Trusted Information for Healthy Pregnancies
28 weeks
Why Prenatal Care Matters during Your Pregnancy
Apr 30th
It is important that pregnant women see a physician more often than just to confirm their pregnancies and to have their babies delivered. Quality prenatal care by an established OB/GYN or nurse practitioner throughout the entirety of the pregnancy is the best way to monitor a baby's growth and to identify any problems or complications early on, before they become a health threat to the future mother or her unborn child. During these prenatal visits, a mother-to-be is also educated on how to care for herself during a healthy pregnancy, and also how to manage unique circumstances-such as gestational diabetes-that can emerge during pregnancy. Statistics show that women who make regular visits to health care providers during their pregnancy have healthier babies, are less likely to give birth prematurely, and are less likely to have other serious pregnancy-related issues. A pregnant woman's OB/GYN will often refer her and her partner to helpful support groups or Lamaze classes. These health care practitioners also connect low-income pregnant women with referrals to much-needed government services, such as WIC.
During a normal, low-risk pregnancy, it is recommended that a woman make prenatal visits about once a month during her first 28 weeks; twice a month from week 28 to week 36; and up to once a week after week 36, according to helpful information compiled by the March of Dimes. Those with higher-risk pregnancies may need to make more frequent visits with their doctor.
Knowing the approximate due date is another reason prenatal visits are useful because this helps women determine how much time they will have to prepare for a new baby. Prenatal visits also provide an opportunity to receive an ultrasound to determine the sex of the baby after it has reached the appropriate point of development.
The education a woman receives about pregnancy and childbirth during prenatal visits is invaluable. Women will learn the important role prenatal vitamins play in the healthy development of the baby, how to manage their weight during pregnancy, and answer any tricky questions they may have about their pregnancy. Topics a pregnant woman may want to discuss with a health care practitioner during a prenatal visit might include: sexual activity during pregnancy, exercise during pregnancy, the risk factors associated with being pregnant as a teen or older adult, what changes to expect in your body during pregnancy, and how to manage discomfort during pregnancy.
This guest post is contributed by Jennifer Johnson, who writes on the topics of NP Schools. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: j.johnson19june@gmail.com.
Very premature twins do just as well as singletons
Feb 18th
Overall, very premature twins fare just as well as single babies born very early, and they may even face a lower risk of certain complications, new research shows.
But for twin pairs of the same sex but sharply different sizes who are born before 28 weeks, the risks of death and bleeding on the brain are higher than they are for single babies born at the same time, Dr. Jennifer Zeitlin of the Hopital Saint-Vincent de Paul in Paris and her colleagues found.
Premature birth is much more common among twins than singletons, Zeitlin and her team note; while one in every 10 twin pairs is born before 32 weeks' gestation, just one in 100 singletons is born this early. There is evidence that preemie twins do better than singles of the same gestational age, they add.
A full-term pregnancy lasts for 39 weeks, while babies born between 28 and 31 weeks are considered "very preterm." Babies born between 24 and 27 weeks' gestation are "extremely preterm."
To investigate outcomes for very premature and extremely premature twins compared to those of singletons born equally early, Zeitlin and her colleagues looked at births and stillbirths in nine European countries in 2003. Their analysis included 1,254 twins and 3,586 singletons born between 24 and 31 weeks' gestation.
The women carrying twins were less likely to develop high blood pressure during pregnancy than those with singletons, the researchers found: about 8 percent of those carrying twins, compared to about 22 percent of those carrying single babies.
They also found that severe bleeding and restrictions on the growth of the fetus were also less common in twin pregnancies.
Twins' mothers were also more likely to have been given corticosteroids before delivery; these drugs are administered to speed up premature newborns' lung development.
Among the very premature babies, the likelihood of dying in the first few weeks of life was lower for twins, who were also less likely to need oxygen. But once the researchers took factors such as mother's age, pregnancy complications, and infant health problems into account, the difference disappeared.
For the extremely premature infants, however, the researchers calculated that the risk of death or serious bleeding in the brain was about 1.5 times higher for twins than it was for single babies. While about 17 percent of singletons suffered from such bleeding, roughly 24 percent of twins did.
The greater risks were only seen for same-sex twins in which one twin weighed at least 15 percent more than the other twin at birth.
"Why the effects of these twin-specific complications were so much more pronounced for extremely preterm births is an area for further study," the researchers conclude.
Source
Phthalates in Pregnant Women Affect Masculinity of Baby Boys
Nov 16th
The fact that hormone-disrupting chemicals present in various household products are interfering with the development of children has been substantiated by researchers at the University of Rochester in New York State, who have reported that baby boys born to mothers with above-normal levels of 'phthalates' generally depict less masculine behavior.
The study, published in the International Journal of Andrology, states that phthalates block the activity of male hormones like androgens, thereby changing masculine brain development.
The findings of the study were based on a phthalate-tracing test that the researchers conducted on the urine samples from mothers in the 28th week of pregnancy. The women, who gave birth to 74 boys and 71 girls, during 2000-2003, were contacted again by researchers, who then inquired from the mothers about the personalities of their toddlers, the kind of toys and activities they liked.
It was found that boys born to mothers with high phthalate levels were less likely to play with guns, cars, and trains; and mostly indulged in “gender neutral” activities, like sports.
The study’s lead author, Shanna H. Swan, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, said that the results of the study are “consistent with our prior findings that link phthalates to altered male genital development,” as well as “compatible with current knowledge about how hormones mold sex differences in the brain, and thus behavior.”
Source