Deciding to start a family is always a big decision. But it can seem even more daunting when one partner lives with a chronic illness, or even both do. As someone who’s been there, guest writer Mariah Z. Leach – a wife, mother, and writer with rheumatoid arthritis – shares her advice on five considerations you need to make before starting a family when you have chronic illness. In this article you can learn more about the importance of family planning, considerations during pregnancy, ideas for preparing for baby’s arrival, insight on breastfeeding, and advice on baby gear. Starting A…
Author: Mariah Z Leach
Mariah Z Leach
Mariah is a writer, patient advocate, and mom of three living with rheumatoid arthritis and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. After learning firsthand how challenging and lonely it can be to face pregnancy and parenthood with chronic illness, Mariah became passionate about supporting people with chronic illness who are or want to become parents. She launched her private Facebook support group, Mamas Facing Forward, in 2015. Today the group connects parents and parents-to-be with chronic illness from all over the world. In 2018, she added this website, dedicated to collecting and creating resources that focus on pregnancy and parenting with chronic illness.
This article explains how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires medications to be labeled concerning safety of use during pregnancy and breastfeeding – and if the first half of that sentence makes you want to fall asleep, please bear with me!! I totally understand how the nitty gritty of medication labeling standards might seem like it would bore you to tears! However, for women living with chronic illnesses…who may wish to become pregnant or breastfeed their babies, I think these changes actually represent a very exciting development! The FDA provides labeling standards to help doctors and patients understand…