Posts for 'Symptoms' Category

 Singer Celine Dion has revealed her new fragrance is inspired by her pregnancy. The 'Think Twice' singer, who already has a nine-year-old son Rene-Charles and will give birth to twin boys later this year, admitted she bases her fragrances on what is going on in her personal life as it gives her the inspiration she needs. 'Probably because I'm carrying babies and I've been on vacation and I'm breathing great beach air and I'm with my family, it's all about vacation and life,' said Dion, who will release her eighth fragrance Pure Brilliance this month.

Constipation In Pregnancy & Constipation Relief During Pregnancy: Constipation relief during pregnancy is a question many pregnant women ask. Approximately half of all women experience constipation in pregnancy.

Why do women get constipation in pregnancy?

 The pregnancy hormone progesterone has a relaxing effect on the intestines and this slows the movement of the bowel causing pregnancy constipation.

The growing fetus needs as much vitamins, minerals and nutrients as possible. Therefore the increasing hormone levels of a pregnant woman cause food to move slower through the bowels. This results in constipation but also gives the body more time to absorb extra nutrients.

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Decongestants Helpful In Cutting The Risk Of Premature Birth: As per a study done by American researcher, over-the-counter decongestants used to relieve nasal congestion during pregnancy have the potential to cut the risk of preterm birth in expecting mothers.The study leader and epidemiologist at the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), Rohini Hernandez, said in a press release:

“Maybe this can provide some clues as to how to prevent preterm delivery. The more we can learn about what could potentially cause preterm birth would help our understanding in how to stop it." "Medication use is a major concern for pregnant women and generally, when medications are found to have effects on the foetus, they're usually found to have adverse effects. This was surprising in that a potentially beneficial effect was found," added Hernandez.

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U.S. and British researchers have found that women who feel stressed may have a more difficult time to become pregnant. For this study, researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the University of Oxford charted the ovulation cycles of 274 English women, ages 18 to 40, who were trying to conceive.

The results showed that women were less likely to conceive when they showed elevated levels of a stress-related substance called alpha-amylase. Alpha-amylase is secreted into saliva in order to digest starch. The researchers used the substance as an indicator of the body's response to physical or psychological stress because it's also released when the nervous system produces catecholamines, compounds that initiate a type of stress response.

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U.S. and British researchers have found that women who feel stressed may have a more difficult time to become pregnant. For this study, researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the University of Oxford charted the ovulation cycles of 274 English women, ages 18 to 40, who were trying to conceive.

The results showed that women were less likely to conceive when they showed elevated levels of a stress-related substance called alpha-amylase. Alpha-amylase is secreted into saliva in order to digest starch. The researchers used the substance as an indicator of the body's response to physical or psychological stress because it's also released when the nervous system produces catecholamines, compounds that initiate a type of stress response.

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Having a baby can be exciting and fun. But for mothers who delay childbearing and pregnancy until their late thirties and early forties, it can become a cause to worry thanks to one’s ticking biological clock.

A lot of couples nowdays prefer to postpone pregnancy, as a number of women are mostly career minded and hence a lot of moms over 40 are growing even more rapidly than before.

This comes as no surprise that there are lot of women having difficulties in conceiving in their forties. As a matter of fact, many people are still oblivious on how to get pregnant at 42.

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A miscarriage should not deter you from planning your next pregnancy immedietely. In fact, a study has now confirmed that women who conceive within six months of their initial miscarriage have the best chance of a healthy pregnancy with the lowest complication rates.

Researchers from the University of Aberdeen reviewed the data of over 30,000 women, who visited Scottish hospitals between 1981 and 2000, to come to this conclusion. All the participants had a miscarriage in their first pregnancy, and subsequently conceived again.

According to the study, among those who got pregnant within six months of their initial miscarriage, 85% delivered a healthy baby. While, the ones who waited for more than two years to get pregnant again, the rate was 73%.

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Researchers found that the risk of having gestational diabetes during a future pregnancy increases with each previously affected one -- from 41 percent after the first to 57 percent after two pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes typically strikes during late pregnancy and is characterized by high blood sugar that results from the body's impaired use of insulin. While it rarely causes birth defects, complications can arise that threaten the health of both mom and baby.

"Because of the silent nature of gestational diabetes, it is important to identify early those who are at risk and watch them closely during their prenatal care," lead researcher Dr. Darios Getahun of Kaiser Permanente Southern California Medical Group, in Pasadena, told Reuters Health in an email.In an attempt to distinguish factors that put women at risk, Getahun and his colleagues studied the first two pregnancies of about 65,000 women and the first three pregnancies of about 13,000 women who sought care at their health center between 1991 and 2008.

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The traditional advice that expectant mothers should 'eat for two' is dangerous, says a report by a British government health watchdog. The watchdog, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), says it has been forced to speak out against the common advice to prevent an obesity crisis among mothers-to-be.

In a report released Wednesday, NICE suggests that pregnant women should do at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day such as a brisk walk, swimming or cycling, according a Daily Mail report. Almost half of expectant mothers are overweight or obese, putting themselves at much higher risk of fatal health conditions such as blood clots, miscarriages and stillbirths, according to the latest statistics.

They should ensure that they eat breakfast so they aren't tempted by unhealthy snacks later in the day. New mothers should start shedding their baby weight six months after birth, the health watchdog advises. General practitioners should tell obese women to lose weight before they consider starting a family, it says, and girls should be taught at school the risks of being overweight and having children. Under the recommendations, women should not eat more food than normal until the last three months of pregnancy.

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Researchers believe the increased threat may come from the body rejecting donated eggs or underlying health problems that may come to the fore during artificial conception. They want increased vigilance so that the exact nature of the risk can be calculated.  "Women should be counselled and made aware of the risks they are taking and deaths should be properly reported," Professor Didi Braat at Radboud University in the Netherlands told the Sunday Times.

Prof Braat looked at the deaths between 1984 and 2008 in the Netherlands but believes they will apply to any developed country. She found 17 women who died in pregnancy who had had IVF treatment – a death rate of 42.5 for every 100,000 pregnancies. The death rate is 12.1 in every 100,000 for women who conceived naturally. The rising age of mothers may be increasing the number of complications. Last year nearly 27,000 women over 40 gave birth, a rise of 50 per cent in a decade. There are about 13,000 IVF births a year in Britain. The research was published in the journal Human Reproduction.