“Mitch Collins: It's crucial to discourage smoking during pregnancy - Charleston Daily Mail” plus 4 more

Mitch Collins: It's crucial to discourage smoking during pregnancy - Charleston Daily Mail
Alcohol most common cause of damage to foetus - Earthtimes
Frequently asked questions of pregnancy - Savannah Morning News
Area abortion foes join 40 Days for Life effort - Dayton Daily News
I'm too old to get pregnant - Globe and Mail

Mitch Collins: It's crucial to discourage smoking during pregnancy - Charleston Daily Mail

Posted: 20 Sep 2009 09:35 PM PDT

You may have read recently that more than a quarter of West Virginia women smoke during pregnancy.

What wasn't reported is this: the greatest percentage of pregnant women who smoke is on Medicaid. Data collected by the Department of Health and Human Resources in 2003 found that 46 percent of women giving birth and receiving Medicaid benefits reported smoking during their pregnancies.

This is alarming on many fronts. According to the March of Dimes, not only is the mother putting herself at risk by smoking, but she is increasing her unborn baby's risk of stillbirth, pre-term delivery, low birth weight and sudden-infant death syndrome.

UniCare Health Plan of West Virginia, Inc. is the state's largest Medicaid managed care organization. On a daily basis, we assist more than 70,000 mothers and children find the best solutions to their health care problems.

Recently the state Department of Tobacco Prevention became more active with its efforts to educate pregnant women. UniCare salutes the state's efforts, and we want to do our part to help educate women on this important issue.

Over this past summer, UniCare sponsored four health fairs and baby showers for families and expectant mothers throughout the state. Many of the mothers we talked to didn't understand that what they do to their bodies greatly impacts the health of their unborn children.

We know Medicaid families want to make the right health care decisions. However, much of what they know about health and wellness has been passed on to them from their families and friends, and some of that information is outdated and incorrect.

Physicians play an important role, as well. However, it is important that all doctors in the state have correct information know how to advise a patient who is pregnant and using tobacco products.

A recent Charleston Daily Mail article quoted a patient who said her doctor told her not to quit smoking during her pregnancy because her baby was used to it.

While the doctor wasn't in West Virginia, the article highlights the important role a physician plays in a patient's decision-making process.

UniCare knows that health education is one of the best ways to break the cycle of bad health decisions. We will continue to provide our members and network physicians with education and special programs on such topics as smoking cessation and prenatal care, and to create health events that bring together community-based organizations to share valuable information and assistance to the community at large.

In the coming months, UniCare will be working with state officials, physicians and our members to make sure we are doing everything we can to help bring down the smoking rate among Medicaid's pregnant population.

By reducing smoking among pregnant women, we will help to give our West Virginia moms and babies a brighter future.

Collins is regional director for UniCare Health Plan of West Virginia, Inc. UniCare is the state's largest Medicaid provider.

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Alcohol most common cause of damage to foetus - Earthtimes

Posted: 20 Sep 2009 06:08 PM PDT

Article : Alcohol most common cause of damage to foetus
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Frequently asked questions of pregnancy - Savannah Morning News

Posted: 12 Sep 2009 04:59 PM PDT

Please click on the blue heading to read the entire article.

Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy usually subsides by week thirteen and common medications for treatment include phenergan (sleepy), reglan (thirty minutes prior each meal), and zofran (works best and not sedating for most people.

Leg cramp treatment: comfortable shoes, elevate legs, increase fluids, support hose, and Ultra-Cal Night (calcium and magnesium).

You may get your hair colored or highlighted after the first trimester.

Hand numbness results from compression of the carpal tunnel (dominant hand usually). Generally, it is worse at nigh and more common in the third trimester.

Constipation is extremely common and may improve with increased hydration (eight glasses of water), increase in fiber (metamucil, miralax, fibersure, or perdiem), or finding the right prenatal vitamin.

Headaches may increase during pregnancy if you drink large amounts of caffeine and then stop when you become pregnant (caffeine withdrawal headache).

No more than two to four servings (8 ounces) of caffeine per day because of the questionable association between miscarriage and caffeine.

There are now paints specifically made for pregnant women (most new moms love to paint).

Generally, exercise prior to pregnancy may continue during pregnancy (not a big fan of jogging in the third trimester).

It is recommended that you get the flu shot regardless of the trimester.

The new H1N1 vaccine will be recommended in pregnancy in addition to the flu vaccine and will be available by the end of October.

The tuberculosis test (PPD) may be given during pregnancy.

If you have had chicken pox, you can be around someone with chicken pox or shingles (same virus).

If bleeding occurs during the first trimester, a pelvic ultrasound is very reassuring and will assess the risk of miscarriage.

One out of three positive pregnancy tests will miscarry.

A transvaginal ultrasound showing fetal heart activity decreases the miscarriage rate to 5%.

60 to 70% of miscarriages in the first trimester are the result of genetic abnormalities.

Most physicians allow travel until 28-32 weeks gestation unless pregnancy complications warrant restriction.

You may take baths during pregnancy but do not let the water be so hot that your skin turns pink.

The problem with cats is the litter box and the cleaning of cat feces. Wash your hands frequently and let husband be in charge of the litter box.

You should drink no alcohol during your pregnancy because there is no correlation between the amount of alcohol and the development of fetal alcohol syndrome.

Only one serving of fish per week because of the mercury level in fish.

Avoid soft cheeses.

Deli meats should contain no preservatives (Boar's head for example).

The major organs of the fetus begin forming four weeks after conception and continue to develop eight weeks after conception.

75% of all women experience the postpartum blues (husbands be patient because they will sometime cry and be upset for no particular reason).

Breast feeding is much harder than you think and the milk supply does not increase significantly until three to five days postpartum.

Swelling of the lower extremities is very common in the the third trimester and does not necessarily mean that you have toxemia of pregnancy. Support hose, elevation of your legs, decrease sodium content of your foods, and increased hydration will improve most swelling.

Round ligament pain is usually right sided and occurs between 18 and 24 weeks. It is described as sharp and stabbing pain with movement making it worse. Tylenol, rest, and time will improve this pain.

Have a great week

Dr. Joe Edwards III M.D.

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Area abortion foes join 40 Days for Life effort - Dayton Daily News

Posted: 20 Sep 2009 09:21 PM PDT

By Meredith Moss, Staff Writer 12:31 AM Monday, September 21, 2009

KETTERING — Like many proud grandmas, Judy Weckesser carries a photo album, happily showing off Jake and Josh, her 5-month-old twin grandsons.

But Weckesser hopes her cute snapshots will elicit more than "oohs and ahhs" from those who view them. She hopes they'll help change minds as well.

"If the (birth) mother had aborted them, my daughter would not have been able to adopt these twins," she explains. "She and her husband wanted babies for 10 years, but were unable to have them."

The Kettering woman's tearful testimony Sunday, Sept. 20, helped kick off the national 40 Days for Life campaign that began locally in front of the Women's Med Center abortion clinic in Kettering.

A group of 85 men, women and children gathered to sing hymns, pray and share plans for the outreach effort being promoted simultaneously in communities throughout the United States.

The 40 days of the effort will include prayer and fasting, special programs, educational outreach and peaceful vigils at abortion facilities.

"This particular clinic needs to be bathed in prayer," said Vivian Koob, founder of Elizabeth's New Life Center.

Koob introduced the program Sunday and said the Kettering clinic continues to do abortions up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy. "No matter the procedure or the gestational age, each time an abortion is done, a baby dies and a woman and man are left wounded — emotionally, spiritually and sometimes physically," she said.

The Rev. Mike Spencer, of Grace Missionary Church in Celina, was keynote speaker. He told Sunday's gathering how his life changed after becoming a Christian in 1983 and viewing the film "The Silent Scream."

"I walked out of the building sick to my stomach," said Spencer, who decided at that moment to become "a voice for the unborn."

The Most Rev. Daniel Pilarczyk, archbishop of Cincinnati, led a recitation of the rosary before the rally.

"If we don't have reverence for human life, we are easing ourselves into a society in which nobody is safe," he said. "If you can kill little babies, you can kill anybody."

For more information about 40 Days for Life, go online to: www.40daysfor life.com/dayton.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2440 or MMoss@DaytonDaily News.com.

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I'm too old to get pregnant - Globe and Mail

Posted: 20 Sep 2009 04:28 PM PDT

Man, aged 56 and diagnosed as infertile, meets woman, 44. Birth control isn't part of their whirlwind romance – and they get pregnant before you can say "oopsy baby." Inconceivable, right?

Well, not quite. That's how a baby girl was born to Laura Arpiainen, a Vancouver architect, now 46, and her partner, an interior designer. Their 14-month-old daughter was a "gift out of nowhere," Ms. Arpiainen says.

The first-time mother wasn't trying to conceive, she adds, and her periods were irregular for several months before the pregnancy. "I thought I had menopause."

Surprise, surprise.

Fertility clinics may be crowded with women older than 35, but a 40th birthday doesn't automatically rule out pregnancy.

The truth is, almost 40 per cent of pregnancies in women over 40 are unintended, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a New York-based non-profit research centre that tracks reproductive trends.

Despite their years of experience with the birds and the bees, women at this stage of life may play Russian roulette with birth control, doctors say.

"Some women over 40 can get sort of sloppy [with contraception] because they don't think they can get pregnant," says Wendy Wolfman, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Mount Sinai Hospital and an associate professor at the University of Toronto.

In many cases, it's a reasonable assumption. Just 16 in 1,000 women over 40 become pregnant, the Guttmacher Institute reports.

Those who do become pregnant face a miscarriage rate of about 50 per cent, experts say.

Although the number of live births for older mothers is on the rise, their fertility rate remains low. According to Statistics Canada, there were seven births for each 1,000 women aged 40 to 44 in 2006, compared with three for each 1,000 in 1981.

But beyond the numbers are healthy babies who become late additions to the family.

Shelli Wakefield of San Jose, Calif., says she went off Depo-Provera, an injectable contraceptive, after her doctor told her it was "very unlikely" she would become pregnant again at age 41. Fourteen months later, Ms. Wakefield conceived her third child.

She and her husband were shocked, she says, but neither was upset about having their "surprise baby," now six months old. "It's neat to have another chance at parenting," Ms. Wakefield says.

Her 11-year-old daughter was delighted to be a big sister, she adds, but her 14-year-old son was less enthusiastic about the baby girl. "The hardest part for me is making sure that she's not a detriment to my older kids' lives."

Ms. Wakefield says she's a calmer parent than she was when her eldest kids were infants, in part because of improved finances and her stable marriage of 17 years. But with maturity comes the reality of aging. "I get my Botox so I don't look like an old mom," Ms. Wakefield says, "and I work out every day and I dye my hair."

Some women do not welcome a new baby later in life. Message boards such as Pregnant after 40 on iVillage.com are punctuated with announcements along the lines of "Pregnant and not thrilled."

An unwanted pregnancy can be a bitter pill to swallow for women whose values prohibit abortion or giving up a child for adoption.

Debbie Coolidge had grey hair and a teenaged son when she got pregnant at 45. The Texan mother felt like a "freak" and a "geriatric mother," she writes on Surprisemomsover40.org, a website she founded as a Christian-centred support for women who thought their childrearing days were over.

The site includes a top 10 list of challenges facing older mothers, such as being out of sync with friends who are enjoying empty nests after the kids have left for college. In the forums section, women trade tips on how to break the news to family members or deal with having a baby who is younger than a grandchild.

In cities such as Toronto and Vancouver, however, moms over 40 wearing BabyBjorns hardly stand out. The average age of a first-time mother in Vancouver is now over 30, according to Robert Anderson, an obstetrician-gynecologist at St. Paul's Hospital in that city. He adds that doctors no longer classify women over 40 as having high-risk pregnancies simply because of their age.

Marta Becker of Vancouver says she had a complication-free pregnancy and home birth at 44.

Before her unexpected pregnancy, Ms. Becker says, she was absorbed by her career and rarely gave motherhood much thought.

The birth of a son almost 10 months ago altered the course of her life, as well as her relationship with a man 11 years younger, she says. Although they were happy together, they had no long-term commitment, "so the pregnancy definitely made a big impact."

Her partner, a full-time student, was "stunned" by the news, she adds, but he quickly adjusted to fatherhood after the baby was born. "He's crazy in love with this kid."

Women such as Ms. Becker say they're careful not to boast about getting pregnant over 40 without trying. They have too many acquaintances who long for children.

Dr. Wolfman says that in her gynecology practice, she sees both extremes. "You have women who feel that they're over the hill at age 40," she says, "and women who think they'll be fertile forever."

She cautions women not to derive false hope from spontaneous pregnancies in women approaching menopause. At that age, few conceive babies without lab assistance. And aside from avoiding smoking earlier in life, she adds, there is nothing a woman can do to improve the viability of her eggs.

Even so, fertility over 40 isn't an exact science. Experts advise women to use effective birth control – or be prepared to celebrate the unexpected.

Ms. Arpiainen gave birth at 45, a few years after having surgery for endometriosis and a tumour in her uterus. Today, Ms. Arpiainen says, she's basking in her new life with a partner and toddler. "It's just been love and joy all over."