Archive for May, 2010
SEEING YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE YOU GET PREGNANT
If you're thinking about having a baby, don't wait for the results of a home pregnancy test before seeing a doctor. The best time to have that first pre-natal visit is before you become pregnant, because a healthier you could mean a healthier baby. Pre-conceptual counseling, as it is called,
Newborn Screening to Prevent Mental Retardation
What is newborn screening? Newborn screening identifies biochemical or other inherited conditions that may produce mental retardation, other disabilities and/or death. Babies are screened for these conditions during the newborn period. These conditions are identified using tests on blood coll
HCG levels in pregnancy
HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, is a hormone made by the pregnancy that can be detected in the mother's blood or urine even before the woman's missed period. This hormone is what we look for with a "pregnancy test". HCG is first detectable in the blood as early as 7-8 days after ovulati
Conception Tips
This list is taken from the book "Getting Pregnant- What Couples Need to Know Right Now" by Niels H. Lauerson and Collete Bouchez. There is obviously much more information in the book on how to get pregnant than I can write here. Therefore I have provided a link to buy the book at the bottom
Recurrent Miscarriage – A Form of Infertility
For anyone who has experienced more than one miscarriage, the headline is striking: While the researchers themselves caution that their results are not enough to warrant special related treatment, the report offers another piece to the puzzle of recurrent miscarriage. Losing a pregnancy, no
How common is preterm birth?
One in every eight babies born in the US is preterm so that in 2002, more than 480,000 babies were born too early. Unfortunately the problem is getting worse not better. In fact the rates of preterm birth have increased 29% over the last 20 years, going from 9.4% in 1981 to 12.1% in 2002.2 But d
Which common “childhood disease” can threaten a pregnancy?
Rubella- Although there are many measles-type infections, the one that can be harmful is the rubella virus, otherwise known as German measles. Rubella can cause birth defects and long term problems in babies if their mothers are exposed during pregnancy. The most common problems are cataracts that c
How gestational diabetes can affect your baby?
Gestational diabetes usually affects the mother later in pregnancy when the baby’s body is already formed, yet while the baby is still growing. As a result gestational diabetes does not cause the kinds of birth defects that are sometimes seen in babies whose mothers have diabetes before pregnancy.
Gestational Diabetes: Handling blood sugar during pregnancy
About 2 to 5 percent of pregnant women in the U. S. develop gestational diabetes – a type of diabetes that occurs only during pregnancy and usually disappears after delivery.3 But certain factors, including a family history of diabetes and being overweight or older than age 30, can increase your r