grandparichardshealth.com » Pregnancy

Detecting a pregnancy early may benefit baby’s health

Richard — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:55:01 +0000

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.

The sensitivities of the baby in the early stages of pregnancy also indicates that another important factor in ensuring a healthy pregnancy is finding out as soon as possible. Women are still waiting longer than necessary to test for pregnancy-a possible throw-back to an era when pregnancy tests weren’t so sensitive and it wasn’t possible to test so soon. A recent survey showed that 65 per cent of women waited for a skipped period before testing. Testing can be even more of a challenge for the 30 percent of women who have irregular menstrual cycles. Fortunately, the newest generation of pregnancy tests allow them to get the answer to the big question (“Am I pregnant?”) sooner, allowing a woman to ensure she is making the best decisions for the health of herself and her baby.

When choosing a test kit, look for one that features ultra-sensitive technology that provides test results up to five days before your period is due – for example, the First Response Early Result pregnancy test kit. Not knowing how that test is going to turn out is stressful-and anything you can do to reduce your anxiety and start enjoying your pregnancy is good news for you and your baby.

Ann Douglas is an award-winning author and creator of the internationally bestselling The Mother of All Pregnancy Books and co-author of The Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby.

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Why that iron tablet may be hurting!

Richard — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:29:22 +0000

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.

Important research published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, found that women taking a 150 mg. ferrous sulphate tablet everyday throughout their pregnancy were more likely to suffer from high blood pressure and deliver small birth weight babies. Ferrous sulphate iron tablets are well-documented to cause gastric intestinal side effects and it is standard practice to prescribe such a supplement to pregnant women.

Some women are not aware that they may be low in iron and the severity can vary. Fatigue, irritability, weakness and memory loss are common, while dizziness, shortness of breath and palpitations can occur in more serious cases. Pregnant women are especially vulnerable as the need for iron increases as the baby develops.

Spatone is unique in its category due to the fact that it is clinically proven not to cause the common side effects of high dosage iron supplementation and is not potentially toxic as identified in manufactured iron supplements. Spatone was found to be a suitable alternative to the conventional ferrous sulphate tablet for the prevention of iron deficiency in pregnancy. It is a naturally occurring iron rich mineral water with nothing added or altered in any way.

More information on this topic is available online at http://www.martinandpleasance.com.

Pregnant women need iron, but not the side effects

Richard — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:55:01 +0000

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.

Spatone is the first iron supplement to actually have clinical trials conducted. The study was done by a team of obstetric researchers at the Royal-Jubilee Maternity Service and investigated the tolerability, compliance and change in iron levels amongst 102 randomly selected expectant mothers from 22 to 28 weeks gestation who had not taken prophylactic iron tablets, as prescribed by the hospital, from 18 weeks of pregnancy onwards. According to Dr Dan McKenna who headed up the research team, the results are noteworthy.

The researchers found that the use of this iron rich mineral water during pregnancy helps to prevent iron deficiency without the commonly experienced gastro-intestinal side effects associated with ingestion of iron tablets.

More information on this topic is available online at http://www.martinandpleasance.com.