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Pregnancy hives are actually a kind of skin rash, which is characterized by itchy, raised and red welts which develop hives may change their placement and shape, and also appears like groups and clusters. Usually, hives initially appear on abdominal area and slowly spread to neck, chest, buttocks, back of arms and legs. Generally, gives during pregnancy are harmless, though severe itching is associated with rash is annoying as well as discomforting. During pregnancy, hives that occur over the face is a very rare condition.

Causes of Hive During Pregnancy:
Hives are also called as “urticaria”. These are usually caused due to allergies, but pregnancy hives are an exception. Causes of pregnancy hives include:

• Allergic foods: Sometimes, hives during pregnancy are caused by the allergic reaction to some kinds of foods like soybean, shellfish, tomatoes, eggs, etc. which are the cause for hives on the skin. Women with food allergies must avoid these foods during pregnancy.
• Stretching Skin: Hives are also due to stretched skin during pregnancy. Skin of stomach stretches for accommodating the baby inside the womb and thus, these changes cause rashes.
• Drugs and Medications: Reactions to several drugs and medications also trigger skin rashes during pregnancy. Hence, a pregnant woman must avoid using the over-counter medications without seeking the doctor’s advice. Pregnant woman are recommended to discuss the entire case with the physician, such that he can prescribe appropriate medications.
• Hormonal Changes: In some cases, hormonal changes in pregnant women induces hives and rashes. Fluctuations in hormonal changes such as estrogen and progesterone leads to skin hives and rashes. Additional hormones which are released during pregnancy results in the release of the histamines which cause skin rashes. Mostly, hives are accompanied by lesions and tiny blisters, which are harmless.
• Pruritic Urticarcial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy (PUPPP): Typically, this occurs during the last trimester of pregnancy. This is similar to hives and are harmless.
• Chemicals in Food Products: Sometimes, food products which contain several additives, such as preservatives and edible colors also causes hives. Hence, a pregnant woman must avoid consuming junk food.

Additionally, extreme temperature, emotional stress, physical strain, wearing tight clothes and excessive perspiration may also ignite pregnancy hives. There are possibilities of developing pregnancy hives if there are pet animals around the pregnant woman. Hence, it is must to take care of pets in house. They are advised to stay away from pets.

Pregnancy

From the Omaha World-Herald, August 19, 2010

State sued over prenatal services

By Paul Hammel

LINCOLN — Eight months pregnant and with a history of gestational diabetes, an Adams County woman faces birth complications and brain and heart defects in her baby.

She went to court Thursday seeking to reverse the state’s decision to end government-paid, prenatal services for illegal immigrants and some other low-income women.

The 38-year-old woman, identified as “Jane Doe” in court documents, is one of about 1,550 pregnant women who lost prenatal services as of March 1.

In a lawsuit filed on behalf of these women, the Nebraska Appleseed Center claimed the state is required to provide such services for unborn children under its Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.

The Appleseed Center feared there would be cases like “Doe,” in which poor women, with no prenatal care, would face higher-risk deliveries and greater chances of birth defects for their children, said Becky Gould, the center’s executive director.

For the full story, visit Omaha.com

babiesbornhealthy.com

Depression during pregnancy is a very serious medical condition that poses risk for a women and her baby. This is an illness that involves the mood, body and thought, as it affects a women’s way of thinking about herself and also the way she takes things in her life. Around 1 out of 5 women have the symptoms of depression during pregnancy. It is sometimes difficult to diagnose this disorder because some of the symptoms are same as the one’s found in pregnancy. Babies born to depressant mothers can be irritable, less active and attentive, and at times they are even born prematurely or have low birth weight.

What are the symptoms of Depression during pregnancy?
A pregnant women is depressed feels blue or sad and they suffer from other symptoms that last for 2 weeks or longer. The other signs and symptoms include:

• Sleeping too much
• Guilty feeling
• Difficulty concentrating
• Suicidal thoughts
• Trouble sleeping
• Lack of interest
• Loss of energy
• Changes in appetite
• Restlessness
• Agitated behavior

Complications of Depression during Pregnancy
If a depressed pregnant women is not given proper treatment, some of the serious complications for the women and the baby include:

• Poor prenatal care
• Poor weight gain
• Use of alcohol or drugs to self-medicate
• Preeclampsia
• Unhealthy eating habits
• Suicidal thoughts

Risk Factors for Depression during Pregnancy
Some of the common risk factors include:

• Personal or family history of anxiety or depression
• Difficulties in a relationship
• Previous pregnancy loss
• Stressful events in your life
• Past history of sexual, physical or verbal abuse
• Unplanned pregnancy if a women is single and young

Tips for a pregnant women with depression
Here are some useful tips:

• Take plenty of rest at home.
• Ask your family or friends to help you cope.
• Discuss your feelings with family and friends
• Do not make major life changes during pregnancy
• Join a support group to cope up with the challenges.

Note: If you are on an antidepressant medications and know that you are pregnant, never try to stop the medications without talking to your Mental Health Care Professional because it can lead to further complications if you sop the medications suddenly.

Pregnancy

Baby bottle car warmer is very good news to all parents of newborn baby. Don’t worry about carrying warmed milk in flasks and soon it will lose its warmness and then you need to think about a way to heat the milk before you feed your baby. Before you could think a possible way to [...]

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Baby Development Milestones

Pregnancy brings along a lot of advice on what to eat and what not to eat. A pregnant woman becomes responsible for the health of the child. Pregnancy can be a challenging time if you are a pregnant woman. It is very difficult for a working pregnant women to take care of diet and eat all nutrients during pregnancy. During this time, they tempted to eat fast foods rather than eating a meal. However, a healthy diet containing all the essential nutrients helps in maintaining the health of a mother and the child. This article focuses on the tips to follow diet plan during pregnancy.

Tips to follow Diet plan During Pregnancy

It is very important for a pregnant mother to follow a healthy diet plan. You can also start post pregnancy diet plan which focuses on health weight loss. Follow a healthy diet plan till you feed your baby with breast milk. Following are the tips:-

• Avoid eating heavily processed food. It does give your body necessary nutrients during pregnancy.
• In order to make quick healthy snacks, keep sliced vegetables sealed in the refrigerator.
• Eat as much as organic food you can.
• Make your snacks at home and add seeds, nuts and raisins in your snack.
• Include essential fatty acid in your diet.
• Eat healthy food as much a possible in order to avoid morning sickness during first trimester of pregnancy.
• Intake calcium food as much as you can. Also include food which has high protein in it.
• In order to avoid junk food, make two to three recipes in advance during your weekend. You can cook smoked turkey which can be later on used as sandwiches, casseroles and salads all through the week.

These are the diet tips one should follow during pregnancy. There are many pregnant which you can follow a diet but you should always follow a diet which has necessary proteins, nutrients and vitamins in it. Therefore, you should always opt for a balanced and healthy diet. You may also follow a high fiber diet which will maintain your digestive system and ensure you a trouble free pregnancy period.

Pregnancy

Many women who are unable to have a family on her own, surrogacy is best suitable option available. Couples who cannot bear their own children due to various reasons opt for surrogacy. If you want to become a surrogate mother, there several things to keep in mind. This article focuses on the ways of becoming a surrogate mother.

Ways of Becoming a Surrogate Mother

• The process of carrying a child for full term and then giving the baby to someone else is known as surrogate motherhood.
• However, the child may or may not be genetically related to surrogate mother because there are two types surrogacy- one is gestational and the other one is traditional.
• In gestational surrogacy, the eggs as well as the sperms get extracted from the intended parents and then transferred to the interim’s omission. In traditional surrogacy, the intended male sperm and interim’s egg is artificially inseminated in the interim.
• Before opting for surrogacy, evaluate yourself properly. Ask yourself several questions such as why you are opting for surrogacy, are your family members supporting your decision, are you able to accept the fact that the child will not be yours and you have to give the child as soon as the child is born. If you are able to answer these questions, then you can opt for surrogacy.
• You must also be aware of the requirements of the surrogate mother such as you should be physical and mentally fit, you should be more than 18 years old, you should be able to undergo psychological and physical test and you should not have a history of sexually transmitted diseases.
• In order to become a surrogate mother, you must be aware of the laws and rights of a surrogate mother. The right varies from state to state. Learn about these laws according to the state which you are residing.
• Between you and the intended parents a legal format will be signed. This format will state all the terms and conditions. This statement will also carry medical and financial expenses which is taken care by the intended parents.

This is all about how to become a surrogate mother. However, surrogate is not as simple as it seems, consider all the points before opting it.

Pregnancy

Foods such as vegetables like carrots, and spices and other items like garlic have antibiotic properties that help to fight bacterial infections naturally
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Many couples who dream to have babies and are not able to produce easily, artificial insemination process is the best available option. A lot of consideration should be kept in mind before opting for artificial insemination process, however, it is an effective process. For couples who wants to start a family, infertility and inability to produce children can be very distressing.

In order to get rid from the distressing situation, artificial insemination process can be a possible solution. Before opting for artificial insemination process, there some points which should be kept in mind such as time, commitment and length of the procedure. This article focuses on process and working of artificial insemination.

Process of Artificial Insemination

• Placing and preparing the sperms directly into the cervical canal of the female is referred as the process of artificial insemination.
• Infertility is caused due to low sperm counts, sperms that are not active or problems in the cervical mucus. Artificial insemination helps in treating these problems.
• If want to opt for artificial insemination in order to treat infertility problems consult a gynaecologist.
• Certain medical test can be conducted in order to prepare yourself for artificial insemination process.

Working of Artificial Insemination Process

There are several ways in which a artificial insemination process can be done. After conducting the tests prior to artificial insemination, doctor will let you know which method is best suitable for you. However, there are three methods of artificial insemination process. They are:-

• The intrauterine insemination
• The intracervical insemination
• The intratubal insemination

The most common and easy methods of treating artificial insemination are intrauterine and intracervical. However, intratubal method is done rarely and it has low success rate.

Steps of processing Artificial Insemination

• The doctor may or may not advice a woman to take fertility medication which stimulates production and maturation of eggs.
• Just before the commencement of the menstrual cycle, these fertility medication are need to be taken.
• Using ultrasound and body basal temperature, the woman’s mensuration cycle is considered.
• The sperm of a male partner is obtained which is then washed and concentrated. This is done so that the mucus gets emoved which increase the possibility of fertilisation.
• The sperm is inserted into the woman’s womb at the beginning of ovulation. This method is painless. If the egg is fertilised then pregnancy can be detected within 2 weeks.

There is a high success rate of artificial insemination process. However, if artificial insemination process fails, there are other procedures in order to treat infertility. The success rate of artificial insemination process depends upon your lifestyle and diet. So eat well balanced and a healthy diet. Avoid alcohol, smoking and drugs during and after the process of artificial insemination.

Pregnancy

Premature babies needs extra care though they are tiny bundles of joy. Children who are born before the 37th week of pregnancy are known as premature babies. This is the reason why premature baby weigh less compared to mature babies. Until the organs of premature baby work on their own, the baby is kept under NICU. This article focuses on the causes and health complications faced by premature babies.

Causes of Premature Babies

• There are several reasons behind premature baby. The lifestyle of a mother such as smoking, drinking and not eating properly leads to premature babies.
• Hormonal imbalance
• A chronic illness or infection
• A structural abnormality of the uterus.
• Premature baby also result when the the mother is more than 35 years old or less than 19 years old.

Needs of Premature Babies

Warmth:- It is important to keep the premature baby warm because it does not have the body fat required by the body temperature. It can be achieved with the help of radiant warmers or incubators. Radiant beds run on electricity and they are warm open beds. Incubators keep the baby warm as as well decreases the chances of infection and water loss.

Nutrition:- Premature babies grow faster compared to normal babies so they require nutritional needs because their digestive systems are immature. Premature babies are at a risk of suffering from narcotizing enterocolitis, therefore they cannot be fed from the breast directly. In order to avoid this problem, premature babies are usually fed with the help of a pump through a tube which goes from the child’s mouth into the stomach.

Health Complication faced by Premature Babies

Hyperbilirubinemia:- This problem affects 80% of the premature babies which further leads to bilirubin. Bilirubin is a compound which causes jaundice. Premature babies are treated in order to eliminate bilirubin and they are placed under special lights.

Apnea:- Due to the immaturity in the area of the brain this problem is caused. The baby is unable to breathe and heart rate decreases. In order to treat apnea a baby is given a nasal device which blows a steady stream of air into airways.

Low Blood Pressure:- The most common health complication that occurs to premature baby is low blood pressure. This happens due to the infection, blood loss or medications which are administered to the mother before delivery.

Pregnancy

Travel is still an option for pregnant women provided that care is taken to ensure that the health of the mother and the unborn child is not compromised
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