Health & Baby Features
- The Vivid Dreams of Pregnant Women
From dreams about journeys to nightmares about delivery, experts tell WebMD how pregnant women can decipher the secrets of their sleep.
- Pregnant Passions: Keep Intimacy Alive
If pregnancy has caused you and your partner to lose that lovin' feeling, don't despair; reviving intimacy may be easier than you think.
- Pregnant This Summer? Beat the Heat
Hot, humid -- and heavy with child. Pregnancy can make the summer seem hotter. But following a few simple guidelines can keep you cool.
- Ensure a Happy Summer Camper
It's not just the 6 million American kids heading to summer camp who may have trouble adjusting. It's also their parents.
- Rip Current No. 1 Beach Danger
More than eight out of 10 beach drownings and lifeguard rescues are due to rip currents.
- Facing Depression During Pregnancy
An important tool in fighting depression during pregnancy, antidepressants can help an expectant mother -- without hurting her unborn baby.
- New First Aid Kit for Today's World
Today's disaster kit contains all the traditional elements of a first aid kit and expands it to include survival items that could make the difference between life and death in the case of emergency.
- Helping Your Late-Talking Children
If your child seems to be a late talker, when is the time to seek help? What's normal?
- Choosing the Sex of Your Child
Several options are available for choosing the sex of your child, but none are guaranteed.
- Choosing Child Care Service
Choosing child care service requires doing your homework, whether you are looking for a day care center or at-home care.
- Pregnancy's Ups and Downs
The problems that come with pregnancy -- such as changes in lifestyle, day care, income, career, and sibling adjustment -- are common, according to mental health experts.
- Baby's Coming -- But When?
Folk wisdoms for inducing labor have been passed through generations, but do any of them really work?
- Bonding With Baby Before Birth
Making a connection with your unborn child can strengthen the bond you share, make you feel closer, and enrich you and your baby's lives.
- What to Expect if You Have a Cesarean Delivery
Find out what a cesarean birth is really like.
- Morning Sickness Misery
Whether it's in the morning or all day long, pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting can be debilitating. Here are some ways to muddle through the misery.
- Eating for 2 -- but Not Too Much
You should gain weight while pregnant, but there's a way to do it so that you and your baby are healthy.
- Breaking the Thumb-Sucking Habit
It's OK for infants and toddlers to soothe themselves by sucking a thumb or finger, experts say. But if that child enters kindergarten with his hand in his mouth -- it's time for mom and dad to intervene. Here's how to handle this common problem.
- Rite of Passage or Cry for Help?
Teen shoplifting is rarely habitual, but children should know there are consequences to their actions.
- Having a Baby? Think Yoga
'Strength, flexibility, relaxation' -- what some say yoga can bring to your pregnancy.
- Sleep Soundly During Pregnancy
When you're pregnant, a host of discomforts conspire to rob you of sleep. From heartburn to leg cramps to endless bathroom trips, catching those much-needed ZZZs can be a big challenge. Here's help.
- Girls Just Wanna Be Mean
Kids call it 'outcasting.' Using gossip, innuendo, and other unsavory techniques to alienate and shun a peer. And it's a growing, potentially dangerous problem in our schools -- whether your child is on the receiving end or the one doing the bullying.
- Doulas: Easing Birth
Doulas traditionally are women who offer support and encouragement to pregnant women during labor and delivery.
- Staying Safe in the Surf
Here are 10 things you'll need for a safe time at the beach.
- Family-Sized New Year's Resolutions.
New Years Resolutions: The usual time of the year when you say you are going to trim down on both the junk food and where it ends up on the waistline.
- Beat the Heat When You're Expecting
Sweating for two? Here's how to stay healthy, safe, and cool when temperatures soar.
- The Changing Face of Fatherhood.
Today, parents' roles are anything but typical. With divorce, custody battles, and changes in the workplace, dads are treading uncharted terrority.
- Planning a Family
Despite medical advances -- from new contraceptive options to high-tech fertility treatments -- having the family you want, when you want it, seems more complicated than ever.
- How to Pick a Summer Camp
There are more than 8,000 summer camps in the U.S., offering everything from canoeing to computers. Take some time with your kids to decide which summer camp is right for them and how long they should be away from home.
- Mothers Share Their Sept. 11 Stories
In time for Mother's Day, these amazing moms explain how they're coping with loss and loneliness, and getting on with life, in the wake of the terrorist tragedy.
- Giving Birth the Old Way
Variations of natural childbirth are popular these days. Most of us know someone who gave birth at home, or without any drugs, or in water, or assisted by a midwife.
- Pregnant Moms Getting Fishy Advice
Expectant women should eat plenty of fish. Or should they? Sure, we know to steer clear of mercury-laden swordfish. But what about that can of tuna?
- Chiropractic During Pregnancy
As the general population seeks alternative healthcare options in greater numbers, so are pregnant women.
- Double the Joy, Double the Jitters
If having one baby creates an emotional rollercoaster of joy, anticipation, and fear, then having twins quite literally doubles those feelings.
- Here's to Pickles and Ice Cream
Pregnant women tend to crave unusual foods and food combinations.
- Family-Sized New Year's Resolutions
When the new year begins, why not make a resolution to eat better as a family? You can keep good nutrition in mind as well as spend more quality time together at the table. And if you can make more of your meals a family event, experts say you may also be rewarded with some parenting benefits as well.
- Supersized Kids, Diminishing Health.
In a Bit More Than a Decade, the Number of Overweight Children Has Doubled in Many Racial Groups
- When Your Child Has a Headache
Toddlers -- even babies -- can suffer from painful migraine headaches, but often can't tell their parents they're hurting.
- Treating Childhood Hearing Loss
Growing up with impaired hearing can have devastating effects on a child's ability to speak and use language. But newly-available devices and treatments can prevent the worst of these complications -- if parents remain alert to warning signs and act quickly.
- Who's Watching Our Teens?
Keeping your teen safe and sound when schools out, and you're still at work. From paying jobs to community service, babysitting co-ops and regular call schedules, WebMD tells you how to keep your teenager in line and out of trouble.
- Preparing for Parenthood With Yoga.
Yoga is something that can be practiced during any phase of life, even pregnancy. Furthermore, proponents of the ancient practice say yoga during pregnancy can actually help the woman prepare for childbirth and parenthood by getting her (and dad!) into mental, physical, and spiritual shape -- gently.
- What Makes Kids Intelligent?
Raising an intelligent child depends on their ability to process information, which promotes learning, understanding, reasoning and problem-solving.
- How to Have a Smarter Child
Heredity, has a lot to do with how smart your child will turn out, but the environment in which he or she develops is an important factor.
- Your Baby Wants Body Art
Some call it self-expression, some say disfigurement, but the issues are larger than just style or rebellion: People with tattoos are nine times more likely to be infected with hepatitis C.
- Back to Basics for Moms-to-Be
Having a baby can be a big pain in the back, either before or after delivery.
- School of Hard Knocks
An astounding 97% of students report hearing homophobic remarks at school, from peers and teachers alike. But words aren't the worst of it, according to a new report. Gay kids -- and those rumored to be -- suffer daily physical and emotional abuse at school. For some, suicide is the only way out.
- Kindness Is Contagious
A leading 'positive psychologist' is working to prove that kindness is catching. Witnessing good deeds physically inspires the viewer to model that behavior, he says, a finding that can -- and should -- be applied to childrearing and education.
- What Would You Do to Have a Baby?
A matter of time before the first human clone appears -- for better or for worse -- leaving the rest of humanity to deal with the ramifications.
- Traveling for Two: Advice for Pregnant Vacationers
Seat Belts and Air Bags Can Save Your Fetus' Life.
- Spying on Your kids
Nannycams. Electronic kid trackers. Tattletale software. Parents today have a wealth of high-tech ways to keep tabs on their kids. But do these devices promote safety and peace of mind -- or distrust and anxiety?
- Parenting the Picky Eater
When you have a child who hardly eats, it seems everyone has an opinion. We asked the experts to help us sort the good advice from the bad.