By Bailey Clark
Contributor
It is that time of year again. The time of year when on one singular day, we gather together to celebrate and pay homage to the most important women in our lives: our mothers.
For many parents, Mother's Day is a time to reflect on the children they've raised, the memories they've shared, and the joys they've experienced. Yet, for a rare group of young women, this Mother's Day means something entirely different as they await the birth of their new babies.
For these mothers, this occasion is one of anticipation, fear and excitement as they anxiously prepare for the arrival of the newest member of the family.
This holiday not only marks a moment of reverence for the women who have healed, helped and held us throughout our lives, but a time to recognize those who will soon be stepping into the role of mother once again. For three area women, this day is not only in celebration of their current role as parent, but also for everything that lies ahead.
Kristin Thomas
Due Date: Late August
"Expecting just one baby has been so exciting," says 31-year-old Kristin Thomas.
This is a rare statement from an expectant mother who intends to welcome her child into the world using natural homebirth methods. A rare statement, that is, until her 2-year-old twins come charging into view.
"Feeling the baby move this time around has been amazing," she said. "I didn't think it would be that big of a deal to me, but because it's just one, I can feel the baby move a lot more."
Thomas is a stay-at-home mom to fraternal twins, Isaac and Grace, and wife to her arborist husband, Matt Thomas. The family is ecstatic about the soon-to-be arrival of a little boy, whom they have decided to name Daniel.
Although homebirth may seem frightening to many expectant mothers, to Thomas it is a breeze compared to laboring at home with the twins.
"Sometimes I worry about finding enough one-to-one time with each individual child," Thomas admits, adding that "making sure there is enough time" is surely her largest fear.
However, Thomas's first singular pregnancy is not without its own joys.
"We were amazed at how much this baby is moving," she says, "I can see my belly hop around already."
Fruit and ice cream top the list of pregnancy cravings, and as Thomas approaches this latest Mother's Day, she has one goal in mind for her attributes as a parent: "patience."
"Love is the most important thing," the she adds. And if there is any value she hopes her future baby could understand, Thomas can sum it up in one sentence: "To grow up knowing the importance of a personal relationship with God."
Christy Miller
Due Date: Aug. 15
"Surprised and excited," was how Christy Miller, 26, said she felt when recently finding out she and her husband, Ben, were expecting their first child together. As a mother to a young son, Jordan, 8, Miller feels a completely new set of emotions with this pregnancy because she is expecting a baby girl.
"It's exciting how active she is," Miller said. "Jordan was a very calm baby, but with her I can sit on the couch and physically see her moving!"
As a busy insurance career sales agent with American General Insurance, Miller barely can find time between her hectic schedule to put her feet up. "I have to take naps in the evening, or I won't be worth anything later in the day!"
Then again, these days her biggest dilemma seems to be deciding upon a name for the baby girl.
"I keep telling Ben we have to pick one already," she explains, "but we just can't decide."
Names aside, Christy's biggest challenge with the impending birth of her child is certainly one of balance. "Trying to balance when I go back to work when I have a new baby," is the largest concern to date.
She is quick to add though, "With this pregnancy, I'm happy as long as the baby's healthy."
With the celebration of Mother's Day and her happy pregnancy, Miller has two wishes she hopes to give her child: "love and commitment."
Whether she is busy or not, Miller believes in one thing as the key to being a good mother. "Optimism," she says. "Children get enough negative opinions in their lives, and I feel it's our job as parents to make them feel that they can do anything."
Danielle Miller
Due Date: Sept. 7
If you wanted to know how Danielle Miller, 28, is spending this Mother's Day, chances are you will find her cleaning the house.
"I'm fanatical about organizing with this pregnancy," she says, "I'm driving my husband crazy." As stay-at-home mother to daughter, Ivy, 20 months, and wife to painting contractor, Adam, many differences stand out between the arrival of this baby and that of her last.
"I have been sick this entire pregnancy," Danielle admits, "whereas it only lasted a few months with Ivy." In addition, Danielle plans to give birth at home, instead of the hospital setting that welcomed her previously.
Danielle and her husband are choosing not to learn their new child's gender until birth, and the same goes for their choice of names.
"We don't have any names picked out," she says, "when we see the baby, that's when we'll decide."
Despite the excitement of her pregnancy, Danielle still has her own fears as the due date approaches. "I am concerned about the state of the world," she explains, "and bringing an infant into it."
Yet, if she has her way, Danielle is determined to do her best to protect through the job of motherhood.
"I want to home-school my children, raise them with good Christian values, and teach them to have good relationships with people," Daniellesays, with "trust" topping the list of most important value to her as a parent.
This holiday, Danielle had threewishes for her children, as she anticipates the arrival of baby,
"I want them to be my very best friend, to trust me, and to tell me everything," she said.
Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts
Monday, May 14, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
Teachers joined in birth, death
Two new mothers taught together, died days apart.
By Marie McCullough
Inquirer Staff Writer
In March, the staff, students and parents of Avon Elementary School threw a surprise baby shower for teachers Valerie Scythes and Melissa Farah.
Mere weeks later, both young women were dead.
They died, 15 days apart, after delivering by cesarean section at Underwood Memorial Hospital in Woodbury, Gloucester County. They left behind healthy infants - Isabella Rose Scythes and Grace Melissa Farah.
A combination of the unthinkable and the incredible, the deaths have turned two first-time fathers into widowers, shaken the tiny school and its close-knit borough of Barrington, and left myriad questions about what went wrong.
"It's just unbelievable," said Barrington Mayor John Rink, whose son Nolan was in Scythes' class last year.
Scythes, 35, died March 28. The cause is unclear, and final autopsy results are pending, said John Baldante, a Philadelphia lawyer representing the family.
Farah, 28, died April 12 of "shock, due to bleeding and anemia," according to her death certificate. The family's attorney, Todd Miller of Allentown, said he was awaiting an autopsy report.
Underwood Hospital spokesman Richard Bellamente said the women were "treated and transferred" to Hahnemann University Hospital and Cooper University Hospital - although he did not know which woman went where.
According to people who knew the women, Scythes was airlifted to Hahnemann University Hospital, while Farah was rushed to Cooper University Medical Center in Camden.
The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, which investigates deadly medical errors, has not received reports or complaints regarding the care of the two women, department spokesman Nathan Rudy said.
Death during or around the time of childbirth, a common occurrence a century ago, is now extraordinarily rare in this country. In 2000, 396 women in this country died of obstetric complications of pregnancy or treatment of those complications - including incorrect treatment, federal statistics show. That's fewer than eight women per 100,000 births.
"It's like winning the lottery - a bad one," said Louis Weinstein, chair of obstetrics at Jefferson University Hospital.
The most common causes of such deaths are blood clots, a blood-pressure disorder called eclampsia, and a coagulation disorder triggered by, among other things, hemorrhage, said Robert Debbs, a high-risk obstetrician at Pennsylvania Hospital who also practices at Underwood and is familiar with the cases.
In Debbs' opinion, "the Underwood cases were both catastrophic complications that could have occurred anywhere in the country and were unpreventable," he wrote in an e-mail.
By all accounts, the poignancy of death so closely linked to birth has been compounded by the coincidence that Scythes and Farah were friends and colleagues in a small suburb. They were known to just about everyone with children in the two elementary schools that serve the 1.2-square-mile Camden County borough of 7,000.
Although Scythes came to the district four years before Farah, both were alumnae of Rowan University and loved working with special-education students.
Avon principal Anthony Arcodia, a 25-year veteran of the district, said he interviewed both and recommended they be hired. "They had a level of passion and enthusiasm. The last day I saw them, they still had it."
Scythes was known for giving her pupils individual, handmade Christmas ornaments. Both women were known for their love of all things Disney.
Daniel Farah, 29, a computer-information specialist who met his wife-to-be at Collingswood High School, recalled: "I proposed to her in front of the castle in Disney World after dinner at Cinderella's Castle. They had cleared everyone from in front of the castle for the fireworks show, and we were the only ones there."
The couple married in July 2005 and built a house in nearby Oaklyn.
"We started trying to have a baby on our first anniversary," he said. "I was a planner. She was a planner."
James Scythes, a college history professor who lived with his wife in Woodbury, declined to be interviewed. Baldante said his client wanted time to deal with the emotional trauma and questions surrounding his wife's death.
Underwood Hospital has about 1,100 deliveries a year, hospital billing records show. It is one of two hospitals with maternity units in Gloucester County.
Underwood has "never" had a maternal death, Bellamente said. He declined to discuss the cases, citing privacy rules. "Hospital policy and practice is to refrain from disclosing protected health information."
An Inquirer analysis of Underwood billing records shows that between 2001 and 2005, seven obstetric patients were transferred to other medical facilities.
In the Barrington school district, news of Scythes' death was shared by a letter sent home to parents. At the Avon school, which serves children in kindergarten through fifth grade, Melissa Farah was beyond grief-stricken.
"She said: 'Oh my God. Is this going to happen to me?,' " recalled parent-teacher association president Beth Cavallaro. "We tried to reassure her and said: 'No, no. It was just a freak thing.' "
On the Sunday night after Farah's death, the district's automated recording service called each Avon parent to alert them that an unspecified "tragedy" had occurred and that counselors would be available at the school to talk to the children.
Proposals for memorials to the teachers - and funds for their babies - are coming from all quarters, Arcodia said.
Already, the parent-teacher association has ordered plaques that will be unveiled at back-to-school night in September, Cavallaro said. The organization also plans to install a tree, a bench, and specially inscribed bricks in the new playground, to be built in August with $52,000 raised from Barrington parents and businesses.
Still, for most of those who knew the women, the double tragedy remains incomprehensible.
"Even if it was an act of God," said Daniel Farah, "the odds of two new mothers dying, then that those two people did the same thing for a living, that they worked together, that they went to one another's baby showers - the odds are astronomical."
For photos, obituaries and tributes to Valerie Scythes and Melissa Farah, go to http://go.philly.com/health
To Contribute
Funds have been set up for both of the babies.
For Melissa Farah's daughter:
Checks should be made to "Grace Melissa Farah UGMA Fund"
Pinnacle Food Group Inc.
6 Executive Campus
Suite 100
Cherry Hill, N.J. 08002
For Valerie Scythes' daughter:
Checks should be made to "Isabella Rose Scythes Trust Fund"
409 Mantua Ave.
Woodbury, N.J. 08096
Staff writers Josh Goldstein and John Sullivan contributed to this report.
Reach Sullivan at johnsullivan@phillynews.com or 215-854-2473.
By Marie McCullough
Inquirer Staff Writer
In March, the staff, students and parents of Avon Elementary School threw a surprise baby shower for teachers Valerie Scythes and Melissa Farah.
Mere weeks later, both young women were dead.
They died, 15 days apart, after delivering by cesarean section at Underwood Memorial Hospital in Woodbury, Gloucester County. They left behind healthy infants - Isabella Rose Scythes and Grace Melissa Farah.
A combination of the unthinkable and the incredible, the deaths have turned two first-time fathers into widowers, shaken the tiny school and its close-knit borough of Barrington, and left myriad questions about what went wrong.
"It's just unbelievable," said Barrington Mayor John Rink, whose son Nolan was in Scythes' class last year.
Scythes, 35, died March 28. The cause is unclear, and final autopsy results are pending, said John Baldante, a Philadelphia lawyer representing the family.
Farah, 28, died April 12 of "shock, due to bleeding and anemia," according to her death certificate. The family's attorney, Todd Miller of Allentown, said he was awaiting an autopsy report.
Underwood Hospital spokesman Richard Bellamente said the women were "treated and transferred" to Hahnemann University Hospital and Cooper University Hospital - although he did not know which woman went where.
According to people who knew the women, Scythes was airlifted to Hahnemann University Hospital, while Farah was rushed to Cooper University Medical Center in Camden.
The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, which investigates deadly medical errors, has not received reports or complaints regarding the care of the two women, department spokesman Nathan Rudy said.
Death during or around the time of childbirth, a common occurrence a century ago, is now extraordinarily rare in this country. In 2000, 396 women in this country died of obstetric complications of pregnancy or treatment of those complications - including incorrect treatment, federal statistics show. That's fewer than eight women per 100,000 births.
"It's like winning the lottery - a bad one," said Louis Weinstein, chair of obstetrics at Jefferson University Hospital.
The most common causes of such deaths are blood clots, a blood-pressure disorder called eclampsia, and a coagulation disorder triggered by, among other things, hemorrhage, said Robert Debbs, a high-risk obstetrician at Pennsylvania Hospital who also practices at Underwood and is familiar with the cases.
In Debbs' opinion, "the Underwood cases were both catastrophic complications that could have occurred anywhere in the country and were unpreventable," he wrote in an e-mail.
By all accounts, the poignancy of death so closely linked to birth has been compounded by the coincidence that Scythes and Farah were friends and colleagues in a small suburb. They were known to just about everyone with children in the two elementary schools that serve the 1.2-square-mile Camden County borough of 7,000.
Although Scythes came to the district four years before Farah, both were alumnae of Rowan University and loved working with special-education students.
Avon principal Anthony Arcodia, a 25-year veteran of the district, said he interviewed both and recommended they be hired. "They had a level of passion and enthusiasm. The last day I saw them, they still had it."
Scythes was known for giving her pupils individual, handmade Christmas ornaments. Both women were known for their love of all things Disney.
Daniel Farah, 29, a computer-information specialist who met his wife-to-be at Collingswood High School, recalled: "I proposed to her in front of the castle in Disney World after dinner at Cinderella's Castle. They had cleared everyone from in front of the castle for the fireworks show, and we were the only ones there."
The couple married in July 2005 and built a house in nearby Oaklyn.
"We started trying to have a baby on our first anniversary," he said. "I was a planner. She was a planner."
James Scythes, a college history professor who lived with his wife in Woodbury, declined to be interviewed. Baldante said his client wanted time to deal with the emotional trauma and questions surrounding his wife's death.
Underwood Hospital has about 1,100 deliveries a year, hospital billing records show. It is one of two hospitals with maternity units in Gloucester County.
Underwood has "never" had a maternal death, Bellamente said. He declined to discuss the cases, citing privacy rules. "Hospital policy and practice is to refrain from disclosing protected health information."
An Inquirer analysis of Underwood billing records shows that between 2001 and 2005, seven obstetric patients were transferred to other medical facilities.
In the Barrington school district, news of Scythes' death was shared by a letter sent home to parents. At the Avon school, which serves children in kindergarten through fifth grade, Melissa Farah was beyond grief-stricken.
"She said: 'Oh my God. Is this going to happen to me?,' " recalled parent-teacher association president Beth Cavallaro. "We tried to reassure her and said: 'No, no. It was just a freak thing.' "
On the Sunday night after Farah's death, the district's automated recording service called each Avon parent to alert them that an unspecified "tragedy" had occurred and that counselors would be available at the school to talk to the children.
Proposals for memorials to the teachers - and funds for their babies - are coming from all quarters, Arcodia said.
Already, the parent-teacher association has ordered plaques that will be unveiled at back-to-school night in September, Cavallaro said. The organization also plans to install a tree, a bench, and specially inscribed bricks in the new playground, to be built in August with $52,000 raised from Barrington parents and businesses.
Still, for most of those who knew the women, the double tragedy remains incomprehensible.
"Even if it was an act of God," said Daniel Farah, "the odds of two new mothers dying, then that those two people did the same thing for a living, that they worked together, that they went to one another's baby showers - the odds are astronomical."
For photos, obituaries and tributes to Valerie Scythes and Melissa Farah, go to http://go.philly.com/health
To Contribute
Funds have been set up for both of the babies.
For Melissa Farah's daughter:
Checks should be made to "Grace Melissa Farah UGMA Fund"
Pinnacle Food Group Inc.
6 Executive Campus
Suite 100
Cherry Hill, N.J. 08002
For Valerie Scythes' daughter:
Checks should be made to "Isabella Rose Scythes Trust Fund"
409 Mantua Ave.
Woodbury, N.J. 08096
Staff writers Josh Goldstein and John Sullivan contributed to this report.
Reach Sullivan at johnsullivan@phillynews.com or 215-854-2473.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Spit test spots deadly pre-eclampsia
LONDON, May 8 A home test which uses spit allows mothers-to-be to check for themselves whether they are at risk for pre-eclampsia, says a British study.
The test is expected to be more reliable than the traditional blood pressure and urine tests conducted in doctors' offices and hospitals, according to the study published in Chemistry & Industry.
Pre-eclampsia, which can cause infant mortality, also causes maternal mortality, killing one woman globally every six seconds, according to the United Kingdom's Action on Pre-Eclampsia. Earlier detection and intervention could save lives, but standard blood pressure and urine tests are unreliable, and there is a lot of room for "user error" , according to Michael Rich, head of Action on Pre-eclampsia. The test works by monitoring levels of urate, a salt of uric acid, increased levels of which are thought to be due to impaired kidney excretion in pre-eclampsia.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
The test is expected to be more reliable than the traditional blood pressure and urine tests conducted in doctors' offices and hospitals, according to the study published in Chemistry & Industry.
Pre-eclampsia, which can cause infant mortality, also causes maternal mortality, killing one woman globally every six seconds, according to the United Kingdom's Action on Pre-Eclampsia. Earlier detection and intervention could save lives, but standard blood pressure and urine tests are unreliable, and there is a lot of room for "user error" , according to Michael Rich, head of Action on Pre-eclampsia. The test works by monitoring levels of urate, a salt of uric acid, increased levels of which are thought to be due to impaired kidney excretion in pre-eclampsia.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
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