Yummy Mummy 2007 Trends
Procreation Holidays
Expectant parents plan babymoons, but what about couples hoping to conceive? The hot trend in travel this year is the procreation holiday, geared toward busy working couples whose hectic lives may not leave a lot of time for baby-making. The hotel industry has responded to the demand with packages designed to help couples de-stress, spark up the romance, and maybe head home with much more than just a suntan. Packages typically include romantic dinners, spa treatments such as massage and reflexology, special “fertility foods,” and, in some cases, short seminars where experts share fertility secrets. Whatever next!
Male Fertility Test Kits
Between ovulation predictor kits and home pregnancy tests, women already have a variety of at-home fertility tools available to them. Now, with the introduction of male fertility test kits, men can perform a semen analysis right in the comfort of their own homes—which might help reluctant husbands get to a specialist sooner. The kits test for sperm concentration and give a positive (fertile) or negative (infertile) color-coded reading within five minutes. Each box comes with enough materials for two tests, so you can repeat the process several days later to ensure accuracy.
New Age Prenatal Care
Wish you could go to your prenatal appointments with friends? Strength in numbers takes on a new meaning when you enlist in the growing trend of group prenatal care. Many women are flocking to this alternative type of medical care, called centering, which combines traditional OB-GYN visits with emotional support for you and other moms-to-be. The programs first popped up in 1993 when a nurse presented the idea of pregnant women seeking healthcare en masse, and today centering is taking off—there are now more than 200 sites throughout the US.
How does it work? Six to 10 women get together with their doctor for two-hour sessions beginning at their eighteenth or twentieth week of pregnancy. The meetings generally are scheduled in the evenings and begin with doctor-patient, one-on-one sessions and then transition into a support group meeting where women and their doctor can discuss anything from fluctuating pregnancy hormones, to delivery room anxieties, to general health concerns.
Gender Prediction Kits
An impatient couple can now discover the sex of their baby just a few weeks into pregnancy. These new products for at-home use either test urine and give an immediate result or require collecting a blood sample that you send off to a lab.
To answer the ultimate question of boy or girl, simply test a sample of your morning urine between your eighth and thirty-second week of pregnancy. These companies claim a 94-percent accuracy rate
Chic Swaddles and Slings
Swaddling babies is nothing new; moms have been wrapping up infants for generations. But in recent years, pediatricians such as Dr. Harvey Karp, MD, have brought baby swaddling to the forefront of parenting to-dos. Swaddling your baby is touted as treatment for colic and fussiness, a way to help babies sleep better, and a safe way to keep your baby asleep on her back. Why does it work? As Dr. Karp notes on his website, “Tight swaddling provides the continuous touching and support the fetus experienced while still in Mom’s womb.”
Baby’s First Spa
Babies have been getting massages at home for a few years now, but in 2007, we predict that you’ll see baby spas springing up across America. Typically offshoots of spas that mommies frequent, they offer baby care (while mom is busy relaxing), infant rubdowns, and a soothing environment. Baby Spa, one of the first of its kind, from the owners of Encino, California’s Skin Spa, opened in late 2006. Described as a “postpartum paradise,” Baby Spa offers infant massage, mommy and baby yoga, and “pampered parenting” classes.