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38 Results for search "Pregnancy: Risks".

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You're likely to hear it more than once during your pregnancy: "Go ahead, have a drink -- one little glass of wine won't hurt the baby." Older friends and relatives will insist that in their day, casual drinking was common during pregnancy. "And look at us," they'll add cheerfully. "We all turned out just fine." Are these well-meaning friends right? The answer is a resounding no. It may help you t...

Every mom-to-be hopes to give birth to a healthy baby. However, some women, due to age or genetic makeup, are at greater risk of having a baby with a birth defect. Amniocentesis -- or amnio for short -- is a prenatal diagnostic test that uses a sample of the amniotic fluid that surrounds your baby in the womb to test for specific abnormalities. Amnio can help rule out many potential problems, incl...

It takes strong building materials to make a healthy baby, and few things are stronger than iron. Iron forms the core of red blood cells, the vehicles that carry oxygen to every part of your body, including to your growing baby. If you don't have enough iron -- a common problem in pregnancy -- these vehicles will start to break down, leaving you and your baby deprived of oxygen. This condition, c...

Bed rest. On the face of it, it sounds so relaxing, almost like a vacation. Lie in bed or on the couch ... read or watch television ... take a little break from "real" life. But these are two words that no pregnant woman wants to hear -- whether the doctor's order comes at 16, 26, or 36 weeks of pregnancy. The need for bed rest is surprisingly common during pregnancy. Roughly one in five women spe...

Most women go through a battery of prenatal tests during the course of their pregnancy. But if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, or too much or too little of the fluid that bathes the fetus and serves as a shock absorber (known as amniotic fluid), extra monitoring is called for. If you have preeclampsia, a potentially serious condition marked by high blood pressure and excess protein in your...

Light bleeding or "spotting" during pregnancy happens more often than you might think, with up to 25 percent of all pregnant women experiencing it. Spotting -- bleeding that isn't continuous and isn't enough to fill a tampon or pad -- is especially common in the first three months. In many cases there's no cause for alarm, but you should call your doctor whenever you have bleeding during pregnancy...

Now that you're pregnant, you've probably noticed that health professionals have taken a sudden, intense interest in your blood pressure. You can hardly drive past the clinic without somebody flagging you down for a quick checkup. You might get tired of having that cuff wrapped around your arm, but all of those blood pressure measurements are completely necessary. Your blood pressure is one of the...

As the tiny individual inside you grows, your body's organs are going to find the neighborhood increasingly more crowded. Your lungs and diaphragm will need to make room for this new resident, and as a result, you may feel a little out of breath -- usually starting in your second trimester. This breathless feeling will increase until your baby drops lower into your pelvis a few weeks before birth....

Babies have two basic options at birth: They can come out the hard way, or the really, really hard way. Ninety-seven percent of babies enter the birth canal headfirst, the safest approach for both mother and baby. The other 3 percent enter feet-first, bottom-first, or a combination of both. This is called a breech presentation. There are three different types of breech presentations. Some breech b...

What is a contraction stress test? In this procedure, your baby's heart rate is measured in response to the uterus when it contracts. These contractions are mild and induced. Every contraction you have squeezes the baby and gives the doctors a chance to see how he or she will stand up to the physical challenges involved in labor. As stressful as that may sound, for most babies the test presents no...

I've been feeling cramps in my abdomen. Is this normal? Pregnancy puts a major strain on your body, and nowhere is this more evident than in your expanding belly. As your baby grows, the added pressure on muscles, joints, ligaments, and surrounding organs can lead to cramping and discomfort. Knowing when and why cramps are likely to occur can help you recognize which ones are a normal part of preg...

In order to determine whether you've developed gestational diabetes during pregnancy, doctors may test your blood sugar level. The most common procedure is a glucose screening. Most women are tested between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy, the time when the body is likely to begin having greater difficulty processing glucose. If you are at high risk, your doctor will likely test you much ear...

Why should I have a blood test for hepatitis B? Like other forms of hepatitis, hepatitis B is a virus that can cause severe liver damage. Unfortunately, a third of the people who have hepatitis B fail to show any symptoms of the disease. (Doctors would say they are "asymptomatic.") In fact, they may not even know they have it. The danger during pregnancy is that the virus can be easily transmitte...

Scary stories about cats and babies abound, most nothing more than superstition. But there are real diseases associated with changing the kitty litter while you're pregnant. Fortunately, with a few precautions, you can minimize the risks and still enjoy your favorite feline. Why is kitty litter a potential danger during pregnancy? Cats can become transmitters of toxoplasmosis, a disease they can ...

Why am I nauseous? Do I have morning sickness? Morning sickness is one of the notable misnomers in medicine -- nausea during pregnancy can occur at any time of day. Although many women are queasiest when they wake up, others find that they suffer a daily bout of nausea in the late afternoon or just after dinner. As many women have found out, you can definitely experience morning sickness on an emp...

Bundles of joy just keep getting bigger. The March of Dimes reports that in the United States alone, twin births jumped 70 percent between 1980 and 2004. The rate of "higher order multiples" -- doctorspeak for triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, and so on -- quadrupled between 1980 and 1998. Talk about a baby boom! The rate of multiple births appears to be leveling off in recent years, but still, ...

What is a nonstress test? A nonstress test is a simple, noninvasive procedure that involves monitoring your baby's heartbeat to make sure your baby is getting the oxygen he needs through the placenta. This test helps your doctor determine if your baby is distressed and make plans for delivery if he is. When is a nonstress test performed? The test is usually recommended in the third trimester i...

What is placenta previa? When the placenta, which conducts blood from the mother's body to the developing fetus, is located so low in the uterus that it lies across the cervix (the opening of the womb), the condition is called placenta previa. The placenta may cover part or all of the cervix, blocking the baby from coming out. In about one out of 200 births, placenta previa persists until birth. ...

Should I be worried about eating fish while I'm pregnant? Since fish is low in saturated fat and high in heart-friendly omega-3 fatty acids, eating it during pregnancy is very important. But seafood is the only significant source of mercury in our food, and some fish have levels of mercury so high that it may be harmful to a developing baby. No more than two helpings a week of low-mercury fish ar...

Air travel is an integral part of modern life. Whether for business, pleasure, or simple convenience, more than 2 million people fly through U.S. air space every day. If you're pregnant, however, there are a few things to consider before you step onto that plane. Knowing when it's okay to fly and how to avoid potential health risks can help you have a safe, enjoyable flight. To fly or not to fly?...

Every year in America, more than 500,000 babies are born too early. They enter the world weeks or even months ahead of schedule, and they're more likely to suffer illness and disability. Premature babies are usually underweight -- some weigh three pounds or less -- and underdeveloped. Their lungs may not be developed enough to work on their own, and their immune systems may not be ready to fend o...

No matter how careful, healthy, or lucky a newly pregnant woman may be, there's no guarantee that she will actually have a baby. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, up to half of all pregnancies fail, usually before a woman realizes shes pregnant. In many ways, women who never know about the lost pregnancy are the lucky ones. After a woman gets a positive result on a pregnancy tes...

When you're pregnant, you could easily spend nine months worrying about everything that can go wrong. But there's another option: Instead of simply worrying, you can take these five crucial steps to protect your pregnancy. By following these steps, you can dramatically reduce the risk of miscarriage, premature delivery, birth defects, and other complications. As a bonus, you'll be giving yourself ...

My doctor wants me to have a procedure called percutaneous umbilical blood sampling. What is it? Percutaneous umbilical blood sampling (PUBS) is a diagnostic procedure that examines the blood of the fetus for abnormalities. The test also goes by the names cordocentesis, fetal blood sampling, umbilical vein sampling, and percutaneous umbilical vein sampling (PUVS). Doctors must be specially trained...

Your body goes through many changes while you're pregnant, some of them less welcome than others. For unknown reasons, a woman's blood pressure can climb during the second half of her pregnancy. If your systolic pressure (the upper number) is at or gets higher than 140 or your diastolic pressure (the lower number) is at or gets higher than 90, you have high blood pressure. If so, you may develop...

What is Rh factor? If you've ever had your blood type tested, you know whether you're A, B, O, or AB. You also probably know whether you're Rh positive or negative. The difference between B positive and B negative is a single protein called Rhesus (Rh) factor. If you have the protein sitting on the surface of your red blood cells, you're positive. If you don't, you're negative. What is Rh incomp...

If you saw Erinn and Rowan Cuddy a year after they were born, you would never guess they had had a rough start in life. The twins, who live in Redwood City, California, were hardy, healthy, and rambunctious. They were starting to talk, and they obviously had big plans for the future. When they were born, things didn't seem nearly as secure: Erinn and Rowan were born at just 33 weeks gestation (abo...

Now that you're pregnant, a healthy diet is doubly important. Whether you're sitting down for a meal or grabbing a snack from a vending machine, you have to think about how your choices will affect your baby. If you develop gestational diabetes, you'll have still more choices to make. Your doctor may advise you, for example, to use an artificial sweetener that won't increase the sugar levels in y...

Looking at most newborn twins squirm contentedly in their cribs, you'd never guess that some were recently in peril. That's because carrying multiples raises the risks that a woman can suffer complications before she actually delivers. Many twins are miscarried early in the pregnancy, often before a woman even knows she's pregnant. As reported in the International Journal of Fertility, only about ...

Now that you're pregnant, naturally you're paying closer attention to your body and taking better care of yourself. You're probably also marveling at your body's transformation. It's also wise to be aware of any signs of trouble. When the unexpected occurs, you may need prompt treatment to protect your baby. What are the warning signs? Here's a look at some potential warnings signs during pregna...

These days, more mothers-to-be are working right up until a few days, or even a few hours, before they go into labor. The fact that fewer than 40 percent of working women in the United States get paid pregnancy leave may have something to do with this trend. That's the bad news. The good news is that most women, depending on a few key factors, can actually work through their pregnancies without je...

Cesarean surgeries have saved the lives of many babies and their mothers, usually as a last resort in difficult birthing situations. In recent years, the number of children delivered by c-section has risen dramatically -- in 2005, about one in three children were delivered through c-section, the highest rate in the United States ever -- and the reasons for this increase remain controversial. A c-...

What is chorionic villus sampling? Chorionic villus sampling, more commonly called CVS, is a prenatal test used to identify birth defects and disorders. CVS is usually performed 10 to 12 weeks after your last menstrual period. Chorionic villi are microscopic, finger-like wisps of placental tissue formed from your fertilized egg. Because villi cells normally have the same genetic material as your...

What is preeclampsia? If you're ever tempted to skip one of your prenatal checkups, consider this: Checkups are often the only way to detect serious complications of pregnancy, such as preeclampsia, that show few outward symptoms. Preeclampsia is a toxic condition marked by increasing protein in the urine and hypertension (high blood pressure) which makes blood vessels tighten or constrict. The c...

Terry Sauer, RN, has spent her career surrounded by premature infants. As the manager of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Deaconess Billings Clinic in Billings, Montana, she cares for several babies at a time, each facing an uncertain future. Lifesaving technology has improved dramatically in the 25 years since Sauer first stepped into a NICU, but one thing has remained constant: Today's...

Premature babies often start life behind the curve. They are generally smaller than full-term babies, and their bodies may be less developed. From the very beginning, their parents watch them anxiously for signs of progress. They want their babies to grow larger and stronger, and the little ones usually oblige. According to a report from the American Academy of Family Physicians, most premature ba...

The first time Darcy Orr saw her newborn twins, they were sleeping in separate plastic incubators filled with monitors and wires. Born 10 weeks too early, Cassie and Caden each weighed less than three pounds and were unable to breathe on their own. Like other newborns in distress, the babies went straight from the delivery room to the neonatal intensive care unit or NICU (pronounced NICK-yoo). Or...

What is a multiple marker test? Your pregnancy produces certain substances -- or markers -- in your blood that contain information about your baby. A multiple marker test (also called a triple screen, quad screen, or maternal serum screening), is a blood test that measures three or four of these substances to find out whether your baby may be at risk for certain birth defects. The markers measur...