• Belly art
• Preggy bank
• Pregnancy massage
• Quilt
• Basket of goodies for the hospital
• Pregnancy journal
• Cravings box
• Maternity wear
• Accessories
• Rocking chair

Belly art

After finally adjusting to the awkwardness of a huge bump, offer a little fun to your pregnant friend with a belly art kit! A fun event for mum and dad-to-be, the little kits come with all the materials needed to make a perfect cast of a bump. After leaving it to dry, mum can then decorate her bump cast with paints.

If this all sounds a bit messy, a pack of eco-friendly face paints (or ones you’ve made yourself at home!) make a good gift for mum to have some fun. Turning a bump into a pumpkin might be the Halloween costume she was looking for! If she has a pregnancy photo shoot planned, a spot of belly art can help get a really fun shot.

Preggy bank

A cute little bump on legs with a slot for coins, a Preggy bank is a perfect money tin for mum to be. Any money bank will do, just make sure that mum knows that any money collected is to be spent on herself. From organic facials to treating herself to a meal at her favourite restaurant, the bank will remind her to look after herself.

Pregnancy massage

With sauna, steam room and jacuzzi treatments out the window, mum-to-be needs to find alternative ways to relax. Especially during her third trimester, a specialised pregnancy massage is a great gift to ease that achey back and tired feet. After an hour long massage, she’ll feel revitalised and ready to take on the rest of the pregnancy.

Quilt

From those afternoon naps on the couch to keeping car journeys comfortable, a quilt or blanket is a gift that just keeps on giving to a pregnant woman. After the birth, this quilt will double up to keep mum and baby warm on those midnight feeds.

Basket of goodies for the hospital

After baby comes, within hours the new parents will be inundated with visitors at the hospital desperate for a peek at the new arrival. After minimal sleep and just having given birth, mum will hardly be feeling at her best. Pack her a gift bag of her favourite luxury shampoo and conditioner, a delicious body scrub, a new brush, some great lotions and moisturisers, and maybe a pregnancy-friendly perfume for her shower at the hospital. It might not replace her hours of lost sleep, but it will make her feel fresh and presentable for the impending paparazzi family members.

Pregnancy journal

Especially great for those who are sentimental, a pregnancy journal or scrap book is a great way to make sure they remember all of those important moments, like the first kick. Stick in any bump or scan photos and blog a little every day about experiences. This will probably be something she revisits in the future with her 2nd child, as many of the symptoms will be the same.

Cravings box

Find a decorative box and fill it with those cravings she just can’t get enough of! If Mexican food is her vice during pregnancy, fill it with dinner kits, spices, sauces and a gift card to her favourite Mexican restaurant. No matter how normal (or weird!) the craving is, this is a box she’ll look forward to visiting again and again.

Maternity wear

During pregnancy, her body is changing constantly and that means her favourite dress or top is unlikely to fit for quite some time. Although maternity wear has been known to be frumpy, dated and unflattering in the past, things have changed significantly since then! Mum-to-be no longer has to compromise fashion and will appreciate a gift card to a great pregnancy shop. If you know her well enough, pick her out a comfortable but stylish going out top or dress for those evening meals or gatherings so she doesn’t have to fret when she hears the words ‘dinner party’.

Accessories

Investing in some new accessories and jewellery for mum-to-be is a lifeline for those days where she feels unattractive and hates what she’s wearing. A chunky necklace or patterned scarf can make any boring maternity top funky and let mum add her own personality to her outfits. Avoid buying the shoes she’s been dreaming of as pregnant women can go up by a whole shoe size during pregnancy. It’ll be torture having them sitting tucked away in a box for 9 months.

Rocking chair

A comfortable chair is great during pregnancy and after. Giving mum a comfortable rocking chair or recliner will help her relax and ease her sore feet and back. The added bonus is this chair can be placed in the nursery after birth to help mum nurse, and also to help baby drift off .

Photograph:
Dennis Natrayon @ Flickr

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Why play music to your unborn child?

Music does have one particular benefit for babies and mothers recognised by research and evidence – relaxation. Playing your bump songs can have a relaxing effect on your little one. A study led by Psychobiologist, Carolyn Granier-Deferre from Paris Descartes University went some way into proving babies can recognise and relate to a track that they were played whilst in the womb.

The study called on 50 pregnant women to play a melody twice a day to their unborn child three weeks before birth. One month after birth, the same babies were played the melody again and their responses were monitored. The researches noted a significant reduction in the babies heart rate when the familiar song was played to them. During the familiar song, the average heart rate dropped by 12 beats compared to five or six beats when they were played a new melody.

It’s this recognition and familiarity that can calm and soothe baby during labour or when upset after birth.

There are countless claims and arguments surrounding music and pregnancy. Many people and experts believe playing music, particularly classical, will increase baby’s intelligence and development. Many others don’t feel that there is enough solid research to prove these beliefs.

The Mozart Effect

A study in 1993 (and replicated in 1995) carried out by scientists from the University of California at Irvine, created what is known as The Mozart Effect today.

The Mozart Effect is the belief that playing an unborn baby Mozart throughout pregnancy will increase the child’s intelligence. The study was tested on the students in the University. They were played a Mozart sonata a few minutes before taking a test measuring their spatial temporal reasoning (e.g. imaginging how a piece of paper will look unfolded or reading a map). The students who had listened Mozart performed better than students who had listened to another musician or no music at all.

It was this research that founded the claims that classical music, and indeed Mozart in particular, will improve your child’s intelligence if played before birth. However, the main flaw in the study was the length of time the students enjoyed increased intelligence – just 15 minutes. Although the effect is temporary and only lasted quarter of an hour, the media and government health officials were quick to dismiss this and The Mozart Effect has received continuous good press with very little credible research. The truth is  very much still

Many parents will have read that the beats of Mozart (60 beats per minute) coincide with their baby’s heart beat which in turn helps increase IQ. However, if this was the case, some rock music of the same tempo would be equally effective in making kids clever!

Finding songs your baby enjoys

One thing we do know about pregnancy music is that your baby will show you whether they approve of a song or not! Dedicate an afternoon in your latter stages of pregnancy to play your bump some different styles of music. You’ll find some may prefer calming classical and others will be doing the can-can for some Queen.

Try playing some of these coolest children’s albums to your bump, you’ll find you enjoy the music just as much as baby!

Finding music together is a fun activity for mum and baby to bond together during pregnancy.

Music for labour

In your final trimester, some women may wish to start thinking about a birthing CD or playlist to help them through their labour. There is no correct way to make the playlist and anything mum wants generally goes. From Hypnobirthing to whale noises to your favourite musician, it really is up to you. There are a few things to consider when making the playlist that can be found here.

Source: BBC

Photography: Micah Taylor @Flickr

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The study was a collaboration from researchers at leading US Universities including the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard School of Public Health. The researchers aimed ‘to estimate the impact of gestational and childhood bisphenol A (BPA) exposures on behaviour and executive function at 3 years of age and to determine whether child gender modified those associations’.

In the past, BPA has been found in children’s canned foods and plastic baby bottles.

Research and findings

BPA levels in the urine of 244 mothers and their three year old children from the greater Cincinnati area was measured during pregnancy and at childbirth for the mother, and at the ages of one, two and three for the children. BPA was detected in more than 97% of the samples, but each tenfold increase in gestational BPA concentrations was linked with worse behaviour in female toddlers aged three. There was no link with male behaviour.

Conclusions

The study concluded:

“In this study, gestational BPA exposure affected behavioural and emotional regulation domains at three years of age, especially among girls. Clinicians may advise concerned patients to reduce their exposure to certain consumer products, but the benefits of such reductions are unclear”.

More information

To find out more about BPA, see BPA found in canned children’s food, BPA in baby bottles banned in California, Investigation – Scandal chemical in baby bottles and EU ban in BPA baby bottles

Source: Pediatrics, Impact of early-life Bisphenol A exposure on behaviour and executive function in children,  24 October 2011

Photography: Steven Depolo @Flickr

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Results and findings

Professor Frederic Amant, a gynaecological oncologist at the University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium presented the findings at the Congress.  Amant and colleagues in the Netherlands and Czech Republic began recruiting children to the study in 2005.  Those involved had been born anytime during the period 1991-2010 so that there was an age range from 18 months to 18 years.  Their health was monitored for 2 years on average, although some were monitored for as long as the full 18 years.  Professor Amant said:
“Our results so far suggest that children who were prenatally exposed to chemotherapy seem to do as well as children in the general population, and, that the treatment does not influence the development of mental processes or the functioning of the heart in the children we have followed for an average of 22 months. Therefore, although the role played by chemotherapy in the poor outcome of one of the twin pregnancies cannot be excluded, we believe these results do allow us to make a recommendation about chemotherapy in pregnancy: pregnant women with cancer do not need to delay their cancer treatment or terminate their pregnancy. The benefits of chemotherapy to the mothers outweigh any potential long-term harm to the children. However, it is important to prevent preterm birth if possible and continue pregnancy until at least 37 weeks, as the data suggest the children suffer more from prematurity than from prenatal chemotherapy. Pregnant women who are receiving chemotherapy often have delivery induced from the moment the foetus is viable although not mature. Our results suggest this should be avoided.”

Conclusions

Amant concluded:
“At this stage we do not know the full, long-term consequences of prenatal chemotherapy, including its effect on the children’s fertility and likelihood of developing cancers when they are older. For this reason, we are continuing this international collaboration to follow-up more children for longer periods of time.”

Further Information and Support

For more information and support about cancer during pregnancy, see NHS Cancer Screening

Source: European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress, EMCC News: Chemotherapy during pregnancy does not seem to cause developmental problems in children, 27 September 2011

Further Information: Reuters Health, Chemotherapy appears safe in pregnancy: study, 27 September 2011

Photography: Phil and Pam Gradwell @Flickr

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The researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, led by Dr Ekaterina Maslova found from data analysing the dairy intake of 61,912 women during pregnancy, that children with a mother who drank several glasses of milk per day had a lower risk of developing asthma. However, the children of mothers who consumed one or more low fat yoghurts per day had ‘significantly higher’ levels of asthma diagnosis and hay fever.

Findings and conclusions

The research will be presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress on September 25th 2011. Dr Maslova said:

“This is the first study of its kind to link low-fat yoghurt intake during pregnancy with an increased risk of asthma and hay fever in children. This could be due to a number of reasons and we will further investigate whether this is linked to certain nutrients or whether people who ate yoghurt regularly had similar lifestyle and dietary patterns which could explain the increased risk of asthma.”

She added, “We cannot make any conclusions at this stage. We need to replicate these results in other studies first”.

Advice for Parents

Mindful Mum nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed offers this advice:

“This study will encourage further research into this field and it is important not to be overlooked. However, the effects of high BMI’s on the health of mother and baby is also an important topic and one that certainly needs to be taken into account before and during pregnancy (see Heavy babies linked to high BMI in mums). Therefore the advice still stands to eat a well balanced diet during pregnancy and ensure you are getting enough, and not too many, calories at this vital time”.

Source: Staff Nurse, Low-fat yoghurt in pregnancy could trigger asthma,  19 September 2011

Further Information: European Respiratory Society, ERS Annual Congress, consulted 21 September 2011

Photography: Jeroen @Flickr

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The findings by French and Canadian researchers were published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.  Earlier studies had also suggested that ibuprofen could result in increased risk of birth abnormalities. 

Exercising caution

The researchers discovered that the use of NSAID drugs during pregnancy results in a significant increase of the risk of spontaneous abortion (miscarriage).  The study revealed that the highest rate of miscarriage occurred with diclofenac, which is a particularly strong painkiller.

The researchers concluded:
“Gestational exposure to any type or dosage of nonaspirin NSAIDs may increase the risk of spontaneous abortion. These drugs should be used with caution during pregnancy”.

NHS Advice

NHS choices states that:

“Paracetamol is regarded as safe to take during pregnancy, when pain relief is needed. Pregnant women who are in need of regular pain relief, or who are finding paracetamol insufficient, are advised to consult their doctor, as the cause of pain and the most appropriate course of management require proper medical assessment.”

 Source: 

Use of nonaspirin nonstereoidal anti-inflammatory drugs during pregnancy and the risk of spontaneous abortion - 6th September 2011

Further Information:

Ibuprofen taken in pregnancy doubles risk of miscarriage 

Ibuprofen may ‘raise miscarriage risk’

Photograph:  Karma Dude @ Flickr

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Current guidelines laid out by NICE state that:

“Maternal request is not on its own an indication for Caesarean section” and that, “An individual clinician has the right to decline a request for Caesarean section in the absence of an identifiable reason.” It recommends that women who are fearful of giving birth should be offered counseling, and if this fails they should then be offered the choice of a C-section.

New guidelines offer choice

However, the pre-publication draft of the new guidelines states that women should be given the option:

“For all women requesting a CS, if after discussion and offer of support (including perinatal mental health support for women with anxiety about childbirth), a vaginal birth is still not an acceptable option, offer a planned CS.”

Welcomed by experts

Patrick O’Brien, consultant obstetrician in London said to the BBC:

“It’s laudable what they’ve done, I’ll support it.  I don’t think it changes practice a whole lot. It is formalising what was informally happening in most hospitals.”

Caesarean births currently make up 25% of births in England.

Source:
Women could be given right to choose Caesarean birth

Further Information:
Caesarean Section

Photograph:
Mat Honan @ Flickr

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The findings which were published last week demonstrate the likelihood that expectant mothers with heart disease were almost 100 times more likely to die than those without.  The guidelines released by the ESC say that maternal heart disease is continuing to develop as the most lethal risk during pregnancy.

Age is a factor

According to the research, as the average age for a first time pregnancy rises so then does the risk of conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity.  The recommendation for screening, which was published in the European Heart Journal was described as ‘crucial’.

Source:  European guidance recommends screening pregnant women for heart disease

Further Information:  Heart disease in pregnancy linked to maternal death – Mindful Mum – 31 August  2011

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Data from over 1,300 women from 28 countries and 60 centres has been collected by the researchers. They consist of 869 women with congenital heart disease, 333 with valvular heart disease patients, 79 with cardiomyopathy and 24 with ischaemic heart disease.

Levels are significantly higher

Results so far reflect a very high hospitalisation rate during pregnancy: 338 patients (representing 26% of all pregnancies) were hospitalized, 203 in relation to cardiac problems. Maternal death occurred in 13 patients (1%) and fetal death in 59 cases (4.5%). These death rates are significantly higher than normal according to said Professor Roos-Hesselink. Maternal mortality is in the order of 100 times higher and fetal mortality 10 times higher.

More data required

Professor Roos-Hesselink said the figures were an interim analysis, and that more data was needed for a better understanding of which types of heart disease pose the highest risk and what treatment may be most effective.

Source:

Further Information: Heart disease boosts maternal death 100-fold: study 31 Aug 2011

European Society of Cardiology

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Before pregnancy

A study undertaken by Dr. Steven Offenbacher, a professor at the University of North Carolina’s School of Dentistry, found a direct link between women with gum disease and premature/low birth weight babies. During the study, Dr. Offenbacher had two groups of pregnant mothers with gum disease. One group were asked to rinse twice daily with mouthwash and the other group just with water.

Of the group who rinsed with water, 34 mothers, or around one in four, delivered their babies prematurely before 35 weeks.

From the group who rinsed with mouthwash, just four of the mothers, or around one in 20, delivered their babies prematurely.

Before you try for a baby, make an appointment with your dentist to check your teeth and gums. This way, any problems can be rectified and if you need a filling this can be done before you are carrying a baby.

Make sure you are brushing daily, flossing and using mouthwash (alcohol free!) to keep your mouth healthy before you conceive.

During pregnancy

During pregnancy, it is advisable to visit your dentist more regularly than normal as your teeth need extra care during this time. Some new problems will arise due to hormonal changes and a trip to the dentist can ensure this is all normal.

Most pregnant women find their gums are bleeding more often and more easily. The hormones in your body will cause your gums to soften, making them prone to infection and bacteria which will make them bleed. Excellent oral hygiene during pregnancy and regular visits to your dentist will help combat bleeding and infection. Ask your dentist to show you how to floss and brush effectively.

If your toothpaste is making you feel sick during your morning sickness stage, switch to a bland tasting brand. Your dentist will be able to advise one to you. As stomach acid is damaging to teeth, rinse your mouth with water following sickness.

Treatment

As with most medical procedures, treatment is best done after baby is born, if possible. The department of health has advised that pregnant women avoid having amalgam fillings.

Dentists will also generally wish to avoid X-rays whilst you are pregnant. The apron you wear should protect both mum and baby but if avoidable, it’s best to wait until after baby is born to have X-rays.

Your dentist should advise you of safer, more temporary options of fillings etc.

Whilst pregnant, your dental care is free on the NHS, if you are a registered NHS patient and have a current maternity exemption certificate.

After pregnancy

If you have suffered from any gum disease or bleeding gums during pregnancy, it’s important to see your dentist after you have given birth to have your oral hygiene re-examined. Again, amalgam fillings are not advised for breastfeeding mothers.

Your free dental healthcare continues on for a year after baby is born, so no excuses not to get down to the dentist!

Photography: Conor Lawless @Flickr

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