by OB/GYN | Jul 22, 2021 | OB/GYN News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Topic: Babies Who Are Breastfed Have Lower Blood Pressure, Better Heart Health
Researchers say that babies who are breastfed for even a short period of time have lower blood pressure and better heart health.
Experts say this is because breast milk contains hormones that set the stage for better long-term health outcomes.
Officials recommend babies should be breastfed until they’re 6 months old, but only 1 in 4 infants is breastfed for that period of time.
Babies who are breastfed for any length of time have lower blood pressure at 3 years of age.
That’s the conclusion of a study published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA) that analyzed data from more than 2,000 children to determine the relationship between breastfeeding and blood pressure.
“We observed that children who were ever breastfed had lower blood pressure at the age of 3 years, even if they only briefly received early limited breastfeeding in the first few days of life,” the study authors wrote.
“Although the clinical relevance of these associations remains to be determined, these early differences in blood pressure could translate into meaningful reductions in the risk of cardiovascular disease later [in] life and associated healthcare cost savings,” the authors added.
Of the 2,382 children studied, 49 were never breastfed, while 98 were breastfed only during their hospitalization in their early days of life.
The researchers found that at age 3, blood pressure was higher in the children who were never breastfed. Those who were only breastfed in the first few days of life had lower blood pressure when compared to their non-breastfed peers.
The long-term benefits of breast milk
Dr. Susan Crowe, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford University in California, said it’s not surprising babies who are breastfed for only a few days receive the same benefits of lower blood pressure later in life.
“The first milk, colostrum, is full of active hormones that may set the stage for healthy outcomes long term. This study suggests that there is something important in colostrum that can have an impact even if only consumed during the early days after birth,” Crowe told Healthline.
“We know that colostrum is a concentrated form of milk that contains bioactive compounds such as growth factors, stem cells, and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids that influence the microbiome and may impact vascular endothelium, paving the way for healthier cardiovascular outcomes,” she added.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source, breastfeeding can have a variety of health benefits for both infants and mothers.
Topic Discussed: Babies Who Are Breastfed Have Lower Blood Pressure, Better Heart Health
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by OB/GYN | Jul 20, 2021 | OB/GYN News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Topic: From birth control to mammograms, many women missed out on preventive care for all of 2020
Study shows even after in-person care restarted, women were 20% to 30% less likely to get such services than in 2019, especially those from lower-income and higher-minority areas.
The COVID-19 pandemic knocked many women off schedule for important health appointments, a new study finds, and many didn’t get back on schedule even after clinics reopened. The effect may have been greatest in areas where such care is already likely falling behind experts’ recommendations.
The study, by health care researchers in the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, looks at screenings for breast cancer, cervical cancer and sexually transmitted infections (STI), as well as two types of birth control care: prescriptions for oral contraceptives and insertions of longer-acting devices.
For all of 2020, adult women covered by Michigan’s largest private health insurer were 20% to 30% less likely to receive these services than they were in 2019, according to the findings reported in JAMA Health Forum.
As expected, there was a sharp drop in most such care during Michigan’s first pandemic peak in March and April 2020. That includes the weeks when the state’s public health orders paused all non-essential health care, and many health clinics closed, to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission and free up health providers for the surge of a brand-new disease caused by a little-understood virus.
But even after clinics reopened, there was no added increase in these services during the rest of the year to make up for lost time.
From July 2020 to the end of the year, women got most of these kinds of care at pre-pandemic levels, but not at higher levels that would catch up on missed care.
“This recovery to baseline levels, but not above them, means a group of women missed these services all year. The question is, what will that mean for them over the longer term?” says Nora Becker, M.D., Ph.D., the lead author of the study and a primary care doctor at Michigan Medicine, U-M’s academic medical center. “We don’t know yet whether they have caught up in 2021, but we will need to keep looking at the data as they become available.”
Topic Discussed: From birth control to mammograms, many women missed out on preventive care for all of 2020
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by OB/GYN | Jul 19, 2021 | OB/GYN News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Topic: What to Know About Hepatitis and Pregnancy
Hepatitis and pregnancy is a complicated topic because there are many different types of hepatitis. Hepatitis just means any disease that causes inflammation of the liver. It can be caused by a virus or a noninfectious cause.
Viral hepatitis can be caused by a number of different viruses, including hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. Nonviral hepatitis can also occur during pregnancy. Treatment, prevention, and effects on the pregnancy vary significantly between the types of hepatitis.
This article will discuss how hepatitis affects fertility, gestation, and life after birth for both the parent and the child.
Hepatitis and Fertility
There is some limited evidence that viral hepatitis may negatively impact male fertility and sperm function. In contrast, viral hepatitis infections with hepatitis B and hepatitis C have not been shown to have a significant effect on maternal fertility.
However, hepatitis infection may indicate an increased risk of other sexually transmitted infections that can affect fertility. Individuals and couples who are experiencing fertility problems in the context of hepatitis infection should discuss that with their doctor.
Assisted reproduction techniques may need to be altered to reduce the risk of viral transmission between the partners. If only one partner is infected with a hepatitis virus (known as a serodiscordant couple), vaccination may also be an option to reduce the risk of sexual transmission.
Hepatitis and Gestation
Hepatitis can complicate pregnancy, but it is also possible for pregnancy to complicate hepatitis. In rare circumstances, pregnancy can cause a chronic hepatitis infection to flare up and increase liver damage. Hepatitis treatment during pregnancy may be recommended for this reason, as well as to reduce transmission to the infant.
Topic Discussed: What to Know About Hepatitis and Pregnancy
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by OB/GYN | Jul 15, 2021 | OB/GYN News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Topic: 73% Of Women Don’t Treat Their Menopause Symptoms
Though virtually all women experience menopause, it has remained taboo for many women. Hormonal changes during menopause typically bring unpleasant symptoms and indignities: hot flashes, sleep disruption, thinning hair, and vaginal dryness to name a few.
But relatively few women are talking about or addressing their menopause symptoms according to new research from Bonafide, a company that sells products to treat women’s health conditions, including menopause.
The State of Menopause Study, conducted with 1,039 women ages 40 to 65 across the United States, showed that nearly one-third (29%) of women never sought information about menopause before they experienced it.
Nearly half (45%) the women surveyed didn’t know the difference between perimenopause—the transitional period leading up to menopause—and menopause itself, the biological process that marks the end of a woman’s menstrual cycles.
One-fifth (20%) of women surveyed had experienced symptoms for a year or more before being assessed by a healthcare provider and 34% had never been formally assessed or diagnosed as menopausal.
Most (73%) women reported that they were not currently treating their menopause, which included hot flashes (16%), weight gain (15%), difficulties with sleep (14%), and night sweats (14%), among others.
Topic Discussed: 73% Of Women Don’t Treat Their Menopause Symptoms
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by OB/GYN | Jul 12, 2021 | OB/GYN News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Topic: Depression and Anxiety During Pregnancy and After Birth
Depression and anxiety that happen during pregnancy or anytime during the first year after the birth of your baby are medical conditions. These feelings are not something you caused by doing or not doing something. And, they can be treated if you seek help.
What are depression and anxiety?
Depression—feeling sad, empty, and/or “down”—and anxiety—feeling nervous, worried, and/or scared—are serious medical conditions that involve the brain and may occur during pregnancy or after birth. These feelings go beyond what people may experience when they have a bad day or are nervous about an upcoming event. They are also more than “just feeling moody” or having the “baby blues.”
Depression and anxiety may get in the way of doing everyday activities, like taking care of yourself and your baby. They are long lasting and won’t go away on their own. But they are treatable, which is why it’s important to get help.
Are you talking about postpartum depression?
Postpartum depression is one name you might hear for depre ssion and anxiety that can happen during and after pregnancy. But it might not be the best way to describe what women feel. The word “postpartum” means “after birth,” so “postpartum depression” is talking only about depression after the baby is born. For many women, this term is correct: they start feeling depression sometime within the first year after they have the baby.
You might hear the term “perinatal depression” to describe this situation. The word “perinatal” describes the time during pregnancy or just after birth. Researchers believe that depression is one of the most common problems women experience during and after pregnancy.
We now know that women may also experience anxiety around the time of pregnancy, beyond just being nervous about having a baby. Anxiety during and after pregnancy is as common as depression and may even happen at the same time as depression. So, you also may hear “perinatal depression and anxiety” or “perinatal mood and anxiety disorders” used to describe all of what women might feel. No matter what you call them, depression and anxiety that happen during pregnancy or after birth are real medical conditions, and they affect many women.
Topic Discussed: Depression and Anxiety During Pregnancy and After Birth
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by OB/GYN | Jul 8, 2021 | OB/GYN News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Topic: Newborns should be stimulated to hold and reach for objects
Newborn infants and babies aged up to three months should be stimulated to manipulate objects and observe adults performing everyday tasks. This incentive helps their social, motor and cognitive development, researchers note in an article published in the May 2021 issue of the journal Infant Behavior & Development.
According to the authors, from the earliest age babies watch adults carrying out activities such as handling utensils and putting them away in drawers or closets. They should themselves have frequent contact with objects to develop the ability to hold things and reach out for them. Through social interaction, even newborns can learn to use their own bodies functionally and to perceive the links between their movements and their surroundings.
“We present evidence that neonatal imitation and manipulation activities are connected, and therefore propose stimulation practices based on seminal experimental designs where infants should be positioned in favorable postures to observe others acting in the world. This will have an impact on the way that early infants understand the social world and the chain of actions possible in this environment,” they argue in the article.
For Priscilla Ferronato, a professor at the Health Sciences Institute of Paulista University (UNIP) in São Paulo, Brazil, and first author of the article, the study innovated by evidencing the link between social imitation and the motor system underlying manipulation. “Research published since 1970 has shown that babies can copy facial expressions as soon as they’re born. We suggest they imitate manipulative motor actions just as much as expressions. When babies see adults using their hands, they copy the movements, and this helps them use their own hands,” she said.
Babies are unable to reach for objects in the first three months of life. “Carers usually stimulate them to use their hands only after they learn the reaching movement,” she said. “We propose the opposite: encouraging them to reach out before they can do so of their own accord.”
In the article, the researchers present a review of the scientific literature on the subject and advocate a novel approach to the understanding of imitation and manual activities. The suggestions are based on the reproduction of scenarios that replicate experimental situations in classic studies of child development but are simple and easily adapted.
Topic Discussed: Newborns should be stimulated to hold and reach for objects
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