Archive for Pregnancy
A recent study examined the effect that certain diets had on pregnant mice and saw that the sex of the offspring could be influenced through the diet of the pregnant mice.
This study is likely to explain to us, how diet of the mother around the time of conception can and does affect human babies.
It was found that eating breakfast and a high fat diet was more likely to result in the conception of a baby boy.
The aim of the study was to find out how the mother’s diet impacted the activity of genes in the cells of the placenta which is the source of the baby’s nutrition when in the womb.
The study also looked at how the diet could affect the future health of offspring. The study found that there was a tendency for more of the offspring to be female when the mother mice were fed low fat and high carbohydrate food.
Findings of this study do not necessarily carry over into the way things work for humans, but this could go a long way in determining how early environment shapes the future of a fetus.
Source: NHS News
Posted on March 11, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Saved By the Bell alum Mario Lopez, who now hosts Extra, is expecting his first child with girlfriend, Broadway dancer Courtney Laine Mazza, Star reports.
“Mario is over the moon with joy since finding out he’s having a baby,” a family friend says. “She’s approximately three months pregnant and is healthy and happy.”
The 36-year-old reportedly announced their happy news at a Super Bowl last month. “With a huge smile on his face and surrounded by friends and family, Mario announced he was having a baby and handed out pricey cigars. After the initial shock, everyone was thrilled by the news, giving Mario hugs and high-fives.”
Mario’s mom Elvira is said to be thrilled about the news. “She’s beaming and can’t stop talking about her new grandchild,” the family friend says. “She always wanted Mario to have children and keeps saying, ‘It’s about time. He isn’t getting any younger!’”
Mario — who was very briefly married to Ali Landry — isn’t likely to rush down the aisle with Courtney, whom he started dating in 2009 after he split with his Dancing with the Stars partner Karina Smirnoff. “Although the baby news has thrilled Mario, he isn’t making any marriage plans… yet.”
Mario’s grandfather Rafael Trasvina confirmed Mario’s baby news. “I am very excited that Mario and Courtney are having a baby. I don’t know if they are having a boy or a girl — we have to wait until the baby is born — but I am very happy for them.”
Source
Posted on March 11, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
There’s one benefit to having children besides the joy they can bring you: tax breaks.
CCH, a provider of tax information and services, released a list this week of ten ways the tax code benefits parents by helping to defray the costs of raising and educating children. Here’s the list from CCH below.
- Personal Exemption: A reduction of taxable income of $3,650 in 2010 for each dependent child under age 19 or, if the dependent is a full-time student, under age 24. For divorced parents filing separately, the exemption generally goes to the parent who has custody for the greater part of the year.
- Child Credit: A reduction of tax of $1,000 per child, which begins to phase out when adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 for single filers and $110,000 for joint filers. This credit may also be partly refundable depending on the filer’s income.
- Child Care Tax Credit: A credit based on child care expenses for children up to age 13, or older children if they are physically or mentally incapable of caring for themselves. The credit would be taken against maximum qualifying expenses of $3,000 for one qualifying dependent and $6,000 for two or more. It also equals 35 percent of qualifying expenses for taxpayers with adjusted gross income up to $15,000 and decreases to 20 percent of allowable expenses for adjusted gross income levels of $43,000 or more.
- Adoption Credit: A maximum credit of $12,150 for a regular adoption, with credit amounts phased out at incomes between $182,180 and $222,180 for both single filers and joint filers. For a special-needs adoption, the credit is figured without regard to the actual expenses paid or incurred in the year the adoption becomes final.
- Earned Income Tax Credit: Amounts increase for eligible taxpayers with children. Size of increase depends on income level and number of children.
- Coverdell Education Savings Accounts: Contributions to these accounts are limited to $2,000 per year and earnings in the accounts grow tax-free. Withdrawals also are tax-free if used to pay for qualified educational expenses and can be used to pay for tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment from kindergarten to post-secondary school.
- Qualified Tuition Programs (529 Plans): Investment earnings in these plans are not taxed if withdrawals are used for qualified expenses. Contributions to state-sponsored programs are partially or fully deductible on some state tax returns. Contribution limits for the plans are set by the state or educational institutions sponsoring the plan and may be in excess of $300,000, but a contribution in excess of $65,000 by any individual ($130,000 for joint filers) in one year could restrict those persons’ ability to make additional contributions in further years without being subject to gift tax.
- Bond Interest: For 2009, interest on proceeds of qualified savings bonds (specifically, Series I bonds or qualified Series EE bonds issued after 1989) cashed to pay education expenses is tax free for joint filers with less than $104,900 in adjusted gross income and is partially tax free for those with adjusted gross income of $104,900 to $134,900. The comparable income limits for single filers are $69,950 to $84,950. For 2010 returns, the phase out ranges are $105,100 to $135,100 for joint returns and $70,100-$85,100 for single filers.
- Higher Education Tuition Deduction: An above the line deduction for qualifying educational expenses of up to $4,000 at an accredited post-secondary institution. The deduction is reduced to $2,000 at adjusted gross income above $65,000 ($130,000 for joint filers) and is not available if adjusted gross income exceeds $80,000 ($160,000 for joint filers). This must be coordinated with other educational exclusions and cannot be used for anyone for whom the American Opportunity Tax Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit is claimed.
- American Opportunity, Hope and Lifetime Learning Credits: For 2009 and 2010, the American Opportunity Credit pretty much replaces the Hope and Lifetime Learning credits for undergraduate expenses. It provides a credit of up to $2,500 per student per year for the first four years of post-secondary qualified tuition and expenses. Up to 40 percent of the credit is refundable, depending on income. Residents of certain states who are in the “Midwestern Disaster Area” may do better choosing the Hope Credit for 2009 expenses.
Source
Posted on March 10, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
The list of health benefits for people who were breastfed as babies is growing, with research unveiled this week showing they are more likely as adults to have higher levels of good cholesterol.
Numerous studies have shown babies whose mothers breastfed them enjoy health advantages over formula-fed babies. These include fewer ear, stomach and intestinal infections, fewer digestive problems, skin diseases and allergies, and less likelihood of developing high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.
Now, a study presented at an American Heart Association meeting in Orlando, Fla., found that breastfed babies are better off than bottle-fed babies in two heart disease risk factors as adults – levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and body mass index.
The study looked at 962 people, average age 41, taking part in the long-running Framingham Heart Study centred on Framingham, Mass. About a quarter of the children were breastfed for at least a month as babies.
Those who were breastfed were 55 per cent more likely to have high average levels of high-density lipoprotein, or HDL, cholesterol in adulthood than low levels. Those who were breastfed on average had a lower BMI as adults – 26.1 compared to 26.9 for their bottle-fed counterparts. Adults with a BMI above 25 are considered overweight and at higher risk for heart disease.
Having a higher HDL is considered to protect against cardiovascular disease such as stroke and heart attack.
These cholesterol and BMI differences were modest but significant, according to Nisha Parikh of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston who led the study. “The results are intriguing in that they point to this concept that early nutrition or early environmental exposures may affect long-term health,” she said.
Breastfeeding was not associated with benefits in other heart disease risk factors the researchers examined, including total cholesterol and blood pressure. The mothers of all the people tracked in the research were also part of the Framingham study.
Source
Posted on March 10, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Exposing a female fetus to a chemical found in plastics causes permanent changes in a daughter’s uterus that might result in cancer – and a research team led by a Yale doctor has figured out why.
Bisphenol A is commonly found in plastics (those with a “7″ code on the bottom), in the lining of aluminum cans and in dental sealants. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has expressed concern about potential effects of BPA on the brain and reproductive organs, though the link is not definitive.
Dr. Hugh S. Taylor, director of reproductive endocrinology and infertility section of the Yale School of Medicine, said even brief exposure to BPA in the uterus causes permanent damage.
“We already know that mice that are exposed to BPA already have a higher risk of breast cancer, uterine cancer and infertility,” he said.
In this study, one group of mice was exposed to BPA as fetuses and compared to a control group to see how much the DNA in the uterus had been modified. The findings, Taylor said, reveal that BPA strips off a part of the DNA, which permanently alters the genetic structure.
“It chemically modifies the DNA by removing methyl groups from the DNA backbone and that makes the DNA more accessible,” he said. The genes then become permanently altered to be supersensitive to estrogen, which can lead to cancer and other consequences.
He said the damage might occur in females after birth as well.
“It’s not as clear,” he said. “It very well may be. I think that’s still more controversial. I think pregnancy is the more dangerous time.”
Taylor said the effect of BPA is reminiscent of the problems with DES (diethylstilbestrol), which was prescribed to women from 1938 to 1971 to prevent miscarriages, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. DES was linked to a rare form of vaginal cancer.
“Now it looks like (as they grow older) those women who were exposed as a fetus have a higher risk of breast cancer,” Taylor said. He also is studying a potential link between BPA and breast cancer.
Taylor said it’s a good idea for women who may become pregnant to avoid BPA, especially products that are brand new and unwashed or old and cracked. Plastics with BPA shouldn’t be microwaved, he said.
Environmental groups also have called for BPA to be removed from consumer products; some companies have begun manufacturing BPA-free items, such as water bottles.
“I always tell my patients, as a physician as well as a scientist … to me it’s an easy decision. There’s so much benefit of eating fresh vegetables instead of (eating) out of a can,” he said.
Source
Posted on March 10, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
There are several kinds of discharge during early pregnancy that one would do well to know about.
There is of course need to worry sometimes, particularly strange colored or foul smelling discharge; but more often than not, discharge during early pregnancy may be nothing much to worry about.
Implantation Bleeding: This is one kind of early pregnancy discharge. This happens a few days after the fertilization of the egg by the sperm, when the fertilized egg or embryo is implanted in the lining of the uterus to connect to the circulatory system of the body. This is not experienced by all women, however many women may experience this kind of implantation bleeding that is lighter or darker colored than regular blood.
One needs to watch out for any fresh appearing blood or bleeding that is accompanied by cramping or pain. Also, if this bleeding carries on for more than a day then it is cause for worry.
Other than implantation bleeding, any bloody discharge of early pregnancy or even at any later stage of pregnancy could be a cause for worry, and would be required to be reported to the health care provider.
It is true that in rare cases, some women have their period throughout their pregnancy and then go on to produce perfectly healthy babies in the end.
However, any unusual bleeding at any time during pregnancy which is accompanied by pain and cramping should always be reported to the doctor.
White Discharge or leucorrhoea: Due to increased blood circulation in the pelvic region during pregnancy and also because of increased hormone production, there is a production of white discharge from the vagina during pregnancy which is known as leucorrhoea. This is normal and is nothing to worry about so long as it is somewhat milky in appearance and mild smelling.
Even whitish slimy mucous that has the consistency of egg whites is usually perfectly normal. These varieties of discharge of early pregnancy could continue throughout pregnancy and could also increase as the pregnancy advances; all perfectly normal.
If the pregnancy discharge seems rather more or feels uncomfortably moist, use a panty liner to soak it up. Do not use a tampon for pregnancy discharge; it increases the risk of infection.
Also do not douche. This disturbs the balance of flora that lines the vaginal walls and could be actually detrimental also because it increases the risk of an air bubble entering the blood stream through the vagina.
Keep the genital area dry and clean, avoid tight clothing and underwear. Also avoid cosmetics such as deodorants, perfumes and bubble baths.
Unhealthy Discharge during pregnancy: A yellowish or greenish discharge during pregnancy, or if it is frothy in nature, particularly that which is foul smelling is cause for worry because it may indicate the presence of an infection.
Also if the discharge is normal looking and smelling but if it is accompanied by itching and inflammation of the vulva these may indicate a yeast infection and is required to consult a doctor.
Watery discharge: This could be an indication of leakage of amniotic fluid and must be reported immediately to the doctor.
Posted on March 10, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Immunity of pregnant women is seen as being compromised and in many cases they can be infected more easily than they would in their non pregnant state.
As pregnant women are advised to guard against salmonella by being careful about raw meats, cat litter and the like, so also they have to be careful about listeria.
Listeria monocytogenes is the name for bacteria found in soil, food, stream water, plants and sewage etc. and usually the body’s defense mechanism is able to prevent infection that results in listeriosis. The kinds of foods that are likely to cause this infection are hot dogs, raw or uncooked poultry, unpasteurized milk, deli meats, etc.
In particular, soft cheeses such as those which contain live bacteria could be sources for listeria. Blue-veined, or Mexican-style “queso blanco” Brie, Camembert, Feta, are the kind of cheeses best avoided when pregnant.
Pregnant women are 20 times more likely to get a listeria infection than others. A third of all such infections are seen among pregnant women and can cause miscarriage or premature labor, and even birth defects among new born babies. Hearing loss or brain damage could occur in case of the baby whereas adults could even suffer cardio respiratory failure.
Source: newsinferno
Posted on March 9, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Jenna Elfman is now mom-to-two!
The Accidentally on Purpose actress and husband Bodhi Elfman welcomed a second son, Easton Quinn Monroe Elfman, at 7:53 a.m. on Tuesday (March 2) in Los Angeles, Jenna announced on Twitter Friday. Her rep confirms the happy news to People, adding that Easton weighed in at 7 lbs., 12 oz.
“He’s an impressive sleeper (thank god!) & I’m his biggest fan,” says Jenna.
Bodhi also took to Twitter Friday with their happy news: “Shazaam! Easton Quinn Monroe Elfman. Born March 2 @ 7:53AM. Triple Word Score, Grand Slam, Royal Flush! Digging this guy big time.”
Easton joins big brother Story Elias, 2 ½.
Congratulations to the Elfman family!
Source
Posted on March 8, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
From now till St. Patrick’s day receive 20% off all patemm pads. Just enter the coupon code GREEN when ordering online at http://www.patemm.com.
“These circular, stylish changing pads contain pockets for storage and fold up to turn into a cute bag. Made of 100% organic cotton (there is a non-organic choice too), they are available in laminated and waterproof or in untreated cotton. They are all machine-washable and free of harmful chemicals. We love the different styles they come in…” Read more of the product review at Maternity & Style.
Posted on March 8, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Most parents believe that vaccines protect their children against disease, but one in four think some vaccines cause autism in healthy children, and nearly one in eight have refused at least one recommended vaccine, a new study has found.
The vaccine most likely to have been rejected by parents was for human papillomavirus, or HPV, to protect against cervical cancer, according to the report. It was based on questions asked of more than 1,500 parents of children 17 and younger. Many parents also rejected the chickenpox vaccine, the meningococcal conjugate vaccine against bacterial meningitis and, to a lesser extent, the MMR, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella.
Just last month, the British medical journal The Lancet retracted the 1998 study that first linked the MMR vaccine to autism and set off widespread fears about vaccine safety.
“We were sobered to find that one in four parents erroneously believe that vaccines can cause autism in an otherwise healthy child,” said Dr. Gary L. Freed, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan and the lead author of the paper, published online on March 1 by the journal Pediatrics. “Fortunately, they are still overwhelmingly vaccinating their children.”
Nine of 10 parents agreed that vaccines protected children from disease, but more than half said they were concerned about serious adverse effects.
Source
Posted on March 8, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Babies born between April and July are more likely to have a certain heart defect, doctors reported on Monday, and they believe a common infection such as strep throat may play a role.
The condition, called hypoplastic left heart syndrome, affects the entire left side of the heart and usually requires at least three operations to reconstruct it.
Dr. Pirooz Eghtesady and colleagues at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Ohio studied 1,500 newborns from 38 children’s hospitals in the United States who had left-sided congenital heart diseases between 1996 and 2006.
They found a clear seasonal pattern to hypoplastic left heart syndrome but not other diseases, they told a meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Orlando.
“Strong seasonality is a clue that environmental factors may play an important role in this disease, as we see, for example, with such common childhood illnesses as asthma and croup,” Eghtesady said in a statement.
They are now conducting a study to see whether strep throat, an infection caused by Streptococcus bacteria, may be to blame. Untreated infections of this strain of strep cause rheumatic fever, and sometimes lifelong heart disease.
Strep throat is more common in the winter months and may affect a developing fetus.
Studies have suggested that the body’s immune response to strep can damage the left side of the heart. Eghtesady said preliminary evidence suggests that many mothers whose newborns had left-sided heart injury had a significant history of problems related to strep throat.
Source
Posted on March 8, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
The birthing process has come to a full circle. In earlier times when women did not have a lot of access to medical facilities, deliveries were routinely performed at home; then came a time that hospital deliveries were the norm, and now in western societies there is an increasing trend to birth babies in the familiar comfort of one’s own home, with a minimum of medical intervention and supervision. The pros of a home birth are many:
A familiar and comforting environment: Hospital environment can be stressful, noisy and less relaxing when compared to one’s own home. When one is at home, not only is the setting more comforting for the mother, she feels more in control of a situation that is her home turf so to speak.
There are no hospital rules and regulations to be followed. She is able to move about and assume the sort of positions that she finds comfortable rather than follow the guidelines of the hospital.
The birthing process is more able to be determined by the mother herself. The mother is free to eat and drink what she requires which is not the case in a hospital where her movements are more circumscribed.
Greater Privacy: She has the added benefit of the privacy of her own home, and she is not subject to the checking and scrutiny of a number of medical professionals who traipse in and out of a typical hospital birthing environment.
In a home birth, the mother is familiar with the individuals that are helping her, such as the midwife, the doula etc, and she already has a level of trust and familiarity with those professionals which can be very comforting.
Less chance of a medical intervention: There are higher chances of a medical intervention resulting in a hospital, and the mother is less likely to undergo a Cesarean section when she opts for birth at home.
Also in a home birth setting, the rates of infection are seen to be the lowest of all; whereas in a hospital setting, there is a higher chance of getting an infection.
Birth plan and Pain relief of choice: When undergoing a home birth, a woman may choose to have a water birth or a silent birth, or decide to have a combination of one or more birthing processes, as she may wish.
She and her midwife may decide what kind of pain relief is suitable for the mother, without any artificial aids.
Posted on March 8, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
A Lincolnshire woman has had triplets, two years after the birth of her first daughter from the same set of eggs, making them quadruplets, doctors said.
Experts at Nottingham’s Care Fertility Clinic described the latest births as “most unusual”.
The Baxter family, from Grantham, said they were “gobsmacked” by the arrivals.
“It is most unusual to see a set of triplets born from frozen embryos after a successful previous pregnancy from the same batch,” a Care spokesman said.
The babies’ mother, Helen Baxter, had frozen her remaining embryos after falling pregnant with Alice, now two, and then doctors defrosted them and put three back.
Alice now has sisters Niamh and Maisie and a brother, Noah, who were born in January.
We run a big unit and we have never seen anything like it before in… 15 years
Ken Dowell, Care Fertility Clinic
“We were gobsmacked,” Mrs Baxter said. “It was a complete shock. We never imagined that we would end up with three babies from that same batch.
“We went through the first cycle of fertility treatment and they harvested nine eggs from me, of which eight were fertilized.
“We put two back in and we got Alice.
“When we went through the cycle again they put three back in.”
Mrs Baxter said: “We have had to buy a new car obviously to accommodate everybody. We have had to go out and buy three of everything – which has been a bit of a shock.”
Source
Posted on March 5, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
The world’s smallest-ever surviving baby boy – just 9 ounces when he was born – is eight months old now and doing well, Sky News reported Friday.
The tiny child – smaller than a can of soda – was born after just 25 weeks.
He was so little at birth that a tape measure laid next to his body was wider than his limbs.
Doctors in Germany were convinced he would not survive, but refused to give up hope.
Now, eight months after his birth, doctors have finally released a picture of the baby, confident he is strong enough to make it through.
The child is the smallest baby boy ever to survive. There have been three girls who have weighed less at birth. The most premature baby to survive, a girl born in Miami in 2004, is believed to have been born after 21 weeks.
Experts on medical ethics advise doctors not to resuscitate babies born before 23 weeks in the womb.
The baby in Germany was delivered by Caeserean section at the University of Medicine at Goettingen in June 2009.
A spokesman for the university told Sky News Online that doctors were “extremely proud” of the boy and the parents were overjoyed.
“This was an incredible fight for life,” the spokesman said.
Source
Posted on March 5, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
After a steady 15-year decline, the percentage of U.S. babies not born in a hospital rose slightly in 2005 and remained stable in 2006, according to a government report released Wednesday.
Even so, the proportion of out-of-hospital births is still less than 1% – a far cry from the 44% in 1940, the authors write in National Vital Statistics Reports.
In 2004, out-of-hospital births represented 0.87% of total U.S. births, rising to 0.9% in 2005 and staying at that level in 2006. That year, 38,568 births occurred out of a hospital, including 24,970 at home and 10,781 in a free-standing birth center.
“I don’t really know what caused that little jump,” says lead author Marian MacDorman, a demographer with the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I guess we’ll keep monitoring it.”
The proportion of out-of-hospital births in 2005-2006 varied among states, from more than 2% in Vermont and Montana to 0.2% in Louisiana and Nebraska. Factors such as weather, proximity to a hospital and attitudes toward home birth among women and local doctors might play a role in state-by-state differences, MacDorman says.
Besides state differences, there were also ethnic differences. The increase in home births occurred only among non-Hispanic white women, MacDorman notes.
While midwives attended the majority of home births in 2006, more than a third of babies born at home were delivered by “other” birth attendants, such as a family member, emergency medical technician or taxi driver.
Physicians delivered only 7.6% of babies born at home in 2006, compared with 21.6% in 1990. In 2007, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, citing safety concerns, issued a policy statement opposing home birth. The following year, the American Medical Association passed a resolution supporting the OB/GYNs’ position.
In 2006, birth certificates in 19 states — representing about half of all U.S. births — asked whether a home birth was planned or unplanned. In those states, which the authors note are not representative of the entire U.S. population, about one in six home births, or 17%, were unplanned. They likely were emergencies that might have involved rapidly progressing labor or other complications.
Even including emergency home births, babies born at home still were less likely to be low birth weight, a multiple or premature, the authors write. That suggests pregnant women are being screened to see if they are low-risk candidates for home birth, according to the report.
“Could more women deliver at home? Absolutely,” says co-author Eugene Declercq, a professor of maternal and child health at Boston University. The question, Declercq says, is whether they want to. The proportion of home births in the USA is comparable to that of other industrialized countries except for the Netherlands, the authors write, where about 30% occur at home.
Source
Posted on March 5, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Braxton Hicks contractions are sporadic uterine contractions; also known as false labor or ‘practice’ contractions.
These contractions of the uterus actually start to happen as early as 6 weeks gestation, however they may be quite undetectable by the mother until the second, or most typically the third trimester.
Not every pregnant women experience Braxton Hicks contractions. These kinds of contractions are unusually painless, irregular, sporadic and infrequent.
These are the contractions that are thought to prepare the uterus and the body for the actual imminent birth of the baby. Here, the muscles of the uterus tighten for a minute or two before relaxing and are thought to be helpful in effacing the cervix in preparation of the birth.
Things as simple as a full bladder or sometimes more serious situation such as dehydration can trigger these contractions. They can be helped by proper hydration and regular emptying of the bladder. These contractions can be helped by certain breathing exercises, and lying down in certain positions.
Strong Braxton Hicks contractions, particularly when they occur closer to the time of delivery can often are mistaken for real labor. However, these can be distinguished from real labor by the fact that they are painless and that they are less noticeable during exercise, unlike the onset of real labor.
Posted on March 5, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Pregnancy food cravings are a commonly experienced symptom of pregnancy.
While some women crave salt, others long for sweets; yet others salivate at the sight or smell of pickles!
If Halle Berry famously craved pickles and foot massages during her pregnancy and supermodel Heidi Klum wanted ice-cream, then Angelina Jolie wanted dark chocolate bars with cinnamon and Mexican chili and Nicole Ritchie apparently had all her pregnancy food cravings in the middle of the night!
Similarly each pregnant woman one comes across will probably have a similar story about their unusual cravings at some very unusual times!
What causes the cravings? It is thought by scientists that some pregnancy food cravings could be due to hormonal factors while others could be due to actual nutritional requirements.
Women require more number of calories to be consumed when pregnant and in the event it is likely that they may be attracted to calorie laden items such as cakes, sweets, fried food etc. So if a woman has a high sodium requirement she may crave salted snacks such as chips and pizzas etc.
What causes the aversions? On the flip side of the coin are pregnancy food aversions. Certain bitter foods taste even bitterer and a pregnant woman may develop an aversion.
Some favorites may become unpalatable; even cause her to become nauseous. This may be the body’s protective mechanism kicking in.
For instance, a woman who usually enjoys her drink may find she is averse to beer, wine etc when pregnant. This may be the body’s instinctive way of avoiding any damage to the growing fetus.
There is also the fact that a woman’s sense of smell and taste are altered during her pregnancy. Owning to this, she may develop these pregnancy food cravings as well as aversions.
What is Pica?
This is a rather unusual condition that pregnant women experience during pregnancy, when they have the craving for strange and inedible stuff, such as paper, chalk, soap, wood, dirt, clay paint chips, toothpaste, broken crockery, cigarette butts, baking soda, laundry starch etc. This is a potentially serious condition and can be toxic or even fatal in very rare cases.
Even the more common or garden varieties of pregnancy food cravings, such as fried and/spicy food that so many of us probably experience, may not be a good idea to give in to.
It is important to eat health and nutritious food when pregnant, which imparts nutrients to the mother and her unborn baby’s development. This is not necessarily high calorie food, which may actually end up being unnecessarily accumulated in the body as fat and may be very difficult to dislodge when the baby arrives, also fried food may be more difficult to digest, causing problems such as heartburn.
Acid reflux is another problem that pregnant women face and in the event limiting spicy foods or pickles is a good idea, lest they add to and compound the problem. Rule of thumb should be, Indulge the craving, so long as it is healthy for you and baby.
Posted on March 4, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
We had been told that childhood obesity was highly pernicious and would lead to our children leading shorter lives than us; however now according this report, this fight against obesity needs to start even before birth.
This is a view that is more cautionary than existing anti child obesity programs, which are currently in place, most notably that of the first lady Michelle Obama that is aimed at kids aged 8 and above.
A new study found that efforts to prevent childhood obesity should begin before birth and that this was particularly apposite for minority children.
Childhood obesity, the study found, begins earlier than we thought; in infancy or earlier. Factors such as poor feeding habits, inadequate sleep as well as having TV sets in the bedroom are responsible for childhood obesity.
According to the researchers, the prenatal stage up to age 5 is very important for obesity prevention, and this is particularly true for minority children. The study found that those women who were overweight during their pregnancy and/or those who had gestational diabetes increased the risks related to childhood obesity.
The factors that were seen to contribute to childhood obesity were being born small, gaining excess weight after birth, starting solid early (before 4 months of age) and getting less sleep.
Source: medicalnewstoday
Posted on March 4, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Legendary film maker Ron Howard is making a behind-the-scenes return to TV in NBC’s Parenthood, years after finding fame on The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days. Married for 35 years, Ron and Cheryl Howard are proud parents to four children – daughters Bryce Dallas, 29, twins Jocelyn Carlyle and Paige Carlyle, 24, and son Reed Cross, 22 – and grandparents to 2 1/2-year-old grandson Theo. Ron opened up to Parade about how he has grown since becoming a father and the profound experience of being a grandparent.
On his personal growth since having children: “Humor is unavoidable. It might not feel funny in the moment, but more often than not there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and you can personally look back and find the laughs in being a parent. I felt pressure about being a father, more pressure than I would have ever imagined — trying to do it right, to be what I should be to my kids. At the same time, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I think I’ve probably learned more and grown more because I’m a father than for any other reason.”
On preparing for the twins: “When we had our first child, it was very manageable. But then we found out that Cheryl was going to have twins and she was in a bed for three or four months and she was going crazy. For the first time in my life, I had to take a lot of extra responsibility at home. At the same time I was trying to get ready to film Cocoon. I had a few times when I had to ask myself, ‘Can I do this? Will I be able to do this?’ And I suddenly realized that I could handle it. I think that was a watershed time in my life both as a parent and as a person.”
On being a grandpa: “My daughter Bryce has a son who’s almost three. And I love being with him. I didn’t remotely understand how profound the experience of being a grandparent is until you become one. It’s interesting, when you become a grandparent you start bumping into other folks who have had that experience. And there’s this sort of wink and a nod like it’s sort of a club or something.”
Source
Posted on March 3, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
If one child has food allergies, how can a pregnant woman help ensure her next child won’t be affected too?
By avoiding exposure to the food her child is allergic is to – starting in the third trimester and continuing into the second year of life, say researchers from Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Camperdown, Australia.
Seven out of 10 babies born to mothers who took avoidance measures had no food allergies vs. 45% of babies whose moms did not follow the doctors’ advice, says pediatrician and study leader Velencia Soutter, MD.
That means eliminating the offending food not only from the diet but also from the environment, she says.
“Take peanut allergies, for example. If someone eats a lot of peanuts in your house, there is going to be aerosolized peanut protein in the environment. You need a clean household,” Soutter tells WebMD.
Soutter says she undertook the study because “parents of kids with food allergies came to us asking, ‘What can we do so this doesn’t happen again?’ They were desperate.”
The study involved 274 pregnant mothers of children with peanut, egg, or milk allergies.
“We didn’t tell them what to do, but gave them a lot of advice about how to avoid the food [their child was allergic to]. We started in the third trimester so everything would be in place when the baby was born,” she says.
The women were also encouraged to breastfeed, which has been shown to protect against the development of allergies in some studies, Soutter says.
About two-thirds of the women followed their advice.
At 1 and 1/2 and 3 years of age, the babies were evaluated for symptoms of allergic disease and given skin prick tests to determine if they showed susceptibility to the same food allergies as their older siblings.
“The results were dramatic,” Soutter says.
Thirty percent of babies born to mothers who took avoidance measures had one or more food allergies vs. 55% of babies whose moms didn’t take those avoidance measures.
Babies born to mothers who took avoidance measures were less likely to develop symptoms of asthma: Only 11% exhibited symptoms by the age of 3, compared with 43% of babies whose mothers didn’t avoid the offending foods.
Robert Wood, MD, director of the division of pediatric allergy and immunology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, tells WebMD that pregnant women should not feel guilty if they do not want to follow avoidance measures.
“I explain to my patients that exposure [to food allergens] in pregnancy seems to be a risk factor in some studies, but the results are not consistent. We don’t have the answer,” he says.
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Posted on March 3, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
New studies are making headway in the pursuit of cures for both eczema and food allergies, and it turns out the two are related.
Infants with eczema are at high risk of having peanut and other food allergies, British researchers report.
“We were shocked to find out that even in the first year of life, over 20% of infants with eczema already were sensitized [showed susceptibility] to peanut allergy,” says Graham Roberts, MD, a pediatric allergist at King’s College London.
Roberts tells WebMD that by the time they enter school, children with eczema have a high rate of peanut allergies.
“But we didn’t know how early the peanut allergy started; we thought may at 3, 4, or 5 years of age,” he says.
The new research suggests peanut allergy develop much earlier, Roberts says.
The study involved 640 infants aged 4-11 months with eczema.
The researchers measured blood levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE), an immune system protein the body makes in response to allergens. A positive result means a person is sensitive to and likely to be allergic to a certain food.
The results showed:
- 23% of the infants were sensitive to peanuts.
- 31% were sensitive to cow’s milk.
- 22% were sensitive to sesame.
- 16% were sensitive to Brazil nuts.
- 20% were sensitive to hazel nuts.
- 21% were sensitive to cashews.
- 14% were sensitive to almonds.
Sixteen percent of the infants tested positive for more than four foods.
Roberts says this is the first step in an ongoing study designed to test the hypothesis that giving infants foods to which they are sensitized will prevent allergies later in life.
The hypothesis is supported by the fact that Jewish children in London are about 10 times more likely to have peanut allergies than Israeli children “and one of the biggest differences is that kids in Israel are introduced to [peanuts] early in life,” says Hugh Sampson, MD, professor of pediatrics, allergy and immunology at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
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A daily dose of peanut powder could help some children who are allergic to peanuts, according to a pair of U.S. studies that confirm earlier findings, offering hope that a treatment could come soon.
In one study, teams at Duke University in North Carolina and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences gave 15 children tiny, but increasing, doses of peanut powder and compared them with eight children who got a placebo.
At the end of the year-long study, children given the treatment were on average able to tolerate 15 peanuts before having an allergic reaction.
“We started out literally at about a one-thousandth of a peanut and built that up over time,” Dr. Wesley Burks of Duke, who helped lead the study, said in a telephone interview.
In the second study, 12 children treated with peanut powder from age 32 months to 5 years old were monitored to see whether they could safely eat peanuts after the daily treatment stopped. The children were off the treatment for a month before they were given peanuts.
Nine of the 12 now have peanuts in their diets, the researchers reported at a meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology in New Orleans.
The research builds on previous studies, in which children were able to tolerate the treatment for more than two years and four appeared to be freed of their peanut allergies.
Burks said the results are encouraging but more research is needed before an effective treatment can be developed.
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Posted on March 3, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Women whose water has broken early may want to wait at least 18 months before having their next child, new research shows.
Known by doctors as preterm premature rupture of membranes, this complication, in which a woman’s water breaks before her pregnancy has reached full term and before labor has begun, occurs in up to 5 percent of pregnancies, Dr. Darios Getahun of Kaiser Permanente Southern California Medical Group in Pasadena and colleagues note in their report.
The complication accounts for one in every four premature births, they report in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, and puts mother and fetus at risk of infection.
While the reasons why some women’s water breaks early are “elusive,” Getahun and his team say, there are likely many factors involved. Women who have had the complication previously, they add, are known to be at greater risk in subsequent pregnancies. And the risk is also known to be higher for black women compared to whites.
To investigate whether the length of time between pregnancies might also influence this risk, the researchers reviewed data from the state of Missouri on nearly 200,000 women who had two or three children between 1989 and 1997. Around 3 percent of black women and 1 percent of white women’s water broke early during their first or second pregnancies.
Among white women whose water broke early, 6 percent had the complication in their subsequent pregnancy, compared to 2 percent of women who hadn’t suffered premature membrane rupture.
The rates for black women were 10 percent and 4 percent, respectively. This translated to a nearly nine-fold increased risk of subsequent early water breaking for white women, and a seven-fold greater risk for black women.
The risk was even further increased if a woman got pregnant again within 18 months, and was particularly high for African-American women. For example, a black woman who got pregnant again within three to six months would be nearly nine times more likely to have the complication than a woman who waited at least 18 months.
The risk of early water breaking for white women who got pregnant again this soon was tripled.
This suggests, the researchers say, that the complication may be related to inflammation, and that a longer interval between pregnancies is needed to allow for full recovery. “We think that it might be a chronic inflammation that may persist from one pregnancy to another pregnancy,” Getahun told Reuters Health.
Women whose water has broken early should be watched closely in subsequent pregnancies, he added, so that if infection does develop they can receive prompt antibiotic treatment, which could help prevent the complication from recurring.
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Posted on March 3, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
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Posted on March 2, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
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