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On the morning of the day Marisa Pizarro gave birth, the usual tumult reigned in her apartment in Lower Manhattan’s financial district. Her husband, a music producer known as J Grand, in shower sandals and gym shorts, was busy tending to their toddler daughter, the financial news on TV and his iPad, where he was still rearranging tracks on a forthcoming release. His wife, her contractions now 10 minutes apart, was almost an afterthought. But who could blame him? Ms. Pizarro had her doula, Domino Kirke, attending to her every need, absorbing every hint of snappishness. (Hartocollis, 2/10)

When Wendy Swanson started out as a pediatrician eight years ago, it never crossed her mind to bring up the option of intrauterine devices – an insertable form of long-acting contraception – when she had her regular birth-control discussions with teenage patients who were sexually active. "The patch had been the thing," she said, referring to a small, band-aid-like plastic patch that transmits hormones through the skin to prevent unwanted pregnancies. (Luthra, 2/11)