A major study has revealed that intake of aspirin during pregnancy may ward off the occurrence of fatal condition called pre-eclampsia. Preeclampsia is a complex disorder that affects 3 to 8 percent of pregnant women. A woman is diagnosed with preeclampsia if she has high blood pressure and protein in her urine after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Findings are based on the study of more than 32,000 women; data collaborated by the scholars in Sydney. It concluded that cases of pre-eclampsia, which is caused by a defect in the placenta, dropped by 10% on daily consumption of aspirin. Risks of preeclampsia: Preeclampsia can prevent the placenta from getting enough blood. If the placenta doesn’t get enough blood, your baby gets less air and food. And this can cause low birth weight and other problems for the baby. Signs and symptoms: 1. Severe headaches 2. Changes in vision, including temporary loss of vision, blurred vision or light sensitivity 3. Upper abdominal pain, usually under the ribs on the right side 4. Nausea or vomiting 5. Dizziness 6. Decreased urine output 7. Sudden weight gain, typically more than 2 pounds a week Concerns remain US experts James Roberts and Janet Catov, from the University of Pittsburgh, said that while some women were so obviously at high risk that aspirin was justified, it was harder to balance whether the potential harm caused by aspirin was a price worth paying in pregnancies where pre-eclampsia was less likely. Under no circumstances should pregnant women self-medicate with aspirin. While this study suggests that aspirin can have benefits to women at high risk, yet, the decision to use aspirin should only be made in consultation with your doctor. Read
‘Freeze Your Clock’ Service – Women can now postpone having babies peacefully
Women these days are postponing their plans of starting their family as they get busy in their careers. But, as their biological clock keeps ticking, women worry of conceiving unhealthy babies in their later years. Now, with new technological advancements, they can get over such worries and conceive at a time when they are comfortable and prepared to start a family. Women are increasingly opting to freeze their eggs and store them in ‘Fertility Banks’ to use them at a later stage to conceive. A clinic in Toronto offers a service called "Freeze Your Clock" offering a long-term service of freezing eggs and sperms of young and healthy people. Freezing eggs is not a new concept; in fact, it has been used by women who are undergoing treatments for various medical conditions such as cancer and Turner’s syndrome. Since it is not advised to conceive during the treatments, freezing eggs is considered a good option for such women who want to conceive later. The treatment costing $5000 involves 10 to 12 days of fertility treatments including injections of follicle stimulating hormone to produce multiple eggs, which are then surgically removed, frozen and stored and $300 for a year’s storage. When the women are ready to conceive, the eggs are thawed, fertilized and the resulting embryo is then implanted in the womb. A new technique called ‘Flash Freeezing Eggs’ makes it possible to protect eggs from getting damaged during the thawing process, giving women chances of higher pregnancy rates. The clinic claims that they try and dissuade younger clients from undergoing such an invasive and expensive procedure and the clients first meet a psychologist for counseling before they start the treatment. The health officials are worried as it raises ethical issues such as ‘generation of older parents’ even as more and more young couples are opting for such services. Canadian officials are also contemplating on restricting the number of clinics that are licensed to perform the procedures. Image Source
Pre-pregnancy planning guards your baby
If you wish to be a mom, than you should plan your pregnancy for the goodness of your babies. All females can take few steps before they conceive to improve their chances of giving birth to a healthy baby. Just go through these eight points given below to get help in planning your pregnancy: 1) Every woman should take folic acids. Folic acid is a B vitamin that can helps in preventing birth defects of the brain and spinal cord called neural tube defects (NTDs). Consult with your doctor. 2) If you are pregnant or planning to get pregnant than, it is time when you have to give some attention to your immunization history. Check whether all of your immunizations are up to date including the vaccinations against chickenpox and rubella. Both of these diseases likely to cause birth defects and few other complications if a female is attacked by them during their pregnancy period. 3) Try to quit smoking if you have this habit. Smoking may cause difficulty in conceiving. It would be good for your pregnancy if you don’t smoke because smoking can raise the chances of miscarriage and also doubles the chances of having a baby low-birth-weight babies. Also avoid drinking alcohol during your pregnancy period. 4) Always try to have that much weight that suits to your body structure. If you are overweight than it raises the chances of gestational diabetes and various other problems related to pregnancy. You should achieve healthy weight before getting pregnant. 5) By doing exercises you can have full control on your weight and also you can shed few pounds if you want. It also helps in removing stress. If you are pregnant, than consult your doctor that which type of exercises you can do during pregnancy period. 6) If anyone of you have some chronic medical problem, than you should consult your doctor about the risks you can have on your body during pregnancy and also ask him that whether you should still consume those prescription drugs during the pregnancy period. You should also tell your doctor if there are any hereditary disorders in your family history, before you plan to get pregnant. The care by the doctors in the beginning before pregnancy helps to lower the risks to mother and baby caused by few chronic conditions. 7) If you are using any contraceptive and want to be a mom than you should have to stop using it. And one important thing is that before you try for conceiving, you should at least wait for one menses or period. 
Males should undergo some planning before pregnancy. If any one of you have the habit of smoking or drinking than try to quit it because it puts effect on your fertility and also on your sperm count. One should also try to avoid hot tubs and sauna baths. These may increase body temperature and possibly raise the risk of NTDs.
Aspirin may reduce premature births and other pregnancy problems
The analgesic you might be using to get rid of some minor aches and pains during pregnancy may have duel advantage to your body. While relieving you of that pain, it might also help reduce your pregnancy related problems. This is blessed by the analgesic ‘Aspirin.’ Might bring a great relief to mothers-to-be, skeptical about taking any medicines during pregnancy, the drug may amazingly reduce risk of giving birth prematurely and of potentially fatal complications, a new research claims. If you are a mothers-to-be and taking aspirin or other anti-platelet drugs, it may amazingly reduce your pre-eclampsia risk by 10 percent! Pre-eclampsia, marked by a sudden blood pressure increase after 20 weeks, can prove fatal to both the mother and the baby in her womb. Lelia Duley, professor of obstetric epidemiology at the University of Leeds said, It is something that pregnant women who are at high risk of pre-eclampsia should discuss with their obstetrician, doctor or midwife. So, take aspirin, not just to cure any pain, but also if you are high with pre-eclampsia risk or had a history of the disease before. Oops! This is not recommended for all! Discuss it with your obstetrician or doctor before taking any such dosages. Image
Health benefits of including apples and fish in the pregnancy diet
Time and again people have stressed the importance of following a healthy, balanced diet, packed with a wide variety of nutritional foods during pregnancy. What the expectant mother consumes may have a bearing on her child’s health. A recent study presented at the American Thoracic Society’s 2007 International Conference in San Francisco has brought to the forefront the health benefits of eating fish and apples during pregnancy on the child’s well-being. Expectant mothers by way of including apples and fish in their diet could reduce the risk of their children developing allergies and asthma. Scottish and Dutch researchers established these results following a research on 1200 children. Monitoring the women when they were 32 weeks into their pregnancy and thereafter the children till they were 5 years of age, the researchers concluded that these children were least likely to exhibit symptoms of asthma or suffer from the skin infection, eczema. The researchers did not delve into the exact constituents present in apples and fish that contributed to the health of the children but reported that when weighed against the various risk factors for asthma and allergies, apples and fish proved their merits in plummeting the possibility of children having to put up with asthma and allergies during their growing years. A little thoughtfulness on the part of the expectant mother to include apples and fish in her diet might just make a positive difference to her child’s health. Image: Zeenews Source: Webmd
Secondhand smoking during pregnancy, exposes foetus to mental problems!
This is not only firsthand smoking by pregnant mothers that exposes their foetuses to mental as well as physical health problems, as secondhand smoking during pregnancy does the same, claims a new study. Before rolling out with this conclusion, researchers monitored a group of children between the ages 7 to 15, all of whom had serious psychiatric problems. Further, these children were divided into three groups:- 1. Children with mothers who smoked during pregnancy. 2. Children with mothers who didn’t smoke during pregnancy, but were exposed to secondhand smoking. 3. Children with mothers exposed neither smoked nor exposed to secondhand smoking. Finally, it was concluded that kids with mothers exposed to firsthand or secondhand smoking were more susceptible to externalizing behaviors when compared to kids with mothers unexposed to any kind of smoking. In the words of Gatzke-Kopp: Children of smokers, as well as of women exposed to secondhand smoke, were much more likely than the offspring of non-exposed women to have externalizing behaviors, which include “acting out, getting in trouble, being aggressive, breaking rules. Actually, brain possesses a system called, dopamine, which is know to regulate our behaviors, however, exposure to smoking, irrespective of the fact, it is firsthand smoking or second smoking , it effects mental health of an unborn baby startlingly. This confirms the fact that exposure to smoking during pregnancy is quite harmful for the mental health of an unborn baby. However, it must be clarified here that this is not the first study that uncovers harmful effects of smoking over the health of unborn babies, as several studies conducted earlier have also come up with similar findings. For instance, passive smoking has been linked to miscarriage, even. In addition, threats caused by firsthand smoking during pregnancy can also not be ignored, as they may also result in several forms of health problems in babies, like:- 1. Prenatal Smoke Exposure Results in Teen Attention Problems 2. Chances of Baby Boy May End in Smoke with Smoking 3. Smoking Moms Risk ADHD In Kids Via: Stuff
Stressed-out moms of young children may risk mental health
Men need to be more supportive to their wives, especially when they are parents of young children – if not anything else, atleast emotional support and a bit care for their children is not just expected but needed from him. This reduces the risk of mental health problems among women by more than three-times, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles concluded, If parenting stressors such as those examined here are to be addressed, changes may be required in community support systems, and improvements in relevant social policies may be needed. It is also found that moms of small children, who face a substantial risk of mental health problems, can eventually influence their child’s health and development in turn. But, the question arises, if a father’s striving to improve child care quality as well as provide mental support to his wife keeps him away from the mental health stresses! Image
Portugal decides to legalize abortion
Portugal has introduced a new law that will allow women to have an abortion up to the 10th week of pregnancy. However the new law has also imposed a three-day reflection period in which women will have to seek the procedure and grant doctors’ right to opt on moral grounds. The law will become effective from July 15. It is estimated that around 10,000 women in most of the Roman Catholic countries are hospitalized every year with complications arising from failed, illegal abortions. Portugal had rigid restrictions on abortion as compared to its neighboring countries but with the implementation of the new law Portugal will stand together with most of its European neighbors. For the law the Health Ministry had to really work hard and had spent months drawing up medical guidelines annexed to the law. As per the new law now the woman who wish to seek abortion will have a meeting with the concerned doctors, where she will be warned of all the possibilities of danger due to the abortion. After a three-day reflection period she can either get the abortion done free of cost at a public hospital or go to a licensed private clinic. After all the medical procedures she must visit a family planning session to get informed about contraception methods. The doctors are also given freedom to accept or reject the abortion cases and on unavailability of the doctor the hospital will have to give a woman access to a doctor elsewhere. In the previous law the women could undergo abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy only if her health was at risk and in rape case she was granted through the 16th week. On the other side if there was a case in which it was the only solution left to save the mother then there no time restriction. The government hopes that the new law will put an end to risky backstreet abortions . Image Source: Yahoo
A Woman has the final right to decide on abortion – Amnesty
In the war-torn region of Darfur, rape is an instrument of war. Women are deliberately targeted to score psychological points over their opponents. Can there be any doubt that it will be the woman assaulted who will decide whether she wants the child engendered by the act of rape. In Nigeria a woman seeking an abortion, even on very reasonable grounds, is meted out harsh punishment. In many South American countries, a pregnant woman is flatly denied permission for aborting the child even if her medical condition is such that delivery of the baby would certainly kill her. Matters like these have apparently led the human rights body Amnesty International to fight for the right of a woman to abort her child. But it is not for a blanket freedom to abort. It is to be only under certain conditions – 1. The pregnancy resulted from rape 2. Delivery of the child would risk the mother’s life 3. Pregnancy from incest All this sounds very fair and reasonable. It must have seemed so to the International committee of Amnesty International which voted unhesitatingly for the proposal in Mexico. It must have seemed right to the US chapter of the world body with 400,000 members when it gave it the green light. But the traditional supporters and financiers of the respected human rights body– the Roman Catholic Church has criticized the move, saying it had strayed from its commitment for human life. But rigid dogma of certain people should not impinge on a woman’s fundamental rights. As Kate Gilmore, the human rights organization’s deputy secretary general says: We have felt very keenly how passionately people feel on both sides of this debate. But we’re here to do what’s right, whether it’s unpopular or otherwise.
Morning sickness: Promises to keep breast cancer at bay
Women, grappling with morning sickness that is normally caused by the sudden increase in hormones during pregnancy, may now heave a sigh of relief, as a new study provides evidences that women with symptoms of morning sickness, which includes nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, may be far away from the risk of deadly breast cancer. Credit to bring these findings to the fore goes to Dr. Jo Freudenheim and her colleagues from the University of Buffalo in New York, who rolled it out at the annual meeting of the Society for Epidemiologic Research after interviewing around 1001 women with recently diagnosed breast cancer, ages 35 to 79. During this analysis, experts also took into consideration several factors, normally associated with pregnancy like high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, etc. More interesting is the fact that that greater severity and longer duration of the symptoms was associated with reduced risk of breast cancer. And this makes the findings of this study more plausible. Findings, leaping out of this study are really a balm to the women community, as breast cancer is fast becoming a common problem these days, especially among women. So, pregnant women, facing unwelcoming morning sickness should start taking it not as their foe but as their friend, as it promises their safety against breast cancer. Image Via: Reuters