plus 4, Head-on crash ends pregnancy; mom hurt - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Head-on crash ends pregnancy; mom hurt - Minneapolis Star Tribune
Lower drinking age tied to pregnancy complications - Windsor Star
Pregnancy complications ‘kill 144’ Nigerian women a day - Businessday Online
Brothers and Sisters: Emily VanCamp Talks Rebecca's Wedding and ... - Buddytv.com
Vaccines during pregnancy and breastfeeding - abc40

Head-on crash ends pregnancy; mom hurt - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Posted: 06 Dec 2009 09:49 PM PST

A Minneapolis woman who was eight months pregnant lost her baby when a pickup truck driving the wrong way on a highway ramp slammed into her family's van late Saturday night, according to the Minnesota state patrol.

The head-on crash happened at 11:45 p.m. at the 49th Avenue exit of Interstate Hwy. 94, north of downtown Minneapolis.

The pregnant woman, 29-year-old Tao Thao, was in critical condition on Sunday at North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale. The van also carried her husband, 33-year-old Yia Vang, and five children between the ages of 3 and 10.

A 10-year-old son, Alex Vang, suffered injuries that were initially described as critical, but he was listed in fair condition Sunday afternoon. The other children and their father had minor injuries, the state patrol said.

The driver of the truck, Connie Stroud, "had way too much to drink to be driving," said state patrol spokesman Matt Langer, adding that he expects criminal charges to be filed against her. Stroud, 42, of Minneapolis, was in critical condition Sunday.

Yia Vang was the only person in either vehicle who was wearing a seat belt, the state patrol said.

Alcohol-related crashes, which account for more than one-third of traffic deaths, killed 163 people in Minnesota last year. Because the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's are particularly deadly, the state patrol and 400 local law-enforcement agencies are in the midst of a monthlong crackdown on drinking and driving.

SARAH LEMAGIE

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Lower drinking age tied to pregnancy complications - Windsor Star

Posted: 06 Dec 2009 05:38 PM PST

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - While there have been calls to lower the legal drinking age from 21 in the United States, a new study suggests such a move could result in more unplanned pregnancies and premature births among young women.

Researchers found that in the late-1970s and 1980s -- when U.S. states varied in their minimum drinking ages -- there was a connection between more lenient drinking ages and the risk of premature birth and low birthweight among women younger than 21.

There was also evidence linking a legal drinking age of 18 to a higher rate of unplanned pregnancies among young women. It's this trend that may account for much of the risk of premature delivery and low birthweight, the investigators report in the Journal of Health Economics.

Unplanned pregnancies are associated with a higher rate of complications, at least partly because women are less likely to get proper prenatal care.

The findings do not prove that lower legal drinking ages lead to more unplanned pregnancies and birth complications, but do show an association between the two.

"It is always possible that other factors besides drinking age laws are causing the effects we see, but we don't see similar birth weight and prematurity effects for women over 21," researcher Tara Watson, of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, told Reuters Health.

In the early-1970s, 29 U.S. states lowered their legal drinking age to 18, 19 or 20. But after a subsequent rise in drunk-driving accidents among young drivers, many states began to reverse course. A change in federal law eventually pushed all states to adopt a minimum drinking age of 21 by 1988.

However, the benefits of the age-21 law are still debated. Last year, a group of more than 100 U.S. university presidents and chancellors known as the Amethyst Initiative called for a reevaluation of the legal drinking age -- citing a "clandestine" culture of binge-drinking among college students as one reason that the age-21 law is not working.

For the current study, Watson and colleague Angela Fertig, of the University of Georgia in Athens, analyzed birth records and government survey data on alcohol use for the years 1978 to 1988.

They found that a legal drinking age of 18 was associated with a 21-percent increase in prenatal drinking among 18- to 20-year-old women. It was also linked to a 6-percent increase in the odds of low birthweight and a 5-percent rise in the risk of preterm delivery.

The researchers also found evidence linking these effects to a higher rate of unplanned pregnancies in states with a minimum drinking age of 18. Young African-American women in these states were 25 percent more likely to have no paternal information on their child's birth certificate -- which can be considered a proxy for unplanned pregnancy.

According to Watson and Fertig, the findings suggest that in the debate over the legal drinking age, the potential effects on pregnancy outcomes should be considered.

"We find that the minimum drinking age law has important unintended benefits which should be considered before lowering the drinking age," Watson said.

SOURCE: Journal of Health Economics, May 2009.

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Pregnancy complications ‘kill 144’ Nigerian women a day - Businessday Online

Posted: 06 Dec 2009 05:02 PM PST

•Activists push for change in attitude, provision of adequate healthcare services

The number of women dying from pregnancy-related complications in Nigeria is akin to a plane crashing every day, but the crisis gets less noticed amid pandemics such as AIDS and malaria, activists say. At least 144 women die each day in Nigeria during pregnancy or childbirth, according to the UN and World Bank statistics, placing it among some of the worst countries for women to deliver babies in the world, after Sierra Leone and Niger, among others. "Imagine a plane crash in Nigeria everyday, carrying only pregnant women. Would we stand by and do nothing? But this is precisely the case — death through pregnancy and child birth has almost become invisible," Sandra Obiago, director of a local lobby group, Communicating for Change. Activists last week premiered three short but hard-hitting Nollywood films to push for an urgent change in attitude and provision of adequate healthcare services to avoid pregnancy-related problems. The films take a provocative look at the deadly crisis in Nigeria, where some 70 percent of the 150 million people live on less than a dollar a day. Nigeria lacks some of the basic infrastructure such as electricity and good roads, while skilled medical personnel are just not enough for the country. Aside attacking dilapidated facilities, the films also hit out at cultural and religious traditions that endanger the lives of pregnant women. In one of the films, a man whose wife has a complicated labour, wastes time insisting that no male doctor will attend to her. By the time he is convinced there is no female doctor around and agrees to emergency caesarian section by a man, there is power outage the moment she is taken to theatre, and the hospital generator is out of order. "It's a failure of governance, we must make our leaders accountable to make sure they provide the infrastructure," said a civil and human rights activist, Yemisi Ransome-Kuti. Nigerians have become permissive of corrupt leadership. "Until we begin to look at reforms in the electoral systems so that we get correct leaders ... we will be in this Catch 22 situation forever," she said. Nollywood director, Teco Benson, said Nigeria's famous film industry provided the most effective tool in the fight for change especially in cultural and religious beliefs that have helped worsen the crisis. "We are trying to get people to see things in different ways and to act," said Adhiambo Odaga of the Ford Foundation in West Africa.

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Brothers and Sisters: Emily VanCamp Talks Rebecca's Wedding and ... - Buddytv.com

Posted: 06 Dec 2009 06:50 PM PST

It's been a big season for Rebecca Harper as she walks the aisle on her big day. But the drama never fails on Brothers and Sisters, and actress Emily VanCamp is well aware of it. On her interview on The View, she discussed the problems her character was having with the wedding, as well as the trouble she and fiancÃ© Justin (Dave Annable) are experiencing.

"I know, it's crazy!" the 23-year-old actress exclaimed as she sat down. Many fans have long been anticipating the Justin-Rebecca marriage, a story that took a long time to develop. From thinking they were siblings to this? It was definitely unexpected.

"I think everyone was really shocked," VanCamp said about the shift in plot. "It's certainly an interesting storyline, but I think that people get over that kind of thing very quickly. There was a lot of chemistry between the two of us and so they had to do something, or else it was gonna get a bit creepy."

Entering the scene at the middle of a season made Emily VanCamp anxious about starting anew on Brothers and Sisters. "It's a very intimidating group of people to join," she said. "But they were so welcoming and wonderful."

If there was one highlight of this season aside from the upcoming wedding, it was the tango with Gilles Marini. Since Emily VanCamp has been trained as a dancer as well, she had a great time filming the scenes.

"I had so much fun!" she declared. "He is the nicest guy I've ever met, just the sweetest, and we just had a ball."

VanCamp was also interviewed for the ABC Morning News and revealed what to expect for Brothers and Sisters. "There's always drama with the Walkers," VanCamp admitted.

Aside from the wedding, there's the even bigger news of her character expecting a child. "Well, as of now Rebecca's pregnant and I think that they're kind of coming to terms with having a baby," the actress revealed. "But we'll see what happens. [...] It's really hard to figure it all out."

Source: Emily VanCamp's Official Site
(Image Courtesy of ABC)

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Vaccines during pregnancy and breastfeeding - abc40

Posted: 06 Dec 2009 12:45 PM PST

From the Flu and Cold Health Center

Congratulations on your pregnancy! You're eating right, getting extra rest and taking your prenatal vitamins. After all, you want to do everything you can to ensure a healthy baby! But have you given any thought to protecting yourself and your baby against infectious diseases—like seasonal influenza and the H1N1 flu virus, an additional flu risk this year?

It's important to consider vaccination part of your prenatal care. That's why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has specific recommendations for pregnant and breastfeeding women. The committee notes that there is no evidence of risk to your developing baby if you are vaccinated with an inactivated viral or bacterial vaccine while pregnant. In either case, the committee notes, the "benefits of vaccinating pregnant women usually outweigh the potential risks when the likelihood of disease exposure is high, when infection would pose a risk to the mother or fetus, and when the vaccine is unlikely to cause harm."

The CDC's ACIP recommends both the seasonal flu vaccination and the H1N1 vaccine for pregnant and breastfeeding women and for people 6 months to 24 years.

The CDC also identifies four safe and effective optional vaccines for pregnant women, if you have been or could be exposed to any of the following bacterial and viral diseases: Hepatitis B, tetanus-diphtheria, meningococcal and rabies.

So what makes the flu vaccines so important? Well, you're much more likely to be exposed to influenza in any given year than meningitis or rabies. Plus, pregnancy-related changes in your immune and respiratory systems mean that you are at higher risk for flu-related complications. In fact, if you get the flu while you're pregnant, you're more likely to be hospitalized with complications. Another good reason to get vaccinated against the flu is that a recent study found that your vaccine could protect your baby during his or her first six months—when infants can't receive a flu vaccine, yet when they are very vulnerable to flu-related complications.

This year, the novel H1N1 flu ("swine flu") poses an additional risk. At this point, scientists expect illnesses from H1N1 flu to continue for some time, so it's important for people—especially pregnant women or parents of infants and young children—to be as informed about the virus as possible.

Make Flu Vaccines a Family Affair

You're not the only one who needs a vaccine. The people around you should also get flu vaccines this season. That reduces the risk that they'll catch the flu and bring it home to you or your newborn.

Not one but two vaccines are recommended this year: One for seasonal flu and one for H1N1 flu.

There are also two forms of seasonal flu vaccine: the inactivated virus vaccine, delivered as an injection; and the attenuated virus vaccine, delivered as a nasal spray. Pregnant women should only receive the inactivated, injection form. The nasal spray vaccine is approved only for use in healthy people 2 to 49 years of age who are not pregnant.

One other thing: If you're severely allergic to eggs (the vaccine is grown in eggs), had a severe reaction to a flu vaccine in the past or are under six months of age, you should not be immunized. Also, if you have a fever, wait until you're better before getting the vaccine.

You have another consideration when it comes to the vaccine: thimerosal or thimerosal free? Thimerosal is a mercury compound that has been used for more than 80 years to preserve vaccines. Numerous studies find no harmful effects from the preservative in children or adults. Still, some people worry about it, which is why manufacturers have now made a thimerosal-free vaccine available. Ask your healthcare provider about your options.

Here's something else you should be aware of: Flu vaccines are not foolproof. It will not provide 100 percent protection against the flu. When the seasonal flu vaccine and the circulating viruses are similar, the vaccine can prevent the flu among 70 to 90 percent of healthy adults under 65.

Even if you do get the flu, the vaccine can still protect you against flu-related complications by minimizing the severity of the illness.

And, contrary to flu myths, you cannot get the flu from a flu shot or the nasal vaccine. If you get sick after a vaccine, it's just coincidence. In fact, the most common side effect of the shot is a little soreness at the injection site, and the most common side effect of the spray is a runny nose or nasal congestion.

Now's the Time

The best time for a flu shot is between September and December, before flu season really peaks in January, February or later. It usually only takes about two weeks for your body to make antibodies (immune system proteins that help your system recognize the flu virus) to the virus. So even if you get vaccinated after December, you still get some protection.

While a single vaccine lasts the entire season, it won't protect you next winter because your immunity fades. Plus, flu viruses change from year to year. That's why it's important to get vaccinated every year.

Guidelines for High-Risk Groups

Pregnant women and children are considered high risk for both seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu virus and potential related complications. That's why vaccinations for these groups are such an important consideration and are highly recommended by federal government and health professional groups, such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

For information on other high-risk populations, visit the CDC's flu information Web site: http://www.flu.gov/

Remember, if you are a new mom breastfeeding your baby, you should get vaccinated against both seasonal and H1N1 influenza. If you have already delivered your baby, you're eligible for the nasal, or "attenuated," version of the vaccines. In fact, you can have any type of vaccine—except the smallpox vaccine—while breastfeeding with no worries about it negatively affecting your baby in any way.

So what are you waiting for? Pick up the phone and make an appointment for your seasonal flu and H1N1 flu vaccines. Your health and your baby's health depend on you!

For more on protecting yourself from the flu during pregnancy, visit: www.healthywomen.org/flufree

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