HYPNOSIS BRINGS BENEFITS DURING PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH

Hypnosis has been used during childbirth for approximately 100 years. Many research studies have been conducted to study the effects of hypnosis on pregnancy and labor. Hypnosis has been used on women during labor to help reduce pain. Hypnosis can be used as a natural analgesic to not only reduce pain but reduce use of pain medication. In addition to pain management, self-hypnosis has been used to control breathing during labor. Other studies show that hypnosis has a psychological benefit to mothers and to newborns.

A meta-analysis of studies conducted involving hypnosis with pregnant women was compared to non-hypnosis intervention, no treatment, and placebo. Primary measurements in the meta-analysis included analgesia used during labor and also pain scores during labor. The meta-analysis included 8395 women who had used hypnosis during pregnancy or labor. The analysis concluded that fewer women needed to use a form of analgesia during labor.

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VITAMIN B12 DEFICIENCY IN PREGNANT WOMEN LINKED TO BIRTH DEFECT

A study recently published in the journal Pediatrics has revealed that women who do not have an adequate intake of vitamin B12 during pregnancy are at greater risk of having a child with a birth abnormality called neural tube defect.

About Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 and Birth Defects

The researchers had noted that folic acid fortification in food had helped to lower the prevalence of neural tube defects by about 50% to 70%. As it was not likely that levels of folic acid added would be increased anymore to further help prevent neural tube defect occurrence, they set out to investigate another modifiable risk factor - vitamin B12.

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MODERN BIRTH CONTROL: BLESSING OR BARBARISM?

Throughout history women have found many interesting ways to practice birth control. There is evidence of women in ancient Rome tying a pouch around their left foot that contained a cat's liver in the belief that it would prevent pregnancy. Some would spit in the mouth of a frog three times in hopes of the same outcome.

There is evidence that Egyptian women may have used substances such as crocodile dung to prevent pregnancy. As strange as it may sound, they never gave a second thought to using such substances. Where and how it was used will be left to the imagination.

Egyptian women may have actually been onto something. As early as 1850 BC, ancient Egyptians were responsible for using the infamous dung in conjunction with the female irrigating her vagina with a mixture of honey and sodium bicarbonate.

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HOW STRESS IN PREGNANCY AFFECTS YOUR BABY

We know that extreme stress is bad for any living creature and that it can lead to disease and health degradation in our bodies. Pregnancy in itself is a stressful time on a woman's body. The normal physical and hormonal changes can be quite daunting for a first time mom. In this day and age we live in incredibly stressful times. We worry about things close to home like our finances, our relationships with those close to us as well as our safety and security as a nation.

Coupled with these, many women work for as long as possible during pregnancy to maximize their maternity leave after the baby is born. The reality is that excessive stress during pregnancy can have some severe consequences for the health of your unborn baby if you don't learn how to manage it.

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ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS FOUND TO CAUSE BIRTH COMPLICATIONS

A new warning is being issued about pregnant women taking antidepressant drugs. It turns out that taking such drugs during late pregnancy puts the health of their babies at risk and leads to birth complications that may require prolonged hospitalization, breathing support, and tube feeding. This warning applies to all SSRI drugs, or what's called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, which include drugs like Prozac and other popular antidepressants. The warning comes from Health Canada, and is a latest in a series of warnings being publicized about the dangers of taking prescription drugs.

Of course, informed readers already know that prescription drugs pose significant health hazards to human beings, but when they are taken by pregnant women, they pose an even greater hazard because they effect the health of two human beings.

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ELEVATED RISK OF BIRTH DEFECTS FOUND IN WOMEN WITH PRE-PREGNANCY DIABETES

Type II diabetes is a very troublesome condition. Without a proper diet (avoiding non-fibrous carbohydrates, trans fats) and exercise routine, the condition can spiral out of control, leading to amputations, blindness, and eventually death. There is another undesirable effect that it has: birth defects. In a new research study, it was shown that women with pre-gestational diabetes (diabetes before pregnancy) are three to four times more like to have a child with birth defects than other women.

This startling new study, which is the largest of its kind to record this kind of information, has described at least 40 different types of birth defects that can afflict the infant. From spine malformation to missing kidneys, these birth defects are serious and carry certain hardships that the child will face. For a long time, many birth defects have been shrouded in mystery, confounding researchers who unsuccessfully tried to uncover their origins. Now, we may have found the culprit for at least some of those birth defects: type II diabetes.

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BLOOD-PRESSURE DRUGS LINKED TO BIRTH DEFECTS

Blood-pressure medications known as ACE inhibitors can't be considered safe to take even in the first trimester of pregnancy and should be avoided altogether by pregnant women, a new study suggests.

For years, doctors have known these commonly prescribed blood-pressure drugs aren't safe during the second and third trimesters due to their association with birth defects. So, physicians have routinely switched women to other medications once they find out they were pregnant. An estimated 5 percent to 8 percent of women develop high blood pressure, or hypertension, during pregnancy, according to the March of Dimes.

But the new study suggests the wisest course is to avoid ACE inhibitor (angiotensin-converting enzyme) drugs during the entire pregnancy.

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EXTRA CALCIUM MAY PREVENT HYPERTENSION PROBLEMS IN PREGNANT WOMEN

Expectant mothers may be able to prevent potentially serious medical problems in themselves and their babies simply by boosting their daily calcium intake, says a new systematic review. Not only that, but pregnant women at greatest risk for these problems may benefit most from the extra calcium.

The problems are gestational hypertension — or high blood pressure associated with pregnancy — and preeclampsia, a medical disorder of pregnant women characterized by high blood pressure and protein in the urine.

If untreated, both conditions can lead to potentially life-threatening medical problems for the mother and complications of preterm birth for the baby, including low birth weight and size, respiratory distress, long-term neurological deficits and even death.

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