iHealth.im

Archive for July, 2010

Smoking ups pregnancy complications
While smoking during pregnancy had long been linked with having small babies, a new study says it exacerbates the risk of other pregnancy-related complications.

Read more on Press TV

Whether you’re planning to become one of the 6 million American women who become pregnant each year or already are pregnant, the healthy choices you make before and during pregnancy can have a lasting impact on you and your unborn child.

Experts say one of the most important things a woman or couple can do is to plan for pregnancy.

“We encourage people to prevent pregnancy until they are ready to have a child and to plan for future pregnancies,” says Marilyn Laughead, M.D., an obstetrician-gynecologist in Scottsdale, Ariz.

When you’re ready to welcome a child into the world, experts recommend you take these steps, before you try to conceive, to help ensure you’ll have a safe delivery and a healthy baby:

As soon as you suspect you’re pregnant, make an appointment to see a doctor or certified nurse-midwife.

“There is a definite relationship between early prenatal care and a healthy pregnancy outcome,” says Dr. Laughead.

Your doctor can give you advice about diet, prenatal vitamins, exercise, and other issues that may affect you and your baby, and help prevent and/or treat pregnancy-related complications.

These questions will help you find a doctor or certified nurse-midwife and hospital that meet your pregnancy and delivery needs:

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Absence of menstruation can be caused by chronic illness, by emotional or endocrine disturbances, by fear of pregnancy, or by a desire to be pregnant. Nausea and vomiting may be of gastrointestinal or psychic origin. Tenderness of the breasts can be due to a hormonal disturbance.

Any condition that causes pelvic congestion, such as a pelvic tumour, may cause duskiness of the genital tissues. At times a soft tumour of the uterus may simulate a pregnancy. The question of pregnancy may be raised if the woman does not menstruate regularly; the absence of other symptoms and signs of gestation indicates that she is not pregnant.

There are rare ovarian and uterine tumours that produce false-positive pregnancy tests. It may be difficult for the physician to exclude pregnancy on the basis of an examination if the uterus is tipped back and difficult to feel, or if it is enlarged by a tumour within it. If other signs of pregnancy are absent, however, and the tests for pregnancy are negative, pregnancy can most likely be ruled out.

Childless women who greatly desire a baby sometimes suffer from false or spurious pregnancy (pseudocyesis). They stop menstruating, have morning nausea, “feel life,” and have abdominal enlargement caused by fat and intestinal gas. At “term” they may have “labour pains.” Signs of pregnancy are absent. Treatment is by psychotherapy.

Menopausal women often fear pregnancy when their periods stop; information that they show no signs of pregnancy usually reassures them. Retained uterine secretions of bloody or watery fluid, caught above a blocked mouth of the uterus (cervix), prevent menstruation, cause softening and enlargement of the uterus, and may cause the patient to wonder whether she is pregnant.

There are no other signs of pregnancy, and the hard cervix, closed by scar tissue, explains the problem.



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Biological Tests of Pregnancy

Outward early indications of pregnancy are missed menstrual periods, morning nausea, and fullness and tenderness of the breasts; but the positive and certain signs of gestation are the sounds of the fetal heartbeat, which are audible with a stethoscope between the 16th and the 20th week of pregnancy; ultrasound images of the growing fetus, which can be observed throughout pregnancy; and fetal movements, which usually occur by the 18th to the 20th week of pregnancy.

Persons who note their body temperature upon awakening, as many women do who wish to know when they are ovulating, may observe continued elevation of the temperature curve well beyond the time of the missed period; this is strongly suggestive of pregnancy.

During the early months of pregnancy, women may notice that they urinate frequently, because of pressure of the enlarging uterus on the bladder; feel tired and drowsy; dislike foods that were previously palatable; have a sense of pelvic heaviness; and are subject to vomiting (which can be severe) and to pulling pains in the sides of the abdomen, as the growing uterus stretches the round ligaments that help support it, singly or together. Most of these symptoms subside as pregnancy progresses. The signs and symptoms of pregnancy are so definite by the 12th week that the diagnosis is seldom a problem.

Biological tests for pregnancy depend upon the production by the placenta (the temporary organ that develops in the womb for the nourishing of the embryo and the elimination of its wastes) of chorionic gonadotropin, an ovary-stimulating hormone.

In practice, the tests have an accuracy of about 95 percent, although false-negative tests may run as high as 20 percent in a series of cases. False-negative reports are frequently obtained during late pregnancy when the secretion of chorionic gonadotropin normally decreases. The possibility not only of false-negative but also of false-positive tests makes the tests, at best, probable rather than absolute evidence of the presence or absence of pregnancy. Chorionic gonadotropin in a woman’s blood or urine indicates only that she is harbouring living placental tissue. It does not tell anything about the condition of the fetus. In fact, the greatest production of chorionic gonadotropin occurs in certain placental abnormalities and disorders that can develop in the absence of a fetus.

Tests using immature mice (the Aschheim-Zondek test) and immature rats have been found to be extremely accurate. Tests using rabbits (the Friedman test) have been largely replaced by the more rapid and less expensive frog and toad tests.

The use of the female South African claw-toed tree toad, Xenopus laevis, is based on the discovery that this animal will ovulate and extrude visible eggs within a few hours after it has received an injection of a few millilitres of urine from a pregnant woman. The male common frog, Rana pipiens, will extrude spermatozoa when treated in the same way. Both of these tests are considered somewhat unsatisfactory because false-positive reactions are not uncommon.

Several immunological reaction tests in common use are based upon the inhibition of hemagglutination (clotting of red cells). A positive test is obtained when human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in the woman’s urine or blood is added to human chorionic gonadotropin antiserum (rabbit blood serum containing antibodies to HCG) in the presence of particles (or red blood cells) coated with human chorionic gonadotropin. The hormone from the woman will inhibit the combination of coated particles and antibody, and agglutination does not occur. If there is no chorionic gonadotropin in her urine, agglutination will occur and the test is negative.

Several “signs” noted by the physician during an examination will suggest that a patient may be in the early months of pregnancy. Darkening of the areola of the breast (the small, coloured ring around the nipple) and prominence of the sebaceous glands around the nipple (Montgomery’s glands); purplish-red discoloration of the vulvar, vaginal, and cervical tissues; softening of the cervix and of the lower part of the uterus and, of course, enlargement and softening of the uterus itself are suggestive but not necessarily proof of pregnancy.



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Male pregnancy is very rare, occurring only in seahorses, pipefish and seadragons. The female deposits her eggs in the male’s brood pouch, and the male protects and feeds the developing offspring. Are these the best dads in the animal kingdom? It seems not – new research shows that male pipefish selectively abort embryos from less attractive females, saving their resources for future, more attractive, mates. The finding reveals a dark side to male pregnancy, but it also adds to Darwin’s theory of sexual selection. Read the original research here: dx.doi.org

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Philips Avent eyes top spot
PHILIPS Avent, a brand offering premium pregnancy kits to playground range, is working on strategies that will help it secure the number one position in Malaysia within the next two to three years. Philips Avent, which carry products ranging from feeding bottles to breast pumps, expects to achieve this goal by tripling its sales over the next three years. “Avent is (now) among the top three …

Read more on Business Times

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Pregnancy is such a critical time. A woman’s body is drastically changing and the baby inside is creating new demands on the mother’s body. You want to do everything you can right to make sure that your baby is healthy and has a good start in life.
Some birth defects have been linked to the lack of vitamins and minerals. How do you pick the correct prenatal vitamins to ensure a healthy pregnancy? Should you just rely on your physician or should you know more? Should you take prenatals even after your pregnancy? We looked deeper into what a mother really needs to know before and after pregnancy.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy is such a critical time, and you want to do everything you can to provide the “just right” array of vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids to ensure a healthy pregnancy. Pregnancy and breastfeeding place tremendous demands on your body and can deplete omega-3 fatty acids. Target each stage of pregnancy with the perfect balance of nutrients.
Studies have shown that moms who receive the recommended amount of DHA during pregnancy have babies with increased attention spans throughout the first two years of life. The benefits of taking omega-3 DHA before, during, and after pregnancy are truly amazing.
Remember, your baby will take what it needs first to develop and grow, and therefore, your body may suffer if you are not getting enough of the necessary vitamins and minerals needed throughout pregnancy.
Healthy Baby
Every vitamin, every mineral, every nutrient has an important job to do now, for you and your growing baby. Your growing baby’s development depends on it. The right vitamins help build your baby’s bones and teeth and ensure your baby has a healthy start in life.
Eating a variety of healthy foods is important, but with hectic schedules, morning sickness, and the changing nutritional demands of your developing baby, it can be difficult to achieve the right nutritional balance. Nutrition is also critically important during recovery and while you are breastfeeding your newborn baby.
Prenatal Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins are packed full of nutrients that will help support and nourish your growing child and your body during pregnancy. How do you determine which prenatal vitamins are right for you? What do you look for in prenatal vitamins?
Prenatal vitamin supplements are vitamin supplements that a woman can take on a daily basis to ensure that she is obtaining appropriate quantities of essential nutrients during pregnancy. Prenatal nutrition is important but nausea and vomiting can cause women to miss meals and important nutrients from both a balanced diet and prenatal vitamin supplementation.
Just picking up some ordinary vitamins at the drugstore is not enough for a healthy pregnancy. Prenatal vitamins contain important nutrients in stronger dosages than regular multivitamin supplements (even those formulated for women). A good vitamin does not take the place of eating nutritiously but it can balance the scales in your favor, and your baby’s too. Researchers at the University of Maryland have noticed that many commonly prescribed prenatal vitamins do not dissolve well resulting in insufficient absorption of the nutrients.
The March of Dimes reports that birth defects of the spine, skull, and brain, such as spina bifida and anencephaly, are more likely to occur if the mother does not get sufficient folic acid during the first few weeks of her pregnancy – even before she knows she is pregnant.
Prenatal vitamins can reduce risk of childhood cancers and omega fish oil intake has been linked to higher IQ in offspring. New research from the Boston University School of Medicine is recommending higher intakes of vitamin D as so many are deficient. The women’s levels of vitamin D were related to the frequency of milk consumption and prenatal vitamin use.
Increased zinc and vitamin B6 levels can boost immunities needed after pregnancy and sufficient B6 has been shown to provide infant growth advantages. This B vitamin can prevent neural tube defects when taken early in pregnancy, especially during the first trimester. Zinc supports normal growth and development during pregnancy.
Calcium and magnesium supplementation are so important during pregnancy. A good prenatal vitamin should include folic acid and calcium, among other nutrients that are important to a healthy pregnancy and baby. In the last trimester of pregnancy, skeletal growth is highest and the fetus draws calcium directly from the mother’s stores. In addition, clinical trials have shown that adequate calcium during pregnancy lowers blood pressure and may reduce the incidence of premature births. Magnesium promotes the health of bones and may help maintain normal blood pressure and muscle comfort during pregnancy.
Folic acid is the most commonly prescribed prenatal supplement for the months prior to becoming pregnant as well and it is essential for the health and growth of the baby, especially for brain functions.
The female body’s requirement for vitamin C increases during pregnancy as this vitamin promotes the normal growth of the baby and supports building strong bones and teeth. It also supports the absorption of another key nutrient during pregnancy: iron.
Iron is recommended to prevent the mother suffering from anemia due to the demands that the baby puts on her iron consumption. Iron is an important mineral and is responsible for helping the mother and the baby’s blood to carry oxygen. Iron deficiencies can lead to severe birth defects for the baby.
Women have an increased requirement for biotin during pregnancy, and a biotin deficiency may occur in as many as 50 percent of pregnant women. This deficiency may increase the risk of birth defects.
Adequate amounts of vitamin A help to promote the health of the baby by promoting normal growth and development of the embryo and fetus, and supporting genes that determine the sequential development of organs in embryonic development. Beta-carotene is a nutrient from plants that the body converts into vitamin A.
Prenatal vitamins can be taken after pregnancy to provide a well-balanced supplementation program. With a mother’s hectic schedule and lack of time, prenatal vitamins are a perfect choice for an after pregnancy supplement regimen.
The correct prenatals are essential for a healthy pregnancy and baby. Doing your research on prenatal vitamins can be very rewarding and time well spent to ensure an easy and successful pregnancy.



Hearts and Minds MusikTracks – pregnancy
Relaxing, hypnotic music for pregnancy and childbirth. The Tracks re-program your mind to remove fear and install confidence.