Who is important in your pregnancy?
There is an accumulation of recent hard data leading to the conclusion that our health is to a great extent shaped in the womb.
All of them belong to the new framework of ‘Primal Health Research’: they explore correlations between what happens during the ‘primal period’ and what will happen later on in life in terms of health and behaviour. The primal period includes fetal life, the period surrounding birth and the year following birth.
Such data are compiled in the Primal Health Research Data Bank (http://www.primalhealthresearch.com/). This database contains hundreds of references and abstracts of studies published in authoritative medical or scientific journals.
Maternal emotional states and prenatal care
At a time when we are learning that our health is to a great extent shaped in the womb, nothing is more important than to study the factors that can influence fetal growth and fetal development. Among these factors we must look in particular at the emotional states of pregnant woman.
Read more ...
Gestational Diabetes
There is controversy in obstetrics about the diagnosis of gestational diabetes and the testing that is done to ascertain which women are at greatest risk. Dr. Michel Odent has written an article GESTATIONAL DIABETES: A DIAGNOSIS STILL LOOKING FOR A DISEASE? which can be viewed online.
Until all the controversy is resolved and a more scientific test can be offered, we are stuck with the glucose tolerance test at 28 weeks gestational age. A mother can look at the list of who is at greatest risk and decide to decline the test if her risk is low.
Women at risk:
- maternal age over 25
- obese woman prior to pregnancy
- previous birth of baby weighing over 10# at birth
- previous unexplained stillbirth at term
- family history of diabetes (esp. close relatives who became diabetic at a young age i.e. juvenile onset diabetes)
- previous history of recurrent miscarriages
- extremes of heaviness or thinness
- history of alcohol abuse
- history of anorexia or bulimia
This risk factor screening will only pick up 50% of women who are GD. Therefore,
we would be wise to treat everybody “as if” they are GD because the diet and lifestyle changes are good for everyone (preventive health care).
This issue seen from an acupuncture perspective is slightly different – adding to what this very experienced midwife says below – I have written an eBook "Gestational Diabetes" which comes with two others – Eating in Pregnancy and also an energy review of the entire pregnancy within a woman’s life context – Inner Changes for a Well Pregnancy (maternal age and other mysteries) . . .
The key lesson with all my pregnant patients is great maternal health BEFORE getting pregnant – which is often a pipe dream of mine, as people have such busy/important loves and the preparation/foundation of this person as a baby/fetus is not on their minds until AFTER baby is beginning within.
Hence – what to do to rescue things – to get the potential perfect baby?
(see Helping Mother Nature eBook).
Have you been told you are expecting a big baby?
"You may have been advised that it would be best for you and your baby if you are induced early? or perhaps an elective C-Section has been advised.
You might have been told that you baby is much more likely to get stuck (also known as "shoulder dystocia"), but does the research agree?
Read more ...
By John Bingham
Last Updated: 3:09PM BST 30/06/2008
Women who eat a diet of junk food while pregnant could condemn their unborn children to obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes in adult life, scientists have found.
Read the whole article here.
"Caffeine and fetal growth restriction"
Research published in the British Medical Journal on Maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy and risk of fetal growth restriction concluded:
"Caffeine consumption during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of fetal growth restriction and this association continued throughout pregnancy.
Sensible advice would be to reduce caffeine intake before conception and throughout pregnancy."
Published 3 Nov 2008, doi: 10.1136/ bmj.a2332
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2332
Towards a new generation of research in eclampsia
Eclampsia is a main component of maternal mortality, accounting for about 50,000 deaths a year worldwide.(1) Its prevalence varies widely according to standards of living. It is as high as 9% in Bangladesh,(2) while it is in the region of 1 in 3 000 in wealthy countries, where the rates of pre-eclampsia can be as low as 0.4%.(3) Let us recall that eclampsia is characterized by convulsions, while the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia is not based on specific symptoms, but on the association of de novo hypertension after midgestation (blood pressure >140 mm Hg systolic and/or >90 diastolic) and new-onset proteinuria (urinary excretion>0.3 g/d).
Read more ... www.wombecology.com/preeclampsia.html
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