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

• Black Tea
  
• Dark chocolate
• Yogurt
• Cinnamon
• Ground flaxseed
• Rice bran and oat bran
• Barley
• Avocado
• Macadamia nuts
• Hazelnuts
• Sunflower oil and canola oil
• Egg whites

Because of the correlation between declining estrogen and rising cholesterol levels, it’s not unusual for women in their forties and fifties to experience rising cholesterol levels, which can lead to heart disease later in life.   If you haven’t hit the danger zone yet and you want to reverse this trend, diet and exercise could help. Of course, if your physician has recommended prescription drug therapy, it would be wise to add exercise and a diet rich in these foods to your regimen.  It could reduce the amount of of time you need to taking a statin drug.

Filed under: Birth, Events & Observances, Government, Women’s Health

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!

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PregnancyWeekly.com

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.

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PregnancyWeekly.com

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.

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PregnancyWeekly.com

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.

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PregnancyWeekly.com

Pictures! These are all from a few weeks ago, when they were brand spanking new, umbilical cords and all. They’re a little bigger now. Also, the sun was setting, so the lighting was weird and my camera really let me down.

I’ve yet to get a picture of the two of them together….weird.

I set my size 8 flip-flop there for size reference. I mean….I found this gross old discarded flip-flop and kicked it over next to it……….oh gosh, this is embarrassing. These are the terrible flip-flops I bought out of necessity in the Chicago Midway airport in August. It’s not my fault they turned out to be really comfortable. They have since been washed.