Fruits, Vegetables May Protect Against Upper Respiratory Tract Infection During Pregnancy

July 16, 2009 — Consuming at least 7 servings per day of fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk for upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) during pregnancy, according to the results of a cohort study reported June 25 in the online issue of Public Health Nutrition.

"Pregnant women may require more fruits and vegetables than usual because of the extra demands on the body," senior author Martha M. Werler, MPH, ScD, from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University in Massachusetts, said in a news release.

Werler, along with coauthor Lin Li, from the Department of Epidemiology at Boston University, asked 1034 North American women to report retrospectively on their fruit and vegetable consumption during the 6 months before their pregnancy and episodes of URTI during the first half of pregnancy. Cox proportional hazards models allowed calculation of multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs).

Compared with women in the lowest quartile (median, 1.91 servings per day) of total fruit and vegetable intake, those in the highest quartile (median, 8.54 servings per day) had an adjusted HR of URTI of 0.74 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.53 - 1.05) for the 5-month follow-up and 0.61 (95% CI, 0.39 - 0.97) for the 3-month follow-up. Intake of 6.71 servings per day was associated with a moderate risk reduction for URTI.

For the 3-month, but not the 5-month, follow-up, there was a dose-related decrease in URTI risk based on quartile of fruit and vegetable intake (P for trend = .03 at 3 months). However, there was no apparent association between either fruit or vegetable intake alone and the risk for URTI at 5 months or 3 months.

"Women who consume more fruits and vegetables have a moderate reduction in risk of URTI during pregnancy, and this benefit appears to be derived from both fruits and vegetables instead of either alone," the study authors write.

Limitations of this study include reliance on recall of diet and URTI, possible misclassification of exposure because of the timing of data collection, and possible residual confounding.

"If diets enriched with fruits and vegetables truly have a preventive or protective effect against URTI in pregnant women, the public health implications may be considerable given that URTI as well as treatments for URTI symptoms may affect fetal development," the study authors conclude. "However, the limitations discussed above make it necessary to replicate our findings through studies specially designed to address this question."

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research supported this study. The study authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Public Health Nutr. Published online June 25, 2009.

Caution urged on inducing labor

By TODD ACKERMAN

July 21, 2009, 12:18AM

Doctors are being advised not to induce labor for non-medical reasons prior to 39 weeks into a pregnancy under revised guidelines released today by the nation's association of obstetricians and gynecologists.

The guidelines, the first since 1999, arrive amid concern about the increase in the number of such procedures in the last two decades. The rate of induced labor has increased from 90 per 1,000 births in 1990 to 225 per 1,000 births in 2006.

“It's really become an epidemic,” said Dr. Mildred Ramirez, an author of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines and professor of ob-gyn at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. “The doctor and patient need to weigh the risks and benefits — there will be exceptions — but I hope the consequence of the guidelines is a reduction in the rate.”

But another Houston ob-gyn called the guidelines “pretty lax” and said she doubted they would have a significant effect.

Ramirez characterized the rate as “alarmingly high” in many hospitals and said there are ones in Houston where labor is induced 50 percent of the time.

While induction is relatively safe, it's been associated with increased risk of Caesarean sections. Studies have found it also leads to longer hospital stays and higher costs.

There are many occasions when there are clear-cut medical reasons for inducing, such as when health problems complicate a pregnancy and when pregnancies are more than two weeks past the due date. The health problems include diabetes or high blood pressure in the pregnant woman, premature rupture of membranes that encase the unborn baby and fetal issues such as an irregular heartbeat.

The new guidelines focus mostly on setting forth when and how to induce labor in such situations. Ramirez said there is significant new data since 1999 comparing the different regimens and their side effects.

Guidelines not set in stone

The guidelines are non-binding, but could be interpreted to make a doctor more liable if he or she doesn't follow them and something goes wrong.

Over the past 20 years, the decision to induce has increasingly involved not health concerns but convenience — for the mother, family or doctor. Patients often request induction because they're tired of the pregnancy, want to make sure their doctor is there instead of a different doctor who might have to deliver if labor occurs at night or prefer to time the delivery to most efficiently manage their allotted time off from work.

The guidelines take no position on such so-called “soft” reasons for inducing labor.

But for the first time, they stress that mature fetal lung test results before 39 weeks of gestation by themselves aren't enough to justify inducing. Such results — fetal lungs are mature at 37 weeks 90 percent of the time — sometimes have been used as a criterion to induce early.

They also call for a physician capable of performing a Caesarean to be available if induction doesn't produce a successful vaginal delivery.

The increased rate has led some hospitals around the nation in recent years to implement their own stricter guidelines on elective use of the procedure. But Dr. Damla Dryden, an ob-gyn with the Women's Specialists of Houston at Texas Children's Hospital, said the demand is so great it will take a stronger statement than the new guidelines to get more hospitals on board.

“People keep pushing to induce earlier and earlier,” said Dryden. “The new guidelines stress the issue a little more clearly than previously, but journal articles and studies have pointed out the trend for a while now and doctors still feel a lot of pressure from patients for it.”

Dryden called the trend the same one that's caused Caesarean sections to increase recently, “the idea that some patients want to get the baby out before something goes wrong.”

Ramirez said the authors didn't delve more into the overuse of labor induction because they saw the guidelines' purpose as educating physicians about the current state of knowledge given the procedure's frequency, but acknowledged it's “a valid point” that they could have used the occasion to come out more forcefully against the trend.

Ramirez said the authors didn't delve more into the overuse of labor induction because they saw the guidelines' purpose as educating physicians about the current state of knowledge given the procedure's frequency, but acknowledged it's “a valid point” that they could have used the occasion to come out more forcefully against the trend.

There is no one accepted number for the rate of inductions done for nonmedical reasons, but studies have put it from 15 percent to 55 percent of the total number.

todd.ackerman@chron.com

Cesarean vs, VBAC - a dramatic difference

This is such a touching video and eye opening video. Most people do not realize the force needed to get a baby out during a cesarean section - in the second birth, a vacuum is used as well as manual force. It is 16 minutes long, but worth the time.

Cesarean vs. VBAC: A Dramatic Difference from Alexandra Orchard on Vimeo.

The unspoken risk of csections...

Babies scarred as they're born: With thousands of infants injured each year due to Caesarean births, why are mothers not warned of risks?

By Tanith Carey
Last updated at 3:48 PM on 21st July 2009

Matthew Watson is only two years old, but already he has what his mother Wendy calls 'a war wound' - a 31/2in scar which runs from his eyebrow up to his hairline.

It is the legacy of an accident during his Caesarean birth when a surgeon dropped a surgical instrument on his head.

An isolated case? Far from it - Matthew is one of an estimated 3,000 newborns injured during the procedure every year in the UK, and with the Caesarean rate rising, it is likely the number affected will also increase.

Marked for life: Matthew Watson, pictured just after a Caesarean birth, has a scar across his forehead, which his mother Wendy says is not fading

Even if the injury is just a nick, it exposes the newborn to possible infection; in other cases, the wound is also deep enough to scar the child for life.

Like many mothers-to-be, Wendy Watson had no idea that Caesareans carried this risk. Wendy, 32, from Kent, had an emergency C-section after her labour failed to progress.

'Suddenly, during the operation, the surgeon started shouting and swearing at his colleague from the other side of the surgical screen,' says Wendy. 'The surgeon was saying: "Buck your ideas up. Can't you see the position we are in with this patient?''

'It turned out that his assistant, who had been holding the instrument keeping the incision open, had lost his grip and dropped the tool on Matthew's head as he was being delivered.'

But it wasn't until Wendy was handed her baby an hour later that she discovered what had happened.

'Then the surgeon came to apologise for his colleague - he even had a couple of tears in his eyes as he talked to us,' says Wendy, who is married and works as a government finance officer.

'At the time, I'd had such a difficult labour that we were just relieved to have a healthy baby. I was also taken very ill shortly afterwards, with blood clots on my lungs, so it was never discussed any further.'

Newborns: An estimated 3,000 babies are injured during the Caesarean procedure, including cuts that leave deep scars

But far from fading with age as his parents expected, Matthew's scar has stretched as his skull has grown. Wendy says: 'He's too young to notice it and it's currently covered by hair, but he will probably have it for ever now.'

At least the surgeon apologised. In some cases, parents are simply not told about the injuries.

Sarah Fitch was given a Caesarean after her baby was found to be breach at her 40-week check-up.

'It wasn't until I changed Sophia's nappy for the first time that I noticed the cut on her bottom - about 2cm long, and looking fairly deep.

'It was a shock. She was a brand new baby. She was crying all the time, and all I could think was: "You poor little thing. No wonder you're screaming."

'I was really worried because the cut was on her bottom and it could easily have got infected from her nappy,' says Sarah, 32, a financial advisor from Hornchurch, Essex.

'There was no explanation or apology. I had to phone the hospital a week later because the wound had not closed properly and it didn't heal for ten days.'

Dangers: Mothers have complained that they were not warned of the riskis of having a Caesarean birth

For some children, the damage is even more serious. Tyler Robinson, now five, was awarded £10,000 in damages after she suffered a 5.3in cut into the muscle of her thigh and buttocks.

It's not just the babies who suffer - the experience can also prove traumatic for their mothers. Janet Davies was so horrified by the injury to her second child, Lucius, she suffered post-natal stress.

'As soon as he was lifted out of my tummy, I noticed there were several people huddled over him,' says Janet, 39, a project manager from Trafford, Manchester.

'When they eventually brought him over to me, I was shocked to see he had a plaster across his cheek, almost up to his eye.

'Initially I was told it was just a nick from when the doctors had cut through the final layer to get Lucius out. But a week later the plaster came off and I saw a huge cut. I was heartbroken.

'When I finally got through to one of the senior midwives at the hospital, she told me: "You took the risk by wanting to have a C-section."

'Then she reminded me that I had signed a consent form - as if I had signed away all my rights. The main priority seemed to be to fend off lawsuits.

'In the weeks after, I became very depressed. At first, I was diagnosed with post-natal depression. But when I started having flashbacks and nightmares about the birth, I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress.

'Every time I saw the scar - and it became clear it would never fade - it all came flooding back. For the first year, I hardly ever took pictures of him because I found it so upsetting. In the sunlight it's very clear; it's a real ridge at the top of his cheek.'

The risk of a baby being injured during a Caesarean is about 2 per cent, according to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Although many of these injuries are superficial, experts say deeper cuts can also put babies at risk of superbug infections such as MRSA.

The problem usually occurs during emergency Caesareans, explains Pat O'Brien from the Royal College.

Occupational hazard: More experienced surgeons are better at judging the thickness of the womb lining

This is because when a woman has been in labour for a long time, her womb lining becomes very thin - as little as a few millimetres thick. And if her waters have also broken, there is no cushion to protect the baby when the incision is made.

Surgeons often have difficulty telling the wall of the uterus and the baby's skin apart - and heavy bleeding can make it difficult to see what they are cutting.

Sailesh Kumar, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the country's leading maternity hospital, Queen Charlotte's in London, says cuts to babies are more likely during emergency Caesareans because of the rush to get the baby out.

'Cuts are an occupational hazard,' he says. 'Anyone who has done a lot of C-sections and hasn't seen it happen has been very lucky.'

However, the seniority of the surgeon plays a large part, adds Mr Kumar - more experienced surgeons are better at judging the thickness of the womb lining.

There are also techniques that can be used to reduce the risk, he says. For example, the surgeon can use a finger, rather than a scalpel, to pull apart the final layer of the womb.

Another technique is to gently cut along the womb lining with a pair of scissors - while running a finger under the blade to avoid hurting the baby.

For consultant Pat O'Brien - who performs around 200 Caesareans a year - training is the best way to cut the number of injuries.

'Any cut is one too many. It is important to educate junior doctors so they are cautious during that last incision - and they know to use their fingers rather than a knife. Also, the greater the consultant presence on labour wards, the better.'

Mr O'Brien said the issue of whether mothers should be warned beforehand that babies can be cut was a difficult one.

He said: 'There has to be a balance. Women are warned about many other dangers already. You have to be honest and open, but you don't want to scare women witless.

'But what is absolutely clear is that if a mistake of this sort is made, patients should be told and get an apology.'

• www.babycentre.co.uk

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1201049/With-thousands-infants-injured-year-Caesarean-births-mothers-warned-risks.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0M1xM5tO7

Children 'should sleep with parents until they're five'

This is an older article - but so good.
___________________________________________________________________


May 14, 2006
Sian Griffiths

Margot Sunderland, director of education at the Centre for Child Mental Health in London, says the practice, known as “co-sleeping”, makes children more likely to grow up as calm, healthy adults.

Sunderland, author of 20 books, outlines her advice in The Science of Parenting, to be published later this month.

She is so sure of the findings in the new book, based on 800 scientific studies, that she is calling for health visitors to be issued with fact sheets to educate parents about co-sleeping.

“These studies should be widely disseminated to parents,” said Sunderland. “I am sympathetic to parenting gurus — why should they know the science? Ninety per cent of it is so new they bloody well need to know it now. There is absolutely no study saying it is good to let your child cry.”

She argues that the practice common in Britain of training children to sleep alone from a few weeks old is harmful because any separation from parents increases the flow of stress hormones such as cortisol.

Her findings are based on advances in scientific understanding over the past 20 years of how children’s brains develop, and on studies using scans to analyse how they react in particular circumstances.

For example, a neurological study three years ago showed that a child separated from a parent experienced similar brain activity to one in physical pain.

Sunderland also believes current practice is based on social attitudes that should be abandoned. “There is a taboo in this country about children sleeping with their parents,” she said.

“What I have done in this book is present the science. Studies from around the world show that co-sleeping until the age of five is an investment for the child. They can have separation anxiety up to the age of five and beyond, which can affect them in later life. This is calmed by co-sleeping.”

Symptoms can also be physical. Sunderland quotes one study that found some 70% of women who had not been comforted when they cried as children developed digestive difficulties as adults.

Sunderland’s book puts her at odds with widely read parenting gurus such as Gina Ford, whose advice is followed by thousands.

Ford advocates establishing sleep routines for babies from a very early age in cots “away from the rest of the house” and teaching babies to sleep “without the assistance of adults”.

In her book The Complete Sleep Guide for Contented Babies and Toddlers she writes that parents need time by themselves: “Bed sharing . . . more often than not ends up with parents sleeping in separate rooms” and exhausted mothers, a situation that “puts enormous pressure on the family as a whole”.

Annette Mountford, chief executive of the parenting organisation Family Links, confirmed that the norm for children in Britain was to be encouraged to sleep in cots and beds, often in separate bedrooms, from an early age. “Parents need their space,” she said. “There are definite benefits from encouraging children into their own sleep routine in their own space.”

Sunderland says moving children to their own beds from a few weeks old, even if they cry in the night, has been shown to increase the flow of cortisol.

Studies of children under five have shown that for more than 90%, cortisol rises when they go to nursery. For 75%, it falls whenever they go home.

Professor Jaak Panksepp, a neuroscientist at Washington State University, who has written a foreword to the book, said Sunderland’s arguments were “a coherent story that is consistent with neuroscience. A wise society will take it to heart”.

Sunderland argues that putting children to sleep alone is a peculiarly western phenomenon that may increase the chance of cot death, also known as sudden infant death syndrome (Sids). This may be because the child misses the calming effect on breathing and heart function of lying next to its mother.

“In the UK, 500 children a year die of Sids,” Sunderland writes. “In China, where it [co-sleeping] is taken for granted, Sids is so rare it does not have a name.”

Increase pregnancy chances with a maca root supplement

Struggling with fertility issues? Recent studies indicate a root vegetable in the form of a tablet or powder may increase chances of conception when added to a couple’s diet.

Another natural and organic supplement that makes claims of successfully increasing fertility is called maca (Lepidium meyenii). It comes in the form of a tablet or powder and appears to be receiving high accolades. This root-like vegetable, shaped like a turnip grows at 12,000 feet above sea level. It is grown in the higher altitudes of the Andes.

Native Peruvians have successfully used maca root for hundreds of years in an effort to affect fertility at higher altitudes. This supplement can be used by both the man and woman.

Numerous small studies have been conducted on the use of maca. One study included nine men who received maca tablets between 1500 and 3000 mg/day) for 4 months depending upon their weight and size. Their levels were measured before and after treatment.

After using a maca supplement for four months, their seminal volume increased as did their sperm count per ejaculation. Sperm motility showed positive response as well.

Progesterone levels in women are essential to carry a healthy pregnancy to term. Maca root supplements work for women by attempting to control estrogen levels from becoming too high, thus causing progesterone levels to plummet possibly leading to miscarriage.

Increasing egg health and viability, normalizing hormonal balance, increasing seminal volume, increasing sperm count and motility may be as simple as adding this supplement to one’s diet. The cost for 100 tablets runs approximately $25 and about $20 for the powder.

Author: Cindy Ferda

Why Cindy Crawford Chose Homebirth

Check out this short video on how Cindy Crawford came to the homebirth choice.

Breastfeeding Protects Tiny Intestines

(Ivanhoe Newswire) – An ingredient found in breast milk produced in the first few days after birth helps protect tiny intestines and get them ready for a lifetime of eating and drinking.

British researchers discovered the effect of pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor – or PSTI – by first testing breast milk samples for the ingredient and then assessing its ability to affect intestinal cells in the lab.

While PSTI continued to be found in breast milk throughout breastfeeding, it was seven times more concentrated in the early milk, known as colostrum. When intestinal cells were damaged in the lab, PSTI helped to form a protective layer over the damaged area and, what’s more, prevented further damage from occurring.

PSTI has been known for its role in the pancreas for years, where it helps protect the organ from digestive enzymes.

“This study is important because it shows that a component of breast milk protects and repairs the babies’ delicate intestines in readiness for the onslaught of all the food and drink that are to come,” study author Ray Playford, from the University of London, was quoted as saying. “It reinforces the benefits of breastfeeding, especially in the first few days after birth.”

SOURCE: American Journal of Physiology. Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, published online June 29, 2009

Why the Chickenpox Vaccine is Nuts

Another great article on a common vaccine that many of us give our babies without thinking twice.

Like I have said before - I am in no ways anti-vaccine. I am pro-know what you are injecting in your child, what the potential side effects are, and what is the success rate of that particular vaccine.

An Alternative View of Whooping Cough

Check out this great article on whooping cough and the vaccine used against it.

Our family dealt with whooping cough in the fall of '03. My fully vaccinated daughter came down with it and then passed it on to her siblings, the youngest of which was just under 4 mos old and 10 lbs. The baby spent one week in the PICU (she was never left alone) at my request for monitoring, but recovered completely.