4 mins read

Dealing With Breast and Nipple Soreness When Breastfeeding

A highly rewarding experience with many health benefits for your child, breastfeeding may also come with its own set of problems for mothers, including breast and nipple soreness. Nipple pain is generally caused by nipple trauma such as cracks, abrasions, blanching, vasospasm (blood vessel constriction) and milk blisters. The baby’s latch traumatizes the nipple, causing painful injury or a blockage of pores and preventing the flow of milk. Breast pain problems include engorgement, plugged ducts, mastitis and thrush. Engorgement occurs when the breasts get very full and hard and sensitive. A plugged duct, in which the flow of breast milk gets blocked, may feel like a hard, tender area on one of your breasts. Plugged ducts are often a precursor to mastitis, which occurs when an infection leads to an inflammation of the breast. Mastitis can be very painful and is usually accompanied by a fever of 101.3 degrees F. According to Maureen Minchin in “Breastfeeding Matters,” mastitis occurs in 1/5 of breastfeeding women in the West. But, there are ways to relieve each of these problems, so that you can continue feeding and bonding with your baby.

3 mins read

Early Signs of Pregnancy While on Birth Control

No matter what type of birth control you use, you still have a chance of getting pregnant. Abstinence is the only 100-percent effective method of birth control. Rates of pregnancy occurring while on birth control range from 0.09 percent to 9 percent, depending on the type of birth control used, according to a chart provided by AmazingPregnancy.com. Birth control itself can make it difficult to know if you have become pregnant; some forms of birth control create pregnancy-like symptoms, and others cause the menstrual cycle to be irregular. If you have two or more of the following symptoms, go ahead and take a pregnancy test to find out for sure.

3 mins read

What Every Mom Needs To Know About The Flu Shot

The following is a guest post byCheryl Franco, MSNEd, RN, RN Remedies blogger and education manager on the Medical/Surgical and Liver and Kidney Transplant unit at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.During flu season, you see advertising and hear chatter about flu shots. You may wonder, Is it worth the hassle? Every doctor and nurse will say Yes, but you may have doubts and questions about why it is so critical to get …

3 mins read

Facts About the Flu Vaccine

Coming down with influenza or the flu is never a fun experience. The flu usually leads to a fever, cough, chills and body aches. It can leave you bedridden for a few days, but it often leads to more serious complications in young children and older adults. Fortunately, the flu vaccine can prevent the disease.