Planning a family?

Are you pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant? Do you have friends who are planning a family? Watch and share our Get Ready for Pregnancy video, with Dr. Siobhan Dolan, to learn some tips that you can follow before becoming pregnant. We want to help you have a healthy, full-term baby.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WMdAfU2Jk_Y

We are proud to be partners in the Show Your Love national campaign designed to improve the health of women and babies by promoting preconception health and healthcare.

Tags: before pregnancy, planning a family, pre-pregnancy, Pregnancy

Fun In The sun?

This weekend will you be where the weather’s warm, the sun is shining, the kids want to run around and play with the hose? (Doesn’t it feel great to get away from freezing winter?!) Don’t forget that most of us are pale from winter hibernation and are ripe for sizzling in the sun.

Here’s the pitch for today: don’t forget the sun block. I know, everybody’s talking about that right now, and they should ‘cause it’s important. We have written about the importance of using sun block before, about using one with SPF 30 and replacing it every couple of hours, etc. But this time I want to remind you while you slather on the goop to be sure to protect your children’s ears. We always get the cheeks, nose shoulders and arms, but sometimes the ears are bypassed. Wide brimmed hats are great but often get pulled off by tots, and caps will leave the ears exposed to the sun’s scorching rays. And, by the way, this goes for you, too.

If you’re pregnant, your sensitive skin might burn more easily. Read these tips and relax and enjoy the warmer weather… and don’t forget to protect your ears!

Tags: sensitive skin, sun block, sunburn, suntan lotion
Posted in Baby, Mommy | No Comments »

 

What is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist?

A maternal-fetal medicine specialist is an obstetrician who concentrates on the care of pregnant women and babies in high-risk situations. Another name for this doctor is a perinatologist.

A maternal-fetal medicine specialist treats women with a number of conditions. Complications with mom’s health, include:
• A history of multiple miscarriages or premature birth
• Diabetes (gestational or preexisting)
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Preeclampsia
• Infectious disease (toxoplasmosis, parvovirus, HIV/AIDS, etc.) or chronic illness
• Rh disease
• A family history of heart, kidney, or other disease

A maternal-fetal medicine specialist often treat pregnant women who are carrying multiples (twins, triplets or more) as the risk for preterm birth is significantly increased.

This doctor also specializes in the care of women whose baby is known to have:
• Abnormal fetal growth
• A known birth defect or suspected genetic disorder, such as Down syndrome, Trisomy 13 or Trisomy 18
• A baby with macrosomia (too large)
• A baby with fetal growth restriction (too small)

If you find yourself in a position where the risk of complications is higher than the average pregnancy, ask your current health care provider for a referral to a maternal-fetal medicine specialist. You may or may not need the extra care, but it will be good to get a second opinion.

Tags: diabetes, Down Syndrome, fetal growth restriction, high risk pregnancy, macrosomia, maternal-fetal medicine, obstetrician, perinatologist, preeclampsia, pregnancy after miscarriage, premature birth, preterm birth, Rh disease, triplets, twin pregnancy

This entry was posted on Friday, March 15th, 2013 at 11:43 am and is filed under Planning for Baby, Pregnancy, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

FDA approves drug to fight nausea and vomiting

On April 8, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Diclegis (doxylamine succinate and pyridoxine hydrochloride) to treat pregnant women experiencing nausea and vomiting.

More than half of all pregnant women have some nausea during the first trimester. For most women this nausea usually goes away by the second trimester. But for some women, nausea and vomiting may continue even past the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Diclegis is a delayed-release tablet intended for women who have not adequately responded to conservative management of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, such as changes to their diet and lifestyle. These modifications include eating several small meals instead of three large meals, eating bland foods that are low in fat and easy to digest and avoiding smells that can trigger nausea.

“Diclegis is now the only FDA-approved treatment for nausea and vomiting due to pregnancy, providing a therapeutic option for pregnant women seeking relief from these symptoms,” said Dr. Hylton V. Joffe of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Observational studies have shown that the combination of active ingredients in Diclegis does not pose an increased risk of harm to a developing fetus.

For questions and answers about how drugs are approved by the FDA, click on this link.
Tags: Diclegis, FDA approved drug, morning sickness, nausea, Pregnancy, pregnant woman, vomiting

We’re born to appreciate parents!

The March of Dimes imbornto campaign is intended to engage with parents around Mother’s Day and Father’s Day since our quest for “stronger, healthier babies” truly begins with the most important people in babies’ lives – parents! Through our history, our support of parents has been an understated but crucial aspect of addressing the medical and public health problems that have been the focus of our mission. Only a parent can measure most profoundly the personal effects of illness and disability on a child. Our emphasis today on healthy pregnancy and healthy babies implicitly involves parents in our most important objectives. After all, this concern is at the basis of providing “News Moms Need.”

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are special occasions to honor one’s parents. In the 1950s the March of Dimes recognized Mother’s Day by selecting an annual “Polio Mother of the Year.” But the hoopla surrounding such publicity skirts the momentous fact that the conquest of polio was achieved by millions of women (and men) who joined “Mothers March,” the most successful fund-raiser of those years. “Mothers March on Polio” soon became “Mothers March on Birth Defects,” and the volunteer moms and dads behind these efforts were as much responsible for improving children’s health as the creators of vaccines and the leaders in perinatal breakthroughs. This is but one reason why we laud the contributions of mothers and fathers today.

From Virginia Apgar’s 1972 book of advice to new parents, Is My Baby All Right?, to our decades-long involvement in supporting families undergoing the traumatic experience of a NICU hospitalization, the March of Dimes has appreciated the role of parents in children’s health. Our current push for creating transdisciplinary centers for research on premature birth runs parallel to our propensity for collaboration and team-building, and the role of parents in these endeavors is just as fundamental to the overarching social goals of improving children’s health.

In 1955, the National Father’s Day Committee selected March of Dimes President Basil O’Connor as “Father of the Year.” In the wake of the success of the polio vaccine created with March of Dimes funds by Dr. Jonas Salk, his selection may seem to us all-too-obvious in retrospect. His daughters, Sheelagh O’Connor and Bettyann Culver, attended a recognition luncheon, and the requisite photographs were taken. Among the many letters of congratulations that O’Connor received, one close business contact wrote, “You are a good father, and you are an exceptionally good citizen and good friend.” It is in this spirit of warm appreciation that the March of Dimes pays tribute to mothers and fathers. Hats off to all moms and dads!

Tags: Basil O'Connor, Father's Day, healthy pregnancy, imbornto, Mother's Day, parent, Parents, premature birth, transdisciplinary research

MENTAL HEALTH MEDICATIONS AND PREGNANCY

WHAT ARE THE RISKS AND BENEFITS FOR MOM AND BABY?

Experts Discuss Long-Term Use of Prescriptions for Mental Health and
Their Implications During Pregnancy

NEW YORK, NY, JUNE 6, 2013 – No woman should stop taking her mental health medication if she gets pregnant without first talking to her doctor, experts said today at a luncheon for reporters hosted by March of Dimes National Communications Advisory Council.

Some young women have been on antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs, or medication for attention deficit disorders since they were teenagers. Now as women of childbearing age or mothers-to-be, they should seek support and guidance from health care providers to determine if they should continue, stop or switch to a different drug.

More than half of pregnant women take at least one prescription medication at some time during pregnancy, the experts said.

Christina Chambers, PhD, MPH, the director of Clinical Research at Rady Children’s Hospital and the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California San Diego, and Kimberly A. Yonkers, MD, director of the PMS and Perinatal Psychiatric Research Program at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, discussed how widespread the use of these medications are and their relative risks.

“Pregnant women should talk to their doctor about which medications they are taking, and what are the best options for them while pregnant. It is important to balance the possible risks and benefits of all medications to the mother and the baby,” said Dr. Yonkers.

Women should not just quit taking their medications, Dr. Yonkers said. If a woman prefers to stop her medications and her physicians agree that it is a reasonable option, she can do so and be monitored.

"Women agonize over whether or not to continue their mental health medications while pregnant," said Dr. Chambers, who helps direct California's MotherToBaby pregnancy exposure counseling phone line that advises thousands of women every year. She pointed out that one out of every 33 babies has some type of birth defect regardless of medication use, so it can be difficult to tell what role the drug may have played in causing a birth defect.

When possible, women and their doctors should discuss the options before pregnancy so they can weigh the potential risk to the baby with the clear risks of stopping treatment, said Dr. Chambers.

For information about medication during pregnancy please visit: http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/drugs-herbs-and-dietary-supplements.aspx or the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website http://www.cdc.gov/pregnancy/meds/index.html.

Due date calculator

Pregnancy usually lasts 280 days (40 weeks) from the first day of the woman’s last menstrual period. Here’s a link to our interactive Due Date Calculator that will help you estimate the date your baby will arrive.

Remember, though, that this calculator is a general guide: every pregnancy is unique, and sometimes babies arrive sooner or later than expected. Always talk to your health care provider about your due date. And be sure you know the signs of preterm labor and what to do, just in case.

Tags: Baby, baby's arrival, due date, Pregnancy
Posted in Baby, Pregnancy | 2 Comments »

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