Private Lives (and the Not So Much)

Once upon a time, women didn’t have to fret a great deal about keeping their pregnancy to themselves, at least not in the first trimester. When social media wasn’t (gasp!) a thing (and unless a woman chose to share her news with others), the general public was kept in the dark until she began to …

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Public VS Private Banking

Besides having to deliver at a specific hospital, with public banking you choose to relinquish ownership of your baby’s cord blood sample for public use. And unless you meet strict qualifications, your baby’s cord blood could be discarded. Though there is no cost for this generous donation, if your baby needed a stem cell transplant, …

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Pregnancy and exercise.

An increasing amount of research is coming to the forefront showing the relationship between exercise and the health of expecting mothers and their baby. The benefits of increasing physical activity before and during pregnancy begin instantly and can play a significant role in your health for the rest of the mother’s life. Shorter labor and …

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VBAC — or not VBAC?

It used to be the norm, that once you  had a Caesarian section, you always had to have one. Not any more. However, opinions differ greatly when it comes to  VBAC  decision. VBAC is now considered a safe option for most women expecting twins, moms who have had two prior c-sections with a transverse incision, and even for …

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Should you bank your baby’s umbilical cord blood?

The promising field of stem cell research is prompting more and more parents to store their newborn’s umbilical cord blood for possible use in treating future disease. Cord blood is rich in blood-forming stem cells and is currently used in transplants for some patients with leukemia, lymphoma, immune deficiencies and inherited metabolic disorders. Most infusions …

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How a woman’s body changes during 9 months of pregnancy.

Spring is a time to celebrate the miracle of life and reflect on not just how mothers have impacted our lives, but how motherhood has impacted them. During the course of nine months of pregnancy, moms-to-be undergo common physical and emotional changes that lead to childbirth, from weight gain to mood swings. However, Healthline.com’s infographic …

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Sleeping for two: Sleep changes during pregnancy

Being pregnant can be a tiring experience for a woman’s body. Both the physical discomforts of pregnancy as well as the emotional stress of this major life change can cause sleep problems and keep a mother-to-be awake at night. Feeling exhausted is a common complaint during the first and third trimesters. But women might be …

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Blood sugar and Pregnancy.

(CNN) – If you are a woman and you and your partner are planning a pregnancy, it’s important to have your blood sugar levels in control before conceiving. When a woman becomes pregnant, a glucose screening test is done. If those results reveal elevated blood glucose levels, a glucose tolerance test can help determine if …

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Obesity in pregnancy puts child at diabetes risk.

Paris (AFP) – Women who are obese while pregnant may put their offspring at risk of childhood diabetes, a condition that requires lifelong insulin therapy, Swedish researchers said Tuesday. A study of more than 1.2 million children born in Sweden between 1992 and 2004 and monitored for several years, found a 33-percent higher risk for …

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