Your weight during Pregnancy
June 22, 2008
Many women spend much of their adult lives struggling to lose weight or avoiding extra pounds. No, wonder that it is sometimes hard for women to allow themselves to gain appropriately for a pregnancy. Most mothers-to-be have concerns about their weight gain, ranging from “Am I gaining too much weight?” to “Am I gaining enough?” Current recommendations are that you should gain somewhere between 10-12kg during your pregnancy if you are an average-size person. If a woman already is overweight when she becomes pregnant, most practitioners suggest that she gain between 8-10kg. Your doctor can help determine the appropriate weight gain in your particular case.
Do not use pregnancy as an excuse to eat, and, conversely, do not go crazy worrying that you are racking up the pounds. The main objective is to consume a healthy, well-balanced diet based on a variety of foods. A woman who is not pregnant needs between 1,800 and 2,200 calories per day. When you are pregnant, you need to increase your calories by about 300 per day. You will probably gain the right amount of weight if you generally eat healthy foods, and let your own appetite be your guide.
An ideal pregnancy weight gain starts with the addition of 3-4kg in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. Subsequently, during the second half of the pregnancy, you would gain around a half kg each week.
The amount of weight you gain is important. Excessive weight gain during pregnancy may signify that there is some problem. The important factors that should be ruled out includes
Pregnancy induced hypertension: Excessive and rapid weight gain can be an early sign for PIH. Rapid weight gain, more than four pounds in a week, can be a sign of severe fluid retention from pre-eclampsia. Therefore it is important to monitor BP regularly at least once a week and you should visit your gynaecologist regularly.
Anemia: Along with excessive weight gain there may be symptoms like fatigue, tiredness, breathlessness. It is important to take iron regularly and check Hb at least once in month. (In both the above situations fluid retention in body causes weight gain).
Diabetes in pregnancy: Pregnancy is a “diabetogenic state”. This means that pregnant females are at risk of developing impaired blood sugar. Blood sugar level should be regularly checked in pregnancy and special tests like Glucose screening test and Glucose tolerance tests are being done to diagnose it early in pregnancy.
Hypothyroidism in Pregnancy: It can also cause excessive weight gain, more importantly it can lead to congenital anomalies and mental retardation in the baby. Ideally levels should be checked before conception and treatment should be started immediately if hypothyroidism is detected. Similarly levels of thyroid hormone should be monitored regularly in pregnancy. It has been seen that excessive weight gain may be an indicator for some heart or kidney ailment. It is very important, thus a patient visits gynaecologist regularly so that if any problem is there, can be diagnosed early and treated.
Special circumstances: If you are carrying a multiple gestation, of course you should gain more weight. Your physician will discuss your ideal weight gain with you. Typically, for twins, the weight gain should be 14-18 kg, and for triplets or higher gestations, even more. Gaining too much weight can be a problem. It can make pregnancy an unpleasant experience, causing backache, leg pain, varicose veins, and fatigue. It may lead to hypertension and diabetes. Excess weight may also be difficult to lose after delivery. Excessive weight gain may also cause problems for the baby. Technically, an overweight baby is one who weighs more than 4500 gm. Large babies do make vaginal deliveries difficult, increasing the risk for caesarean section. Overweight babies may have an increased risk for health problems later in life (eg, obesity, adult rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes). Women who are gaining too much weight during pregnancy should follow the guidelines for healthy eating; avoid foods that do not have nutritional value; and consult a doctor, and dietitian.
Bad Obstetric History
December 3, 2007
Any woman who has gone through a miscarriage knows how traumatic the experience is. The hope and excitement of having a baby is suddenly and unexpectedly dashed.
A woman who has had three or more miscarriages is said to have a ‘Bad Obstetric History’ or BOH and must be thoroughly investigated to find the cause and seek a solution to the problem. One of the commonest causes of an early pregnancy loss is a genetic problem with the baby. During development there can be a chromosomal problem and this prevents the pregnancy from growing normally. On sonography this may be diagnosed as a blighted ovum (just a pregnancy sac but no foetus inside) or a missed abortion, where the baby grows for a few weeks but then the heart beat stops. Missed abortion may present with minimal abortion, or it may have no symptoms and may be diagnosed only on sonography. In these cases, the foetus can be sent for genetic testing and also the parents should have genetic studies (karyotyping) done.
Another common cause for repeated miscarriages is an abnormality of the womb (uterus), there may be less space inside the womb due to birth defects such as a septum (a curtain dividing the womb) or two uteri instead of one or there may be fibroids present in the womb. Many of these problems can be treated by laparoscopic or hysteroscopic surgery and the patient may subsequently be able to have a normal pregnancy.
Causes and Cure of depression during pregnancy
November 30, 2007
The birth of a baby can trigger a range of powerful emotions — excitement, joy, even fears. But it can also result in something you might not expect — depression. Pop star Britney Spears was being treated for from post-partum depression at the luxury Malibu rehab centre. Brooke Shields too, in the past, spoke candidly about her experience with postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, and provided millions of women with an inspiring example of recovery. And that’s not all. Former Friends star Courteney Cox has spoken about her battle with postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter.Symptoms of Postpartum Depression (PPD):
The following symptoms may be more diagnostic during the postpartum period. New mothers should seek help if they experience any of the following signs.
Physician councelling in Pregnancy Loss
October 4, 2007
Early pregnancy loss is the most common complication of human pregnancy, occurring in as high as 75 per cent of women who are trying to conceive. Most of these losses are unrecognised and occur before or during the next expected menses.The remaining 15 to 20 per cent are spontaneous abortions or ectopic pregnancies diagnosed after clinical recognition of pregnancy In a patient with a history of two miscarriages, the subsequent risk of pregnancy loss rises to about 25 per cent whereas three abortions raises the risk of a fourth miscarriage to 33 per cent. There are many reasons as to why such miscarriages occur. Here are a few:
Etiology
Determining the cause of recurrent miscarriages can be extremely problematic. Losses during the first trimester are often (but not always) due to fetal genetic defects. However, even in women with midterm losses from nongenetic causes, consecutive miscarriages in the same patient are not always due to the same etiology. The causes of recurrent miscarriage can include implantation factors, genetic factors, autoimmune factors, endocrine factors, infection, alloimmune factors, and anatomic uterine defects.
Apples help the mother and child during pregnancy
September 17, 2007
Eating an apple a day during pregnancy will not only kept the doctor away for expecting mums, but it can also help lower the risk of their kids developing asthma and wheezing. The finding is based on a study published in the September issue of the journal Thorax in which researchers found that when women ate apples during pregnancy, their offspring tended to have a significantly lower risk of asthma and wheezing when they reached the age of five.
As a part of their study, the researchers followed 1253 motherchild pairs and studied their dietary intake. The study also backs up the findings of an earlier study published in the European Respiratory Journal in June this year that found a link between apple juice consumption and a reduction in wheezing among children. Read more
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