Lauren M. Whaley's blog

If California were a country, it would tie with Fiji for the percentage of babies born too early. In 2010, nearly 10 babies out of every 100 were born before 37 weeks of gestation. If placed on the global list, California would rank 88th -- behind Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Rwanda and Tunisia.

But California, the hypothetical country, is doing much better in reducing preterm births than the United States as a whole. 

My friend had been pushing for four hours.

“You have a size nine baby coming out of a size seven pelvis,” her doctor said.

I heard several similar stories while reporting on elective deliveries. The baby is too big to push out.

My friend’s daughter was 8 pounds 11.5 ounces. She was born, eventually, by Cesarean section.

Not, technically, a “big baby.” 

Big Baby Syndrome is also known as Large for Gestational Age or fetal macrosomia. Sometimes, it’s defined as babies born weighing 4,000 grams - 8 pounds 13 ounces - or more. Sometimes, the cutoff is 4,500 grams - 9 pounds 15 ounces.

I didn’t know Sheryl when she wasn’t sick.

I didn’t know her as a preschool teacher, a mother, a churchgoer or dialysis support group leader. Every time I saw her, she was in a hospital bed, tethered to a dialysis machine or in a wheelchair en route to a doctor’s appointment.

She had lost one leg to amputation, was in danger or losing the other and suffered from advanced kidney disease.

“Dear Hospital Administrator,
 I had my baby at your hospital on 01-30-2010 and,
overall, I had a [sic] unacceptable experience.”

A mother wrote this with the help of The Letters Project, an online program that birth doula Tracy Hartley designed to help mothers and mothers-to-be exert greater control during the hospital births of their babies. (Read the full letter here.)

On cold desert nights and rainy winter days, even Southern Californians enjoy the snap, crackle, pop of a fire in the fireplace.

But, this season, a new rule has Southland fireplace owners taking a breather from their hearths.

Starting November first of this winter season, the South Coast Air Quality Management District has asked people not to light fires when soot pollution is already high. Through February 2011, the rule is voluntary. Next winter, however, this “no burn” rule will be mandatory on bad-air days. The district covers Orange County as well as the urban portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.