One million babies die on their first day of life -- making their birth day the most dangerous day of their life.

Save the Children has come out with their State of the World's Mothers Index and the results are startling. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most dangerous place to give birth. If you are pregnant in the Democratic Republic of Congo you have a one in 30 chance of not living through the birth. Finland and other Nordic countries are ranked the best places to be a mother. 

I  have recently returned from a trip to Dominican Republic where I toured three SOS Children's Villages. A number of the orphaned children that I met ended up in care because their mothers had died in childbirth. It sounded outlandish to me that dying in childbirth is so common. There must be a way to make it better. And there is. 

When I was in labour with my second, there wasn't too much for my doula to do -- so she picked up the camera and took photos. And they are amazing. There is a black and white photo of my doctor catching my son and she looks so happy. 

I love them. But I don't show them to anyone (including my son). But they really do show the miracle, the teamwork and moment of his birth. (My doctor, however, has a framed copy on her wall.)

The fact that these beautiful black and white photos exist is a fluke. As much as I love them, would I hire a professional to take photos during the birth?

A study out of Britain is claiming that light drinking during pregnancy does not harm the baby. Up to two alcoholic "units" did not harm the fetus and had no affect on the behaviour of the children, says the study.

Okay I can't stand it any longer. I have to address the Kim Kardashian fat-shaming pregnancy issue.

I have stayed out of the fray on this because I think that everything KimmyK does is to get publicity and more money -- including getting pregnant. 

But since announcing little North West, Kim has been wearing tight and oddly-shaped outfits that don't do her lovely body justice. And the tabloids have been judging her heavily for it. We loved her curves before, but only within reason it seems. 

In some ways, her body is the product that she sells and she knows that every bizarre get-up she puts on will be commented on, so I do think she is not oblivious to the silhouettes she has chosen to go out in. (And I do find a leather minidress a bizarre pregnancy outfit - no breathability.)

She has been criticized and fat-shamed for months about her clothing choices as well as her expanding body. The tabloid and psuedo-tabloids have been selling magazines off of her body for years and now it is has ramped up with headlines like: "I Can't Stop Eating" and "Pregnant Kim's Nightmare". And then there was this. 

News is that Kate Middleton (side note: why do we all still call her by her maiden name? You would think a woman in the throes of an extremely traditional family would be referred to by her married  name) has plans to move home to her parents after having the royal heir.

The Duchess of Cambridge is (gasp!) allegedly dispensing with the services of a maternity nurse and choosing to have her mum help her out with for the first 6 weeks.

According the Daily Mail: "Kate says she ‘just feels safest and most secure’ with her family and believes that no one could be better placed to teach her about bringing up a baby than her mother, who has three children of her own."

To complicate matters, Kate and Will's apartment at Kensington Palace won't be ready for a few months because they've found asbestos in the walls. So the new family has to choose whether to stay in their temporary home, or to move in with Carol Middleton.

We've all done it.

Told a little too much about our kids online. Not just me as a blogger, but anyone who is on Facebook or Twitter. There is a very fine line between providing information, broadcasting great moments and oversharing. So, I have a little empathy for the updates that cross the line, once in a while. 

But sometimes there is something so egregious, so ridiculous, that I stare at my screen in disbelief. There are the braggers and the sanctimommies, the oversharers -- they are the parents who believe that the world revolves around them and their children's small achievements. 

STFU Parents is for them (yes, stands for Shut the F*ck Up). Or at least it is to make fun of them. And in doing so it also reveals a little bit of ourselves. 

Blair Koenig is a childless writer who has been keeping up the blog for four years. She gets over one and half million views per month and has just released a book, STFU Parents: the jaw-dropping, self-indulgent, and occasionally rage-inducing world of parent overshare.

Oh, Gwyneth.

You have a new cookbook out based on a restrictive diet, and in order to get people to buy into your clean eating regime you are hitting up the media with some news to get people talking.

You, like so many other women out there, suffered a miscarriage that understandably scared and saddened you. It sounds like it was a terrible experience that has obviously left some psychological scars. It can't be easy having your kids ask for a baby and not feel that you are able to have another one. Sounds like your relationship with Blue Ivy helps ease the burden a little, even though it makes you a little "broody".
 

Holly Madison doesn't have much reason to be in the news lately. Perhaps you have already forgotten her stint as Hugh Hefner's chief bunny. In case you have retained your dignity and lost touch with her, she is awaiting the very iminent arrival of her first baby.

I know this because she announced that she plans to eat the placenta after her little bundle of joy arrives. This statement has propelled her back into our unsuspecting lives. (She may already be chowing down, as she checked into the hospital on Monday morning.)

Proponents of doing it say that consuming your placenta -- raw, cooked or in pill form -- will ward off post-partum depression, revitalize your tired body and pump you full of iron. Many mammals consume their placenta following birth, though researchers don't know why, and so proponents say that it is a natural part of the birthing process.

The rest of us just think it is a little gross.

Ben Affleck didn't exactly show off his romantic side at the Oscars when he thanked his wife of "10 Christmases" Jennifer Garner for all her hard work on their marriage. 

He said, while stumbling over his words:  "It’s good, it is work, but it’s the best kind of work, and there’s no one I’d rather work with.”

The fact that Affleck didn't fall into schmoopy-doopyism's has some gossip columnists wondering if the Affleck-Garner marriage is in trouble. But I found it a refreshing break from the contrived "soulmate" kinds of thank-yous that generally take up the Oscar broadcast. 

When I was first diagnosed with a placental abruption and put on bedrest for 8 weeks, someone (who shall remain nameless) asked me if it was the stress that did it.

As if stress could actually physically move my placenta a millimetre away from the uterine wall and make it start bleeding. Please. Blaming stress on pregnancy issues or fertility problems is blaming the victim -- and there is very little science behind it. 

Slate did a takedown of this old wives tale and explained that stress and anxiety has very little affect on pregnancy or fertility issues.

Allison Schaffer reports that a British study in 2011 looked at 14 different studies on IVF and reported that anxiety did not change outcomes: "In other words, women with more extreme levels of anxiety or depression were just as likely to get pregnant after a single cycle as women with milder levels."

What about pregnancy? Can stress and anxiety harm your unborn baby? A Danish study looked at 78,000 Dutch women and found that those with the highest self-reported stress levels gave birth a mere two days earlier than the women who reported little stress. In fact, reports Amanda Schaffer, fetuses whose mothers reported higher levels of distress tended to be more active in utero, a positive developmental sign.

So, if the next time a doctor or well-meaning relative gives you the "just relax for the baby's sake" speech. You can tell them to lay off because being told to constantly "think positive" is just a recipe for more stress, and while that won't harm the baby, it can cause heartburn. 

Were you ever told to "just relax"? Do you think anxiety affected your pregnancy?

Want more chaos? Last year, I reported that Beyoncé breastfed in public (reportedly) and how that can change the world.

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