OREANDA-NEWS. August 22, 2016. Can newborns be spoiled by holding them too much?

How many extra calories should a woman consume during pregnancy?

These were just two of the topics covered at the recent BlogHer conference in Los Angeles, where — along with high-profile speakers Kim Kardashian West, Sarah Michelle Geller and Sheryl Crow — several Kaiser Permanente physicians and health experts shared their expertise with 3,500 content creators.

“You can’t spoil a newborn baby by holding it too much,” said Kate Land, MD, a pediatrician with Kaiser Permanente Vacaville (California). “You can spoil fruits and vegetables, and I do a lot of that.”

Kimi McAdam, a registered dietitian with Kaiser Permanente in Orange County, shared that one of the most common questions she gets is whether pregnant women need a lot of extra calories, or to “eat for two.” She said it is not recommended to have any extra calories during the first trimester, and only about 300 extra calories per day during the second and third trimesters.

Cynthia Cifuentes, director of Public Affairs and Brand Communications, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, moderated the two-hour-session on maternity and health. Lisa Agustines, MD, an OB-GYN from the South Bay Medical Center and Amy Griffes, RN, from the West Los Angeles Medical Center, rounded out the Kaiser Permanente panel.

Started in 2005, the BlogHer conference is the world’s largest celebration of women content creators across social media, video, photos and the web. The 29 invited bloggers, many of them moms themselves, heard Kaiser Permanente experts discuss such topics as breastfeeding, pregnancy, diet and exercise, perinatal depression and parenting.

“To hear a panel of experts be so nurturing is huge. If more doctors were like that, the world would be a better place,” said Kathy Haan, author of the popular nutrition and exercise blog “Idyllic Pursuit.”

Samantha Curtis, author of the lifestyle blog “The Samantha Show,” said the discussion about discipline resonated with her, as the mother of a 4- and 2-year old. She said she realized she often raises the possibility of discipline with her children — such as leaving a store — but doesn’t follow through when it’s inconvenient. The session taught her that it’s important to follow through on discipline to teach young children about consequences and to build trust.

Many of the bloggers at the event have extensive social media audiences and were able to share takeaways using the hashtag #kpbaby. In addition, more than 200 tweets were shared and additional highlights were posted to Kaiser Permanente’s Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube channels. Some of the highlights are now available online through Storify.