Pregnancy Resource Web Sites
| Please note: Women & Babies Hospital does not endorse the following web sites. We think they contain information that may be useful to you, but they may also contain information that we do not agree with. To visit a Web site, click on one of the titles below. |
Babycenter.com offers expectant mothers a comprehensive web site with many areas to navigate and search. Besides the typical topics offered by many other websites (such as nutrition, labor and childbirth, preparing for the baby, etc), Babycenter.com allows you to track the baby’s development on a day-to-day scale and talk to the experts regarding pressing issues or concerns. It has a dad’s zone, a topic many websites do not include. This link allows fathers to explore their concerns and it has answers by other fathers. Issues include trying to conceive, expecting, and a ‘Now what?’ section. Articles and personal stories from both males and females involved in the pregnancy process are also addressed. Information about traveling, sleep, and sex during pregnancy are further explored. This is one of the best, most informative websites that we discovered, and one of the only ones to address issues experienced by both genders.
This web site concentrates on the many issues faced by women during the pregnancy process. It explores topics such as labor and birth, health and fitness, nutrition, effects on siblings, smoking during pregnancy, and multiples. There is also an area just for fathers, where they can get questions answered, read stories, and submit personal information. This website also explores the pregnancies involving various means of contraception and various conditions that may arise, such as in-vitro pregnancies, tubal pregnancies, teen and midlife pregnancies, and overdue pregnancies. The highlight of this website is the wealth of pregnancy photographs available for your viewing pleasure. This is a unique aspect of the website and makes it more interesting as compared to other websites where text is the only means available for women to chart their growth.
This is a very informative, well written web site illustrating the ABC’s of pregnancy in layman’s terms. It provides basic, yet detailed, information on various pregnancy issues, including facts on nutrition, prenatal care, morning sickness, and includes a glossary for complex terms. The web site is laid out in chapters of development, beginning with becoming a parent and progressing through preparations for pregnancy, health during pregnancy, your pregnant body, nine months of pregnancy, labor and delivery, and commencing with ‘after the arrival’. There is also a section devoted to the loss of a fetus, which is written in very heart-felt and sympathetic terms.
The National Women’s Health Information Center, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, has created a very helpful, no-nonsense resource for all of those touched by the onset of pregnancy (including women, fathers, children of the mother-to-be, etc). It is information-intensive, concentrating on illustrating the facts as simply as possible. Links include what to expect during the first, second, and third trimesters, information on family planning, preparation for the baby, a due date calculator, and resources in Spanish. A very direct and to the point website!
ePregnancy is an interactive web site featuring articles, forums, and resources to keep you informed and trained for the duration of your pregnancy. Links include trying to conceive, growth and stages, taking care of you, birth stories, diaries, and a customized due-date scheduler. An ‘Ask the Experts’ page is also available for those who want quick, knowledgeable answers to their questions. This is a fun, educational, and easy-to-maneuver web site helpful to everyone involved in the pregnant mother’s life.
Childbirth.org concentrates on the naturalness of pregnancy and provides detailed information on a wide variety of pregnancy issues. Topics include the basics (common terms, dating the pregnancy, etc), complications, emotions, frequently asked questions, labor, lifestyle, and pregnancy week by week. This web site is quite helpful, presenting extensive, in-depth, well-worded information for concerned mothers-to-be.
Parentsplace.com is a subset of ivillage.com, offering expectant mothers a place to find answers, read stories, chart development, and feel at home and welcome. A comprehensive pregnancy guide at the top of the web page enables women to scroll through topics that they might need answers to, eliminating the hassle of spending a lot of time searching for one particular topic. This web site was created with a touch of intimacy, which is often lacking from other Internet resources. Parentsplace.com supplies very informative, interesting knowledge and personal stories.
Pregnancy.org is a website created by parents for parents. It communicates on a more intimate, personal level then some of the other websites created by doctors or educational elites. Journals and personal stories fill the website, enabling virtually anyone to find a situation similar to theirs and read other accounts by regular people. Other topics addressed are adoption, nutrition information, and a photo gallery. Issues behind gay and lesbian parenting are also addressed. This site is a bit difficult to navigate through, but the personal stories and journals make the site worth the visit.
Parenthoodweb.com provides diverse informational resources regarding pregnancy. Topics include development, dads, depression, labor and delivery, loss, miscarriage, health, siblings, and pain associated with pregnancy. Articles and personal stories are also part of this website, giving a personal touch to straightforward medical information. Frequently asked questions are listed to make navigating through web pages a bit easier. This is a good website for finding answers to questions in a prompt manner, as well as reading a few stories pertaining to what you are going through by people who have already done it!
This website focuses primarily on helping women find places to go, call, or write so that they may have their questions and concerns answered by professionals in a prompt manner. There are several links on the main page: Find a Center allows women to scroll through states and towns in order to find a pregnancy center close to them. These centers provide services such as pregnancy tests, counseling, medical referrals, abortion information, and more. This site also includes a page where women can pick an online counselor with whom they may talk to confidentially via email. Fetal development information is another link offered by this website, providing in-depth coverage of basic pregnancy issues about which moms-to-be should be aware. A special feature of this link is the ability to listen to an actual fetus’s heartbeat and monitor personal fetal development progress as well. |