Archives for August 2009

So much changes when a woman gets pregnant so skin care needs be adjusted. To get skin care tips for pregnant women, I checked in with Annette Rubin, a mother and founder of Belli, a skin care company that focuses on the needs of pregnant women, new moms, and babies.

Rubin says, “Due to rapid changes in hormones, throughout pregnancy, a woman’s skin is extremely vulnerable and sensitive to all external elements.” There are also concerns about what women safely can put on their skin, because some ingredients are absorbed into the bloodstream, where they can transfer to the baby.
Recommendations Rubin offers these skin care recommendations.

Read the complete story

As our business has grown, we have had the opportunity to work with women through many different stages of their lives. One of the most exciting times is when they are having, or have had, a baby! We help women hide the first ten pounds and the last ten pounds. We work with our clients, soon after the birth, to ensure their wardrobe is breast-feeding friendly and also chic.

Now it's my turn! I am now 17 weeks pregnant and finally feeling like a person (as oppose to a sea-sick zombie). I spent my first 11 weeks wondering if I was ever going to want to move my body or eat a meal ever again. Healthier days have arrived and I can now think about the important things, like my look for fall. My focus now is not the high Rick Owens killer wedge boots or leather leggings but rather, how am I going to get dressed as my body continues to change every day? How am I going to still look and feel great, and not spend a fortune? How can I steer away from the terrible jersey dresses or super hippy maternity clothes? I am not Nicole Richie and I do not want to be! As much as I use and love my yoga clothes, I wear these clothes for yoga only! I can't forget, its part of my job (literally!) to look chic and professional every day.

The first trimester can be a challenge when getting dressed in the morning. You do not look pregnant. You may not have even gained a pound, yet every inch of you is working to cook that little baby inside of you and you FEEL pregnant! For the early days, when you are feeling nauseous, bloated and have a whole new chest size, I found wearing simple loose fitting dresses to be best. Loose fitting is important but not so loose that you look like you are trying to cover up every inch of you. Stay away from bell or baby doll shapes. I myself have always worn quite avant-garde shapes, high necklines and baggy loose fitting sheath dresses. (Clothes my smaller friends refer to as tall people clothes). As soon as your chest grows these shapes (or lack of shape) no longer work. With a bigger chest it is important to show off your neckline, collarbones, and shoulders. Also show off your legs, your arms and the parts of you, you have some control over, at least for the time being.

Read the complete story

Glucose intolerance during pregnancy may put women at greater risk for heart disease. According to Baiju Shah, MD, PhD, FRCP, of the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, co-author of a recent study on women with gestational diabetes, even mild glucose intolerance below the threshold for gestational diabetes increases the chances of later cardiovascular disease. 

Gestational diabetes had been connected to cardiovascular disease prior to this study, but little was known of the links between minor glucose intolerance and heart disease. Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease share several characteristics including obesity, insulin resistance and cholesterol problems. Oftentimes, individuals with one condition will develop the other. Women with gestational diabetes may experience similar metabolic complications as soon as 3 months after giving birth.

Read the complete story

Eating too much or too little during pregnancy has been linked in an Auckland University paper to the early onset of puberty.

Studies at the university's Liggins Institute have shown a mother's diet before conception and during pregnancy and lactation affects her offspring's growth, age of puberty and later reproductive capacity in subtly differing ways.

The studies were done in rats, but one of the researchers, Dr Deborah Sloboda, said there were striking parallels with some human studies and observations.

Read the complete story

Researchers say abnormal test results from a glucose challenge test given to pregnant women, including those without gestational diabetes, is a clear signal of increased riks of heart disease in the future.
With heart disease the number-one killer of women in the United States and Canada, these findings are important, as doctors can use current screening procedures for gestational diabetes to identify women at risk of developing heart disease later on in life.

According to study authors, gestational diabetes, which is a condition leading to temporarily high blood sugars during pregnancy, put pregnant women at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, no one knew mild glucose intolerance during pregnancy was associated with heart disease.

Read the complete story

Pregnant women with even mildly abnormal blood sugar test results may have an increased risk of heart disease later in life, a Canadian study suggests.

It's known that women with gestational diabetes temporarily high blood sugar levels during pregnancy have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease than the general population.

The study in Monday's issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows the risk extends to women with mild glucose intolerance in pregnancy. It means doctors might be able to use current screening tests for gestational diabetes to identify women who are at risk for heart disease the leading cause of death in Canadian women.

Read the complete story

Pregnancy brings on different cravings for different people. Some people crave pickles, I apparently crave buying a new house and moving. While pregnant with my first son, I sold my house, packed it up, and moved to a new one all on my own. I was 7 months pregnant, single, and wanted a fresh start for me and my child. I had planned on living there for many years, so I didn't care that I was buying at the peak of the market.

Little did I know that 18 months later I would be married and pregnant again. This time, I needed a bigger space because I was going to have two boys who would need a large yard to run and play. I was tired of lugging everything up 3 flights of stairs and I wanted a fresh start for my new family. My husband was a good sport and agreed to the big house with the big fat mortgage. The market was falling, but not yet at the bottom. It didn't matter though because we were buying with room to grow. This was going to be THE house we would grow old in.Now, pregnant with boy #3, I am starting to feel the 7 month itch again. I am looking at all the 'For Sale' signs popping up around me and starting to feel yard envy. I want to live on a secluded pipe stem where people are not peering in my house all day long. I want to be able to sit in my porch swing on my driveway without having to drag it into the garage every night. I want people to stop commenting on the fact that crab grass has taken over our lawn. I've got bigger issues than weed control at this point. I have two little boys under 3 years old with another on the way. I am uncomfortable, hot, and irrational. and I want to move again!

Read the complete story

Women who are taking antidepressants are faced with a very difficult choice when they become pregnant, and for many of them the risks vs. benefits of continuing the treatment are not very clear, according to the findings in the joint report from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and American Psychiatric Association.

This report confirms that there are far more questions than there are answers about the danger antidepressants pose to infants that are born to women who take them. The report also presents guidelines to help patients and physicians identify who should and should not consider stopping the medication treatment. The report concluded that women who are pregnant that have bipolar disorder, experience psychotic episodes, or are suicidal or have a history of attempts to commit suicide should not be taken off antidepressants.

Read the complete story

Almost one in every four pregnant women, experience symptoms of depression, and physicians have always been very skeptical as to whether these women should take anti-depressants or not.

It has been found that around 13 percent of pregnant women in the U.S. consume antidepressants during their pregnancy without being even aware of the dangerous side-effects that the drugs can have on their baby.

Keeping this in mind, the American Psychiatric Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have issued directives for coping up with depression during pregnancy. Guidelines will create awareness.

The latest directives have been compiled in a document form and say that routine “talk therapy” can be an excellent alternative for pregnant women affected by depression.

Read the complete story

For the nearly 1 in 4 women who experience symptoms of depression during pregnancy, physicians on the front lines have long had little more than a prescription for antidepressants and a massive dose of uncertainty to offer.

The result: At last count, roughly 13 percent of pregnant U.S.
women took antidepressant medications at some point in their pregnancy often with little to guide them in weighing the risks the drugs may pose to their baby against the misery and dangers of untreated depression.  In a bid to resolve that conundrum, two of the nation’s leading physicians’ groups on Friday issued the first guidelines for the treatment of depression in pregnancy.

Read the complete story