Archives for December 2009

A new research program called the Medication Exposure in Pregnancy Risk Evaluation Program (MEPREP) will fund research to study the effects of prescription medications used during pregnancy. The program is a collaboration among the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and researchers at the HMO Research Network Center for Education and Research in Therapeutics (CERT), Kaiser Permanente’s multiple research centers and Vanderbilt University.

About two-thirds of women who deliver a baby have taken at least one prescription medication during pregnancy according to a journal article published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. There are very few clinical trials that test the safety of medications in pregnancy due to concerns about the health of the mother and child.

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The teenage pregnancy rate in New Brunswick increased slightly last year, according to the Health Department. New statistics show the rate of teen pregnancies across the province was 24.3 per 1,000 teenage girls in 2008. It was 24.0 per 1,000 teenage girls in 2007.

"There seems to be an increase and that's not good," said Rosella Melanson, executive director of the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women. "Nobody wants more pregnant teens because usually they haven't finished their education. Usually it's not a wanted pregnancy and so it can create some problems."The largest increase was in Gloucester County, which includes the city of Bathurst. The rate there went from 17.2 pregnancies per 1,000 teen girls to 26.6.

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N’gombeni High School principal Cornelius Maganga makes no secret of the fact that teenage mothers are not welcome at his school. He tells of one student who hid her pregnancy and went home to deliver. “When she came back we told her to look for another place,” he says. Just an hour’s drive across Kwale District, principal Phyllis Mwachiti has created an atmosphere of respect and belonging at Kichakasimba Secondary School.

“We do not lose girls because we do not chase them away,” she says. “It is always very good if in the school the policy is not sending (pregnant students) home.”The views of Ms Mwachiti and Mr Maganga, and all those in between, could play out in the private lives of female students if a new health policy aimed at reducing teen pregnancy is put into practice. The National School Health Policy 2009, under the section on teenage pregnancy, states: “Girls will undergo voluntary medical screening once per term.” But when it comes to teen sexuality in Kenya, how voluntary is “voluntary”?

Social taboos In a society with strong religious and social taboos against teen sex, where youths lack access to contraception and sex education, leaving interpretation of such a policy up to individual teachers is a potential minefield — giving schools power over a private, moral issue.

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Don't drink coffee, don't eat tuna, don't clean up cat litter, don't get too stressed out – pregnant women hear many messages about the impact of their choices on a developing baby. For pregnant women with medical conditions, there's even more at stake. They may have to balance their own health needs with those of the fetus – without much information to guide them. From WHYY's health and science desk – Kerry Grens and Maiken Scott join up on an in-depth look at pregnancy, medications, and research. First Maiken takes a look at mood disorders. Looking back, Anne Hildenbrandt can see signs that she was chronically depressed long before she got pregnant. She struggled during her first two pregnancies, but as she expected her third child, her symptoms became unbearable.

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It was 2005, and after nine months of IVF treatment and a positive pregnancy test, 36-year-old Jill King was having a routine ultrasound to check that all was well. But when she turned to the screen, expecting to see a heartbeat, there was just an empty embryonic sac. In a cruel biological hoax, the sac minus its embryo - called a blighted ovum - was causing positive signs of pregnancy. There were more disappointments to come. By the time she discontinued IVF two years later, King had produced 50 embryos, but no babies, at a cost of about $50,000.

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Democrats in the Senate, including our own Patty Murray (and presumably Maria Cantwell), have said they will support a “compromise” health care reform bill that, as usual, throws women’s health care under the bus.  Here, via RH Reality Check, is what the Democrats “compromised” away to win a filibuster-proof majority (scare quotes because the bill sells out women’s rights as much as Democratic Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak’s amendment did):

• The new bill allows states to opt out of abortion coverage. Currently, 17 states already prohibit insurance companies from providing abortion coverage: AR, CO, ID, IL, KY, MA, MS, MO, NE, ND, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, VA, and WI.

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New Research Focuses on Unmarried Young Adults' Attitudes and Behavior Regarding Pregnancy, Contraception, and Related Issues

Nearly all unmarried young adults ages 18-29 believe pregnancy is something that should be planned (94% of men and 86% of women) and say that it is important to avoid pregnancy in their lives right now (86% of men and 88% of women), according to new research released by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Even so:

Only about half of sexually active unmarried young adults use contraception regularly -- many say they used it inconsistently (24%) or not at all (19%) over the past three months.

About four in ten (38% of men and 44% of women) agree with the statement: "It doesn't matter whether you use birth control or not; when it is your time to get pregnant it will happen."

Many (29% of women and 42% of men) say it is at least slightly likely they will have unprotected sex in the next three months -- 17% of women and 19% of men describe it as either extremely or quite likely.

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What's the biggest worry women have when they're pregnant?

medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, an obstetrician and gynecologist, said one of those worries is weight gain.

She cited a poll by the March of Dimes Foundation.

What's the appropriate amount of weight gain for pregnant women?

Ashton said it's around 25 pounds for the average woman. And for an overweight woman, weight gain should actually be -- zero pounds.

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 If that little bundle of joy has had such a profound impact on your life that you just can't wait to have another, take a breath. A new study suggests that you might want to wait at least six months before getting pregnant again, and that more than 11 months could be even better.

The study found that when the interval between pregnancies was less than six months, the chances of the baby dying, being born prematurely, having birth defects or having a low birth weight were significantly higher than among those who waited more than 11 months between pregnancies.

"Recommending optimal pregnancy spacing as a health intervention represents an easy, accessible and low-cost means to improve pregnancy outcomes," said the study's lead author, Dr. Sorina Grisaru-Granovsky, director of the maternal-fetal medicine division in the obstetrics and gynecology department at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

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Today "Good Morning America" shared the story of Beth Jones, who struggled with an eating disorder that continued during her three pregnancies. Jones, who is featured on a special program airing tonight on the Discovery Health called "'I'm Pregnant and ... I Have an Eating Disorder," has spent much of her life obsessed with diet and exercise. While Jones gave birth to healthy babies, "GMA" medical contributor Dr. Marie Savard says having an eating disorder during pregnancy can pose serious risks. "Most women with eating disorders have a difficult time getting pregnant, and when they do there are risks," Savard said.

But there is also good news. Savard says many women with eating disorders do actually get better during pregnancy. They often feel they are eating for the good of the baby and that concern outweighs the other issues that lead to the disordered eating. But others get depressed over the changes in their body shape and image, and may actually have more disordered eating. Many fall somewhere in between.