Strollerderby : gestation

New Risks Associated With Elective Deliveries

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:00:00 GMT

With induced labors up a whopping 125 percent since 1989, it’s clear that many preterm labors are not medically necessary. And this is particularly true around the holidays, when many parents schedule deliveries in time for a tax deduction or to fit in with a crazy travel schedule.

It’s understandable why parents have traditionally believed it safe to schedule a delivery anytime after the 34th week, since until recently obstetricians believed that everything except for the baby’s size was fully developed by then. But new research shows that those last weeks are more important than previously believed.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that “for each week a baby stayed in the womb between 32 and 39 weeks, there is a 23% decrease in problems such as respiratory distress, jaundice, seizures, temperature instability and brain hemorrhages.” Furthermore, it’s now clear that pinpointing the exact age of a fetus is very difficult; a fetus believed to be in the 34th week may only be in the 32nd.

Doctors must do their part to make sure parents know of the risks of an unnecessary preterm birth. The medical director of labor and delivery at Massachusetts General Hospital admits that it’s simply easier and less time-consuming to “cave” to parents’ request for an elective delivery than to inform them of the benefits of waiting for a full term birth. And according to the March for Dimes, some obstetricians fudge the requirements to qualify parents for a "medically necessary" preterm birth.

But with increasing research like the above study, some hospitals are now wisely requiring parents to sign a consent form before scheduling a delivery before the 39th week. F. Sessions Cole, the director of newborn medicine at St. Louis Children's Hospital, urges parents to trust their babies. "The idea is that somehow, if you're in complete control of the delivery, then only good things will happen," Cole said. "But that's categorically wrong. The baby and the uterus know best."

Photo: mothering.com

Why Insure Pre-Term Elective C-Sections?

12 Pregnancy Myths

Cole Gamble — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Odds are anyone reading this has been pregnant, is pregnant or has pregnancy in mind (Okay, some of you are dudes, whatever). The point is, have you ever wondered how much you know about pregnancy? Like almost anything, pregnancy is surrounded by urban legends and myths that have us believing some seriously goofy stuff. Heard the one about how pregnant ladies are not to touch cats? Yeah, that’s the stuff we’re talking about. Read on to see what other stuff you may be wrong about.

If you are pregnant, you should avoid sleeping on your back.

Only under certain circumstances, a prolonged pregnancy for example, is this necessary. But if you want to sleep on side to prevent your husband from creeping on your newly voluptuous body in the middle of the night, that’s your business.

Pregnant women shouldn’t touch cats

Both times my wife was pregnant she made me the sole servicer of anything cat-oriented, namely cleaning the cat box (a task she somehow swindled me into still doing). And you know what? She was right about that one. Cat litter) or rather what in contained therein) can pass along a bacteria called toxoplasmosis, a parasite that can cause serious infections in humans and deformities in the developing fetus. However, there is no prohibition from a pregnant woman petting a cat or having a cat on her lap. Just keep pappy on poop patrol.

If you’d like more, check out the rest of the list here…

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5 Reason Breast Feeding Isn’t That Great (and 5 Reasons Why It Is) – Part II

The 9 Most Racist Disney Characters

**The Sh*t List: 10 Bizarre (or Terrific?) Potty Gadgets**

Pregcellent: Eat Well, Period. Prenatal Diet Influences Puberty Onset

Kelly Mills — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:34:00 GMT

Just when the pregnant ladies thought they got enough flack about what they ingest during gestation. Now check this out: Researchers say a mother's prenatal diet can influence the early onset of puberty. Sheesh, I was chalking it up to non-organic milk and Bratz dolls. You mean my nutritional choices during the most hormonally insane period of my life are to blame for my daughter's precocious eye-rolling?

Well, in case you were wondering, it's a high-fat diet that the researchers tie to the age of your offsprings' puberty. And of course we are talking about girls going through early puberty, because no one seems to care if boys sprout a little peach fuzz early and start spending hours in their rooms with blacklight posters at an early age. The folks who studied this say prenatal diet may have more influence on menstruation happening young than early childhood nutrition. Of course, the study was on rats, so we can always hold out hope for an species reprieve from regular pregnancy Ben & Jerry's transgressions.

Pregcellent: Vacant Womb For Rent

Kelly Mills — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:33:00 GMT

First off, I'd like to say that anyone who goes into being a surrogate strictly for the money has chosen a very challenging way to make a buck, because being pregnant is no picnic. But as this Newsweek article on the lives of surrogates points out, many women are also motivated by a desire to help others and to contribute something meaningful to the lives of couples who want kids. And the stereotype of the rich woman who wants a baby but not the stretch marks and thus hires a surrogate is strange also, since I can't imagine what would be more challenging than entrusting another person with your offspring before they are even born. So I doubt that one is founded much in reality either.

The article, which chronicles the stories of a number of women who became surrogates, touches on the controversies surrounding the practice, and there are many. There's the issue of maternal rights, and the fact that most surrogacy contracts aren't binding in many ways. There's the issues that come with one person in essence renting out their body, and the questions around what makes someone a parent, DNA or gestation or actual childrearing. Surrogacy is banned in much of Europe, and stereotypes about surrogates abound. Interestingly, many surrogates are military wives with husbands overseas. The article is worth checking out, if only because it makes you think hard about what it means to be a mother.

Pregcellent: What Exactly Should You Expect?

Kelly Mills — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:33:00 GMT

With the fourth edition of "What To Expect When You're Expecting" slated for release next month, Jezebel asked the question, what should women really, actually expect? I'll totally take that one up, and perhaps some of you will too. First, anything goes, and good luck trying to predict what will happen. You might be exhausted for nine months, or you might run around like a cracked-out chipmunk. You might all of the sudden need glasses; your hair could fall out or it could get thicker; you might glow or you might feel your life force sucked from your face. Oh, and it can change for the same person from pregnancy to pregnancy. The only consistent stories I've ever heard: Your belly will get big. (Duh.) Your hips will spread. Your boobs get larger. You will at some point have to get that baby out of there.

Second, on the pooping front so popular in the J-bel comments: Yes, you might poop during labor, but if you are like me, you will not give a shit because you will be otherwise occupied. (Ba dum.) However, the first crap after giving birth will probably be your worst nightmare come true. Also, the episiotomy, should you have one, is probably less painful than anything else. Your body will most likely be altered to some degree forever, but you might not mind as much as you think you will. Oh, and the belly doesn't disappear when the baby is out, so get ready for the "When are you due?" questions for a while after delivery.

What else? Share the hard-won wisdom...

Planning Ahead: Before You Get Pregnant

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 21:53:00 GMT

You know how when you found out you were pregnant the first thing you did (right after you told all of your friends, then your husband, then your parents, then the internet) was think back to how much you drank last week. Or panicked about smoking that cigarette in the bar last weekend, or the other thing you may or may not have inhaled? Or you were worried about doing all of those sit ups and wondering if the decathalon might have been rough on the baby.

Clearly I wasn't worried about having exercised too much, but I was worried about the drinking and maybe the smoking (Hi Mom) too. And maybe all the advil I took for the hangover due to all of the drinking.

Well, the Armenian Medical Network published an article that lists the things you should be thinking about before you get pregnant. They list things like folic acid, exercise, being overweight, smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, drugs, cat litter, medication and a bunch of other things.

It is all pretty overwhelming, but it isn't a bad idea to think about this stuff if you are trying to get pregnant.

Of course, sometimes it just happens, and that is okay too.