Pregnancy
Doctors Need to Better Educate Pregnant Patients to Exercise
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Obstetricians and gynecologists need to do a better job of encouraging women with uncomplicated pregnancies to exercise, a Saint Louis University School of Public Health study concludes.
“The message is not getting out that women should continue to exercise during pregnancy, at least at moderate intensity,” said Terry Leet, Ph.D., a study author and associate professor of community health at Saint Louis University School of Public Health.
Pregnant Women Are Not Sweating Enough
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The exercise message is apparently not getting through to expectant mothers.
Just 6% of pregnant women work out for at least 30 minutes several times a week and only one in 10 pregnant women engage in moderate exercise weekly, according to survey results reported in the November issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
Drinking during pregnancy may damage baby’s vision
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Infants whose mothers regularly drank during pregnancy may show poor vision by the age of 6 months, according to a new study.
Prenatal alcohol exposure is known to put babies at risk of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), a cluster of problems such as poor growth, delayed mental development and unusual facial features. Because it’s unclear how much alcohol is needed to put the developing fetus at risk, women who are pregnant or might become pregnant are advised to avoid drinking.
Most asthma drugs OK to use during pregnancy
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With the exception of steroid pills, asthma medications taken during pregnancy do not appear to impair the growth of the unborn baby, researchers in California report.
“These data are reassuring for clinicians from the standpoint of adhering to treatment guidelines and provide appropriate treatment of asthma for women who are pregnant with respect to fetal growth,” said Dr. Christina D. Chambers from UCSD Medical Center, San Diego.
Pregnant women often not vaccinated against flu
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Although most obstetricians recommend that their pregnant and breastfeeding patients be immunized against influenza, only about one third offer immunizations within their own practices, new study findings show.
Despite recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for immunizing pregnant women against influenza, only 13 percent of pregnant women were vaccinated in 2003.
Preeclampsia Is a Family Affair
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The risk for preeclampsia during pregnancy may have its roots in the preeclamptic pregnancies of the mother and father when they were born a generation earlier.
Genes inherited by an expectant mother and those that she and the father pass on to the fetus appear to increase the risk that she will have a pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia, reported epidemiologist Rolv Skjaerven of the University of Bergen here and colleagues at other institutions.
Study Sheds Light On Birth Defects In Diabetic Pregnancy
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A cascade of events that begins with high blood glucose has been offered as an explanation for why diabetic pregnancies result in a high rate of birth defects.
The high blood glucose levels early in pregnancy deprive the embryo of oxygen, leading to high levels of free radicals that reduce expression of a key gene called Pax3, said Mary R. Loeken, Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School.
MS drug may raise risk of miscarriage
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Pregnant women being treated with beta-interferon, a drug used to fight multiple sclerosis and other diseases, face an increased risk of miscarriage or having a low birthweight baby, according to two new reports.
Dr. Gideon Koren, from The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, and his colleagues studied interferon’s reproductive effects in 16 women with 23 pregnancies exposed to beta-interferon, comparing them with 18 similar but unaffected women with 20 pregnancies.
Vaginal birth after c-section safe after due date
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Women who have undergone a prior cesarean delivery can safely attempt to give birth vaginally in a subsequent pregnancy, even when they’re at or beyond 40 weeks, US researchers report. However, the chances of being able to complete a vaginal birth are reduced.
The safety of vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) in a variety of situations has been investigated before, the team explains in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, but little has been published about VBAC attempts for women at or past their expected delivery date.
Pregnancy complications tied to later stroke risk
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Women who suffer certain complications during pregnancy apparently run a higher risk of having a stroke later in life, according to findings reported Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Neurological Association in San Diego, California.
Dr. Monique V. Chireau and colleagues at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, used the university’s Perinatal and Health Services Outcomes database to investigate a possible link between pregnancy complications and stroke risk.
New Study Will The Look Into The Effects Of Synthetic Steroids
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Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have begun a study project to look into the effects of using synthetic steroids to prevent premature babies.
Premature infants frequently suffer health problems because their lungs are not fully developed. Currently the best treatments are to give the mother synthetic steroids and to prolong the pregnancy for as long as possible.
L-Carnipure supplements may help reduce diabetes during pregnancy
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Taking supplements of L-Carnipure tartrate during pregnancy can significantly reduce the increased level of plasma free fatty acids that is considered the main cause of insulin resistance in pregnant women, shows a new study.
Insulin resistance during pregnancy can lead to gestational diabetes, which affects about 5-10 per cent of pregnancies. According to the American Diabetes Association, about a third of women who suffered from gestational diabetes during pregnancy develop type 2 diabetes in the following years.
Progesterone may reduce recurrent preemie risk
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For women who have had a previous preterm delivery, treatment with a synthetic version of the female hormone progesterone appears to reduce the risk of subsequent preterm birth, researchers report.
“While this treatment applies at this time to a limited number of women,” said Dr. Paul J. Meis, “it represents a hopeful start, the first effective method to reduce the chance of preterm delivery for women at risk for this problem.”
Genes found that may improve knowledge of spina bifida
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Irish scientists said on Monday they have discovered two genes linked to spina bifida that will improve understanding of one of the most common birth defects.
Professor John Scott of Trinity College, Dublin told a science conference that the genes known as MTHF and CT677 increase the risk of a woman giving birth to a child with the neural tube defect.
“These genes will illustrate genetic risk in a very understandable way,” Scott told a science conference.
Amnioinfusion doesn’t prevent meconium aspiration
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Infusion of fluid into the amniotic cavity (amnioinfusion) during labor in women with thick meconium staining of the amniotic fluid does not reduce the risk of meconium aspiration syndrome or death of the fetus or infant, new research shows. This finding held true whether or not slowing of the fetal heart rate was detected.
Meconium aspiration syndrome occurs in when the meconium, the first feces of the newborn, is inhaled either in the uterus or just after delivery. The possibility of inhaling meconium occurs in about 5 to10 percent of births. It typically occurs when the fetus is stressed during labor and is a leading cause of serious illness or death in the newborn.
