Trusted Information for Healthy Pregnancies
22 weeks
Mother-daughter pregnancy sickness link found
Apr 30th
Pregnant women are three times more likely to suffer from severe morning sickness if their mothers did, say Norwegian researchers,
Around 2% of women suffer excessive nausea and vomiting in pregnancy - known as hyperemesis gravidarum - which can require hospital treatment.
But a study of 2.3 million births showed a threefold higher rate in those whose mothers had the condition.
Experts said the results could help women better understand their risk.
Hyperemesis is defined as excessive sickness which starts before the 22nd week of pregnancy and in its most serious form it can lead to dehydration and weight loss because women cannot keep food or water down.
It can be extremely debilitating, women can't work, can't look after their families and they need to be admitted to hospital.
It is the most common cause of admission to hospital in early pregnancy and can be a cause of low birth weight and premature birth.
The researchers said that previous studies have attributed the condition to "psychological causes".
They analyzed birth records, which included information on pregnancy complications, from 1967 to 2006.
It found the daughters of women who had the condition during their pregnancy had a 3% risk compared with 1% in those whose mothers did not have it.
But there was no increased risk to the female partners of sons whose mothers had suffered from the illness.
The researchers said although the results suggest a genetic link between mothers and daughters, it is also possible that there are lifestyle or environmental factors shared between mother and daughter that increase the risk.
Dr Catherine Nelson-Piercy, a consultant obstetric physician at Guy's and St Thomas' Foundation Trust in London, said that better understanding of the genetic risks of hyperemesis may help clinicians when counseling women about the risk of recurrence in future pregnancies.
She said many women were undertreated because of the legacy of thalidomide - a drug given for morning sickness in the 1960s which caused birth defects - despite the availability of safe drugs.
"It is safe to take anti-sickness drugs and it's better for the baby and the pregnancy to treat this condition than let the woman get very severely ill and risk complications."
Patrick O'Brien, spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said the study added to growing evidence that many conditions in pregnancy, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, were linked to a "genetic predisposition".
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Study Links Folic Acid Supplement in Late Pregnancy to Asthma in Offspring
Nov 4th
Women who take folic acid supplements during the later months of pregnancy may be increasing their baby's risk of developing asthma, according to a newly released Australian study.
Found in its natural form in leafy green vegetables, legumes and some nuts, folic acid is commonly recommended to women trying to conceive to prevent neural defects in the first weeks of pregnancy.
But the Australian study found that women who continue to take folic acid late into pregnancy were 30 percent more likely to give birth to a child which would develop asthma.
"We see a substantial proportion of women taking these folate supplements throughout pregnancy, and it may be because people think it is entirely benign," said Michael Davies, associate professor at Adelaide University.
"Folate is incredibly important because of its role in preventing neural tube defects (like spina bifida). But because it is so important, and so bioactive, it needs to be treated with some respect as well."
Of the 550 women studied, those who took the folic acid supplements before conception and not more than several weeks into their pregnancy had no increased risk of asthma in their children.
But women who took it during weeks 16 to 30 of the pregnancy increased their risk of having a child with asthma by about 30 percent, according to the research, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
"Our finding should be reassuring to women who take folate for the purpose of preventing neural tube defects because we found no evidence of early supplementation (leading to asthma)," Davies told newswire AAP.
Davies said a diet rich in natural folate carried no increased risk of asthma for the baby.
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