If you are planning to conceive, you no longer need to depend on luck to have a baby of the gender you desire. If you want to conceive a girl, you simply need to cut down on your calorie intake and if you want a boy, just take a diet rich in calories. According to recent research findings of the British scientists of Exeter and Oxford universities the gender of the conceived fetus depends on the diet that a woman takes during conception. The lower the energy levels of food consumed, the more the chances of conceiving a female.

According to Fiona Mathews of the University of Exeter, it is seen that women in developed countries are highly calorie conscious. This explains the probability of conception of a male child going down over the years in these countries. It has been observed that when a pregnant woman skips her breakfast, she is actually cutting down on her blood glucose levels. High glucose levels support the development of a male fetus and restrain the growth of a female fetus. A study on 740 first-time pregnant British women showed that 56% of those who took a maximum energy diet gave birth to boys while only 45% of those who took a minimum energy diet gave birth to boys.

In terms of evolutionary aspects, a high energy diet intake would support the development of a male child who would be strong enough to propagate his family.

Via: Reuters

According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), the procedure of freezing eggs is uncertain. It insists on giving counseling to women who opt for this procedure. The opinion differs among clinical experts and critics. It’s not wrong to say that most women would like to opt for this as if this is a safety locker, which can be opened, and things retrieved at any given time; at the same time it’s a boon for the to-be-mothers who want to postpone having a family for purely health reasons, say for example a women undertaking cancer treatment might be afraid that her baby would be affected.

The truth is the success rate for healthy live birth rate is only 2 in a hundred. There might be difference in opinion on the success rate but as long as women do not want to rely on this option as a very secure method, this can be taken as an option for delaying having children.

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Source: BBC

Lately, in Canada, certain advertisements for ultrasound clinics are promoting abortion of female fetuses. According to the plaintiff Charan Gill, of the Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society, ads promoting such ultrasound clinics are running in two Punjabi-language newspapers, the Ajit Weekly and the Hamdard Weekly, published weekly from Toronto, New York, Vancouver and California, and the Indian city of Chandigarh.

It’s really, really sad that some newspapers, for sake of money, are misleading the public. The end result is they will tell the sex of the baby so that people that don’t want baby girls can abort it

said Gill.

However, authorities who run one such type of clinic in Washington were reluctant to give any evidence regarding the ultrasonic data. But an Ottawa-based family rights group asserted that figures show a wide difference between the ratio of girls and boys.

We found gender imbalance between boys and girls looking at census data going back to as early as 1990

said Mrozek, of the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada.

Generally it is assumed that in India, female foeticide is carried out by the illiterate class, hence, hour of the need is to educate those but what kind of education does these ‘literate class’ need who are making such unethical decisions?

So smoking parents be aware! You are not just harming your child’s health, but also the generation next to it! Smoking away your lungs for a momentary pleasure is not worth it, risking your two generations to come!

The saddest part of the study is that a non-smoking pregnant woman is 80 percent more likely to have a miscarriage, falling victim to secondhand smoke during childhood.

Cuing up with the known finding that parents’ smoking can harm developing fetuses as well as children, even if a woman takes all preventive measures for her coming-baby, she may not be able to succeed her compromises, just because of her smoking parents.

Thus, it is not just a would-be-mom’s risking her baby’s early-life problems like low birth weights and asthma, but her parents’ contribution towards childhood exposure to smoking.

So, next time you light up that cigarette, take of pause to rethink if your risking two generations to come worth it.

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Abortion was legalized in many countries to help women who can’t take care of the child and to reduce to misery of such mothers. Now it has turned so wild that almost one third of pregnant women decide to opt for it. Recently, when the Archbishop Rowan Williams was giving his views on the abortion act in Britain, he said that it’s quite surprising that when abortion was an option for extreme cases, it has turned out to be used for pleasure now a days. Women these days get all sorts of abortive drugs to avoid pregnancy and it has become quite common, people do not have qualms about it. Not forgetting the fact that, the consequence of such acts can’t be ignored.

The story is same in the US also, though the issue has been given more prominence in the states. Teenage pregnancy rate is highest in Britain compared to other countries in Europe. The archbishop thinks that there isn’t enough reformation happening on the front to make people aware of the harder consequence of killing of the human fetus. Though the tightening of legislature could have been an option to reduce the rate of abortions, but indeed without the acceptance of the rights of the unborn, it will never catch the momentum it requires taking abortion as an option rather than a right for pleasure.

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Source: Reuters

A latest study says that if females are overweight before pregnancy than they have greater risk of delivering babies with a number of birth abnormalities in comparison to the females who have normal weight.

The study results involved approximately 15,000 females from 8 states, discovered defects of spine, heart, arms, legs & stomach, based on earlier research which showed heart & spinal abnormality. Higher are the chances of getting the problem of spina bifida.

Kim Waller the lead researcher of the study told that the obese females should not worry by these latest discoveries as the risk of giving birth to babies with a birth abnormality is quite less, and the reason of these major of birth abnormalities is not known yet.

The study result suggests that females should try to have normal weight which their body requires.

The study research says that nearly 4% obese females before pregnancy give births to kids with some major birth abnormalities, while women with normal-weight have this risk by 3%.

Obese females have chances of giving birth to babies with the problem of spina bifida by at least twice, in comparison to women with normal weight. Spina bifida is one of the disabling birth abnormalities in U.S. It can result in paralysis, problems in learning and also various other complications.

Females who were quite heavy have 60% chances of giving births to babies who have a rare abnormality in which abdominal organs of body come out through the navel, 40% have heart abnormalities, 36% have short legs or arms, & 20% can have numerous gastrointestinal problems.

Dr. Alan Peaceman who is a professor at Northwestern University said in a prepared statement:

This is probably an under-recognized finding which I suspect will be corroborated by other research in the future and something we will need to talk to our patients about.

The research mentions that rise in obesity may lead to increase in the birth abnormalities. This particular research is just a part of NBDPS; it involved females who conceived between Oct 1997 and Dec 2002. Nearly 10,249 females who participated in the study, delivered their newborns with at least one birth abnormality. They were compared with nearly 4,065 females who have quite healthy new born kids.

Females were asked few questions like — what was their height & weight before getting pregnant. The team of researchers found out that nearly 2,312 females were overweight before their pregnancy.

The reason behind the association between obesity and the birth abnormality are still unknown. But in some of the cases there is possibility that few females might had diabetes which wasn’t diagnosed, that can be associated with birth abnormalities.

The study researcher’s mentioned that weight of participants was not taken during pregnancy; it is quite possible that few mums might have used harmful methods for losing weight before conceiving or during their early trimesters, when major birth abnormality can occur.

It is suggested to overweight pregnant females that don’t use diet pills, don’t fast or use other methods to reduce weight as it can lead to major birth abnormality.

The study appeared in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine & was funded by the CDC.

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It’s reported that the first born babies are more susceptible to Asthma and allergic reactions while the converse is true for subsequent birth order. Also, children taking birth by caeserean sections are more disposed to health problem than vaginal deliveries. An underlying gene, IL-13, has been identified as a potential determinant of this susceptibility. Being an unprecedented research topic, this hypothesis needs to be substantiated with much follow-up and parallel researches. In the meantime, what most mothers-to-be can do is to visit a lot of farms and drink farm milk for a German study has shown that it is of some preventive value!

Via: canadianpress
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Supporting findings of this study, researchers opine that may be ‘pleasure chemicals’ released by the mother while eating junk food had an effect on the developing brain of the fetus.

If we look back at the studies conducted on mothers-to-be, then many results come to the fore showing that eating habits adopted by them during pregnancy have a significant effect on the developing fetus. And this very thing seems to be bolstering the assumption leaping out of this study.

Still, regarding this study, there is a sect of researchers with a different opinion who feels that due to lack of strong evidence, it is difficult to state whether this theory is applicable for humans or not. Therefore, focus should be on further study over this issue, as only then precise facts would shine clearly. In this regard, Tracy Kelly of the charity Diabetes UK is right when he says:

Much more work needs to be done before we draw any firm conclusions on how a junk food diet in pregnancy can affect the baby’s craving for the same diet.

However, there is none denying the fact that junk food lacks the level of nutrition, which ought to be consumed by the expectant moms. Therefore, relying on nutritious diet, instead of junk food would be better for mom as well as for her baby.

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Via: True More

Smoking among women is nothing unusual, but is disadvisable during pregnancy. It is not just a decades-old message, generally taken casually by many women. If are a mom-to-be and have not been able to or bother to quit smoking - do you know, your this habit might be responsible for your depression?!

Though, you may straightaway rebuff this apparently unlikely link, this is exactly what the emerging science suggests.

Warning on this finding, researchers suggest smoking pregnant women — going for prenatal checkups — with screening for mental health disorders as well.

It’s agreeable that quitting smoking is not a easy task, but what is harder to treat is a smoker’s depression or anxiety disorders. But, what is worrisome is women’s worrisome reluctance to quit smoking during pregnancies.

The only booster to encourage women to quit smoking is perhaps awareness programs showing how dangerous smoking is to their developing baby.

Smoking’s increasing risk of miscarriage, premature birth, low birth-weight, death from SIDS, and learning and behavior disorders if fails to prompt women to even try to quit smoking, their depressions’ fatal impact on the baby might help.

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While many new moms are busy deciding on whether to feed her baby with breast milk or exclusively bottled milk, many ponders on the reason for a child to grow intelligent on breastfeeding! Yes, it is already a well-established fact that breast-fed babies tend to grow up to be more intelligent compared to their exclusively bottle-fed counterparts. But, the question on ‘why’ and ‘how’ on ‘the intelligence quotient link’ has been established only recently after about 100 years of debate on it.

Thanks to researchers who have zeroed-in to a very common gene found responsible for it. Breast-fed babies share the genetic variant to the FADS2 gene — found in about 90 percent of people!

This gene is involved in processing the omega 3 fatty acids found in foods — like salmon, nuts and avocados — turning them into nutrients required by the brain.

Besides providing intelligence to a child, breast-feeding also reduces infections, respiratory illnesses and diarrhea. In a recent study it is also found that breast-feeding adds healthier blood cholesterol levels in a child.

So, would-be-moms and new moms, it’s time to be aware of the goodness of breastfeeding for your child and stop pondering on whether to bottle-feed or breastfeed your young one.

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A recent study claims that pregnant women and breastfeeding mums should consume at least twelve ounces of fish in a week to get omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids present in fish & seafood’s should be consumed during pregnancy because it is very important and required by the body like we need minerals and vitamins for normal body growth.

Pregnant females & breastfeeding mothers use to fear when it comes to the consumption of fish that have mercury, as a result these females are not eating required amount of fish and seafood’s & thus they are causing harm not only to their bodies & as well as risking proper development & brain growth of their kid’s.

Most of the women stopped eating or reduced their fish consumption due to the danger of mercury poisoning.

It is suggested that pregnant females & breastfeeding mother’s to consume at least twelve ounces of fish such as — tuna, sardines, salmon & mackerel & other seafood’s in a week to make it sure that brain growth of their babies & fetuses is going on normally.

Sometimes it becomes very difficult to understand & follow these suggestions & recommendations because previously - the government recommended pregnant & breastfeeding women to restrict their seafood consumption due to level of mercury in fish & seafood’s based on earlier studies & researches. But now this latest study says that it is beneficial to consume fish and the seafood’s. So it’s very confusing what to do.

Ashley Roman, a medicine obstetrician, mentioned in a statement that they are coming forward to clear all these existing rum-ours associated with the consumption of fish and seafood. He also mentioned that now there are enough proofs which stand in support of this statement that - by eating fish or seafood you move ahead and progress to get good results through out your pregnancy period and even after this.

One important thing about the seafood’s is — it is generally believed that they make the brain sharp & that why known as brain food. These foods are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids which is very essential for brain development. A recent research that took place this year discovered that pregnant females who consumed more and more seafood’s had kids who had highly developed brain with high IQ levels. Consumption of seafood’s during pregnancy is quite nutritional.

The researchers conclude that advantages of consuming fish now sidelines the harms caused by the mercury.

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A recent study reveals that — the heavy females are at higher risk of developing number of problems which are related to pregnancy.

The researcher collected the data from nearly 24,000 UK females who delivered their babies from 1976 to 2005, and they discovered that the weight of females before pregnancy counts much, as this can cause a number of risks like high BP, pre-eclampsia and also it can result in premature delivery.

This study gives proof that obesity can cause a number of risks to the mothers and their newly born infants. The lead researcher of the study is Dr. Sohinee Bhattacharya of Aberdeen Maternity Hospital. The researcher told that pregnancy of a heavy woman is always considered to be risky and it is looked on and monitored with utmost care.

The researchers discovered that in comparison to the females, who have normal or ideal weight, the obese females have 50% more chances of having post-delivery bleeding and they are at higher risk of giving premature births at least by twice. They are at greater risk of getting operated for delivering baby due to some emergency complications.

Females who are morbidly obese are at greater risk of having the problem of pre-eclampsia – a medical problem where hypertension arises during pregnancy and also kidney complications.

In opposite to this, the study discovered that underweight females before pregnancy pose to have less chances of developing these complications. These females are like the normal-weight females and generally deliver underweight baby.

The obesity is considered to be a main factor which can raise complications during the pregnancy. And now doctors should start awareness among their patients regarding this issue. In spite of giving best prenatal care, the counseling of the obese females is urgently required to advice them to shed their extra weight before getting pregnant.

The study appeared in an online journal — BMC Public Health.

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A woman forgets the pains she goes through the labor the minute she holds her baby in her arms. But, it’s really not easy when she has to go through the pains and doctors administer epidural to the ease the pain and make the process of delivery a comfortable one.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has now offered guidelines to doctors and nurses on how to ease the labor pains. The guidelines say that drugs should not be offered when the delivery is progressing normally even if this means longer labors. The advice is to use water pool as an effective epidural for easy delivery and also advises the mid-wives to constantly smile, talk and reassure women during the delivery.

I would like to see more women using water and fewer women using the types of pain relief that are less effective

Says Dr Julia Sanders, a consultant midwife.

The institute stresses that women should be given information and support to make an informed decision about “where to give birth that is right for her and her baby”. The women may chose to give birth at home if they are armed with the right information and are assured a one-to-one care in labor though the chances of women opting for a home deliver is far less due to the shortage of midwives. Most women feel comfortable with the idea of delivery in a hospital as they are assured of clinical intervention in case of emergencies.

HypnoBirthing is a another unique antenatal program that teaches simple but specific self-hypnosis and relaxation techniques for an easier, more gentle birth that is often accompanied by a significant reduction in pain. HypnoBirthing is not about “training mothers to give birth”-when undisturbed we already know how to do that instinctively; it is about getting rid of fear and allowing our bodies and minds to relax so we can birth our babies gently, according to midwiferytoday.

Relax women, Babies need not be hard work after all!!!(no, not at the moment atleast :))

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A recent survey reports that most of the pregnant women are unaware about which type of food and drinks they should consume during their pregnancy period.

Approximately 60% females told that they don’t know — what foods to eat and what foods to avoid during their pregnancy, and which types of foods are safe to eat.

Eatables which create some sort of confusion are cheese, shellfish, egg, tuna fish and peanuts.

In spite of latest instructions from the Government to reduce drinking or even try not to have the alcohol consumption, 1 out of 10 women replied that they drank alcohol throughout their pregnancy period.

The average increase in weight during pregnancy is 22lb to 33lb and female should raise their diet by about 300 calories per day.

The survey of about 850 pregnant ladies or new mothers through out the nation discovered that 1 in 5 used to get the nutritional advices from their midwives on what type of food they should consume during their pregnancy period. 1 out of 10 females put on full responsibility related to their food intake confusion on their friends, says a report from Organix poll.

Lizzie Vann, who founded - Organix, said that most of the females think about nutrition to a large extent when they become mom and have kids; they are mostly confused about what they should consume during their pregnancy.

Popular foods which create confusion among pregnant women are:

1. Alcohol - The Health Department advises the pregnant females to quit drinking. If pregnant women want to drink, then they should not consume more than 10ml or 20 ml of alcohol, only for once or twice in a week, drinking more than this can adversely affect the health of your baby and can result in fetal damage. Try not to get fully drunk.

2. Caffeine - Caffeine intake to a large amount put bad effect on the health of baby. The Food Standards Agency or FSA suggests that females who are pregnant should not consume over 300mg of caffeine in a day.

3. Cheese - FSA suggested pregnant females to avoid the consumption of soft cheeses. The soft Cheese may be contaminated with bacteria known as Listeria that can result in causing miscarriage and premature births and they could raise the chances of listeriosis. Only consume cheese which are made from pasteurised milk. One can eat hard cheese. Processed cheese, cottage cheese & cheese spreads can be consumed with utmost safety while you are pregnant.

4. Shellfish - Pregnant women should try to avoid consuming oysters and shellfish if it is not cooked properly. In raw condition these eatables may contain dangerous bacteria and viruses, like salmonella & sometimes listeria too. Raw fish and shellfish are source of a parasite known as Toxoplasma which may cause blindness and brain damage in fetus.

5. Tuna - Women should consume almost all types of fish during pregnancy. FDA recommends that women should avoid eating king mackerel, shark, swordfish, and tilefish during their pregnancy. One should try to reduce the consumption of tuna. Don’t consume more than 2 tuna steaks in a week as they have high amount of mercury which might affect the nervous system of your child. Try also to consume oily fish only twice in a week.

6. Nuts - Pregnant women should also try to avoid the consumption of peanuts if there is any family history of allergic problems like hayfever or eczema. The reason is that the baby may be at greater risk of becoming a nut allergic.

7. Eggs - Try to avoid eggs if not cooked properly or if they are raw. When you have to cook the eggs than cook it until both the parts — white and yolk becomes firm, to have protection from salmonella.

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