pregnancy •

Too Much Caffeine Can Lead to A Miscarriage

March 25, 2016 By Matthew Slotkin Leave a Comment

Couples trying to conceive are advised to drink less than 2 cups of caffeinated drinks per day.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – According to the latest studies, too much caffeine can lead to a miscarriage. It seems that coffee and other caffeinated beverages can affect the proper development of fetuses. More than 70 percent of failed pregnancies can be linked to the consumption of more than 2 caffeinated beverages per day.

A new study published in the Sterility and Fertility journal yesterday concluded that too much caffeine can lead to a miscarriage. According to the article, more than 70 percent of miscarriages can be linked to the consumption of more than 2 caffeinated beverages per day.

But the study doesn’t only address women. It seems that coffee and other drinks that contain caffeine can also influence the sperm. So if a couple decides to conceive, they must both regulate the intake of the beverages mentioned above.

The study’s lead author and director of the Health Research of Intramural Population at the Child Development and Health National Institute, Germaine Buck Louis declared that pre-conception consumption of caffeinated drinks in males is as risky as in females.

In order to reach these results, 501 couples in Texas and Michigan who were trying to have a baby were closely monitored. The parents to be were asked by the researchers to keep a detailed journal of their daily activities. This included behaviors like drinking alcohol, smoking and drinking coffee or any other caffeinated beverages.

Those who managed to conceive within a year of the study’s debut were asked to continue to write in their journals until the pregnancy was carried out to term, or until the mother experienced a miscarriage.

344 couples managed to conceive. Out of the total number, 98 women suffered a miscarriage. It seems that the chances of such a thing happening are twice as big in women over the age of 35 than in the younger ones.

From the 98 pregnancies that ended abruptly, 74 percent were linked to a high caffeine consumption in women, and 73 in men.

Furthermore, the research showed that the mothers to be that took a daily supplement of multivitamins before and after getting pregnant were less prone to experience a miscarriage than those who didn’t.

Even though the results point to the fact that too much caffeine can lead to a miscarriage, Buck Louis noted that the study only serves to show a link between the two. Scientists have yet to establish a cause and effect relationship between the two.

Image source: Pixabay

Postpartum Depression Could Be Detected

March 25, 2016 By Ryan Harris Leave a Comment

Postpartum depression is a fairly common syndrome between young mothers.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Postpartum depression is a real disorder that affects the lives of lots of mothers worldwide. But there was little known about the factors that trigger the mental health issue until now that is. According to a team of Belgian scientists, postpartum depression could be detected and mothers to be could start therapy before it becomes a serious issue.

Erica Jancelewitcz, a mother that struggled with the horrible mental health problem, declared that at first, she was afraid of telling anybody that something was wrong with her. The young, fresh mother, came home after giving birth and started to feel anxious and sad, not being able to sleep properly at night.

But she thought, as many other women probably do, that something is wrong with her. So she decided to live for five years with her ever changing emotions and deepened depression. Until one day when she gathered up the courage of telling her doctor how she felt.

That is when she first learned of the existence of postpartum depression. According to Jancelewitcz, she was never informed about the disorder while she was pregnant. Due to her lack of education on the subject, she was not able to seek proper treatment sooner, and she ended up suffering for quite some time.

And there may be many more women in her situation right now. But a team of Belgian researchers discovered that postpartum depression could be detected, thus improving the wellbeing of thousands of mothers to be.

According to their findings, women that show signs of having issues with their self-esteem, or that deal with mood swings during the last two trimesters are predisposed to developing postpartum depression.

They continue to say that doctors should start implementing psychological screening in their routine tests because when diagnosed early, postpartum depression is easier to manage.

The “Preventative Task Force” recently recommended that all pregnant women should get screened in the United States. And a mental health maternal therapist agrees with the government’s decision.

According to Beth Shelton, every woman just expects that everything will be perfect, a page ripped right out of a fairytale. That they will bring their newborn child home, and they will start a whole new, happy life.

But things are not always as we expect them to be. Lots of women end up not being tested, or even informed about postpartum depression. And this sort of thing happens because of a lack of awareness of the disorder, among both doctors and patients.

Image source: Pixabay

CDC Alcohol Recommendations for Women Provoked Controversy

February 7, 2016 By John Birks Leave a Comment

According to the CDC, all women between the ages of 18 and 35 should stop drinking alcoholic beverages.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – The latest CDC recommendations for women provoked controversy as the institution urged women between the ages of 18 and 35 to stop drinking altogether if they ever want to get pregnant and give birth to a healthy baby.

While drinking during pregnancy is the worst thing that an expectant mother could do, the CDC alcohol recommendations for women provoked controversy because the targeted audience of the message were not just pregnant women, but all women that are fertile and could, at a moment in their life, have a baby.

According to the CDC, there are millions of women (3.3 million to be more exact) that are not using birth control but are actively drinking and having sexual relations. Also, 3 out of 4 women don’t stop drinking alcoholic beverages after giving up on birth control and actively trying to get pregnant.

Women that drink during their pregnancy expose their children to a wide range of fetal disorders that could further develop into intellectual, physical and behavioral disabilities. The larger the amounts of alcoholic beverages consumed are, the bigger the health risks for the future babies. There are no safe quantities, though. Any amount of alcohol can cause serious fetal damages.

Alcohol can cause permanent damage to the fetus before the woman realizes that she is pregnant. That is why the CDC urges the women that are not using birth control to reconsider their drinking habits.

It usually takes women four to six weeks to realize that they are pregnant. During this time, the fetus develops significantly. Any alcohol intake from the mother’s part can cause permanent physical or neurological damage to the future baby.

The main deputy director of the CDC, Anne Schuchat stated that more than half of the pregnancies in the Unites States in the present are unplanned. That means that more than half of the future babies are being exposed to alcoholic beverages that could do them a lot of harm.

The other half, the women that are actually trying to get pregnant and succeed continue to drink until they find out that they are going to have a baby. Schuchat urges women not to take that risk and think twice before ordering an alcoholic drink when they go out.

But the new CDC alcohol recommendations for women provoked controversy because, according to Schuchat, the only women that are allowed to drink are the women using birth control. The problem with the statistics provided by the CDC director is that they only included women registered at a doctor’s office. But among those 3.3 million there are a lot of women who use condoms or are sterile or have sterile partners.

The CDC is ignoring the unspoken rule of not saying no to a great number of people. When you do that, they will end up doing it just to spite you.

Image source: www.wikimedia.org

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