Obstetrician / Gynecology » Premature birth Articles & Stories

The researchers from Imperial College London hope to raise families' awareness of the importance of reducing levels of stress and anxiety in expectant mothers. They say that reducing stress during pregnancy could help prevent thousands of children from developing emotional and behavioral problems. ( Read more about A Mother's Stress Can Affect Child Development)

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Women with the condition pre-eclampsia have been found with red blood cells containing unusually high levels of a compound found in unpasteurized food, according to research published in the journal Reproductive Sciences. The findings are important because they hint at the possibility of this compound, known as "ergothioneine", being an indicator of pre-eclampsia. Further down the line, researchers hope the compound will help them understand the currently unknown cause of the condition.
( Read more about Discovery Links Pre-Eclampsia to Diet)

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An ingredient in human breast milk protects and repairs the delicate intestines of newborn babies, according to research conducted by scientists at Queen Mary, University of London. The ingredient called pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor, or PSTI, is found at its highest levels in colostrum - the milk produced in the first few days after birth. ( Read more about Ingredient in Breast Milk Helps Protect Babies' Intestines)

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Women who underwent dramatic weight loss after bariatric surgery had fewer pregnancy and delivery problems and fewer newborn complications than obese pregnant mothers, according to a recent study. The investigation, which analyzed the data from 75 clinical studies, discovered that pregnant women who had undergone weight-loss surgery (laparoscopic adjustable band surgery) experienced fewer complications than obese women. In particular, 0 percent of weight-loss women suffered from gestational diabetes, versus 22.1 percent of obese women, and 0 percent of weight-loss women had pre-eclampsia (pregnancy-induced high blood pressure), versus 3.1 percent of obese women. Also, women with bariatric surgery had less weight gain than the others.

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When a woman is pregnant or breastfeeding, her hormonal balance shifts dramatically. This causes her body to retain more fluid. And when this happens, her eyes' lenses swell, too, making a correct diagnosis to fix her vision problems with LASIK surgery all but impossible. When the lens swells, it changes how a woman sees, making her more nearsighted, farsighted or astigmatic. But when her pregnancy is over, and when she stops lactating, her hormones - and her eyes' lenses - return to normal. If a LASIK diagnosis is performed on a woman during the period when her lenses are distorted, the readings will be invalid for her normal bodily state.

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Despite the long-standing recommendation for pregnant women to receive a flu shot, three-quarters of women responding to a national survey were unaware or unsure of these recommendations. Additionally, only 20 percent of women who are currently pregnant plan to get a flu shot this flu season. The survey, conducted on behalf of the National Women's Health Resource Center, also revealed that some women even question whether the flu shot itself can pose a health risk to the baby.

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The National Institute For Health and Clinical Excellence (or NICE) recently claims that pregnant women can drink up to 1.5 units of alcohol (or one and a half small glasses of wine) without harming the unborn child. This comes after the Department of Health advises that expectant mothers should abstain from drinking entirely. So between these contradicting sets of advice, where is the truth?

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14 month old Cateyann entered the world when she was only 36 weeks old, a preemie, she weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces. It was crucial for Cateyann to gain weight…but, as weeks and then months passed, she not only didn’t put weight on, Cateyann began losing pound after pound. “It was a constant stress every day for my husband and I worrying about how much she ate, is she going to eat today? We would be weighing her every night to make sure she didn’t lose any weight,” says Danielle, Cateyann’s mother. Feeding time was extremely stressful for the family because Cateyann would refuse to eat any solid foods, spitting out every spoonful. “She didn’t care that she didn’t eat, she could go all day long. Typically with a baby you think they would let you know they were hungry by the way they were acting and she would act fine you would never know that she hadn’t eaten for the entire day,” says Danielle.

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There’s a one in eight chance that if you’re having a baby, you will delivery prematurely. This staggering statistic is the reason why today is Prematurity Awareness Day. The goal: help women learn how to protect themselves and their unborn babies. The problem still has doctors shrugging their shoulders. It’s not a well understood problem. But there are things women can do to reduce their risk for delivering prematurely, and avoid the complications the baby can suffer as a result. “In the beginning everything was fine, the first three months I wasn’t sick or anything, once I reached four months that is when my nightmare started.” Regina Victor-Elisma had already had two miscarriages, and this latest pregnancy was no picnic. But she felt fortunate to deliver successfully, even if it wasn’t normal. “They put her on the incubator without oxygen and took her to the nice, a round seven ounces, one pound seven ounces, recalls Regina.

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A study just released shows many will have developmental issues that play out during the school years. This is an example of how technology and medical advances have improved outcomes but created new sets of problems. More and more children who are born prematurely survive, but it comes with a price: developmental abnormalities ranging from hearing and sight problems to cognitive deficits.

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