According to the American Pregnancy Association, dizziness and fainting are very common during pregnancy as a result of the drastic hormonal and metabolic changes the body goes through during the first trimester (1). These changes can lower the mother’s blood pressure or blood sugar, causing dizziness and faintness. In the second trimester, the mother may…
Did you know that there are three stages of labor? It’s true. The first stage of labor refers to the period between the onset of labor and the point when a woman’s cervix is dilated to 10 centimeters; the second stage is the period between when the woman’s cervix is dilated to 10 centimeters and…
According to a recent NPR article, the amount of prenatal genetic testing available to expectant parents has increased enormously over the last decade (1). Furthermore, the genetic testing industry is expected to continue growing by nearly 30% over the five years ahead (1). What are genetic tests used for? Prenatal genetic testing is used to…
New Study Finds Benefits of Repeat Prenatal Corticosteroid Treatments Infants born prematurely (before 37 weeks gestation) face numerous risks that those born at term do not. They may experience breathing problems, brain problems, heart problems, temperature control problems, immune system problems, and other short-term issues that usually require a stay in the NICU (1). Furthermore,…
The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed country in the world (1). There are myriad reasons for this devastating fact, one of which is that hospitals across the country can be terribly unprepared for maternal emergencies. In a recent USA Today story, journalists examined billing records from seven million births in…
When a baby requires care after birth, they will be transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or the NICU. Babies may require a NICU stay if they were born prematurely, had problems during delivery, or experienced complications after birth. The cost of a NICU stay depends on a number of factors including duration, treatments,…
Each year, the March of Dimes releases “Premature Birth Report Cards” for U.S. states and cities. These report cards are based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics, and calculated by comparing each location with the goal of reducing rates of premature birth to 8.1% by the year 2020. Michigan, which earned a…
New York governor Andrew Cuomo gained attention in April for driving initiatives to combat the horrific maternal mortality rate among black women in his state. A key element of this task force was for Medicaid to cover the use of doulas, or trained birth coaches. What is a doula? Doulas are professional birth coaches who…
A recent Detroit Free Press article spoke of the horrifyingly high infant mortality rate among babies born in Detroit. According to the piece, 13 out of every 1,000 babies born in Detroit die before their first birthday. Fortunately, this rate has dropped since the founding of one Detroit organization called SisterFriends Detroit. SisterFriends Detroit is…
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, or G6PD, is an enzyme in the body that helps protect red blood cells from injury. When an individual suffers from G6PD deficiency, a genetic disease, he or she fails to make an adequate amount of this enzyme, thereby putting red blood cells in danger of cell death (1). While this condition ranges…
