A report released earlier this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that close to one-third of all American women of reproductive age got an opioid painkiller prescription filled each year from 2008 to 2012. This is of concern to health authorities because these medicines are known to cause serious birth defects.
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A study published in late March, 2015 showed that fetuses of mothers who smoke cigarettes during pregnancy had more facial and self-touching movements, such as opening their mouths, sucking their hands, grimacing, and touching their heads and eyes with their hands.
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A study published in late 2014 in the journal Pediatrics found that between 2.4 and 4.8 percent of children in the United States may have some type of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
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We are all appreciative of the advances that have been made in safely delivering infants in our modern age, which have increased the number of live births, compared to many decades ago. However, just like doctors can get carried away doing unnecessary medical interventions and prescribing drugs that aren’t really needed, in general and specialized medicine, the specialty of obstetrics is no different.
An expectant woman does well to gather all the information she can about labor and delivery, before her due date arrives. Quite unfortunately, in regular hospitals, it is more the norm than the exception to subject mother and baby to procedures that go too far, and which can result in unnecessary complications for mother and infant.
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You may have heard about the controversy regarding what the best time is, to clamp and cut the umbilical cord once an infant is born. And you may have also heard about delivering the placenta the natural way, by letting it detach and drop down all on its own, without anyone pulling on the cord.
Two chemicals commonly found in plastics have been linked to lower I.Q.’s in children when the mothers were exposed to higher amounts of the chemicals during pregnancy, according to a new study by researchers from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
The two compounds are di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) and di-isobutyl phthalate (DIBP); they belong to a class of chemicals called phthalates which are used for varied purposes, including making plastics softer and less brittle, improving spreadability of products like household paints and nail polish, and extending shelf life of scents in grooming products, household cleaning liquids, detergents and air fresheners.
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More than a hundred studies in recent years have documented the apparent benefit of moderate alcohol consumption to the health of men and women. One to two daily drinks for men, and one for women, are associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and the most common type of stroke. Studies have also found that this low alcohol intake may protect against gallstones and improve insulin sensitivity, thus decreasing the risk for type 2 diabetes.
But when it comes to women who are pregnant or trying to conceive, most health authorities agree that not drinking any alcohol is best, given the degree of harm that it can cause to a developing baby.
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For years, doctors have been urging women who get pregnant to give up cigarettes due to the many serious dangers that they pose to unborn babies and pregnant women. In the age of nicotine patches and nicotine gum, some physicians have even advised expecting women to switch to these, as they are believed to be less harmful to the baby than cigarette smoke.
But that may not be the case when it comes to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children. Read More
Researchers at the University of California, Davis, MIND Institute have found that exposure to certain synthetic pesticides is linked to a higher risk of autism and developmental delays in children whose mothers were exposed to the pesticides while pregnant.
The study team found that the risk for autism increased from 60 to 200 percent, depending on the type of pesticide used, how close the mother had lived to the treated areas, and when in the pregnancy the mother was exposed.
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It’s always smart to do our best to avoid artificial chemicals and other harmful substances in our lives; but it is all the more important for a woman who is expecting a child. A baby developing in the uterus is much more sensitive to many substances that the mother may be better able to tolerate. And some toxic agents can result in birth defects, other life-long adverse consequences, or even death.
While the list of harmful substances for unborn baby and mother is increasingly long in our modern times, the following are important steps you can take during your pregnancy, to help insure the well-being of both you and your unborn infant.
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