Confirming a pregnancy as soon as possible isn’t just about satisfying that overwhelming urge to know, powerful as that may be. It’s also important for a woman to find out if she’s pregnant or not so that she can continue to take the best possible care of herself and her baby-to-be.

Most moms-to-be know that maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle during pregnancy improves their odds of giving birth to a healthy baby. What many may not realize is that a woman’s nutrition and lifestyle choices before she conceives affect her baby too. The College of Family Physicians of Canada says it’s best to start acting pregnant before you actually are. The days and weeks before you know you are pregnant are critical weeks for the developing baby. The baby is most sensitive to developing neural tube defects, such as spina bifida, two to eight weeks after conception when the brain and spinal cord are developing. This is also the time when facial features and organs, such as the heart and kidneys, are being formed. (more…)

A study reports that pregnant women are at risk for high blood pressure and low birth weight babies if taking standard ferrous sulphate iron tablets daily. Clinical trials show that a naturally occurring iron supplement is a bio-available, low dosage source for iron. It may hold the answer to iron deficiency in expecting mothers. (more…)

Iron deficiency and intolerance to iron tablets are common amongst pregnant women. Earlier studies report 35% of women as being iron deficient (serum ferritin below 12 (g/L) during the 1st trimester of pregnancy, rising to 86% in the 3rd trimester. Iron stores can be depleted even further following childbirth when over 500ml of blood can be lost during an uncomplicated normal vaginal delivery, rising to 1000mls during delivery of twins or by caesarean section. Low maternal iron stores can also lead to iron deficiency in newborn babies and can adversely affect the baby’s birth weight. The availability of effective and well-tolerated iron supplements is therefore important. (more…)