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REVIEW our Selected Pregnancy Articles in 2008. Stay informed and updated!

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Pregnancy

CDC - Having a Healthy Pregnancy: ABC's...Pregnancy Tips (A-Z) “Not all birth defects can be prevented, but a woman can take some actions that increase her chance of having a healthy baby. Many birth defects happen very early in pregnancy, sometimes before a woman even knows she is pregnant. Remember that about half of all pregnancies are unplanned. A Avoid exposure to toxic substances and chemicals --- such as cleaning solvents, lead and mercury, some insecticides, and paint. Pregnant women should avoid exposure to paint fumes. B Be sure to see your doctor and get prenatal care as soon as you think you're pregnant. It's important to see your doctor regularly throughout pregnancy, so be sure to keep all your prenatal care appointments. and... Breastfeeding is the healthiest choice for both you and your baby. Talk to your doctor, your family and friends, and your employer about how you choose to feed your baby and how they can support you in your decision. C Cigarette smoking during pregnancy increases the chances of premature birth, certain birth defects, and infant death. Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely than other women to have a miscarriage and to have a baby born with a cleft lip or cleft palate--types of birth defects. Smoking is one of the causes of problems with the placenta and can cause a baby to be born too early and have low birth weight. Smoking is also one of the causes of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). D Drink extra fluids (water is best) throughout pregnancy to help your body keep up with the increases in your blood volume. Drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water, fruit juice, or milk each day. A good way to know you're drinking enough fluid is when your urine looks like almost-clear water or is very light yellow. E Eat healthy to get the nutrients you and your unborn baby need. Your meals should include the five basic food groups. Each day you should get the following: 6-11 servings of grain products, 3-5 servings of vegetables, 2-4 servings of fruits, 4-6 servings of milk and milk products, 3-4 servings of meat and protein foods. Foods low in fat and high in fiber are important to a healthy diet. F Take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily both before pregnancy and during the first few months of pregnancy to reduce the risk of birth defects of the brain and spine. All women who could possibly become pregnant should take a vitamin with folic acid, every day. It is also important to eat a healthy diet with fortified foods (enriched grain products, including cereals, rice, breads, and pastas) and foods with natural sources of folate (orange juice, green leafy vegetables, beans, peanuts, broccoli, asparagus, peas, and lentils). G ... “

NIH – Pregnancy

NIH - Pregnancy and Reproduction

NIH – Pregnancy

NHS - The pregnancy care planner: Your NHS guide to having a baby

NHS - The pregnancy care planner: What should you eat?

NHS - The pregnancy care planner: Vitamins, minerals and special diets

NHS - Exercise in pregnancy “Exercise builds muscle tone, strength and stamina, which can help your body cope with pregnancy weight gain (12.7kg, or two stones, on average). Exercise can also make it easier to regain pre-pregnancy fitness levels after the birth, and can help offset constipation, tiredness and circulation problems. General dos and don’ts • Do remember that the appropriate level of exercise will depend on how fit you were before becoming pregnant. • Do wear loose, comfortable clothes. Drink plenty of fluids and don't allow yourself to get overheated as this can be harmful to the baby. • Do take a gentle approach to exercises that put strain on joints and ligaments. During pregnancy women are more vulnerable to joint and ligament injury because the body produces relaxin, a hormone which loosens joints and ligaments in preparation for childbirth. • Do listen to your body. Dizziness and fatigue is not uncommon in the first trimester and some women lose their balance more easily in the second and third trimesters as the baby grows and their centre of gravity shifts. Stop and consult your health care provider if you experience vaginal bleeding, shortness of breath, palpitations (faster heartbeat) or pain in the back or pelvis. • Do avoid contact sports and any activity with a potential for hard falls, such as horse riding. • Don’t exercise in order to lose weight during pregnancy as this may harm your baby. • Don’t exercise flat on your back as this can restrict the flow of blood to the womb. • Don't use saunas or steam rooms. They can make you too hot, which can be harmful to the baby. If you can’t talk easily while exercising, you’re overdoing it, so slow down. “

Highlighted Articles

Don’t bat Your Eyes at FAS (2008) “The effects of drinking while pregnant can be profound and obvious, with telltale signs of atypical facial features like small eye openings, a small upper lip and a flat nose bridge. However, some children have been heavily exposed, yet do not exhibit the marked features, leaving their developmental deficits undiagnosed. In addition to atypical facial features indicative of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), heavily drinking alcohol while pregnant can cause reduced growth and cognitive development. Many children with FAS have poor reasoning and judgment skills, learning disabilities and poor coordination. If diagnosed early, some of these deficits can be offset with intervention programs. But that early diagnosis is difficult in patients without the obvious physical signs. A simple test to identify alcohol-exposed children can be done in the blink of an eye -- literally! Researchers from Wayne State School of Medicine in Detroit found performing an eyeblink conditioning test -- sounding a tone followed by a quick puff of air to the eye over several trials to see if the subject can learn to blink before the air puff -- was fairly conclusive.“

Treating Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (2008) “Results of a new study reveal the prenatal damage to peptides in the fetal brain may endure into adulthood despite environmental enrichment provided in a child's early years.”

Cigarette smoking during pregnancy. (Nicotine Tob Res. 2008) “Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with several adverse developmental outcomes in the offspring. These include preterm delivery, spontaneous abortion, growth restriction, increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), as well as long-term behavioral and psychiatric disorders.”

Effect of a single bout of exercise on the mood of pregnant women. (J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2007) "CONCLUSIONS: Although the physiological and hormonal reactions are different for aqua- and land-based exercise both modes of exercise appear to be equally beneficial for pregnant women to engage in to improve mood. Additionally, exercise, but not parentcraft classes, resulted in enhanced mood in women in their 2(nd) or 3(rd) trimester of pregnancy. Although exercise has mood benefits that are comparable to other mood management techniques, it also has additional physiological and physical benefits to both the mother and the fetus."

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Pregnancy

Risks

NEWS:

Antidepressants up Risk of Miscarriage

Artificially Sweetened Soft Drinks Linked to Preterm Delivery

Diesel Exhaust Associated With Lethargy in Offspring “Breathing diesel exhaust during pregnancy is associated with sluggishness in offspring.”

Excessive Weight Gain in Early Pregnancy Linked to Gestational Diabetes

Exposure to Secondhand Smoke in the Womb Has Lifelong Impact, Study Finds “"These findings back up our previous conclusion that passive, or secondary, smoke causes permanent genetic damage in newborns that is very similar to the damage caused by active smoking," said Dr. Grant. "By using a different assay, we were able to pick up a completely distinct yet equally important type of genetic mutation that is likely to persist throughout a child's lifetime. Pregnant women should not only stop smoking, but be aware of their exposure to tobacco smoke from other family members, work and social situations."”

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Linked to High Prevalence of Epilepsy “Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) refers to a range of negative developmental outcomes that result from maternal drinking during pregnancy. Children with FASD can suffer from many problems, including epilepsy, a disorder characterized by spontaneous recurrence of unprovoked seizures that affects 0.6 percent of the general population. A new study has found a much higher prevalence of epilepsy or history of seizures in individuals with FASD.”

Fibroids May Raise Risk of Stillbirth “"Our results showed that women with a combination of fibroids and fetal growth restriction were at two-and-a-half times the risk of having a stillbirth, though the absolute risk remained rare," study co-author Dr. Alison G. Cahill said in the news release. "This may lead to a future recommendation for serial growth scans to monitor fetal growth in women with fibroids."”

Flame Retardant May Up Risk of Thyroid Problems in Pregnancy “Exposure to flame-retardant chemicals may reduce a pregnant woman's levels of certain thyroid hormones that play a critical role in fetal brain development, a new study shows. Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants are used in a large number of consumer products, including cars, electronics and home furnishings. PBDEs are found in the blood of most Americans, according to data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Heavy caffeine intake may mean smaller babies

Meth Exposure May Be Worse for Fetus Than Alcohol “Children whose mothers use methamphetamine during pregnancy may suffer more severe brain damage than children exposed to alcohol in the womb, a new study suggests. "We know that alcohol exposure is toxic to the developing fetus and can result in lifelong brain, cognitive and behavioral problems," research team leader Elizabeth Sowell, from the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a news release. "In this study, we show that the effects of prenatal meth exposure, or the combination of meth and alcohol exposure, may actually be worse. Our findings stress the importance of drug abuse treatment for pregnant women." “

Moms' Depression in Pregnancy Tied to Antisocial Behavior in Teens “Children from urban areas whose mothers suffer from depression during pregnancy are more likely than others to show antisocial behavior, including violent behavior, later in life. Furthermore, women who are aggressive and disruptive in their own teen years are more likely to become depressed in pregnancy, so that the moms' history predicts their own children's antisocial behavior.”

Moms' Influence on Kids' Weight Starts in Pregnancy, Study Finds

Mother’s gum disease linked to infant's death “Pregnant women with untreated gum disease may have more at stake than just their teeth. They may also be risking the lives of their babies, a new study shows. Expectant mothers have long been warned that gum disease can cause a baby to be born prematurely or too small. But for the first time scientists have linked bacteria from a mother’s gums to an infection in a baby that was full-term but stillborn, according to the study which was published Thursday in Obstetrics and Gynecology.”

Pregnancy after 45 carries risks

Pregnant Women Should Limit Intake Of BPA-Contaminated Foods, Study States “The study found that 92% of metal cans are contaminated with BPA and that the concentration of the chemical can "vary dramatically" between two cans of the same product. For example, the researchers found that one can of Del Monte French Style Green Beans contained 36 micrograms of BPA per serving, while a second can of the identical product contained 138 micrograms -- a level that has been linked to changes in prostate cells and increasingly aggressive behavior in animals.”

Prenatal Exposure to Flame-Retardant Compounds Affects Neurodevelopment of Young Children “PBDEs are endocrine-disrupting chemicals and widely used flame-retardant compounds that are applied to a broad array of textiles and consumer products, including mattresses, upholstery, building materials, and electronic equipment. Because the compounds are additives rather than chemically bound to consumer products, they can be released into the environment. Human exposure may occur through dietary ingestion or through inhalation of dust containing PBDEs. The researchers found that children with higher concentrations of PBDEs in their umbilical cord blood at birth scored lower on tests of mental and physical development between the ages of one and six. Developmental effects were particularly evident at four years of age, when verbal and full IQ scores were reduced 5.5 to 8.0 points for those with the highest prenatal exposures.”

Risk of Newborn Heart Defects Increases with Maternal Obesity “The more obese a woman is when she becomes pregnant, the greater the likelihood that she will give birth to an infant with a congenital heart defect, according to a study conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and the New York state Department of Health. The researchers found that, on average, obesity increases a woman’s chance of having a baby with a heart defect by around 15 percent. The risk increases with rising obesity. Moderately obese women are 11 percent more likely to have a child with a heart defect, and morbidly obese women are 33 percent more likely.”

Smoking During Pregnancy Increases Risk for Preterm Birth

Smoking While Pregnant May Raise Psychiatric Risks in Kids “A woman who smokes while pregnant increases her baby's risk of developing psychiatric problems in childhood and young adulthood, a new Finnish study suggests. While there's plenty of evidence that smoking during pregnancy puts unborn children at risk for long-term health problems such as asthma, ear infections and respiratory disease, this research is among the first to find a connection between prenatal smoking and an increased risk for mental illnesses, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression, in the mother's offspring.”

Study links painkillers to reproductive disorders “Use of mild painkillers such as paracetamol, aspirin and ibuprofen during pregnancy may partly account for a sharp increase in male reproductive disorders in recent decades, according to a study published on Monday. The research found that women who took a combination of more than one mild analgesic during pregnancy had an increased risk of giving birth to sons with undescended testicles.”

Sun-shy mothers may raise MS risk in babies: study “Children whose mothers had low exposure to sunlight during their first three months of pregnancy may have a higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis later in life, a study in Australia has found. Low vitamin D levels have long been linked to a higher risk of MS. Experts suspect an expectant mother's lack of exposure to sunlight - the main source of vitamin D - may affect the fetus's central nervous system or immune system, and predispose it to developing MS later in life. In the Australian study, researchers combed birth records of 1,524 MS patients born between 1920 and 1950, and found there were more of them born in the months of November and December. This means their first trimester occurred during the winter months of April to June, a time when expectant mothers in the southern hemisphere may prefer to be indoors to escape the cold. Conversely, there were far fewer MS patients who were born in May and June - meaning their first trimesters were in the early summer months of September to November.”

The Biggest Loser: Maternal Obesity Puts a Load on Her Offspring That Lasts a Lifetime

Vitamin D Deficiency In Pregnant Arab Women Requires Urgent Attention

Too many pregnancy pounds ups future obesity risk “Women who gained too much weight during their pregnancy, based on the IOM's guidelines, were twice as likely to be overweight later on, and had a more than four-fold increased risk of being obese. The relationship didn't change even after the researchers accounted for factors such as whether a woman exercised during pregnancy or how long she breastfed her baby.”

Why BPA Leached from 'Safe' Plastics May Damage Health of Female Offspring “"The BPA baby bottle scare may be only the tip of the iceberg." said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "Remember how diethylstilbestrol (DES) caused birth defects and cancers in young women whose mothers were given such hormones during pregnancy. We'd better watch out for BPA, which seems to carry similar epigenetic risks across the generations. " “

Women With Swine Flu 13 Times More Likely to Suffer Critical Illness If They Are Pregnant, Study Finds

ARTICLES:

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

Exposure to Ultrasound in Utero: Epidemiology and Relevance of Neuronal Migration Studies. (Ultrasound Med Biol. 2010) “The present knowledge of the potential bioeffects of ultrasound suggests that, when using ultrasound for examinations in pregnancy, fetal scanning without medical indication should be avoided and that adherence to ALARA principle (use of energy "as low as reasonably achievable") is compulsory.”

Intrauterine exposure to caffeine and inattention/overactivity in children. (Acta Paediatr. 2010)

Long-term developmental outcome of children of women with epilepsy, unexposed or exposed prenatally to antiepileptic drugs: a meta-analysis of cohort studies. (Drug Saf. 2010) “Although our analysis revealed no evidence that untreated maternal epilepsy was associated with a lower IQ in the child, there may have been confounding factors, such as milder epilepsy, in this group. Exposure to valproic acid in pregnancy is associated with significantly reduced intelligence in children whose mothers were treated for epilepsy. Exposure to carbamazepine in pregnancy does not appear to be associated with reduced FSIQ and VIQ in children, although PIQ was lower in the sub-analysis. Clinicians should inform families of the potential cognitive adverse effects of valproic acid.”

Maternal Alcohol Consumption during Pregnancy and Risk of Childhood Leukemia: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (ancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2010) “Conclusions: The results of case-control studies indicate that maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with a significantly increased risk of AML in young children.”

Maternal Influenza Infection During Pregnancy Impacts Postnatal Brain Development in t he Rhesus Monkey. (Biol Psychiatry. 2010) “CONCLUSIONS: Influenza infection during pregnancy affects neural development in the monkey, reducing gray matter throughout most of the cortex and decreasing white matter in parietal cortex. These brain alterations are likely to be permanent, given that they were still present at the monkey-equivalent of older childhood and thus might increase the likelihood of later behavioral pathology.”

Maternal smoking in pregnancy, adult adiposity and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease (Atherosclerosis 2010) “Adults exposed to tobacco in utero had a more adverse CVD risk profile in mid-adulthood which appeared to reflect a lifetime accumulation of postnatal influences; whereas their higher BMI and central adiposity may be due in part to intrauterine mechanisms.”

Obesity in pregnancy. (Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2010)

Prenatal Smoking Exposure and the Risk of Psychiatric Morbidity Into Young Adulthood (Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010) “Prenatal smoking exposure is associated with an increased risk of psychiatric morbidity, whereas prenatal exposure to more than 10 cigarettes a day increases the risk of mortality in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.”

Sedentary Behaviors and Abnormal Glucose Tolerance among Pregnant Latina Women (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 2010)

The effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy on offspring outcomes. (Prev Med. 2009) “RESULTS: Maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with decreased birth weight, low scholastic achievement, regular smoking and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. However, the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was explained by maternal attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Maternal smoking during pregnancy was also associated with earlier age of offspring initiation of smoking and onset of regular smoking.”

Urinary and anal incontinence during pregnancy and postpartum: incidence, severity, and risk factors. (Obstet Gynecol. 2010)

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