Most Moms Knew About Safe Sleep for Infants, But Still Engaged in Unsafe Practices
Despite knowledge of and intention to follow safe sleep guidelines for infants, mothers often engaged in non-recommended sleep practices, a series of small focus groups and surveys showed. Among 25 mothers, 80% reported holding or rocking their infant to sleep, and 76% reported feeding their infant to sleep, Lara McKenzie, PhD, MA, of Nationwide Children’s […]
A mother’s diet can protect her grandchildren’s brains: genetic model study
Mothers who eat apples and herbs in early pregnancy could be protecting the brain health of their children and grandchildren, a Monash University study using genetic models has found. The discovery is part of a project that found a mother’s diet can affect not just her child’s brain but also those of her grandchildren. Published […]
Here’s What It Feels Like To Be ‘Touched Out’
Kanawa Studio via Getty Images This phenomenon is most often reported by mothers, but any parent or caregiver can experience it. Here’s what you can do about it. As a breastfeeding mother of three, Krystal Duhaney is no stranger to the sensation of being “touched out.” She describes it as “reaching the point where you […]
Excess calories during development alters the brain and spurs adult overeating
People whose mothers are overweight during pregnancy and nursing may become obese as adults because early overnutrition rewires developing brains to crave unhealthy food, according to a Rutgers study in Molecular Metabolism. Rutgers researchers traced this link from mother to child in mice with an experiment that began by letting some mice get obese on […]
Kids Exposed to Smoke In Utero Had Better Lung Function If Moms Popped Vitamin C
Mothers who smoked cigarettes during pregnancy, but also took vitamin C supplements, had children with improved airway function and lower risk of wheeze later on, according to a follow-up study of a randomized trial. At 5 years, kids born to mothers who smoked and took daily vitamin C during pregnancy had 17.2% higher average forced […]
Study calls for change in guidance about eating fish during pregnancy
The findings, which drew together analyses on over 4,131 pregnant mothers from the Children of the 90s study in the UK, with similar detailed studies in the Seychelles, are published in NeuroToxicology. Importantly, the researchers also found that it does not appear to matter which types of fish are eaten because the essential nutrients in […]
Mothers in WIC Program Have Better Birth Outcomes, Lower Infant Mortality
Mothers enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) may experience improved birth outcomes and a lower risk of infant mortality, according to a systematic review. Women who participated in WIC had reduced risks of preterm birth (10% to 15%) and low birthweight (11% to 24%), reported S. Michelle Ogunwole, […]
Can Lower Gestational Diabetes Cutoff Improve Outcomes in Kids?
Using a lower threshold for diagnosing gestational diabetes in mothers didn’t reduce the risk of large-for-gestational-age infants, according to the GEMS trial. After randomizing over 4,000 pregnant women, 15.3% were diagnosed with gestational diabetes using lower, and commonly recommended, glycemic criteria versus 6.1% using a higher threshold, Caroline Crowther, MD, of the University of Auckland […]
My Fallopian Tube Burst Due To An Ectopic Pregnancy. An ER Doctor Sent Me Home.
I found out I was pregnant on Mother’s Day 2022. Six days after Politico leaked Justice Samuel Alito’s draft decision on overturning Roe v. Wade. When I began having pain in my lower abdomen, I thought I had a urinary tract infection. My sample revealed something else. The urgent care doctor told me I was […]
Desire for son in Nepal may impact on girls’ health and wellbeing — new study: Desire to have a son may influence breastfeeding duration because if a woman has not had a son, she may feel greater pressure to try to conceive again in the hopes of having a boy
The desire for a son could mean Nepali mothers stop breastfeeding infant daughters sooner, says new research. Girls in Nepal are breastfed for fewer months than boys on average, with girls with older sisters but no brothers being the most disadvantaged, says the study. And this shorter breastfeeding time is linked to a greater risk […]