Leading OB-GYN group breaks from CDC on maternal vaccination schedule

Medical societies endorse ACOG’s schedule, saying maternal vaccines are ‘key element’ of protection

The leading professional organization for obstetricians and gynecologists in the US has launched its first maternal vaccination schedule and diverged for the first time from federal recommendations.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has long recommended giving the shots during pregnancy, but this is the first time releasing them as an official schedule.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/qxnugQa

Birthkeeper hired by woman who died after freebirth tells inquest she was ‘not there to make a birth safer’

Emily Lal – paid $6,000 to provide freebirth support package to Stacey Warnecke – tells coroner her role was primarily to be a ‘supportive friend’

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

A birthkeeper hired by a woman who died after giving birth at home has told a coroner that she was “not there to make a birth safer”.

Emily Lal gave evidence on Tuesday at the inquest into the death of 30-year-old Stacey Warnecke, who died on 29 September in Frankston hospital after giving birth at home with her husband and Lal present.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/x1H3QwD

Blood test can find thousands of genetic conditions in pregnancy, say scientists

Technique that examines fragments of foetal DNA in mother’s bloodstream could limit need for invasive screening, according to researchers

A new maternal blood test that can detect thousands of serious genetic conditions in the developing foetus could limit the need for invasive screening during pregnancy, according to scientists.

The test, to be described at the European Society for Human Genetics conference in Gothenburg on Saturday, relies on detecting tiny fragments of a foetus’s DNA that circulate in the mother’s bloodstream during pregnancy. Using advanced sequencing techniques, scientists were able to identify a very high proportion of genetic conditions, such as cystic fibrosis, that are currently only reliably diagnosed using amniocentesis or other invasive tests.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/l0PEXc1

A religious hospital denied her a life-saving drug during an ectopic pregnancy. She lost her fertility

Harmonie Perrone, 28, is suing Advocate Good Shepherd in Illinois, where reproductive rights are enshrined in law

Harmonie Perrone, 28, knew she was probably having an ectopic pregnancy, and she knew exactly what she needed to do: seek medical care immediately, before life-threatening complications set in.

But she was denied that care twice as she feared for her life – and, after the delay in care, she lost her fertility, she says in a new lawsuit filed Monday.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/ypJLDxz

Scientists create wearable ultrasound to continuously monitor babies in womb

Team hope the UPatch – at present a proof-of-concept device – will aid early detection of complications and prevent stillbirths

Scientists have created a wearable ultrasound patch that can continuously monitor babies in the womb, with the hope that such devices could aid the early detection of complications during pregnancy.

The team behind the work say ultrasound-based techniques in place now have drawbacks: continuous monitoring of the baby’s heart rate and contractions of the womb using current methods leads to a high rate of false alarms, while the use of more conventional handheld devices for imaging is limited to a small number of scans during pregnancy, and must be carried out by a skilled operator.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/xdfc58t

Antidepressants in pregnancy do not raise children’s risk of autism or ADHD, study finds

Researchers say risk comes from ‘other factors, including genetic predisposition to mental health conditions’

Taking antidepressants during pregnancy does not increase the risk of children going on to develop autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to an analysis of more than half a million pregnancies.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Hong Kong and published in the Lancet Psychiatry, analysed data from 37 existing studies that included 600,000 pregnant women who had taken antidepressants, and 25 million women who had no antidepressant use during their pregnancies.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/sxXcPRB

Mental illness is pregnancy’s No 1 complication. It’s time to support those who suffer from it | Edna Lekgabe

Integrated mental health care for maternity services, more perinatal psychiatrists and public awareness of the problem could deliver meaningful change

• The modern mind is a column where experts discuss mental health issues they are seeing in their work

When Mia* was referred to me, she was 32 weeks pregnant and had not slept properly in two months. Her GP had told her it was “just pregnancy insomnia”. Her obstetrician said it was normal and suggested she try going to bed earlier with a pregnancy pillow. By the time she sat in my consulting room, hands clenched around a damp tissue, she had been quietly planning how her partner and baby would be better off without her.

Mia is not a real person. She is a composite – an amalgam of the hundreds of women I see each year in my perinatal psychiatry practice. But her story is so common it could be a template. A woman develops psychological symptoms during pregnancy or the postpartum period. She mentions them, tentatively, at an antenatal appointment. She is reassured that what she feels is normal. Weeks or months pass. By the time she reaches specialist care, she is freefalling into a crisis.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/4GK5XTP