NEWS: Babies Born 'Full-Term' Fare Better

When I was pregnant I had false labor, a lot of women do. But it was thought that even if I had gone into actual labor my baby and I would have been fine, because I was 37 weeks pregnant--37 weeks is considered "full-term." Today, that idea may change.

A new study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology journal reads that babies born during week 37 and 38 of gestation are twice as likely to die during their first year than a baby born during the 39 or 40 week of gestation. Not anything a mother wants to hear.

The researchers analyzed the data of 46.3 million live births, using the National Center for Health Statistics database, from 1995 to 2006. The good news they found, generally, infant mortality has decreased for early-term and full-term births; however, they did also find babies born in the 37 or 38 week are 2.6 more likely to die pre- or post-birth for Hispanic and white babies, and 2.9 times more likely for black babies.

The abstract of the study can be found here.

NEWS: Certain Antibiotics May Be Safe During Pregnancy

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists announced today that two antibiotics thought to cause birth defects may instead be safe during pregnancy.

The two antibiotics, nitrofurans and sulfonamides, are usually prescribed for urinary tract infections. In 2009, researchers with the National Birth Defects Prevention Study determined these two antibiotics could cause birth defects if taken during the first trimester.

After the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reviewed the study, they issued a new opinion on the matter. The ACOG considers these two antibiotics "appropriate when there is no suitable alternative."

The ACOG also found fault with the study, including having the pregnant women try to remember what they were prescribed...and we all know what pregnancy brain is like--not exactly the most accurate.

For the full news release see the ACOG site.

NEWS: BPA Linked to Baby Breathing Issues

So all that water I was drinking while I was preggo could lead to my little one wheezing, how sad. :( I hope not! I was good and bought a metal water bottle, but I quickly found it wasn't dishwasher safe (the exterior) and wound up reverting back to my plastic water bottles at least three out of the five work days. Hopefully nothing will happen to the little one because of it, but researchers from Penn State University Hershey Medical School, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Simon Fraser University found that exposure to BPA while in the womb could lead to childhood wheezing. Yikes!

[What is BPA? Click here]

The study reads that 398 children and their mothers were studied and 99 percent of the moms had detectable BPA levels during their pregnancy. The higher the level of BPA the more wheezing. Although this is far from a large study, the presence of wheezing definitely begs the question, what is happening to the development of the lungs in these babies? That much is unclear and what's also strange is the wheezing did appear to diminish with age (after 6 months).

My daughter doesn't wheeze, thankfully, and besides water bottles there are a number of ways to get BPA in one's system, so hopefully if I had any it wasn't enough to amount to much. Hopefully for you all too!