Pregnancy Index
Compiled by LLM
Photo of Mary Ann Stisher at
nine months pregnant by Pat Dew
Also see:
- Getting
Pregnant -ideas that assist in conception.
- Natural
Health page- this page includes a section
about miscarriage, and a variety of natural
ways to be your healthiest in pregnancy. Included:
controlling gestational diabetes, preventing
anemia, dealing with constipation, urinary tract
infections, and yeast infections, as well as
optimal pregnancy diet, and more.
- BirthLove's forums: Pregnancy
and Childbirth
* * * * *
On this page:
Miscarriage
Read women's stories of miscarriage, ectopic
pregnany, and stillbirth here.
Miscarriage
More Likely with Older Father Researchers
discovered that 25-year-old women were more
than twice as likely to miscarry if their partners
were 35 or older.
Caffeine-Miscarriages
Link Studied
link
found between spontaneous abortion and heart
disease
Caffine
intake doubles stillbirth incidence Pregnant
women who drank eight or more cups of coffee
a day had more than twice the risk of stillbirth
compared with women who did not drink coffee
during pregnancy.
Preconception and Early Pregnany
Also see: Women's
Wisdom: Conception, Birth and Mothering
Smoking,
Pelvic Infections Up Tubal Pregnancy Risk
Excerpted: "Smoking and sexually transmitted
pelvic infections can more than triple a woman's
risk of having an ectopic pregnancy."
Folate-Rich
Diet May Cut Cleft Palate Risk "Women
who have certain variations in a folate-processing
gene are at greater risk of having a child with
a cleft lip or palate, but the risk is increased
only if women do not consume enough folic acid
in pregnancy, according to a new study."
Early
Pregnancy Bleeding Less Risky Than Thought
A new study shows that the risk of miscarriage
after later first trimester bleeding is actually
less than 5 percent; although these women are
more likely to experience complications such
as premature delivery and hypertensive disorders.
Severe morning sickness
Sites that deal with morning sickness/hyperemesis
gravidum:
Pregnancy Conditions
The problem
of bacterial vaginosis in pregnancy, and alternative
treatment regimes Bacterial vaginosis can
lead to, among other problems, preterm birth;
prevention and treatment are important.
Vitamins
'could prevent pregnancy danger' Intake
of antioxidant vitamins have been linked with
the reduction of pre-eclampsia, a known killer
in pregnancy and birth. This page includes a note
form Gloria Lemay, about the role of diet in pregnancy-
and the perversion of doctors' neglecting its
crucial importance.
What
Is Obstetric Cholestasis? -by a mother who
has suffered from this debilitating, potentially
lethal liver condition in pregnancy. This page
includes natural treatments, and a nutritionist/herbalist's
ideas for liver cleansing.
Alternative Treatments for
Group B Strep in Pregnancy and Birth
Chlorhexidine
instead of Antibiotics in Treating Group B Strep
Medical research shows that chlorhexidine is
effective in curing GBS, as well as E. coli.
Strep
B Holistic Approach This page by Gloria
Lemay shows that colloidal silver is a fantastic
preventative.
GBS Positive
Treatment Plan A natural approach using
grapefruit seed extract to eliminate GBS by
Karen Ehrlich, CPM, LM.
Antibiotics
of questionable use for women giving birth with
group B strep
Prenatal Testing
Ultrasound
Ultrasound:
causes for concern by Sarah Buckley, MD.
Ultrasound is not safe or even a genuine indicator
of abnormalities in pregnancy; and it leads
to much undue stress and worry in mothers-to-be.
Ultrasound Links
Gestational Diabetes (pregnancy
induced diabetes)
Screening
for Gestational Diabetes: A Summary of the Evidence
for the U.S. There is no good evidence for
the mass testing of pregnant women for gestational
diabetes. Says this article that appeared in
Obstetrics & Gynecology:"Except for
research purposes, all forms of glucose tolerance
testing should be stopped."
Data Don't
Support Universal Diabetes Test Canadian
OBs are coming to the conclusion that testing
for gestational diabetes is largely pointless
and too costly for women and society; they are
also finding that existing treatments for GD
do little to positively affect outcome. (It's
about time...)
Uselessness
of Standard Management of Gestational Diabetes
by Henci Goer. external link
Pregnancy Warning: suspect
diagnosis with Biophysical Profiling
-by private birth attendant Gloria
Lemay
"Many N. American women are being told
at the very end of their pregnancies to go to
an ultrasound clinic and have a Biophysical
Profile done. Most are impressed by the thoroughness
of their practitioner and have no idea of what
this test involves or what sort of harm could
follow from consenting to this diagnostic procedure.
They will probably not be told that there is
no scientific basis for having faith in the
test results and that no improvement in health
has been proven from large numbers of fetuses
being "profiled".
"Certainly, no one will mention that the
only benefits of the procedure are 1. the ultrasound
clinic will earn $275; 2. the medical person
will be able to cover themselves legally in
the very rare instance that a baby might die
in utero.
"Until recently, physicians and midwives
would tell women who were carrying their babies
beyond 41 weeks gestational age to do "kick
counts". It is widely accepted that, if
the baby has 10 distinct movements between the
hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., it is thriving under
the mother's heart. In a culture that loves
technology and with a push to expand the commercial
use of ultrasound, it was inevitable that someone
would come up with a more complex strategy to
provide reassurance of the baby's wellbeing
in late pregnancy. Thus the Biophysical Profile
(BPP) was born.
"In the past year, I have had a number
of letters and phone calls from doulas, midwives
and childbirth educators about a flaw in this
testing method. An unusually large number of
diagnoses seem to be made that "there is
not enough amniotic fluid". [Fluid can
be increased- go here.]
It is important for parents to know that this
is likely an inaccurate assessment. What the
ultrasound technician is doing could be compared
to viewing an adult in a see-through plexiglass
bathtub from below the tub. If you had such
a scenario, it would be difficult to assess
how much water is in the tub above the body
that is resting on the bottom of the tub. You
might be able to get an idea of the water volume
by measuring how much water was showing below
the elbows and around the knees, but if the
elbows were down at the bottom of the tub, too,
you might think there was very little water.
"This is what the technician is trying
to do in late pregnancy- find pockets of amniotic
fluid in little spaces around the relatively
large body of an 8 lb baby who is stuffed tightly
into an organ that is about the size of a watermelon
(the uterus). If the amniotic fluid is mostly
near the side of the uterus closest to the woman's
spine, it cannot be seen or measured.
"This diagnosis of 'low amniotic fluid'
frightens the parents-to-be into acquiescing
to an induction of labour. Even though the official
BPP guidelines do not require immediate induction
for a finding of low amniotic fluid, in practise
the parents are pressured to induce. Stories
abound of mothers who are induced for this indication
and then report having abundant fluid when the
membranes released in the birth process.
"The risks of induction (which can be
catatastrophic- go here)
and the resulting increase in the need for pain
relief medication and cesarean section are usually
not discussed with the parents prior to embarking
on induction of the birth. Be warned that this
latest suspect diagnosis using ultrasound is
increasing in frequency and causing increased
harm to mothers and unborn babies through aggressive
use of induction."
For many more pregnancy and birth quotes by
Gloria, go here.
Before Birth
Maternal Vitamin
D Intake in Food Decreases Risk of Autoimmune
Diabetes in Offspring "In utero dietary
exposure to vitamin D - but not supplement ingestion
-- protects against islet autoimmunity (IA) in
offspring, according to results of a study published
in the December issue of Diabetes Care."
Low Selenium
Levels Linked to Preeclampsia "Pregnant
women with low selenium levels are 4.4-times more
likely to have preeclampsia than women with higher
levels, according to a recent report by European
researchers."
Protein
in urine in pre-eclampsia not a fair indicator
of injury to mother or baby Despite popular
belief, even severe proteinuria has been found
to bear little effect on pregnancy outcome; degree
of prematurity though makes all the difference.
Pregnant
Mom's Emotional Response May Affect Fetus
A new study shows that a woman's stress level
afects her baby's heart rate.
Preventing premature birth
Women who
don't eat well have a 30% increase in risk of
delivering prematurely Note that premature
birth is the leading cause of death for babies.
Campaign
Devotes $75 Million to Reduce Premature Birth
Rate This includes some of the main reasons
1 in 8 babies are born prematurely- including
"assisted" reproduction, stress and
smoking.
Eating
fish in pregnancy prevents preterm birth
Amniotic fluid
Study:
Low Level of Amniotic Fluid No Reason to Induce
Labor Babies who had lower levels of amniotioc
fluid in the third trimester have been found
to be at no greater risk for health problems
than babies whose mothers had normal levels
of amniotic fluid. (To increase fluid, women
can drink more water! Study linked from page.)
Maternal
Hydration Increases Babies' Amniotic Fluid
Drinking extra water increases amniotic fluid
levels in pregnant women.
British Medical Journal Links
Photo of Mary Ann Stisher at
nine months pregnant by Pat Dew
Miscellaneous Pregnancy
Bed
Rest in Pregnancy? A professor of nursing
has found that bed rest can cause more harm
to mothers than good.
FDA warns
against tuna consumption in pregnant women
Mercury levels are of concern.
The Truth
About Salt How important salt really is
(that is- Celtic sea salt). Also: cautions about
a strictly vegetarian diet.
Deadly
Pregnancies Homicide
is the leading killer of pregnant women.
Primate
Prenatal Care Many primate species self-medicate
in pregnancy to rid themselves of parasites
and prevent miscarriage.
Links:
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