1. Reddy, Uma M.; Bettegowda, Vani R.; Dias, Todd; Yamada-Kushnir, Tomoko; Ko, Chia-Wen; Willinger, Marian. Term Pregnancy: A Period of Heterogeneous Risk for Infant Mortality. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2011; 117 (6): 1279-1287 DOI: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e3182179e28

Lamaze birthing method believes that the following are keys to having a healthy delivery process naturally.

1.  Let labor begin on its own.

2. Walk, move around and change positions throughout labor.

3. Bring a loved one, friend, or doula for continuous support.  Surround yourself with people that support  you and your birth plan.

4.  Avoid interventions that are not medically necessary.

5.  Avoid giving birth on the back and follow the body’s urges to push.

6.  Keep mother and baby together-it’s best for mother, baby and breastfeeding.

If you are in your 30’s and thinking about getting pregnant, you are not alone. Many women have opted to start a family later in life whether it is because of longer schooling, career advancement, or settling down at a later age. Fortunately, most women over age 35 will have healthy pregnancies and deliver healthy infants. Research studies shows that with advancing age, risks to both mom and babies also increases. Planning is one way that women can decrease their risks with advancing maternal age. Planning involves adopting healthy lifestyle habits and receiving good health care before conception and also during pregnancy. Women who are older than age 35 are more likely than younger women to have the following:
1. Diabetes related to pregnancy is often called gestational diabetes.
2. Hypertension or elevated blood pressure.
3. Ectopic pregnancy
4. Miscarriage- a 20% risk at age 35 and a 35% risk at age 40.
Just to name a few health issues that can arise after age 35. Women over age 35 need to plan for pregnancy just like women under age 35. It is important that you take care of yourself before you begin trying to conceive and not wait until after you are already pregnant.
A few things you can do to start preparing your body today are the following:
1. Take Folic acid in the bio active form. Please see our previous article about how important it is to have it in the bio active form. Call our office if you have any questions.
2. Quit smoking and drinking alcohol. Before you think about trying, quit the stuff that will cause harm to you and your baby.
3. Reduce stress. This seems hard to do at times but it is crucial to a healthy successful pregnancy. Stress hormones such as cortisol have a negative impact on your pregnancy and can lead to miscarriage. Do not underestimate the power of stress in your life and in the success of your becoming pregnant.
4. Eat a healthy diet. Nutrition is the building blocks of your body and also your baby. Provide your baby with the best available nutrients that you can through good nutrition for yourself.
5. Get regular exercise. Look up in our previous articles about how important exercise is for you regarding easing through labor. Start your program now!
6. Weight management is important also. Reduce your risks by maintaining an appropriate weight.

Need a little help in moving around while pregnant?  We’ve got a class for you!  Dr. Malley is sharing some healthy baby-momma secrets to make your pregnancy a safe and comfortable one!  Call our office today to get registered for this complimentary pregnancy ergonomics class.

Topics to be discussed

1. Bedroom ergonomics

-from sunrise to sunset and all that happens in between. We’ve got tips to keep you comfortable all through the night.

2. Work station ergonomics

-making changes at the office that make working while prego a little more comfortable

3. Automobile ergonomics

-entering & exiting the car safely

4.  Shopping

-from bagging it, carrying it, and loading it.

Interested in attending our class?  Contact our office for further details on the next class.

Wow! We hope that this will be exciting and promising research for those of you trying to get pregnant but are having trouble because of endometriosis.

What is endometriosis?  

Endometriosis is a condition where endometrial cells that normally line the uterus,  grow on other parts of the pelvic cavity outside of the uterus.  This is an extremely painful condition, especially during a women’s menstrual cycle.

How does nutrition play a part in the treatment of endometriosis?

We know from research that EPA/DHA naturally occuring in both fish oil and flax seed oil is excellent at quieting down inflammatory pathways in the body.  It has been used successfully in the treatment of other health conditions such as arthritis and heart disease.  It shouldn’t be a suprise to see that research is now being done with EPA-DHA with regards to other inflammatory conditions such as endometriosis.  We found a recent research study lead by Dr. Sachiho Netsu involving EPA/DHA and rats with endometriosis.  It was found that the EPA/DHA supplementation had a positive outcome.  The part of the uterine lining where most of the endometriosis occurs was suppressed by almost 50% in the supplementation test rats compared to the control group rats who were not given the supplement.

This article is for informational purposes only.  It is not intended to replace medical care.  Please contact our office  for further information about how nutrition can play an important role in the treatment of endometriosis.

References

“Oral eicosapentaenoic acid supplementation as possible therapy for endometriosis,” by Sachiho Netsu, M.D. Fertility and Sterility, Volume 90, Issue 4 Supplement, Pages 1496-1502 (October 2008).

How can chiropractic help with infertility?    In many couples who have been labled “infertile,” the egg isn’t able to make it through the fallopian tube to meet the sperm at the other end.  The muscles of the fallopian tube may not be receiving proper input from the nervous system to do their job.  This blockage of information from the nervous system could be caused by a vertebral subluxation, generally in the lower part of the spine.  Doesn’t it make sense that in this case,  chiropractic could help?  If the fallopian tube just isn’t getting the information from the brain because of the vertebral subluxation, then a spinal adjustment would clear the blockage and allow the information to travel from the brain to the spinal cord to the nerve that innervates the fallopian tube.  Remember that the egg doesn’t swim, it is carried along by muscle contractions of the fallopian tube, so if the fallopian tube does not receive the stimulus to contract,it won’t.

Please call our office and schedule an appointment to discuss how chiropractic care can help you.  We understand that this is not the case in every patient but we did want to point out the importance of spinal alignment in conception.  As always, this blog is for information purposes only and is not intended to replace medical treatment.

The American Medical Association stated that stress is a factor in more than 75% of illness today.  The World Health Organization stated that stress is America’s  #1 health  problem.  The Center for Disease Control stated that the number one prescribed class of drugs  in the United States today is antidepressants.  Guess what triggers depression?  The body’s hormonal response to stress. 

What is stress?  Stress can be defined as your internal response to events both internal and external that are happening in your life.  Your spouse loses their job, the death of a loved one, an unreasonable work deadline.  You get the picture.  All of these are stressors that elicit a stress response in the body.   So how do these stressors affect your pregnancy?

According to a July, 2010 article published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, stress does impact your pregnancy.  According to the study, there was an increase risk of preterm birth among women with higher levels of life stress in the first and second trimester.  Each unit increase of perceived life events stress during the first trimester was associated with a  99.09g (approximately .2 lbs  ) decrease in infant birth weight.

Since total elimination of stress is impossible, what does a baby momma do to balance out stress that can have a negative impact on her pregnancy?

Dr. Malley’s stress tool box

1.  Prayer.  God never gives us more than we can handle.  Begin your day with it, end your day with it, and any other time of day you feel like you need to pray.

2.  Take care of yourself.  Chiropractic care is important for maintaining spinal alignment that helps your body respond to the stressors  you face every day.  Massage therapy is also a great way to reduce the build up of physical, mental stressors that bombard you throughout the day.

2.  Build a support system externally.  Choose people to be in your life that will be a support network for you while you are pregnant.  We all need to have people in our lives for support and companionship.  Do not try and go through your pregnancy without this.

3.  Nutrition, nutrtition, nutrition.  I can’t say it enough, how you are what you eat.  A nutrient dense food program provides your body with the vitamins and minerals it needs to have a healthy stress response.

4.  Rest.  Give yourself time to rest and recover from each stressful event or day.  Make sure to limit your schedule when possible to avoid stress overload.  Establish a pre-bedtime routine that includes relaxation that will help you unwind from the day.

5.  Counseling.  Seek additional support if you are feeling overwhelmed.  Our office can refer you to a counselor in your area.  Professional help is beneficial for not only providing you with support, but helping you with coping strategies or developing skills that will enable you to handle stressors in a healthier way.

Remember, we are here to help you have a healthy pregnancy naturally.  This article is not a replacement for medical care, it is written for informational purpose only.

References

“Prenatal life events stress: implications for preterm birth and infant birthweight,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Volume 203, Issue 1, Pages 34.e1-34.e8 (July 2010) Peng Zhu, MD,  et. al.

We have blogged about how important it is to pay attention to your nutrition!  We have found another research article that links the diet choices made in pregnant women with the increase in pregnancy depression.  How can this be so?  Your diet provides the nutrients to build the biochemicals that are in the brain.  If you put junk food into your body, you are robbing your body of it’s ability to make the biochemicals that are vital to healthy brain function.  Please don’t click away from this page, we want to show you the link between broccoli and healthy brain chemicals as well as the link between fatty foods and bad feelings.

According to a pilot study conducted by Dr. Fowles, there is a link between nutrition and pregnancy depression.  This study was conducted on thirteen women while pregnant.  The women who were polled were between ages 19 and 31 years and were classified as low-income status.  The average daily caloric intake was 2653 kcal with 34% of the caloric intake coming from fat.  Their diets were deficient in both calcium and iron, two critical nutrients that are important to a healthy pregnancy for both baby and momma.  Of the women polled, nearly half were experiencing major depression.

Although this study was to show the need for early monitoring of clinically depressed pregnant women, we couldn’t help but notice the link between the high fat, high calorie, low nutrient diet and depression.  Foods that support a healthy brain chemistry are colorful vegetables, fruits, and whole grains as well as lean protein from organic chicken and turkey. 

This article was written for informational purposes only, it is not intended to replace medical treatment for any condition.

References

“Nutrition and Mental Health in Early Pregnancy: A Pilot Study,”  authored by Eileen R. Fowles, RNC, PhD, Christina Murphey, RN, MSN. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, Volume 54, Issue 1, Pages 73-77.

Pregnancy,  for most women is one of the happiest times of their life, but for others it can be a time of confusion, fear, sadness, and even depression.  According to the American Pregnancy Association, approximately 10-20% of women will struggle with some symptoms of depression during pregnancy, with approximately 25-50% of those who experience symptoms will suffer from a major depression.  So what is depression?  Depression is a disorder that affects 1 in 4 women at some point during their lifetime, so it should be no surprise that this illness would also touch women who are pregnant. But all too often, depression is not diagnosed properly during pregnancy because people think it is just another type of hormonal imbalance. This assumption can be dangerous for the mother and the unborn baby.

Symptoms of depression include the following:

• Persistent sadness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Sleeping too little or too much
• Loss of interest in activities that you usually enjoy
• Frequent, recurring thoughts of death, suicide, or hopelessness
• Anxious thoughts
• Feelings of guilt or worthlessness
• Change in eating habits (diminished appetite or eating too much, especially of carbohydrate rich foods)

Causes of depression can be any of the following:

• Relationship problems
• Family or personal history of depression
• Previous pregnancy loss due to miscarriage or abortion
• Stressful life events
• Complications in pregnancy
• History of abuse or trauma
• Infertility treatments

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms for more than two weeks, it’s time to get some help, professionally.  Talk with your health care provider about counseling/ psychological support.  You are worth it and so is your baby!!

This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to replace medical treatment.

Okay it may not be like the cartoon picture, but needless to say the moment has arrived! If you are experiencing contractions at regular intervals , you may have lost your mucus plug and your water may or may not have broken.  Welcome to labor!!  This is what you have spent the past nine months preparing for; the birth of your child!!  There is more to labor preparation than getting a pedicure and packing your bag.  Labor preparation is the entire nine months of pregnancy.  Regular chiropractic adjustments through your pregnancy helps to  prepare you for entering labor.  How do spinal adjustments help?  By maintaining proper spinal alignment for the past nine months you have given your body the opportunity to be in optimal position for a natural delivery.   Several ligaments that attach the uterus to the pelvis affect spinal health as well as fetal positioning.  Adjustments to the lower back through out your pregnancy has helped to maintain that pelvic space the uterus needs as it grows and expands with the developing fetus.  Sacral alignment can affect the baby’s ability to turn.  Chiropractic adjustments to the sacrum keep the optimum alignment which in turn helps to maintain the space in the pelvis that the baby needs for delivery.   Chiropractic care supports the natural positioning of the pelvis for delivery.  Make sure that you see an ICPA Chiropractor that is trained in the Webster technique.  This is a doctor of chiropractic that has taken additional training to ensure the proper pelvic alignment for prenatal women.  Dr. Malley has been trained by the ICPA in the Webster technique as well as the Bagnell technique.   Dr. Malley will work with you, your obstetric provider, and your birth plan.    Please give our office a call we would love to help you have a healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery, naturally!