 65 'news' articles have been written about the sartorial proclivities of the world's most famous (and by the looks of it, fashion-forward) 3 year old.

The style-wars have clearly migrated from realm of celebrity women to their pint-size doppelgangers. Oh, you think I'm kidding?

Child Style magazine has just been launched, and this month's edition features 'couture' Halloween costumes, way too much advertising, and lots of mothers with too much time on their hands.