It’s go time, mama! Whether you’re counting down the days or trying to plan ahead, learn more about giving birth with advice and essays from real mamas.
This time, it was just my husband and me. The room was quiet. No chaos of visitors. The conversations were just between us. Just the two of us for the first time in six and a half years.
For black mothers, the need for support during birth is even greater. Black women are 2.5 times more likely to die in childbirth than white women—at least in part because of institutional racism.
While the twin birth was certainly dramatic, the couple couldn't be happier with how it all unfolded. "It was literally ideal," Bode said. "[It was] a lot for everybody to experience, you couldn't have had it be cooler for everybody involved."
Every time I go to throw them away, I feel a pang of guilt. This underwear saved my life. Okay, maybe it wasn't that extreme, but it did bring me comfort. This package of underwear was the first step towards regaining some semblance of dignity and normalcy after giving birth. This underwear propelled me into motherhood.
"These are not small co-pays. The costs are staggering," says Dr. Michelle Moniz, M.D.,M.Sc., an obstetrician-gynecologist at Michigan Medicine's Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital and researcher with the U-M Institute of Healthcare Policy and Innovation.
