Archive for the 'Pregnancy' Category
Disparities Exist In Access To Infertility Treatment
Pregnancy & Baby is reporting on the disparities that exist in access to infertility treatment.
“Our study found the vast majority of patients seeking IVF treatment were Caucasian, highly educated and wealthy compared to the general population,” said Dr. Tarun Jain, University of Illinois at Chicago assistant professor of reproductive endocrinology and infertility…
…The researchers found that among the 561 respondents, nearly half of the patients had advanced degrees and more than 60 percent had an annual household income over $100,000. None of patients had less than a high school diploma.
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FDA Launches iPLEDGE Campaign To Prevent Pregnant Women From Using Isotretinoin (Accutane)
Isotretinoin treats a type of severe acne called nodular acne.It is used after other treatments, including antibiotics, have nothelped. It comes in a capsule you take by mouth. Treatmentusually lasts 4 to 5 months.
There is a very high chance of birth defects if an unborn baby’s mother takes isotretinoin. The goal of the iPLEDGE programis to prevent pregnancies in females taking isotretinoin andto prevent pregnant females from taking isotretinoin. TheiPLEDGE program requires birth control for female patients who canget pregnant for at least 1 month before, during, and 1 month afterstopping treatment and pregnancy tests before, during and aftertreatment.
Visit the iPLEDGE website for more information.
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Fetal Positions In The Final Days Of Pregnancy
The MayoClinic.com has an excellent new visual guide to fetal positions in the final days of pregnancy. The visual tour offers images of the most common ways babies position themselves before birth. Each image is accompanied with a brief description of how and why the baby positions itself in the manner that it does. They also include a few positions that often lead to Caesarean delivery. This is very interesting information — especially if you’re expecting soon.
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Fertility LifeLines Offers Free Fertility Planning Guide
When my wife and I experienced infertility while trying to conceive our first child, we didn’t know what to expect. The only thing we knew was that we couldn’t get pregnant. It would have been very helpful if we had had some sort of guide that could have shown us a realistic view of what our infertility treatment would have looked like.
Fortunately, Fertility LifeLines now provides a free guide, called My Fertility Planning Guide. The guide helps couples become aware of, and plan for the following:
- Conceiving On Your Own
- Seeing A Healthcare Provider
- Undergoing Treatment
- Financial Considerations
- Emotional Considerations
- Current Assessment/Health Record
- Past Fertility History
Not only is the guide helpful for planning possible treatments, it also provides talking points for couples regarding financial and emotional considerations. It puts everything out in the open, and encourages couples to discuss and decide the fertility path they want to follow.
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Fertility Expert Doubts Link Between Chlamydia And Infertility
“I think the evidence that chlamydia affects fertility is very dubious,” Lord Winston said. I haven’t seen any figures that demonstrate that it is causing infertility.”
Lord Winston said the link between chlamydia and damage to the fallopian tubes was based on two papers written in Sweden in the 1960s, and it had never been checked.
But experts said the link between untreated chlamydia and infertility did exist.
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Use Of Folic Acid Increases Birth Rate
As reported in the British Journal of Nutrition, the research team discovered a strong link between low levels of folic acid in the women’s blood and a correspondingly low birth weight in their newborn. It was noted that for each increasing unit of folic acid accounted for in the blood samples, the child’s birth weight also increased by 14%.
Smoking has been known to inhibit the developing fetus for some time now. The Newcastle study has shown a strong link between women smokers and low folate levels. Researchers presume smoking inhibits the body’s ability to metabolize the vitamin completely, thus leading to a potentially underweight baby.
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Treating Depression During Pregnancy
Depression affects up to 15% of women during and shortly after pregnancy. Dr Janet Atsumi Martin, from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, stated that the impact of depression during pregnancy includes:
- Poorer maternal self-care and nutrition
- Decreased birth weight
- Increased use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs
- Increased risk to fetus
- Increased stress hormones
- Increased risk of pre-term delivery
- Increased risk of postpartum depression
- Impairs care of and bonding with infant
Unfortunately, Dr. Martin also pointed out that there are also dangers of treating depression during pregnancy. For mothers who must get chemical treatment during pregnancy, she suggested the following.
“Start low and go slow with these medications by using a minimal effective dose because they have effects on the mother (example, potential side effects of increased anxiety, nausea and insomnia) and also effects on pre-term labor (that is, increased pre-term labor).”
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Smoking + Pregnancy = Anti-Social Child
A new study suggests that mothers who smoke while pregnant increase the risk of anti-social behavior in their children.
In a study of 1,896 twins it was found that the average symptom scores for both increased with the number of cigarettes the mother had smoked while pregnant.
The researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry say the findings do not mean unruly behaviour and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were linked, although ADHD is known to increase the risk of anti-social behaviour.
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Infertility News: Leptin, Stress, Rogue Chemicals and a Sperm Magnet
Recently there’s been a lot of interesting reports about infertility. Here’s a sample of some of them.
WISTV reports on Leptin and Infertility. Full Story
eDiets.com reports on a new study that links stress to miscarriage. Full Story
The Irish Examiner reports on how everyday chemicals are causing infertility, cancer and birth defects. Full Story
New Scientist reports on a new sperm magnet to help infertile men. Full Story
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Infertility Depresses Men Too
BloggingBaby reports:
A study in Ireland concluded that men having difficulty conceiving children are just as likely to be depressed as women having difficulty. Clinically significant levels of depression were found in almost 10% of men whose sperm defects were the cause of infertility and more than a third of the men studied suffered from anxiety.
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