When a pregnant woman goes into early labor, her obstetrician may give her drugs to quiet the woman’s uterus and prevent premature birth.
New research shows, however, that one popular drug works no better than a placebo at maintaining pregnancy after the initial bout of preterm labor is halted, say scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.
The findings will appear in the December 2008 issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.
18.10.2005 – Parents in Europe and America as a rule stay together during childbirth, this tradition is also gaining popularity in Russia. But doctors in Russia still doubt that fathers should be present during childbirth.
At that, many couples would not like to stay together during childbirth. Women who need assistance and support of a close person, and a husband is the closest one as a rule, want to have partner childbirth. Often husbands know better than anyone else what type of caresses and words may help their wives relax and endure pain. For many women, having a close man by their sides matters much more than kind and caring medical staff.
There is also an important reason why many couples in Russia prefer to stay together during childbirth: they want to have control over actions of medical staff.
A pregnant woman who knows her unborn child has Down’s syndrome might one day be able to prevent some symptoms before giving birth.
That at least is the hope raised by experiments in mice. When fetal mouse pups that had a syndrome similar to Down’s were treated with nerve-protecting chemicals, some of the developmental delays that are part of the condition were removed.
Children with Down’s have an extra copy of chromosome 21, while mice engineered to have a similar condition are given an extra copy of a segment of chromosome 16. In both species, the development of certain motor and sensory abilities is delayed. These “trisomic” individuals may also have learning difficulties and symptoms of Alzheimer’s later in life.
View inspiring movies and clips that truly reveal the beauty of bringing a child into the world. These movies come in all different varieties. Some are waterbirth clips while others are of homebirths and hospital births. Some of the selections even have a bit of both.
The International Cesarean Awareness Network, Inc (ICAN) was formed over 25 years ago in order to support women in their journey towards understanding the risks of cesarean section and with the purpose of helping them have healthy births and healthy lives after undergoing the surgery that changed them.
Twenty-six years later, many women are still being told the same reasons why they must have a cesarean or why they cannot have a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) despite more and more research that states that cesarean surgery should not be taken lightly and that vaginal birth after cesarean should be encouraged in order to reduce further risks to both mother and baby.
The Fistula Foundation is dedicated to the treatment and prevention of obstetric fistula, the devastating injury caused by obstructed labor, through support of the Hamlin Fistula Hospitals in Ethiopia.
Our first priority is to achieve financial sustainability for the Hamlin Fistula Hospitals as they expand their treatment and prevention programs to help a growing number of current and potential fistula patients. As such, we are committed to raising awareness of obstetric fistula, especially among North American donors, organizations, the press and other influencers.
In many countries the experience of pregnancy and childbirth still carries a mortal risk for a woman, and infancy remains a test of survival. We know why women and children die; there is no great science or mystery behind these deaths. The reasons can be described in almost infinite terms but the simplest answer is poverty. African Mothers Health Initiative exists with the core knowledge that the lives of all women and children are precious. They are the center of everything we do. The ultimate goal is not a statistical change but the evolution of an environment in which women are free to experience and appreciate the birth process and motherhood as one of the great joys of human existence.
Too many obstetricians and hospitals are overusing high-tech procedures while ignoring the high-touch, noninvasive measures that can mean better outcomes for baby and Mom, a new study finds.
When it’s time to bring a new baby into the world, there’s a lot to be said for letting nature take the lead. The normal, hormone-driven changes in the body that naturally occur during delivery can optimize infant health and encourage the easy establishment and continuation of breastfeeding and mother-baby attachment. Childbirth without technical intervention can succeed in leading to a good outcome for mother and child, according to the new report. (See our full maternity-care report on the study, and take our maternity-care quiz to test your knowledge.)
Performing water aerobics during pregnancy may ease the pain of delivery, a small, randomized trial found. Women who participated in the moderate-intensity exercise program were significantly less likely to request painkillers during labor than those who didn’t exercise (27.3% versus 64.9%, P=0.004), Rosa Pereira, M.D., of the University of Campinas, and colleagues reported online in Reproductive Health.
There were no significant differences between the groups in cardiovascular capacity, type or duration of delivery, or neonatal outcomes.
“We’ve shown that the regular practice of moderate water aerobics during pregnancy is not detrimental to the health of the mother or the child,” Dr. Pereira said. “In fact, the reduction in analgesia requests suggests that it can get women into better psycho-physical condition.”
Mothers or fathers who smoke during pregnancy may create lasting vascular damage for their children, researchers here found. At about age 28, individuals whose mothers smoked during pregnancy had a carotid artery intima-media thickness 13.4 µm greater than those whose mothers did not smoke (P=0.001), found Cuno Uiterwaal, M.D., Ph.D., of the University Medical Center Utrecht, and colleagues.
Those whose fathers smoked had a carotid artery intima-media thickness 12.4 µm greater (P=0.002), the researchers reported online in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association.
The increased thickness was greatest in participants’ whose parents both smoked during pregnancy (P=0.001).
Dr Anthony Mbonye is among the 105 individual scientists worldwide who have won grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to explore bold and largely unproven ways to improve global health.
The assistant commissioner in charge of reproductive health in the Ministry of Health and an associate professor of public health at Uganda Christian University, Dr Mbonye will be researching on involving the Private Sector in the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in Uganda. He talked to Kakaire A. Kirunda on his upcoming three-year-study and PMTCT in general.
Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dora Akunyili, has cautioned mothers on excessive dependence on breast milk substitutes.
Akunyili, who spoke during the launch of a crËche built by her agency on Tuesday in Abuja, said the use of breast milk substitutes was fraught with many dangers.
She admonished career women to resist the lure of switching to baby food as breast milk when properly stored can be given to babies in the absence of their mothers.
The Big Push for Midwives is a nationally coordinated campaign to advocate for regulation and licensure of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and to push back against the attempts of the American Medical Association Scope of Practice Partnership to deny American families access to legal midwifery care.
The International Center for Traditional Childbearing, Inc. (ICTC) is a non-profit African centered organization located in Portland, Oregon. ICTC was created to promote the health of women and their families and to train Black women aspiring to become midwives. We provide recruitment, education, and support to those desiring to serve their community. ICTC encompasses oral traditions from Africa, the Caribbean, and the “Deep South.” We educate and advocate through community workshops, study groups, or just one to one support. ICTC is inclusive in its membership. We have an affirmative action policy that we uphold in spirit as well as letter.
We are a group of mothers, midwives and their families working towards real choice in childbirth. We view birthing as a “family” rather than a “medical” experience and event in our lives, and celebrate our babies’ “births” rather than “deliveries”. We run Brisbane, Ipswich, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast based homebirth support groups for pregnant women and families, particularly those considering or planning a birth at home. Homebirth midwives and doulas are also a very welcome part of this group.
A genetic link controlling both appetite and fertility has been found by US researchers. A gene, TORC1, appears to act as a “master switch”, switching off food intake and allowing pregnancy. The gene probably offered an evolutionary advantage, by stopping women getting pregnant in times when food was scarce, the researchers said.
One significant way HMABI can affect maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity is by supplying clean birth kits for women in developing countries. A leading cause of death in these countries is tetanus and other infections. 90,000 women and 400,000 babies each year die from infections related to birth. We can help prevent these infections by providing clean supplies and teaching the women how to use them. The objective of this project is to teach clean and safe birth practices, reduce maternal sepsis, and reduce neonatal infection.
Women who have had a miscarriage could be at greater risk of miscarrying again if they are obese, research suggests. A team from London’s St Mary’s Hospital followed the progress of 696 women whose miscarriages were classed as “unexplained” by a specialist clinic. The team told a conference in Canada the risk of a further miscarriage was raised by 73% if the woman was obese. However, an obesity specialist said it was potentially dangerous to try to lose weight when already pregnant.