Trusted Information for Healthy Pregnancies
Archive for November, 2009
Plastics Chemical Phthalate May Lead to Preterm Birth
Nov 30th
Pregnant women who are exposed to higher levels of an increasingly controversial chemical in certain plastics may deliver their babies slightly earlier than women with less exposure, results of a study suggest.
The chemical, DEHP - short for di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate - is a "plasticizer" used widely in consumer products to help make vinyl plastic soft and flexible.
"Exposures (to DEHP) are ubiquitous," Dr. Robin M. Whyatt from Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health in New York City told Reuters Health. DEHP breakdown products "have been detected in 95% of the general U.S. population."
In recent preliminary studies, DEHP exposure has been linked to some health risks. In animal studies, for example, exposure to this and other so-called phthalates has been linked to lower-weight babies and shorter pregnancies.
In preliminary human studies, prenatal DEHP exposure has been shown to affect the timing of labor; however, the findings have been mixed.
They gauged DEHP exposure by measuring four DEHP breakdown products in urine samples collected from the 311 African American or Dominican women aged 18 to 35. All of the women were living in New York City and were in their third trimesters.
The team found that the higher the level of DEHP breakdown products in the mothers' urine during pregnancy, the earlier the infant was born, Whyatt told Reuters Health. Babies with the highest level of exposure were born about five days earlier than those exposed to the lowest levels.
It's important to note, the researchers say, that the women in the study delivered their babies at or near term. However, if prenatal DEHP exposure were to lead to more infants being delivered prematurely, on average, this could be cause for concern.
Steve Risotto, Senior Director, Phthalate Esters, at the American Chemistry Council industry group, noted that two earlier studies contradicted the current one, showing opposite effects. "There was also no association found between phthalate exposure and prematurity, as all of the births were full term," he told Reuters Health.
Source
Alyson Hannigan’s Homebirth Story Available for Viewing
Nov 30th
The first two installments of Alyson Hannigan's birth story are now available for viewing. Hear how she and her husband decided on a homebirth and listen to Alyson describe her first signs of labor.
Many Pregnant Women Take Drugs Harmful to Baby
Nov 30th
With the help of their doctors, women planning to become pregnant should take an inventory of the medications they take, researchers from Canada advise.
In a study, they found that many pregnant women still take medications long known to cause birth defects.
Some medications with known fetal risk, such as drugs that control epilepsy, are essential during pregnancy, Dr. Anick Berard, at the University of Montreal in Quebec, noted in an email correspondence to Reuters Health.
Other medications, such as those that treat severe acne, anxiety and psychiatric drugs, antibiotics, and many drugs prescribed for heart disease and medical conditions, "can and should be avoided," according to Berard.
Women should understand the side effects of any drug they are taking -- especially drugs treating a chronic condition -- and plan pregnancies to avoid or minimize risks such drugs pose to babies, Berard added.
For the 5 years between January 1998 and the last day of 2002, Berard and colleagues analyzed the prescriptions filled by pregnant women for drugs available at the time and known to pose fetal risks.
Their report, in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, shows 56 percent of 109,344 pregnant women filled at least one medication prescription. A total of 6.3 percent (6,871 women) did so for at least one medication known to pose a risk to the fetus.
"These pregnancies were associated with an elevated number of (pregnancy terminations) and babies born with major (birth defects) in comparison with the expected numbers in the population," they note.
Specifically, terminations occurred in 47 percent of the pregnancies exposed to drugs with known fetal risks. Six percent of these pregnancies ended in miscarriage.
By contrast, in the much larger non-exposed group about 36 percent of the pregnancies had been terminated and fewer than 5 percent ended in miscarriage.
Berard's team further identified birth defects in 8.2 percent of 2,842 infants exposed to risky drugs during gestation and available for assessment, compared with 7.1 percent of the 59,287 infants not exposed. This is "a statistically significant difference," they note.
They emphasize, however, that it cannot be concluded that the drug exposure caused the birth defects. These pregnancies may have also been exposed to other harmful agents or maternal health conditions, they point out.
Source
Pregnant Women Going to Hospital Too Early
Nov 25th
Nervous fathers-to-be are pushing their partners into hospital at the first sign of labor even when they would be better off at home, according to a new study.
Midwives recommend women relax at home in the early stages after research found they are more likely to suffer complications if they are admitted to hospital too soon.
But a small study has found that jumpy fathers-to-be and even nervous mothers-in-law are pushing women to go to hospital too soon.
Mary Nolan, professor of perinatal education at the University of Worcester, questioned more than 2,400 first-time mothers about their experience of support from midwives during early labor.
She then carried out in-depth interviews with eight women in Worcester and found they had common views on their partner's influence.
While many of the women talked about how supportive their partners had been, they believed their partner's stress had led them to hospital early, echoing comments from many of those surveyed.
Prof Nolan said: "We are talking about the early stages of labor when women are advised by midwives that the best place to be is at home. It may be a few hours or even days until the contractions are strong enough and women need to go to hospital.
"Men are completely wonderful but they do not have an intuitive understanding of birth like women have - even those women who have not given birth before. Men - obviously because they are so concerned for their partner and their baby - are on edge."
Prof Nolan said midwives were keen for women to stay at home in early labor because research has shown they are more likely to need interventions - such as forceps or an epidural - if admitted too soon.
Source
This Week’s Celebrity Baby Bumps
Nov 25th
Gisele takes a stroll with her stepson in a cozy brown sweater and boots, Kourtney Kardishian works the green and black plaid with some black suede boots, Rebecca Gayheart hits the beach in a gray flowing top and black leggings, Jennifer Ellison accents her bump in an elegant white gown, Camila Alves works the leggings with flats look and then wows us in a brown leather jacket and a gray shirt that brings her beautiful bump into focus.
Source
Source 
Tips for Saving Money Once the Baby Arrives
Nov 25th
Parents can spend up to $10,000 buying stuff for baby's first year of life alone! (read more about baby costs.)
But there are ways families can save thousands of dollars:
Cloth Diaper Your Baby
Cloth diapering can save families literally thousands of dollars and is good for the planet too. Cloth diapers have changed so much in the last decade - they are actually easy to use and oh so cute too. (talk to other moms about cloth diapering.)
Buy Items With Multiple Uses
Parents know how frustrating it can be to buy items that only last a few months before baby grows out of them. Look for items that grow along with baby. Think about a high chair that converts to a booster, or a toy that takes baby from tummy time to standing. (more about baby gear essentials.)
Plan Ahead
Parents may not realize how much they're spending on items they don't need at places like the grocery store. Plan your meals and shop for groceries only that you need.
Breastfeed Your Baby
It's no secret that breastfeeding can save a family more than $1,500, after all, formula is expensive!
Source
Why Women Who Have Had Preeclampsia Should Be Evaluated For Hypothyroidism.
Nov 25th
This blog post was also published on preeclampsiaonline.net by Chukwuma Onyeije, M.D.
At present, the cause of preeclampsia is unknown. However, it is clear that patients who have had preeclampsia are at risk for other cardiovascular conditions in later life. Recently published studies now show that in addition to these concerns; patients who have had preeclampsia are also at risk for hypothyroidism later in life.
This presentation reviews why this is an important consideration for the long term health of these patients.
View more presentations from Chukwuma Onyeije.
Top Ten Foot Care Tips For Diabetics
Nov 24th
If you are suffering from diabetes then foot care becomes extremely important. This is because diabetics are more susceptible to...
Announcing: WEGO Health Widgets!
Nov 24th
We’re very excited to be introducing a new feature to our community today: the Featured Community Content Widget.
We’ve been working hard here at WEGO Health to create a series of widgets that feature high quality content created by Health Activists. Each widget focuses on a single topic and highlights user-generated content: summaries and direct links to the best discussions, blog posts, interviews, podcasts, and videos that are taking place across the web.
Take a look at our new Featured Fertility Community Content Widget:
To see more of the content featured in the widget, simply click that “more” button.
As you can see, some of the links and summaries featured by our editorial team are from the WEGO Health community. Most of this content, however, was created on – and still lives on - other sites.
Because our mission here at WEGO Health is all about empowering Health Activists (that’s you!) to help others, we link directly to your content in our Featured Community Content Widgets. Our goal is to make sure the great content you create gets exposed to as many people as possible.
We’ve tested this widget with members of the WEGO Health community and we’d like to take a minute to share some of their frequently asked questions (and the answers) with you:
How do I put this widget on my own site?
If you’d like to get regular updates about great content within your community, or share this widget with your blog readers or fellow community members, simply click on the “get widget” link at the bottom of the widget. From there, you’ll be able to copy the embed code, or begin the process of embedding the widget onto your dashboard, iGoogle, Blogger, or other widget-friendly sites.
How is content selected?
WEGO Health’s editorial team searches for the most helpful, interesting, Health Activist created content on the social web. This is an ongoing process, so if you’d like your content featured, or if you want to recommend content created by someone else, click on the “submit” link at the bottom of the widget to let us know!
Who owns the content in this widget?
The Health Activists who created it. WEGO Health believes very strongly that you own what you’ve created and we don’t want to infringe upon that.
How can I report an issue (eg. broken links, questionable content, etc.)?
Just send us an email describing the issue and we’ll look into it right away.
Why are there ads?
These ads pay for the widget to appear on many other websites and health social networks around the web – we're putting advertiser dollars to work, guaranteeing greater visibility for your content.
Can I suggest a topic for a new widget?
Of course! We’ll be introducing more widgets in the months to come, but if there’s a widget you think would be very beneficial to your community—please don’t hesitate to let us know by leaving a comment, or sending us an email.
We hope you’re as excited about this new WEGO Health feature as we are!
Alcohol in Pregnancy has Variety of Possible Effects
Nov 23rd
A new study from Perth's Telethon Institute for Child Health Research has found evidence that the amount and timing of alcohol consumption in pregnancy affects child behavior in different ways.
The study has just been published online in the international journal Addiction.
Lead author Colleen O'Leary said the analysis was drawn from a random sample of more than 2000 mothers who completed a questionnaire three months after the baby's delivery, and were then followed up when the child was 2, 5 and 8 years of age.
"Mothers who reported what we would classify as heavy drinking in the first trimester of pregnancy were nearly three times as likely to report that their child suffered with anxiety and/or depression or somatic complaints," Ms O'Leary said.
“Those who drank moderately during that first trimester were twice as likely to report those types of behavioral issues for their child.
“Exposure to moderate or heavy levels of alcohol in late pregnancy increased the risk of aggressive types of behaviors in the child.
“This research suggests that both the timing and the intensity of alcohol exposure in the womb affect the type of behaviour problems expressed.”
In this study low levels of alcohol did not increase the risk of harm to the baby. However, the evidence clearly shows that the risk to the baby increases with increasing amounts consumed.
“It should also be noted that in this study moderate exposure is classified as drinking 3-4 standard drinks per occasion- that's about two normal glasses of wine-and no more than a bottle of wine drunk over a week.”
Heavy drinking included women who were drinking the equivalent of more than a bottle of wine per week.
“Not every child will be affected by prenatal exposure to alcohol. However it is important that women have this information about increased risk so that they can make informed decisions to give their child the best start to life,” Ms O'Leary said.
The National Health and Medical Research Council recommend that the safest choice for women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy is to abstain from alcohol.
Source