What Can You Do to Help Your Preemie Survive?

[Image by ceejayoz via Wikimedia Commons]In 2015, when I gave birth to my son at 29 weeks, only one thought kept running through my head: “What can I do to help my baby survive?”It’s easy to feel helpless when you’re a preemie’s parent. You see that the doctors and nurses are already doing everything they can for your child. What more could you possibly contribute?But there are some things only we parents – not the doctors and nurses – can do to...

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Medela Swing Maxi versus Medela Freestyle: Which Breast Pump Should I Choose?

A few months ago, for a short while, I took a break from my regular editing-writing profession and took on work as events coordinator at The Parenting Emporium, a parent-and-child–oriented store, events venue, and community.One of our best-selling products there were Medela breastpumps, specifically, the Medela Freestyle and the Medela Swing Maxi.Now these are two very similar pumps, that is, they are both double electric breastpumps.Therefore, a...

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Best Gifts for a New Mom's Baby Shower

Someone I know is having a baby!And since you're reading this article, I'd bet someone you know is having a baby too.So what would be a good gift to bring to the baby shower?A few months ago, I worked at this parenting store. It was full of the most wonderful, amazing, why-did-I-not-know-that-thing-existed-when-I-had-my-first-baby-eleven-years-ago kind of merchandise.So I've got a headful of stuff that I think a new mom would love. Choose your budget...

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9 Research-Backed Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Moringa oleifera (Malunggay)

If you’re a pregnant mom, you’ve surely heard of malunggay. It’s well touted as a galactagogue, or a milk supply enhancer.A lot of people also swear that consuming malunggay has helped improve their immunity or control their diabetes, hypertension, infection, etc.But much of these are anecdotal evidence, easily attributable to placebo effect.The question is, what do scientifically designed and peer-reviewed research studies say? What does the empirical...

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Unboxing the Philippine General Hospital Charity Ward, Part IV: Life at the NICU

This is the last of a series of articles about my experiences at the University of the Philippines (UP)–Philippine General Hospital (PGH) charity wards. To read the first of this series, click here: Part I, The OB Admitting Section and Delivery Room. The War Zone Because I gave birth to my child two months before full term, we had to stay at the PGH neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for about a month. It is a grim place. The doctors seldom...

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Unboxing the Philippine General Hospital Charity Ward, Part III: The Neonatal ICU

[Image by Bobjgalindo via Wikipedia. This is not what the PGH NICU looks like.] When I was at the OB admitting section and delivery room, one of the residents asked me, "Why did you choose [the Philippine General Hospital] to give birth in?" I answered, "The hospital I came from did not have the necessary facilities for taking care of a preemie." The resident smirked, "Neither do we." It was a snide remark, but it was not all untrue. From...

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Unboxing the Philippine General Hospital Charity Ward, Part II: The OB-Gyn Ward (Ward 14B)

(Source: Ramiltibayan - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0) This is the second part of a series of articles that chronicle my experiences at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) obstetric, neonatal ICU, and pediatric charity wards.  On September 30, 2015, the twenty-ninth week of my pregnancy, I went into preterm labor. My OB-gyn advised me that if my baby was alive at birth, he would likely need to stay at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)...

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