Rachel called us the morning she woke up and found a bat hanging out in her closet. As far as she could tell, she had not been bitten. She was 10 weeks pregnant and wondered what her next steps should be. Her husband also did not detect any bites. He kindly relocated the bat to the outside of their home, but now they were both exposed to potential rabies infection. She was about to leave for work, and her husband had already left for a busy day at the office.Rachel had been down this …
The Baby Blog
About Our Baby Blog
Every person wants to know what’s best for their baby, especially when it comes to knowing how to minimize exposure risks. Our relatable stories are packed with practical information from our rotating staff of MotherToBaby expert bloggers. Whatever topic you’re looking for, our blogs will provide you a great foundation to learn more.
Feeling the Burn: Extreme Heat in Pregnancy
Arizona is HOT, especially in the summer. I knew this when I moved to Tucson almost a decade ago. Since then, I have had two pregnancies while living in Arizona. I was lucky not to have to spend the last weeks of pregnancy and first weeks with my newborn in the summer heat.Of course, Arizona is not the only place experiencing hot weather. 2023 was the planet’s warmest year on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Temperature records have already been broken in …
Empowering Education and Support for Breastfeeding People Living in Rural Communities
For breastfeeding people living in rural areas, it is often difficult to find appropriate breastfeeding and lactation resources as they can be few and far between. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), infants in rural areas are less likely to ever breastfeed than infants living in urban areas.Emma, a new mother to a baby boy, lives in a rural area where the nearest town with a healthcare facility is over an hour away. Even by phone, it was difficult to reach her …
Zika, Pregnancy, and Travel in a Post-Epidemic World
One of the most common Zika-related questions we get at MotherToBaby is, “What is the risk of Zika if I travel to Country X?” Or, a variation of the same: “We just got back from Country X. Do we really need to wait 3 months before we try to get pregnant?”Back when the Zika epidemic was sweeping the western hemisphere, answering these travel-related questions was fairly straightforward. It was easier to know where there was a risk for Zika infection as governments and public health organizations …
Managing Mom’s Anxiety during Pregnancy
“I’m worried. I can’t sleep. It’s anxiety.” The message came through from Natalie a few minutes after I had logged onto our live chat service at MotherToBaby.org. “I’m 14 weeks pregnant and concerned about taking a SSRI” she continued. As a Teratogen Information Specialist, I answer questions about exposures during pregnancy and breastfeeding on a daily basis, and I was happy to chat with Natalie about this topic. Natalie had just returned from a visit to her OB/GYN’s office where she was …
