What are the essential dietary restrictions, hormonal markers, and physical recovery strategies for a healthy pregnancy and postpartum transition?
The term βthe pillβ encompasses various oral contraceptives. Estrogen-progestin or combined pills suppress the ovaries' monthly release of an egg cell. While progestin-only pills also work this way, they mostly thicken cervical mucus, inhibiting sperm movement.
Read more →
During pregnancy, many common foods and beverages can cause unanticipated problems for the expectant mother or her unborn baby. The American Pregnancy Association advises pregnant women to avoid undercooked meats, undercooked eggs, caffeine, soft cheeses, raw shellfish and many potentially hazardous seafood dishes.
Read more →
You need not avoid eating cheeses during your pregnancy. Cheese is rich in protein, calcium and B vitamins, all of which are excellent nutrients for both mom and baby. However, cheese may be dangerous for pregnant women if it is made from unpasteurized milk.
Read more →
If you have had gastric bypass surgery, you may notice your skin sagging under the arms, on the stomach and on the buttocks. Your sagging skin is completely normal and usually means you have lost a significant amount of weight, according to Dr.
Read more →
Human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, is considered to be a pregnancy hormone. If you are not pregnant, you will have low levels of the hormone, but it rises significantly during pregnancy.
Read more →
By the second trimester of your pregnancy, the worst of your morning sickness should be behind you, if you experienced it at all, according to the website SheKnows Baby & Pregnancy. In your second trimester, you should be gaining the most weight of your entire pregnancy.
Read more →
During the third and final trimester of your pregnancy, your baby grows quickly. His eyes, bones, organs, brain and lungs are developing and his nutritional needs are increasing. In addition to his rapid growth, your body is preparing to give birth.
Read more →
The body shows subtle signs of pregnancy shortly after conception. These early signs -- such as sore breasts, increased basal body temperature, fatigue and implantation bleeding -- are often associated with other conditions and my not be noticeable in some women.
Read more →
Pregnancy and PMS (premenstrual syndrome) may have similar symptoms. Signs of pregnancy can occur before a missed period, according to Mayo Clinic. While waiting for a period a woman may easily mistake early pregnancy changes as PMS symptoms.
Read more →
Most pregnant women don't track their hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, levels unless they have undergone fertility treatment or are experiencing pregnancy complications. Produced by the growing placenta during pregnancy, hCG is the hormone that home pregnancy tests detect in the urine.
Read more →
Pregnancy may cause you some amount of anxiety, especially if this is your first child. Make sure you keep all of your appointments with your obstetrician.
Read more →
It's not possible to tell whether you're pregnant immediately after ovulation. In fact, the embryo doesn't even begin to implant into the lining of the uterus until about 6 days after the egg is fertilized. Only after implantation does your body produce the hormones that cause early pregnancy symptoms.
Read more →
The stomach flu, also known as viral gastroenteritis, causes nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and fever. The condition spreads through contact with an infected person or drinking contaminated water, states MayoClinic.com.
Read more →
Tingling in the thigh, also known as meralgia paresthetica, is a condition characterized by a tingling sensation in the outer part of the thigh muscle, or quadricep. The condition results when the nerve responsible for supplying sensation to the surface of the leg gets compressed.
Read more →
Pregnancy equals change, physically, emotionally and in the lifestyle of a woman. She is no longer thinking and acting on her own behalf, but is caring for and nourishing her child as well. Old habits may need to be broken or altered to benefit the baby, including medications taken, alcohol consumed and diet choices.
Read more →
After 40 weeks of watching your body change and grow, it's tempting to jump right into losing weight after delivery. However, slow down a bit -- your body has been through a massive ordeal. If you're breast-feeding, dieting can destroy your milk supply.
Read more →
Nausea and vomiting, among the most unpleasant aspects of early pregnancy, affects around 75 percent of all pregnant women during the first three months of pregnancy, according to BabyCenter. Human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG levels in the blood also rise in early pregnancy, suggesting a correlation between the two.
Read more →
Paternity testing can change the life of a child as well as the lives of the adults tested. Paternity testing provides highly accurate results within a few days.
Read more →
Groin strains can refer to a number of types of injuries in one or more of a multitude of muscles on the inside of your upper leg or front of your hip. Sports Injury Bulletin explains that many of these muscles are responsible for hip adduction--moving your leg toward your body's center line.
Read more →
Both men and women produce follicle stimulating hormone, or FSH, which plays an important role in a woman's ability to get pregnant. In women, this hormone, produced by the pituitary gland, signals the ovaries to produce an egg-containing follicle each month. As you age, your FSH level rises.
Read more →