Pregnancy, Parenting & Baby Care

When Pregnancy Goes Wrong

Unfortunately, not all pregnancies end well. For a few, pregnancy ends with a miscarriage or with the death of the baby. This chapter describes some of the things that can go wrong. If your pregnancy ends in this way, then you will need both information and support. Talk to the people close to you about how you feel and to your doctor, midwife or health visitor about what has happened and why. Sometimes it is easier to talk to someone outside your immediate circle Ectopic Pregnancy

Your Health in Pregnancy

What should you eat? A healthy diet is an important part of a healthy lifestyle at any time, but particularly if you are pregnant or are planning a pregnancy. Eating healthily during pregnancy will help your baby develop and grow and will help keep you fit and well. You don't need to go on a special diet, but make sure that you eat a variety of different foods every day in order to get the right balance of nutrients that you and your baby need. You should also avoid certain foods to be on the safe side.

The Early Weeks - Your Baby

Crying All babies cry. It's their way of saying that something isn't right. Sometimes you'll be able to find the reason for your baby's distress and deal with it. At other times all you can do is try to comfort or distract your baby. If it's not obvious why your baby is crying, think of possible reasons. Could it be: hunger? wet or dirty nappy? wind? colic? feeling hot, cold or uncomfortable? feeling tired and unable to sleep? feeling lonely and wanting company? feeling bored and wanting to play?

Pregnency Health Care Postpartum Depression

Postpartum depression is a form of depression a mother experiences after the birth of her child. It is a complex mixture of physical, emotional, and behavioral changes and can be divided into three categories: postpartum blues, postpartum depression, and postpartum psychosis. What Is It?

Complications During Labour

Should I be worried about complications during labour? Not so many years ago, having a baby was a bit of a lottery - there was a frighteningly high chance that either mother or baby would be injured or even killed in the process. Of course, these days things are very different. Pain relief in labour can be controlled or understood, making the whole process far less scary. Maternal and baby death and complication rates have plummeted. The average woman expects to be in control of her labour, or at the very least, to emerge unscathed to enjoy her healthy baby.

A Comparative Study on the Outcome of Pregnancy in Adolescent and Adult Women

Background and purpose: This research was designed to determine the correlation between the maternal age and the outcome of pregnancy in patients admitted to Imam khomeini hospital in Sari during the year 1997. Materials and methods: The study was a case control research, done on 60 females of 18 years of age (Experimental group) and 91 females of 21-25 years of age (control group). The criterias such as medical history, occupation, socioeconomical status and quality of prenatal care were the same for both the groups.

Questions and Answers: Complicated Labour

1. How can labour be complicated? Labour can be complicated in two ways: - A normal labour which develops complications at any stage. - A labour which is complicated from the beginning due to an abnormality in the position of the baby or due to any maternal complication. 2. What are the complications of labour in 1st, 2nd and 3rd stage. Complications in the first stage of normal labour (Foetal Distress, Prolonged Labour) Complications of second stage of normal labour

Safe Motherhood

Some 1,400 women die every day from problems related to pregnancy and childbirth. Tens of thousands more experience complications during pregnancy, many of which are life-threatening for the women and their children - or leave them with severe disabilities.

Prenatal Complication and Induced Deliveries

Premature labour : If premature labour is inevitable, then a caesarean section may be performed. This is because the soft head of the baby has to be protected from the trauma of delivery and the risk of brain damage. Cord prolapse : If the umbilical cord descends before the baby when the membranes rupture, the risk to the baby is considerable because the pressure of the head can pinch the cord against the pelvis and cut off the blood supply to the baby. It is a clear indication for a section.

First Trimester Screening for Down Syndrome

Dr Kenneth Kwek, Head and Senior Consultant of Peripartum Unit, shares with Special Delivery a technique that can better assess the risk of Down Syndrome in pregnant women. Whilst the vast majority of babies are normal, all women, whatever their age, have a very small risk of delivering a baby with Down Syndrome. Locally, this occurs in 1 out of every 700 pregnancies (i.e. 1 in 700 risk). The risk is not uniform throughout the population and can be individualised in any specific woman using several factors.

Menopause and HRT Controversy

Most women alive to day in the developed countries will spend more than a third of their lives in their post menopausal years. In case of developing countries the period will be sorter, may be 10 to 15 years. Menopause is often associated with incomfertable symptoms like hot flashes, vaginal dryness and mood swings ...... and possibly a heightened risk of heart disease and osteoporosis. However, the good news is that there are now many ways to minimize the ill effects of menopause. Changes in Life Style :

Nutrition for the Pregnant Woman

At no other time in a woman's life is good nutrition more essential than during pregnancy. While the need for calories increases only about 15 per cent, the requirements for some nutrients more than doubles, and a woman needs 10 plan her diet carefully to meet these requirements. She should work with her doctor or other health professionals providing prenatal care to design an eating programme that supplies optimal nutrition for her and her baby. As a matter of fact any woman planning a pregnancy should also evaluate her eating habits.

Asthma in Pregnancy

The natural history of asthma in pregnancy is extremely variable. Pregnancy can affect the course of asthma & asthma can affect pregnancy outcomes. Severe asthma is more likely to worse during pregnancy than mild asthma, but some patients with very severe asthma may experience improvement, whilst symptoms may deteriorate in some patients with mild asthma.

Timing Births

Why it is Important to Share and Act on information about Timing Births Too many births, births too close together, and births to adolescent girls or women over the age of 35 endanger women's lives and account for approximately one third of all infant deaths. Family planning is one of the most powerful ways of improving the health of women and children. Over 100 million w/omen in developing countries who are married or living with men report that their needs for contraception remain unmet.

All You Need to Know About ART

"Then one day, the stork came flying by and dropped off a baby at our doorstep...." For some couples, the wish of having a baby is not easily fulfilled. In fact, as much as 15% of the world's population endure the difficulties of trying to make a baby. The magic formula is not as simple as man-meets-woman. However, help is at hand with the advancement of modern science and technology. Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)

Infertility

For many couples, infertility is a crisis, often accompanied by feelings of guilt or inadequacy. But a diagnosis of infertility is not a verdict of sterility. While about 15 percent of all couples are infertile (that is, they are Unable, to conceive after a year of trying), only 1 or 2 per-cent are sterile (meaning that conception is physically ruled out). Of couples who seek help, about half can eventually bear a child, either on their own or with medical assistance.

Health Related Q&A: Sterility

Q.What is Sterilization of a Person? What are The Procedures For Sterilization? A.To render him or her unable to produce a child. Procedures for sterilization in men called VASECTOMY and in WOMEN called LIGATION OF FALLOPIAN TUBE Q.What is Primary STERILITY? A.The question should be:What is Primary Infertility? This means the Man or women has never had a child with the current or previous earlier partners Q.Is The Difference Between Sterility & Fertility?

Imperforate

A term applied to an organ lacking a normal opening. For example, a baby may be born with an imperforate anus with no outer opening, or the oesophagus may be closed so that it is not connected with the stomach. Such defects can usually be corrected by surgery.

Understanding the Change

In a phenomenon some sociologists have dubbed "youth creep," the meaning of middle age in America today is different than what it was just a generation ago. Doctors now consider 55, rather than 40, as the turning point into middle age. Women reaching their 40s and 50s today can look forward to a vigorous, active, and healthy middle and old age-particularly if they take responsibility for the preventive health care that can help keep them in good physical and mental condition. Changes at Midlife

Your Doctor Menopause

Q.1. What is Menopause? Menopause is the permanent end of cyclic functioning of the ovaries and thus of menstrual periods. Q.2. Usually at What Age Menopause Occur In The Life Of Women? Menopause usually occur around 50 years in the developed countries. In Bangladesh it appears around the age 45. However menopause may normally occur in women as young as 40. Q.3. Why and How Menopause Occur?