True confession time. During my pregnancy, I purchased and read just about every book available on how to be prepared for a newborn. From The Happiest Baby on the Block to The Baby Whisperer to the official publications of the American Academy of Pediatrics, I read them all. What I didn't find were books on how to what to expect or how to take care of myself after the baby was born. And even as an Ob/Gyn, I was shocked at how ill prepared I was for the "4th trimester". As dis

Every day 2-3 women die in pregnancy or childbirth in the US Women in the US are 3 times more likely to die during pregnancy or within the first year of giving birth than women in Canada and 7 times more likely to die than women in Finland where the rate of death is lowest. Notes "Global, regional, and national levels of maternal mortality, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015," The Lancet. Only data for 1990, 2000 and 2015 was made ava

Photo: Smiling through postpartum depression, about 2 months after giving birth to my wonderful boy. Suicide accounts for 20% of all deaths among women in the first year after giving birth the US. This makes suicide the second leading cause of death among women in the postpartum period. May is postpartum depression (PPD) awareness month. PPD is a condition that is starting to get more attention due to high profile moms like Chrissy Teigan, Hayden Panettiere and Adele speaking