Pregnancy and Birth

Autism Linked With Smoking in Early Pregnancy
Women who smoke regularly during the early stages of pregnancy can increase the risk of their child developing autism by as much as 40 percent.

Coffee and Pregnancy
Moms-to-be should take a break from coffee -- caffeine crosses the placenta and large amounts may lead to low birth-weight infants.

Exercise and Pregnancy
Non-contact forms of exercise are encouraged during a normal pregnancy. Both the woman and her baby benefit from regular activities such as walking and swimming.

Fats and Nausea
A diet high in fat content increases a pregnant woman's chances for having problems with nausea.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Each year 4,000 to 12,000 babies are born with the physical signs and intellectual disabilities associated with FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome), and thousands more experience the somewhat lesser disabilities of fetal alcohol effects.

Fish Pregnant Women Should Not Consume
The FDA advises pregnant women not to eat four fish species that contain the highest levels of mercury: shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish, also known as golden or white snapper.

Folic Acid and Pregnancy
Taking the B vitamin folic acid at recommended levels early in pregnancy can help prevent certain birth defects.

Healthful Pregnancy Diet
A healthy diet for a pregnant woman consists of servings from all 4 food groups with special emphasis on the dairy group, foods high in folic acid, like orange juice, and foods high in iron, like liver. Keep foods high in sodium content to a minimum. Sodium causes water retention.

Heartburn During Pregnancy
Heartburn is a common complaint of pregnant women due to increased abdominal pressure caused by the fetus. Tums are a safe method of heartburn relief.

Hemorrhoid Treatment
Pregnant women frequently experience hemorrhoids due to the increased pressure on the rectal area caused by the developing baby. A simple and inexpensive treatment is witch hazel. Apply to hemorrhoids with a cotton ball 3 - 4 times per day.

Planning on Breastfeeding?
If you're planning on breastfeeding your baby, toughen your nipples while you're pregnant by rubbing them briskly with a towel after your bath or shower. It will lessen the chance of your nipples cracking when nursing.

Pregnant Women Should Get Group B Strep Test
All pregnant women should be routinely screened for Group B streptococcus, a major cause of illness and death among newborns.

Group B streptococcus (GBS), or "strep," can cause serious infections, such as meningitis, in newborns. Infants can become infected with the bacterium during labor and delivery, so pregnant women are screened for GBS during the last few weeks of pregnancy. Women infected with strep may be treated with antibiotics to reduce the risk of passing on the infection.

Pregnant Women Should Limit Tuna Consumption
Pregnant women who eat too much tuna risk exposing their unborn babies' developing brains to possibly harmful mercury levels, but there is no need for the women to cut the highly nutritious fish out of their diets altogether.
Two six-ounce cans of tuna per week is fine if that's the only fish they eat, or a single six-ounce can if other seafood, which also can contain mercury, is part of their diet.

Sex During Pregnancy
Sex during pregnancy is safe up until the time of rupture of membranes (the water breaking) as long as there have been no complications during the pregnancy.

Smog and Pregnancy
Women exposed to high levels of ozone and carbon monoxide were three times more likely than others to have babies with cleft lips and palates and defective heart valves.

Treatment of Dry Skin to Abdomen
Stretching of the abdomen during pregnancy causes dry, itchy skin. Olive oil applied once per day is an effective treatment. Use only a small amount and massage it well into the skin after a bath or shower.