Innholdsfortegnelse for February - March 2020 i Your Pregnancy & Baby

My husband tells me that I’m much more assertive than when he met me 25 years ago. Yeah, well, I’m a mother now, I said. And it’s true. Having babies and small children to look after turns on your inner lioness. Parenting is not all about sweet cuddles and gummy kisses. I recently heard about a father who was looking after his three children on a Saturday while their mom travelled for work. Apparently, as she left early that morning, she suggested that he take them on a fun outing for the day. He nodded thoughtfully. Late afternoon when she returned there were three very unhappy little faces waiting… Dad had packed them all up and taken them to the clinic for their booster shots! Not fun at all, but…

WIN A CARRIWELL ®  HAMPER VALUED AT R2 000 Carriwell’s Organic Nursing Bra is made from breathable organic cotton that feels comfortable in warmer times of the year. As well as being super soft, the design gives support, comfort and shape, making it naturally gentler and more comfortable for mom and baby. The nursing bra gives unique benefits like wireless support, comfort and shape. Carriwell organic cotton is fully certified. Available and natural. Send us a beautiful, good-quality photograph of you with your gorgeous bump or baby. Send your photo with both your names and date of birth, and where you’re from to: Your Pregnancy Snaps, letters@yourpregnancy.co.za…

JOHANNESBURG FERTILITY SHOW AFRICA Gallagher Convention Centre 6-7 March Fertility Show Africa offers a unique opportunity to meet with leading fertility, adoption and surrogacy specialists, all under one roof. You get the chance to speak with leading fertility specialists, embryologists, nurses, psychologists, and social workers, who can answer all your fertility and family planning questions. It’s bound to be an invaluable resource for those of us looking to start or expand our family. Visit fertilityshowafrica.co.za for more info. CAPE TOWN THE GALILEO OPEN AIR CINEMA Nooitgedacht Wine Estate 14 February, 5pm, movie starts 8pm Looking for something extra special to do this Valentine’s Day? For one night only, The Galileo Open Air Cinema will be treating lovers and loved ones to a magical evening of live music, a movie (About…

“I got a migraine while pregnant that affected my ability to speak. What kind of migraine was this, and why might it have happened?” “This is a basilar migraine,” explains Cape Town gynae Dr Louis Grundlingh. “It’s localised in the back part of the brain, called the brainstem, or neck and is caused by a blood vessel going into spasm and reducing blood flow to the brain. Triggers include stress, lack of sleep, caffeine, too much physical activity, high altitudes and, importantly for pregnant women, changes in female hormones. These painful migraines usually start on one side of the head and then spread as they get stronger and more painful. You may feel nauseous and even vomit, be sensitive to light and sound, have cold hands or feet, be dizzy,…

MYTH 1 The foetal heartbeat of a boy is different to that of a girl. FALSE The normal foetal heart rate is between 120 and 160 beats per minute – for both boys and girls. MYTH 2 If you stretch your hands above your head, the umbilical cord will strangle your baby. FALSE The umbilical cord floats in amniotic fluid. If a baby gets strangled by the cord, it is accidental and has nothing to do with where your hands are. MYTH 3 You should drink lots of water, or your baby will get dirty in the amniotic fluid. FALSE The “dirty amniotic fluid” or meconium-stained water only happens when baby is in distress and passes stool in utero or if there’s an infection. Drinking enough water has no bearing…

❯ DON’T RUSH OFF If you’re birthing at a hospital, stay at home until active labour begins, advises Gayle. “Otherwise you’ll sit and wait, and labour will seem long and drawn out, which is not good for your state of mind.” ❯ GET SUPPORT Hire a doula to support you, says Michelle. “Research indicates that women who give birth with a doula at their side have a 25 percent shorter labour time.” ❯ KEEP YOUR BLADDER EMPTY For a simple trick to speed up labour, empty your bladder. A full bladder can slow down labour because it quite literally gets in the way by pressing into your birth canal, explains Michelle. ❯ BREATHE It sounds like a no-brainer, but women in labour really need to focus on breathing slowly and…

IN ANY EMOTIVE debate, it’s important to look at the evidence dispassionately and try to evaluate it to the best of our abilities. Even if we’re not scientists ourselves, we can try to identify trustworthy sources of information. All the world’s knowledge is now available on the internet. But so is a lot of fake news. The more you can find consensus from reliable sources, the closer you are likely to get to the truth. So let’s calmly look at some of the reasons parents become vaccine-hesitant. THE BLINDNESS OF PRIVILEGE If you grew up 50 or 100 years ago, one of your siblings would most likely have died from smallpox or diphtheria, been maimed by polio, or spent months away from home in a TB hospital. Because we have…

TUMMY TO TUMMY Lie flat on the bed or on a couch, and put Baby on your chest or belly, so that you can look each other in the eye. Hold tight to ensure he doesn’t roll off. Chat and sing with him. LAP LOVING Allow your little one to stretch out face down on your lap. This works particularly well for winding. You can also gently rock him with your legs in this position while you stroke his back and hush him. Hold your hand on his bottom, so that he’s safe and feels safe. LOOK AT ME Roll up a towel, and place it under your baby’s chest and upper arms for extra support. Lie flat on the ground in front of him, and look into his eyes…

FERTILITY 50 Ten signs you’re ovulating 51 Expert advice: STDs, insulin and conceiving MONTH 1 52 Sick and tired? Power through the first trimester MONTH 2 56 Pee positive MONTH 3 58 Just keep swimming MONTH 4 60 Breast changes 62 Expert advice: family planning MONTH 5 64 Smooth sailing MONTH 6 66 We’re pregnant! MONTH 7 68 Growing closer 71 Expert advice: breastfeeding MONTH 8 72 Pain you can handle MONTH 9 75 Measuring contractions YOUR BODY 76 Bet you weren’t expecting that……

YOU’RE ALSO NORMAL. We discuss all the changes you can expect in the first trimester, and how, by being prepared, you can tackle them head-on. HOW YOU’LL FEEL Your first job as a mother-to-be is to become a mother-to-be. In other words, you have to add another role to the complex set of traits and characteristics that have so far added up to be you. That alone can take some time to process. Psychologist Lisa Lazarus says: “Having a child is one of the biggest life changes. Your entire identity is about to alter, as you begin to take on the role of mother. No surprise that many women feel conflicted about this massive shift. These ambivalent feelings are probably compounded if the pregnancy was a surprise and/or not necessarily…

What helped you survive the first trimester? “For me, it was sharing my secret with my partner and our parents. The daily phone calls and the excitement and happiness kept me feeling positive.” Nancy Mabusela “The promise of the second trimester. Seriously, I had a horrible time on every front those first few months. It took me ages to get used to being pregnant in my head, and I hated the changes in my body, and I felt revolting, and my partner wasn’t being his best self. Things certainly improved at around 12 weeks.” Stef Carter “Ginger biscuits. I ate about a packet a day – no lies. I was either nauseous or ravenous all day long, and these biscuits actually stayed down.” Nicolette Roux…

✓ In Egypt, around 1 000BC, women who thought they were pregnant would urinate on wheat and barley seeds, and if they grew, their suspicions would be considered confirmed (wheat meant a girl, barley a boy). ✓ In 10th-century Persia (Iran), sulphur would be poured over the urine, and if worms sprang from the mixture, pregnancy was “confirmed”. ✓ In 16th-century Europe, urine was “read” like tea leaves by women who claimed to be able to confirm a pregnancy by the appearance of the urine alone. ✓ In the 18th century, medical practitioners began to realise that urine contained actual substances, not visible to the naked eye, that signalled pregnancy. ✓ In the 1920s, high concentrations of the hormone hCG was identified in the urine of pregnant women. It wasn’t…

✓ You strengthen and tone your muscles. It’s a heart-lung workout without any of the strain on your joints that you would get with other weight-bearing exercises. ✓ The water acts as resistance as you move through it, thereby strengthening the muscles of your arms, legs, back and abdominals. This increased strength helps you bear the load of your heavier body better and can decrease aches and pains associated with pregnancy, for example back pain. ✓ It’s a safe form of managing your weight gain during pregnancy. ✓ It builds up your fitness in terms of endurance (working at a constant rate for a given amount of time), which will be a great help when it comes to labour and delivery. ✓ The buoyancy of the water provides a wonderful…

WE CAN’T AFFORD ANOTHER BABY Q: My partner is putting pressure on me to have another baby, but I really don’t want another one, as we simply can’t afford to. I don’t get paid maternity leave at my work, and I can’t claim UIF either. We don’t have medical aid. And then there’s the cost of raising another child. I’m happy with my two-year-old daughter, and I feel we can give her more if we only have her. But this is against my husband’s culture. I’m considering just having the injection in secret in order not to fall pregnant, but if he finds out, there will be hell. Am I wrong to not give him another child? He is the suspicious sort. A: Koko answers: Having a baby is a…

BEFORE YOU WERE pregnant, you had no idea how a child “within” could consume you. For nine months, you and your baby are one – growing together and undergoing amazing changes. Your baby-to-be is your constant companion, not only in body, but also in thought. This attachment does not only start at birth, but long before. There is so much you can do in order to prepare your baby for meeting you face to face. A LIVING BEING The bond between you and your baby starts the moment you know you’re pregnant. It continues when you feel the first stirrings of life inside you, and you realise there is something wonderful going on in there. You may start to comprehend that this is a person, separate from you and with…

THIN MILK AND THICK MILK Q: I’m reading a lot of conflicting information on the existence of foremilk and hind milk. Does the first milk really quench and the later milk provide nutrition? A: Linda says: Studies and research regarding breast milk and lactation are continuous, as we learn more about this very special nutrition designed for babies. English surgeon and anatomist Sir Astley Cooper published what is known as the standard model of the breast in 1840. His anatomical dissections of the breast is what appeared in textbooks right up to this new millennium. According to these, it was thought that ducts expanded into lactiferous sinuses or reservoirs, which collected and stored large amounts of milk, as a foremilk, in the front of the breast behind the nipple. But…

Our popular 40-week pregnancy calendar with stickers will be bagged with our next issue, which goes on sale on 16 March. Make a note to get your copy, as it might sell out fast. This year we’ve partnered with Bio-Oil Skincare Oil to create a truly beautiful calendar you can cherish as a keepsake for the rest of your life. You could see your little one on our cover! Send an up-to-date photo to cover2020@ yourbaby.co.za to enter our Cover Baby Competition! See page 14 and 96 for more details.…

STRESS-FREE MOMMY It all started with a queasy tummy. I didn’t realise it then, but I was four weeks pregnant with my second child. Some of my family and friends were initially a little worried about how I would cope with a toddler and a newborn but I was stress-free! I believe that everything happens for a reason. A friend recently bought me Your Pregnancy magazine as a gift, and I’m so happy she did, because I am learning so much. I can’t wait to welcome my baby into this world. MIYELANE NGOBENI, PRETORIA YOUNG, PREGNANT AND FULL OF MOTIVATION I’m 23 years old, and when I found out I was expecting my first child, I must say I did almost fall off the loo. Seeing those two pink lines…

INSTAGRAM PAGE TO FOLLOW @thevulvagallery Helen Schöer, YP editor-in-chief, says, “Once you get over your initial shock, this page will make you smile. It’s exactly what it says: a gallery of exquisite little paintings of vulvas each accompanied by the story of the owner of the vulva, explaining how she came to love this hidden and mysterious part of her body. It doesn’t get more body positive than this!” @thevulvagallery SHOW TO WATCH explained Denise Khoele, YP art director, says, “explained on Netflix, a documentary series, is on its second season, and it’s all kinds of fascinating. Each episode literally explains a topic, and in season one, they vary from designer DNA, monogamy, and why diets fail, to the stock market, extra-terrestrial life and political correctness. Season two…

YOU’RE MAKING ANOTHER human being, which can make you feel (and sometimes look) exhausted. You might want to rush to the salon or spa for your usual beauty pep-up, but beware – some treatments are contraindicated while pregnant. This means they’re not safe, or they actually can’t be tested for safety, since this will have to happen with pregnant women. We asked our local experts about what’s safe and what’s not… CAN I HAVE A CHEMICAL PEEL? Candice Klaaste, head educator at Sorbet says, “It’s not advisable to have chemical peels. Issues with skin such as pigmentation, acne, sensitivity and discoloration are caused by pregnancy hormones. These will stay in the body until after your baby is born and for about one year after birth. Pregnancy-related skin problems sometimes go…

1 YOUR FOETUS HAS TEETH! Although most babies are born completely toothless, your little one’s pearly whites already start developing from nine to 14 weeks. It’s the beginning of her milk teeth, which will probably only start appearing from four to six months after birth. In exceptional cases (estimated at about one out of every 2 000 babies), a baby surprises her parents when she arrives with a tooth already visible. Sometimes it’s a normal milk tooth and other times an extra tooth that later falls out. 2 BABY IS BLIND AS A BAT FOR THREE MONTHS Your little one’s eyes already start developing from week six or seven of your pregnancy and are wide open at first. By 11 to 14 weeks development has come far enough…

NO ONE WANTS a long, drawn-out and exhausting labour, but a “cannonball birth” isn’t ideal either. (You know, that’s the kind you see in the movies where it all happens so fast, the woman gives birth en route to the hospital.) Aside from the back seat of a car just not being comfortable, it’s not an ideal or safe place for you or baby. “If it’s too fast, there’s a greater possibility of tearing, and it can be stressful for the baby,” says Gayle Friedman, Cape Town based doula and chairperson of the South African doula association Women Offering Mothers Birth Support (WOMBS). An extremely fast-moving labour is also difficult to cope with psychologically, adds Angela Wakeford, an independently practising midwife based in Cape Town. “It makes it very intense…

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP? I was born in Scotland and moved to South Africa as a child. WHERE DID YOU QUALIFY? I studied nursing in South Africa. I started as an oncology nurse, but I soon realised that I preferred helping people into this world than out of it. I went to the UK specifically to study midwifery. I then went on to do a BSc in midwifery in Scotland. YOU RETURNED TO SA IN 1996… Yes, after democracy we felt ready to return. YOU BELIEVE THAT A WOMAN’S OWN EXPERIENCE OF BEING MOTHERED INFLUENCES HER BIRTH CHOICES. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR OWN MOTHER, AND HOW SHE SHAPED YOUR VIEWS? My mother had seven children, and I am the sixth. Her first- and lastborn were hospital births;…

TO TELL OR NOT TO TELL? The “rule” used to be to wait until past the first trimester before sharing your happy news – but there are equally valid arguments to be made for speaking up or shutting up. Despite the massive changes you can feel in your body, they are invisible to others. This can be frustrating – or delightful. “I loved the sense of hoarding an intimate secret in my first trimester. I carved out that time for me to get used to my new me, before my pregnancy became obvious and I was now going to be discussed, advised and judged for my every move,” says Jocelyn Haversham. “I’ve always thought of not telling as a bit mean – to myself,” explains Claudia Hendricks. “I wanted the…

Your nutritional needs change when you are pregnant. For the sake of your and your growing baby’s health, you must ensure that you ingest enough of the “Big Three” #1 Iron A pregnant woman needs a lot more of this mineral. During your pregnancy, your blood volume increases by up to 50 percent, and extra iron is needed for you to produce haemoglobin (a building block of blood). Your growing baby and your placenta also need iron, especially in the second and third trimesters. Women who have an iron deficiency during their pregnancy have a higher risk of giving birth prematurely, low birth weight and stillbirths. A supplement with the right amount of iron in an absorbable formulation will give you peace of mind. #2 Folic acid Folic…

BACK AND PELVIC PAIN We often experience backache during pregnancy, because our centre of gravity shifts, says Sister Michelle van der Westhuizen, an antenatal consultant from Port Elizabeth. “As the uterus grows, it gradually lifts out of the pelvic cavity and almost becomes a stomach organ. So the ligaments stretch quite remarkably, and this can cause discomfort.” ❯ Sit and rest often. ❯ Wear comfy shoes. ❯ Wear a maternity support belt. ❯ A chiropractor can sometimes help. ❯ Place a warm beanbag on your sore ligaments. ❯ Do stretch exercises and yoga. ❯ Get a massage – from your partner or a pro. ❯ Change position when it’s painful, or try different pregnancy positions, such as being on all fours. Ask your partner to stand behind you and hold…

Partners should be encouraged to experiment with different ways of massaging Mom’s belly. Their touch will feel very different to the unborn. Scientists have found that men and women touch their babies differently – mothers stroke, and fathers poke, and the unborn baby will expect the difference. Your partner’s touch will make you feel loved and special, and these feelings will pass on to your baby, who will feel the same. For an external voice to reach the womb, the person needs to be fairly close to you, if speaking at a normal level. If a partner or sibling wishes to talk to the unborn, one cheek may be rested on the mother’s abdomen, so that the sounds travel directly through the touching bodies.…

MOST PREGNANT WOMEN are so fearful of labour pain that they don’t even want to attempt natural birth. This fear is a huge impediment, both physically and mentally, to a positive birth experience. We live in a culture that is afraid of pain and does not understand that there are many ways to manage discomfort, especially during labour. Many women do not know that they have built-in mechanisms that help them deal with the pain of labour. Their confidence is then further eroded by others telling them that labour pain is something to be avoided at all costs. In many cultures, the pain of labour is seen as normal and valuable, but more often today, some women see labour pain as unnecessary and unwanted – not understanding that it has…

“I had a big belly before falling pregnant, but amazingly, after my c-section, my tummy was flat. I was so excited! However, I slowly gained the weight back, and a year later I’m still trying hard to lose it.” Rehana Shaik, Durban “I picked up quite a lot of weight for my height while I was pregnant. I lost all my pregnancy weight relatively quickly after giving birth though, and I have breastfeeding to thank for that. I went from 66kg to 46kg!” Jade Mariano, Pinetown “If I thought I ate a lot while I was pregnant, then the amount of food I’m guzzling now that I’m breastfeeding is monstrous! I’m still losing my baby weight well, but I seem to have an insatiable hunger. I’m quite enjoying it actually!…

HELIZKA KRUGER 30 WEEKS PREGNANT STYLIST SAYS... “Comfortable shouldn’t mean frumpy. Cotton midi dresses in a good cut are always a fantastic solution for warmer days. The relaxed fit also means that it is an item you can wear throughout your pregnancy.” HELIZKA SAYS... “I loved how my hair and makeup were done. I don’t wear much make-up every day, so the lovely make-up artist gave me some tips that I’ve taken with me! My hair was curled beautifully, and it held all day. The dress I wore was absolutely beautiful and comfortable. I felt sexy for a change during my pregnancy. I loved the whole experience. Thank you, Your Pregnancy!” LOOK WHAT ELSE OUR LUCKY MAKEOVER MOM WENT HOME WITH! A STUNNING GIFT HAMPER FROM PIGEON TO THE VALUE…

TINA OTTE A mother, grandmother, midwife, childbirth educator and author, Tina has been involved in the pregnancy and birth field for more than 30 years It’s been 23 years since I started writing for this magazine! I just love awakening mothers-to-be about the amazing changes their body is going to go through and to boost confidence in your ability to take on this job of parenthood. Be it birth, breastfeeding or bonding, we’re all hardwired to take on this task. There’s so much to know, so many decisions to make and hundreds of questions to ask. So many moms-to-be feel helpless and hopeless, and there are many obstacles for you to overcome before you can feel empowered during your pregnancy. Having a baby is a big deal – especially the…

OUR WONDROUS BODIES It’s a fair statement to make, that most of us fear not being able to fall pregnant, even before trying. This was a very real fear when we decided to try for a baby, but to our shock, it came sooner than expected! You get all the congratulations among the, “You’re going to get fat” and “Your body will never be the same”, and you look in the mirror wondering how all this is going to turn out for you. Our bodies mer. are so clever! I’m becoming a transfor Hips drift apart, organs move out of original position, nails grow at the speed of light, and my tummy star ts changing shape as an entire human for ms inside me. We are capable of so much.…

VEG, Jamie Oliver We’re all about helping save our beautiful planet, and there’s a really simple and delicious way to do that – by eating less meat. Jamie Oliver’s Veg, R439, Exclusive Books, is packed with more than 100 easy-to-make and super-delicious veg recipes. You’ll find tasty recipes for supper, and those to share with friends and family. With chapters on soups and “sarnies” (sarmies to us), brunch, pies, parcels and bakes, curries and stews, salads, burgers and fritters, pasta, rice and noodles, and traybakes, there’s something yummy for every occasion.…

LONG BEFORE YOU fall pregnant, you should carefully plan your diet. Your first aim should be to achieve your ideal body weight, since being overweight and underweight plays a big role in your pregnancy, especially when it comes to your baby’s birth weight. By the time you discover you have a bun in the oven, critical development has already happened. So, everything that you should be eating and avoiding during pregnancy is valid when you’re just dreaming about having a baby. If you choose to follow these diet guidelines, you can lower the chances of your baby being born with birth defects, being born premature or having a low birth weight. You can even spare her developing chronic illnesses, such as high blood pressure and diabetes when you’re already a…

DR LOUIS GRUNDLINGH, an obstetrician/gynaecologist practising from Mediclinic Panorama in Cape Town, explains that low-grade headaches tend to be more common during the first trimester, because this is the time when your body experiences a surge in hormones and an increase in blood volume – two factors that can make your head throb quite unpleasantly. You’re even more likely to suffer from headaches if you’re under stress and/ or have poor posture. Other factors that aggravate headaches include: not getting enough sleep, dehydration, and caffeine withdrawal (if you’re doing the smart thing and kicking your coffee and fizzy-drink habit). Dr Grundlingh notes that if you’re pregnant and suffering from frequent headaches, other medical conditions must be excluded. These include low blood pressure, low iron levels, eye/ vision problems, abnormal glucose…

As a very broad guideline, active labour starts when you’re three centimetres dilated, but the regularity of contractions also needs to be taken into account. “You can be three to four centimetres dilated but not in active labour if contractions are irregular,” explains Cape Town midwife Angela Wakeford. Healthcare practitioners differ in their definitions, but Angela doesn’t consider active labour to have commenced “until dilation of four centimetres with the cervix effaced, and strong regular contractions every three to four minutes”. Effaced means thinned out. Everything before this is the latent stage of labour, which can go on for hours, possibly even for two or more days, she stresses. This latent phase should not be counted in the number of hours a woman is said to be in true labour,…

THERE WILL BE times when your baby makes you feel just like a dairy cow: all she wants to do is nurse and nurse and nurse, as if she can never get enough. After a while you might worry that you don’t have enough milk, because why is she hungry all the time? Then someone says that she might be going through a growth spurt. But what is this? And what can you expect? A growth spurt can be described as a period of time when your baby’s need for milk suddenly increases. For this reason, it’s also sometimes known as “frequent nursing periods” or “accelerated feedings”, says Sister Teresa Hayward, a midwife and lactation consultant from Port Elizabeth. She explains: “Your baby will usually reach a phase or weight…

› A newborn is not able to lift his head yet. So swop the direction in which he faces quite often. › Don’t allow baby to lie on his tummy for long stretches. Divide tummy time into chunks of a few minutes at a time during the day. › The earlier you start, the less your baby will protest. › Do it every day, and work it into your routine. In this way, in no time, you’ll be doing it without even thinking about it. › Use it as bonding time, which will also make it more fun for baby.…

1 MORNING SICKNESS DOESN’T OFTEN HAPPEN IN THE MORNING Most women get all-day (or midday, afternoon or evening) sickness in the early part of the first trimester. 2 YOU MAY NOT ‘GET SICK’ FROM MORNING SICKNESS Many women just feel nauseous (not much of a comfort, we know!). But in most women it subsides between 12 and 14 weeks. Many experts believe this is because the placenta begins producing hormones of its own at this time. 3 HORMONES PLAY A BIG ROLE IN PREGNANCY Progesterone is nature’s sedative. It gives you a natural lethargy to make sure you do nothing strenuous that may affect the developing foetus. 4 LABOUR IS BROUGHT ON BY HORMONES At the end of your pregnancy, the drop in the levels of…

CAN STDs PREVENT CONCEPTION? Q: I’m 25 and in good health, I think, but we’ve been trying for a year and so far haven’t fallen pregnant. Nobody knows we’re trying. The other day in the office – I work with a lot of women – I heard my colleagues talking about something called adnexitis. It sounds like a venereal disease without many symptoms, but it also affects fertility. I’d never heard of it before, and now I’m worried that I might have it, because I was certainly no angel when I was younger and had unprotected sex with a variety of partners. I don’t have any other STD that I know of, because I would have had symptoms by now. Can men get it too? A: Dr Peter Koll answers:…

✗ ALCOHOL No amount of alcohol has been found to be safe in pregnancy. ✗ CAFFEINE Stick to about one to two cups of coffee a day, or fewer if you can. ✗ DELI COUNTER MEAT Processed meat, sliced ham, polony, viennas and so forth must be avoided or heated well before eating to kill off listeria bacteria. ✗ UNPASTEURISED MILK AND CHEESES These are usually the soft or stinky ones like Brie, Camembert or blue cheese, and they can carry e. coli or cause listeriosis. ✗ RAW EGGS AND PRODUCTS MADE OF RAW EGG Think homemade mayonnaise, chocolate mousse and biscuit batter. They carry a risk of salmonella. ✗ SUSHI, BILTONG, CHORIZO It’s raw, so you can’t guarantee germ-freeness. ✗ RAW SPROUTS AND UNWASHED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Toxoplasmosis is…

✓ It’s important to collect your urine sample correctly, to avoid contamination. A contaminated sample could give the doctor an inaccurate result, and this could result in being treated incorrectly. ✓ At the clinic or doctor’s office, ask for a specimen container. You may also be given an antiseptic wipe. In the toilet, wash your hands, then use the wipe to clean your vulva from front to back. ✓ Sit on the toilet, and begin urinating. Wee for a few seconds, then catch a “midstream” sample of urine in the specimen container. Without touching the inside of the container, screw the cap on.…

“I didn’t mind at all that I went up a cup size or two, except for having to wear a bra to bed.” ELEANOR “My boobs started to get a lot bigger at four months and grew to an unrecognisable shape and size by the time I gave birth. I thought that was it, until my milk came in. I’m normally a B cup, but my breasts were officially bigger than my baby’s head. Anyway, 15 months later they are 90 percent back to normal.” CINDY “I thought my bump would be the body part that would be of most interest to my husband, but it turns out it wasn’t...” LAURA…

Use a small amount of baby oil, tissue oil or a cold pressed oil, so as to reduce the friction on the skin, and enable your hands to glide around the abdomen. Bio-Oil is a great choice. If using aromatherapy oils, be sure to use those that are safe in pregnancy. 1. EFFLEURAGE Light fingertip touching. Do not press too hard. Keep one hand in contact with the skin at all times. This is a good form of massage for the early part of labour. Place one hand below ribs, and the other hand beneath the navel. Stroke the abdomen in one circular direction. Do this three times, and then change direction. Keep the movements slow. (Partners can also do this.) 2. PETRISSAGE Using two hands, place the upper part…

A positive emotional environment – which makes you feel calm, relaxed and confident, and where you feel nurtured, loved and gently reassured and encouraged – can very often see you through the difficult phases of labour. If you and those close to you during labour understand that certain behaviours are normal and acceptable during labour, then perhaps you wouldn’t be in such a hurry to avoid them. While in the throes of hard labour, you should be allowed to express what you feel and encouraged to make those expressions, whatever they may be for you. You should feel free to act without fear of embarrassment or shame. Moaning, rocking, swaying and adopting different positions during labour should be encouraged. Do what your body is directing you to do.…

WHEN MELISSA DE KOKER fell pregnant after six years of battling infertility, she thought her bad luck was behind her. In the lead-up to conception, the mom-to-be had had one unnecessary fibroid surgery and another procedure to remove pervasive endometriosis, which almost cost her her life. The birth of her miracle baby could surely not be as traumatic? Little did she know what life would have in store… “For years I suffered from heavy and painful periods to the point where I would vomit and pass out from the pain. I ended up in hospital several times because of it, but doctors simply put it down to a bladder infection. “I had never heard of endometriosis before and had no idea that that might be why my husband, Duvan, and…

THERE’S BEEN a lot in the news recently about the sheer grit and staying power of the female body. Trying, for example, to google the name of that red-headed South African prop forward, I keep getting diverted by stories about women swimming, like, four times across the English Channel in one go, or winning all the ultra-endurance sports records, or getting ready to colonise Mars without any need for men, thank you very much. The comments after these stories are always cringe-worthy, as guy after guy emerges into the daylight to pour scorn on the very idea of chicks trying to parallel park on Mars. Ah, I hear you say, the gender wars don’t need any more recruits, just ignore them. But, like I just said, I’m still trying to…