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Mamas on Bedrest: “I Spent $47,000 in 10 Weeks!”
May 20th, 2013In this podcast, we hear from former Mama on Bedrest, Rebecca Buscemi. Rebecca has a remarkable story of incidental injury that lead to 10 weeks of bed rest, depression, manic spending, bankruptcy and now a successful business. Rebecca shares with us her “cover ups” and how deeply she hurt while on bed rest and yet no one suspected and she never divulged the truth. She shares the pain of depression so deep that she has no recollection of the early months of her daughter’s life. Her pain and “spending to soothe” resulted in bankruptcy for her family and $47,000 in debt that extended to her parents. Rebecca pulled herself back from the brink, started a business and now, nearly 5 years later, is once again financially solvent.
Mamas on Bedrest: We’re 76 out of 100!
May 10th, 2013Mamas,
2013 is proving to be a great year for us! The Mamas on Bedrest & Beyond blog has again been acknowledged. This time, we are being cited as one of the top 100 baby related blogs to follow in 2013 by couponaudit.com. This is a consumer information organization that gives consumers information about all manner of products and services so that they can make wise and informed choices (my personal mantra for all of you!)-and receive special gifts and offers, too!
While I am personally pleased as punch at all of the accolades, I am more thrilled by the fact that mamas on bed rest are getting much deserved recognition. If just 10% more people read this blog, that is 10% more people who will know and understand what it is like to have a high risk pregnancy. That is 10% more people who will know what to do and say to a friend, family member or other loved one who may be prescribed bed rest. That is 10% more people who will “see” us, removing us from the fringes of obscurity. And maybe, just maybe, our stories will stimulate physicians and researchers to target more research in our direction; to find more and more effective treatments for preterm labor, more and more effective treatments for cervical insufficiency, more and effective treatments for pre-eclampsia….That’s right, I’m on a mission to make bed rest a thing of the past (much like it is in most other medical specialties) and to put myself out of business!
So here’s to us, Mamas! And oh,
Happy Mother’s Day!!!!!!!!!!!
An infographic by the team at CouponAudit
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Mamas on Bedrest: What is Normal Birth?
April 24th, 2013What is a “normal birth”? The definition of a normal birth varies. Using the broadest of definitions, “Normal Birth” is defined as the spontaneous initiation of the birth process, i.e. uterine contractions and cervical dilation and effacement occurring between 39 and 42 weeks of gestation. That is the broad, baseline definition. But this has varied over time. If you ask someone who delivered back in the 1920′s, they defined a “normal birth” as a home birth with a local midwife. If you ask someone in the mid to late 1950′s, a normal birth is a hospital birth, likely in a ward and with lots of medications and monitoring and a mama who may or may not have been conscious during the process. And today, the definition has become even more broad and varied. What is comes down to is this; “normal birth” is relative. What was normal in the 60′s when I was born is not at all how “normal birth” is defined today.
What about complications? How do they play and if they arise, do they negate a birth from being “normal”. This is the central question addressed in this video blog. Mamas, if complications arise during labor and delivery, that doesn’t mean that the birth isn’t “normal” and more pointedly, it doesn’t mean that you, mama are a failure.
