Despite all of the high-tech medical and scientific technology, the United States still has the highest rate of premature births of any developed nation in the world. Why is this the case? QUEST met with some of the San Francisco Bay Area researchers working to answer that question.

Take a look at this informative new video program now available online from PBS channel KQED in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The word "doula" is derived from ancient Greek, meaning "woman caregiver of another woman." Modern doulas are women who are hired by the expectant mother to give prenatal advice and assistance during pregnancy, labor, and birth. The employment of doulas has been shown to increase the safety of childbirth, and increases expectant mothers' knowledge and confidence about their bodies' abilities. Many birth doulas also offer postpartum support, to help a new mother with the challenges of newborn care, breastfeeding, and other challenges.

Preparing for childbirth is a physiological process, and it is also a psychological and spiritual endeavor in which we draw from our own pools of knowledge and beliefs. Our individual attitudes about womanhood and mothering have been instilled in each of us for our entire lives, since we were children, especially growing up in a medical culture, and affect how we approach childbirth.

Delivering a baby prematurely who is placed in the NICU is a particularly traumatic experience for the mother, and she may go through an intense grieving process. Typically, a mother of a preemie will mourn the loss of her pregnancy and of her healthy full-term baby. The initial reactions of these early stages of grief are shock, denial, confusion, and anxiety.