The holiday season brings with it so much potential for loving connection . . . laughter . . . and  family traditions.   As we visit with family and friends, share food, gifts, and time while attending many celebrations of  light in the darkness, we enjoy timeless rituals and the power of hope.  Yet we frequently  Continue Reading »

A Canadian study found that babies who were cuddled “skin to skin” with the baby’s bare chest to the mom were more responsive to social cues earlier than is typical. Dr. Ann Bigelow, from St. Francis Xavier University, studied over 100 mother-infant pairs in Nova Scotia. In an interview with Scientific American,   she also  Continue Reading »

Sleep! How new parents long for it . . . that blessed restoration of a complete, uninterrupted, sound night’s sleep.  It is THE most consistent challenge of caring for a baby: most babies require feedings at frequent intervals throughout the night as well as the day. I assure Moms and Dads that their exhaustion, irritability,  Continue Reading »

This week I participated in two celebrations which once again made me think about the strong connections between joy and loss, between holding and letting go. The first celebration was the occasion of my twin sons’ fourteenth birthday, the second was a beautiful wedding of our friends’ daughter. On my sons’ birthday, I took the  Continue Reading »

The MomSource is about helping women be proactive in planning for support and preventing post partum adjustment difficulties. Our planning benefits greatly from the current research on understanding how post partum problems develop and how we can best treat problems when they occur. The more we know about families’ needs, the better we can develop  Continue Reading »

The need for “a break” can be as range from a simple “I need to get up and stretch” to “I desperately need to get away for at least two weeks”, and encompasses many other points on that continuum. My recent vacation fell into the latter category, and I’m delighted to report that it provided  Continue Reading »

As my baby girl prepares to graduate from high school in a couple of weeks, I’m once again struck by the ephemeral nature of life with children. Was it really almost 18 years ago that she entered our hearts and lives? Last night I overheard my husband so accurately reflect on this process. He compared  Continue Reading »

Yes, one can have the symptoms of anxiety, problems sleeping, flashbacks, avoiding reminders of the event, and other symptoms of PTSD after giving birth. Last week I was invited by Amy Schroder, Hartford Hospital’s Parenting Education Coordinator, to attend the Professor Cheryl Beck’s presentation on her research in this area. Doctor Beck has researched Post  Continue Reading »