Summer Banks's blog

Most experts suggest waiting until you’ve delivered to get your next tattoo, but they also give tips for pregnant
women who want to add a little ink to their body while pregnant.

Ahhh, the question of maternity clothes – I actually received this question via email just today, so I thought I’d jump right on it with a simple answer – NO! Pregnant women don’t NEED maternity clothes at all, but I doubt that is the answer the asker was looking for.

Despite warnings about potential birth defect risks associated with
chemical solvents, women are still putting their pregnancies at risk by
working with these chemicals.

You would think after having two children I would have
learned the right questions to ask my obstetrician. During my previous
two pregnancies I had taken notes after birth of the questions I’d
forgotten to ask.

The other day I was reading a story about a woman who wanted to help her
sister have children. The sister was unable to conceive after five long
years. There was some medical explanation regarding her infertility,
but all that really matters is the fact that her eggs were affected.

Pregnant women should never come in contact with the cat litter box because of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite that may be found in cat feces. The parasite can move to the brain if the pregnant woman ingests it by accident and cause health problems.

Stem cell research has always been the topic of hot debate. Stem cells
are thought to hold the key to cures and treatments for some diseases,
but sourcing stem cells have been a moral battle for years.

When I was growing up my mother never talked about infertility problems –
most moms that I knew never talked about sex or sexual matters and
fertility would fall into that category.

Not that many years ago women in their 40s were considered late in life
and having a baby was a mistake at that age, not a choice. If women are
changing and fertility is changing, how long will it be before age is no
longer a factor?

When a couple fights the battle of infertility they are lost in the moment, the fight, the struggle and – hopefully – the success.

The answer to this question is one every man and woman facing
infertility must deal with at some point or another. For me it happened
the minute I walked out of the doctor's office. He had just told me that
I was infertile at the age of 20.

Infertility is not a word anyone wants to hear, but it is a word many
couples are familiar with. At first, the diagnosis can be overwhelming,
but being told you are infertile does not always mean you’ll never have
children.

Older parents are just as capable of giving birth to and raising
children, but what does pushing that parenting clock do to the
foundation of a child’s life. Is older parenting killing generations?

If there is one thing women feel it is the tick-tock of that maternal clock. For some women it starts around the mid-20s or early 30s. For other women it starts much later – closer to 40. No matter when it starts in your mind, your body has a very different idea.

The special care for my premature newborns started immediately after birth. Twin A was unable to maintain a healthy body temperature so she was under a heating unit for a few hours after birth.

Preemies are like tiny little creatures with all ten fingers and toes. With that tiny little body comes a tiny little appetite. Some new twin moms choose to breastfeed and others choose to bottle feed. 

You can find everything from school clothes to marriage advice to
fertility help on Facebook, but is Facebook really the answer to
infertility or is it killing fertility in the first place?

When someone sneezes you may hear the German word Gesundeit. This German word means sneeze. When you feel pain during ovulation you may hear a very different German word – Mittelschmerz.

On the front of Time magazine recently there was a mother who chose to breastfeed her three-year-old son. The picture was quite alarming for some readers.

I’ve heard some weird questions through the years, but probably the weirdest is about naming your baby bump.