Cesarean Delivery and Fetal Monitoring: Help or Hurt? Fetal monitoring is used more than any other obstetrical intervention, reported to be used in more than 85% of hospitals in 2010 (ACOG Practice Bulletin 132). However, despite its high rate of use, fetal monitoring has not been proven effective in decreasing infant or maternal mortality or…
Lady Gaga’s Hip Labral Tear: Are You At Risk for One? Lady Gaga’s tour operators, Live Nation, announced February 14, 2013 that she would be cancelling the remainder of her tour due to a hip injury. You may not know one single song that Lady Gaga sings (I don’t), so why, you are thinking, should I…
Physical Therapy for Back Pain Improves Chances for Permanent Relief Apparently Dr. Oz may not know exactly what physical therapy is – even though it is good that he sought it out when discussing “cutting edge solutions for back pain” on a recent segment. The segment caught the attention of the American Physical Therapy Association,…
This guest post is written by Liz Gillem Duncanson MPT, ATC, PYT-C, of Body Temple Physical Therapy in Northern California. Visit Liz. The Yoga Couch When I returned to work after my first Professional Yoga Therapy studies course with Ginger Garner, I began to lay out a mysterious blanket configuration on the floor next to the…
Labor & Delivery Yoga: Better Birth is Only a Breath Away I have had the absolute joy of giving birth three times. Although I have other secret weapons for labor and delivery, I believe this one is the most important for managing pain, preventing panic or anxiety, and maintaining adequate oxygenation, no matter what type…
The idea of women’s empowerment is a touchy issue. It has been correlated with the myth of the “male decline” and other scare tactics put forth by those who may seek to sweep women’s issues under the proverbial rug. However, one fact stands very clear. Our current approach on women’s health care in the US…
Can Yoga Be Used as Medicine, Part Two This is the second part in a two part series that discusses how you can talk with your doctor or therapist about yoga as medicine. At work teaching Yoga as Medicine in an interactive lab for a community physical therapy class during a medical continuing education yoga…
Can Yoga Be Used as Medicine? The short answer is yes. The reality is yoga is not usually used as medicine. Using yoga as medicine can be tedious and laborious (trust me), requiring constant review of the scientific literature in order to make it safe and effective. More often than not yoga is seen as…
Caring Health Care = Caring Economics Dr. Riane Eisler’s work in launching the Caring Economics campaign possesses the potential to positively affect not only our economy, but all the elements that are defined as “caring or caregiving” in our American society today. As a graduate of the Caring Economics Leadership program and as health care…
Secrets for Easing Labor Pain Studies have, for a long time, shown that deep breathing, mental imagery, deep massage or acupressure, and the presence of a constant companion or coach during labor can ease labor pains, making the miracle of birth more, well, enjoyable. During the birth of all three of my sons, all three…
This week’s post is by guest BITL blogger, Elizabeth Carollton. Women with Pelvic Organ Prolapse at Risk Women who have been diagnosed with Pelvic Organ Prolapse should become educated on what it is, how to treat it, and the options available should they need surgical intervention. Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) is diagnosed in approximately 50…
American Childbirth Needs Change The Birth Experience As Empowering Childbirth in America needs to change. America has the highest infant and mortality rates of any industrialized nation. Additionally, women are scared of birth and being scared into making fear based decisions about childbirth, rather than being respectfully informed and supported in their birth decisions. We…