Pregnancy

Using a Heating Pad While Pregnant – Safety Tips

Using a heating pad while pregnant is considered safe, and it offers a safe alternative to having to take medications to deal with every day pregnancy aches and pains.

Heating pads are wonderful for treating achy backs, leg cramps, and achy joints and muscles in pregnancy. You can also ease your pain by taking a hot – but not too hot – bath with epsom salts.

An epsom salt bath is also perfectly safe for pregnant women. But just make sure that the water is not too hot. [Read more…] about Using a Heating Pad While Pregnant – Safety Tips

How to Fight Winter Depression in Pregnancy

by DP Nguyen Leave a Comment

When winter arrives, it’s easy to get in a bum mood. The days are shorter; there’s less daylight to enjoy; and the weather is cold and miserable, especially when it’s snowy outside and you’re cooped up inside the house.

Winter depression – called seasonal affective disorder (SAD) affects over 20 million people every year. It also affects many pregnant women.

An estimated 14 to 23 percent of pregnant women experience depression, and this depression can also lead to full-blown postpartum depression after the baby is born.

But when you are pregnant, how do you cope with your winter depression?
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What is a Chemical Pregnancy?

by DP Nguyen 6 Comments

A chemical pregnancy can be very upsetting, especially if you’ve been actively trying to conceive and desperately want a baby. It gets your hopes up for a pregnancy, but in the end, it’s just a very early miscarriage.

Here’s how a chemical pregnancy goes down – you take a home pregnancy test around the time of your missed period, and you are delighted to see that it shows a faint positive. (Of course, you are super excited and you share the news with your husband and maybe your family members.) Then, only a few days later, you start bleeding and have a heavy menstrual period. You are so bummed out, and if you ask your OB/GYN or doctor, he or she will just tell you that it was a “chemical pregnancy” – or a very, very early miscarriage. [Read more…] about What is a Chemical Pregnancy?

Signs of Pregnancy Before Missed Period

by DP Nguyen 83 Comments

The very early signs of pregnancy before missed period can be subtle, and they can also strike one or two weeks before your menstrual period is scheduled to arrive.

Though a missed period is often the first clue that you have a bun in the oven, it’s not the only pregnancy sign you may notice. From implantation bleeding and cramping to extreme exhaustion, there are a number of very early signs of pregnancy that may pop up in the weeks leading up to your period.

Most women won’t notice these early pregnancy symptoms, but if you are trying to conceive, you may notice slight differences. For example, your pregnancy fatigue can be easily mistaken for PMS fatigue by some women, but women who are in tune with their body may notice that this fatigue feels different. [Read more…] about Signs of Pregnancy Before Missed Period

Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy (PUPPP Rash)

by DP Nguyen 9 Comments

Itchy rashes during pregnancy can be caused by a number of conditions, but if it’s your first pregnancy and you are carrying a boy, there’s a high possibility you have a condition called pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP) – also known as polymorphic eruption of pregnancy.

Roughly 1 out of every 150 pregnant women will develop the PUPPP rash. That’s roughly 1 percent, but it is the most common pregnancy rash in pregnant women. Fortunately, it does not harm your unborn baby in any way, but it is incredibly uncomfortable and annoying to you. [Read more…] about Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy (PUPPP Rash)

Uterus Transplants: Innovative, but Controversial

by DP Nguyen 3 Comments

For every medical problem, scientists and researchers are constantly striving to find an solution. For women who’ve had a hysterectomy due to cancer and disease, or for women who were born without uteruses, Swedish doctors have a answer – uterus transplants.

Although uterine transplants aren’t a new medical concept, Swedish doctors have performed what they claim to be the first mother-to-daughter live uterus transplants that they believe could allow infertile women to bear children.
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