Pregnancy News
August 3, 2007
Progesterone Therapy Doesn’t Reduce Preterm Birth in Twin Pregnancy
Progesterone is a hormone that females produce in large amounts during pregnancy. In 2003, researchers with the Maternal Fetal Medicine Units Network found that weekly injections of progesterone lowered the chances of preterm birth for pregnant women who had previously experienced a premature pregnancy. However, a recent study published in this month’s The New England Journal of Medicine found that progesterone therapy, although it helped women with single pregnancies, did not benefit women pregnant with twins. Participants in the study included 655 women pregnant with twins whom either randomly received weekly injections of placebo or a type of progesterone. Results showed that 41.5 percent of women on progesterone treatments had premature births or fetal loss compared to the 37.3 percent of women on placebo injections.
Source: National Institutes of Health
August 3, 2007
How an Anti-acne Treatment can Fatally Affect Your Pregnancy
iPledge, a new program sponsored by the FDA is working towards preventing pregnancies among women using the anti-acne drug isotretinoin. Isotretinoin is sold under the brand name Accutane. Numerous of studies conducted on Accutane over the years have linked this drug to birth defects, fetal death, and also depression and suicide among pregnant users. FDA began to register doctors, prescription drug wholesales, pharmacists, and women, into the iPledge program in December 2005. This program requires women to give two negative pregnancy tests before starting their Accutane prescription, and as well as a pregnancy test before receiving monthly refills.
Source: Medical News Today
August 3, 2007
Breastfeeding Immediately After Birth Can Reduce Infant Mortality
Breastfeeding your infant within the first hour of birth can lower the rate of infant mortality in developing coutnries, announced UNICEF worldwide at this year’s World Breastfeeding Week that runs August 1 to 7. The theme for this year’s Breast feeding week was: “Breastfeeding: the 1st hour, early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding can save more than ONE million babies." Similarly, a study published in the journal Pediatrics found the rate of neonatal deaths in Ghana was lowered by 16 percent when mothers began to breastfeed their baby within the fist hour after birth.
Source: Medical News Today
