admin – Page 18 – Baby Care Journals

Preventing Food Allergies in Infants by Introducing Solid Foods While Still Breastfeeding

January 10, 2014 admin

The importance of breastfeeding and of introducing solid foods later for preventing food allergies in children has become clearer to health professionals in recent years. Now, a new British study has found that waiting until at least 17 weeks of age to introduce solid foods helps infants avoid food allergies later on. That same study found that babies were more likely to be immune to food allergies if they were also being breastfed when solids were introduced at 17 weeks or later.

Overlapping the start of solid foods with breastfeeding seems to teach the baby’s immune system that solid foods are safe; or it could be that the mother’s breast milk provides the right types and numbers of cells and organisms that will strengthen the baby’s immunity, thereby preventing the infant’s body from developing allergies to different foods.

Is Baby Eating Enough?

December 23, 2013December 23, 2013 admin

How to Know if Your Newborn Is Eating Enough

As a new mom, it’s very natural to worry about all aspects of your newborn’s health, and feedings are no exception.

How can you tell if your baby is getting enough milk? There are a number of clues that can answer this question, beginning with the cues that your little one gives you.

Brisk Walking Can Help a Pregnant Woman Quit Smoking

December 20, 2013 admin

A study from Canada reports that a 20-minute brisk walk can help curb a pregnant woman’s nicotine cravings by 30 percent. Substance cravings may increase during pregnancy, due to a woman’s increasing and fluctuating hormones, so, exercise can be a useful tool for an expectant mom to decrease nicotine cravings.

Cigarette smoke has been established through many studies to contribute to bad pregnancy outcomes and long-term problems for the child. Risks of smoking during pregnancy include premature birth, low birth weight, stillbirth, some birth defects, respiratory problems in the child, and placental abruption, where the placenta detaches from the uterus, which can lead to fetal distress or fetal death.

Male Babies Are in Greater Danger Inside the Womb

November 26, 2013 admin

Recently published results of a global study examining pre-term births reveal that male babies face greater risks while growing inside the womb, at birth and after birth.

The study, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, examined more than 15 million babies born prematurely worldwide. It found that boys have a 14 percent greater chance of being born prematurely than girls; preterm boys also have a higher risk of disability and death than preterm girls.

Delaying Measles Vaccine Until 15 Months May Offer Better Protection for Children

November 15, 2013 admin

Current medical practice in the United States is to give babies their first measles shot between 12 and 15 months, while in Canada, that measles shot is given at 12 months. But a new study out of Quebec shows that waiting until 15 months offers children better immunity against the measles later on.

In a recent large measles outbreak in Quebec, students who had gotten their first measles shot at 12 months were found to be about six times more likely to come down with the measles than those who had gotten their first vaccination later.

Breastfeeding Reduces Risk of Stomach Blockage in Babies

November 7, 2013November 22, 2013 admin

A new study found that babies who were bottle-fed were more than twice as likely to develop hypertrophic pyloric stenosis than babies who were breastfed. This condition involves a narrowing (stenosis) of the place where the bottom part of the stomach ends and the first part of the small intestine, the duodenum, begins. It is caused by an enlargement (hypertrophy) of the smooth muscle that surrounds this passageway, the pylorus (from the Greek pyloros or gatekeeper).

As the pylorus gets thicker, food has increasing difficulty emptying from the stomach into the small intestine. This results in babies experiencing what is referred to as “projectile vomiting,” where vomit comes out forcefully and often, sometimes at an arch.

Can a Pregnant Woman’s Oral Health Affect her Unborn Baby?

October 30, 2013November 22, 2013 admin

Good oral health is an important part of our general health. But researchers have found that an expectant mother’s oral health also has the potential to affect her unborn infant’s health. Bacteria from the mother’s mouth can get into the mother’s blood, from where it reaches the amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby, and the baby can then swallow the bacteria.

Studies have shown that these oral bacteria can increase the risk of a premature birth or a low-birth-weight baby, start contractions prematurely, or cause the baby to get an infection — either as a newborn, or while the infant is still inside the uterus.

Vaginal Delivery Equally Safe to C-Section for Twins in Uncomplicated Deliveries, Study Finds

October 18, 2013October 18, 2013 admin

Many women who are having twins opt to have C-sections, to improve chances of having safe deliveries. But a new study, published in October, 2013, in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that moms and babies do equally well, whether the deliveries are vaginal or by C-section. Surgery was only performed when there were complications that could make vaginal delivery dangerous, such as when the second twin had entered the birth canal with the buttocks or feet first, rather than the head; this condition is known as a breech birth.

An experienced doctor is able to determine when to switch from a planned vaginal delivery, to a caesarean delivery, to improve odds that there will be no bad outcomes for the mother or for the babies. In the case of this study, which examined 2,800-plus deliveries, women who were planning to have their twins vaginally wound up getting C-sections 44 percent of the time. But this was still a big improvement over moms who had planned to have C-sections, and who got the surgeries 91 percent of the time (the other 9 percent went into labor and delivered their babies before a C-section could be performed).