Pregnancy and Health:
Healthy Pregnancy, news on pregnancy care and health. Health issues associated with pregnancy.
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Oct 2nd, 2009
Compared to women at ideal weight, women who are overweight at the beginning of their pregnancies are at an increased risk for giving birth to a child with certain heart defects, including defects in both the ventricular and atrial chambers of the heart, pulmonary valve stenosis, and septal defects (the septum is the wall that divides the two sides of the heart).
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Oct 1st, 2009
Results of a new study shows that mothers who smoke during pregnancy could be putting their children at risk for the development of psychosis. Researchers examined the link between smoking during pregnancy and risk of psychosis in children by performing a study of 6,356 12-year-olds from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.
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Sep 30th, 2009
The H1N1 flu virus disproportionately affects pregnant women. To better educate healthcare workers in the state, UAMS and the Arkansas Department of Health teamed up to host a seminar on “H1N1 in Pregnant Women.”
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Sep 29th, 2009
Women who are expecting babies have long been told that medications can be harmful to their unborn children, at least most medications. However, when it comes to the flu shot, even though they are encouraged to get it each year, only about 15% of pregnant women actually get the flu shot. However, pregnant women refusing flu shots may find that in 2010, it is not a good idea, writes the New York Times.
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Sep 28th, 2009
Exposure to drinking water contaminated with the solvent perchloroethylene (PCE) during pregnancy increases the risk of neural tube defects and oral clefts in her newborn, according to research reported in the online journal Environmental Health.
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Sep 23rd, 2009
There are 38 countries participating in EURAP which is an international antiepileptic drug (AED) and pregnancy registry, 1999 to 2005. There are dramatic differences in AED use across countries. Exposure to second-generation AEDs range from 3.5% in India and 7.3% in Italy to 75% in Denmark. There was noticed an increase in use of AEDs over time. The use of lamotrigine increased from 9.9% of all pregnancies in women with epilepsy before 2001 to 29.6% after 2003.
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Aug 22nd, 2009
The risks associated with the use of antidepressants by pregnant women is the focus of a just-released joint report from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Although the report provides some important guidelines for pregnant women about possible antidepressant use, it also leaves many questions unanswered about the dangers the drugs pose to the infants.
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Aug 21st, 2009
According to the British Medical journal (BMJ), women should be warned against using fetal heart rate monitors at home to listen to their unborn baby’s heart beat. Dr Thomas Aust and colleagues from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral describe a poor outcome experienced by one mother-to-be who assured herself her infant’s heart rate was normal – but it was not.
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Aug 17th, 2009
The infants of pregnant women who have low choline levels are at greater risk of certain birth defects, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine. Two types of neural tube birth defects - anencephaly and spina bifida - have been linked to insufficient levels of the nutrient.
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Aug 1st, 2009
While most health care professionals tout the importance of regular prenatal care throughout pregnancy, many women still do not get the care they need.
