Babies’ guts were once thought to be sterile at birth, with no beneficial bacteria present. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, human breastmilk has over 700 beneficial microbes that aid in a baby’s immune support and brain development. The study suggests that the hormones present during labor may have an impact on […]
Health
Pre-eclampsia risk reduced with low dose aspirin
Pre-eclampsia, a condition affecting roughly 5-8% of pregnancies, is characterized by high blood pressure and protein in the urine. Onset of the condition is typically sometime after 20-weeks and symptoms include visual disturbances, swelling and rapid weight gain, and headaches. Pre-eclampsia is a leading cause of infant and maternal illness and mortality around the […]
Prenatal vitamin D definciency tied to cavities in infants
Prenatal vitamin D levels could be tied to an increased risk of cavities in infants and toddlers. 134 mothers were examined prenatally, and then their children were evaluated at about the age of one year. In a study of 134 expectant mothers, “about a third of the women were deficient in vitamin D, 22 […]
New research about the Vitamin K shot at Birth
Yesterday, Rebecca Dekker, PhD, RN, APRN of Evidence Based Birth published a thorough and comprehensive article about the research and evidence for administering the vitamin K shot to newborns after birth. We are unable to make Vitamin K, a fat-soluable vitamin needed for clotting, ourselves and there are only 2 sources from which it […]
Advanced maternal age may be linked to decreased congenital malformations.
It is fairly common in our society for women to delay pregnancy, especially when compared to our parents’ generation. For a variety of reasons including career goals and delayed marriage, many women are waiting until their 30’s to start families. Waiting may consider these moms “high-risk” by most obstetricians for being of advanced maternal age, […]
Eating nuts in pregnancy lowers risk of nut allergies in children
For years, women were told that if they ate too many nuts during pregnancy their children could end up with a nut allergy. New data dispels that notion and actually states that moms who eat nuts several times per week during pregnancy actually have babies who are less likely to develop a nut allergy. […]