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Pregnancy
An ectopic pregnancy is when a fertilized egg implants and develops outside of the normal location in the uterus. This could be in a fallopian tube (97 percent of ectopic pregnancies are found here), on an ovary, on the cervix, or in even stranger...
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Pregnancy
While pregnancy is often a time of happiness and excitement, for women with medical complications it can also be a time of increased stress. Having a mental health disorder, such as anxiety, depression, bipolar, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (to...
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Blog
Pregnancy can be a time of joy, but also a time of worry. Am I eating the right foods? Am I gaining the correct amount of weight? Am I allowed to dye my hair? These questions and more are really just the first way a woman becomes a mom: by...
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Pregnancy
Most OB/GYNs have long advised pregnant patients that it’s perfectly safe to take acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain, headaches, and fever. But while many will still give the green light to take it, you’ll likely start to hear some additional...
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Pregnancy
With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it’s the perfect time to acknowledge that breast cancer affects 1 in 8 women at some point in their lives. This can include during pregnancy or the breastfeeding journey, so let’s review what this...
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Pregnancy
An estimated 10-25 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage, resulting in millions of women dealing with a potentially traumatic situation. With today’s medicals advances, like home pregnancy tests and fetal ultrasounds in the first trimester,...
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Pregnancy
Occasionally pregnant women may need to take pain medicine. This may be for a back injury, after recovering from surgery, or during a gallbladder attack. Usually, doctors and midwives will try to use medicine such as acetaminophen and heat or...
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Pregnancy
Heartburn, also known as acid reflux, can be a major inconvenience for many pregnant women. It often surfaces later in pregnancy, such as in the third trimester. Thankfully, there are some things you can do to feel better if this annoying pregnancy...
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Pregnancy
Prescription painkillers are a class of drugs that are used to treat pain. Among the most popular prescription painkillers is the group of medications known as opioids. Common opioids include morphine, oxycodone, and codeine, among others. These...
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Pregnancy
Your thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped gland that is located in the front of your neck. Its job is to produce thyroid hormones that help regulate your metabolism, and these hormones affect many organs in your body. Having too much or too little...
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Pregnancy
Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disorder (IBD) that causes inflammation in the digestive tract, typically focusing on the small intestine. This inflammation can lead to chronic diarrhea and, more severely, scarring in the intestines that...
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Pregnancy
Fibroids are non-cancerous solid tumors that grow in the uterus. They are extremely common, with up to 70-80 percent of women having them by the time they are 50 years old. Most of the time they cause no problems and are only discovered because an...
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Pregnancy
The pelvis is made up of a few bones that are held together by ligaments. These ligaments, which normally stretch during pregnancy, sometimes lengthen so much that they cause pain and discomfort. The pubic symphysis is a joint that unites part of...
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Pregnancy
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Pregnancy
With the various types of obstetric providers that can care for you during your labor and delivery, some women choose to be seen by a midwife. Different categories of midwives exist, but the bottom line is that they all care for low-risk women....
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Pregnancy
Approximately 35 percent of adult Americans, or 1 in 3 people, are now obese. Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above. While we know many complications associated with obesity, being pregnant and obese has its own...
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Pregnancy
When you’re pregnant, it can seem like a new symptom pops up every day, from swollen feet to varicose veins to needing to urinate all the time. While most changes in pregnancy are completely harmless (if a little annoying), some should be taken...
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Pregnancy
Opioids are a type of prescription medicine that is commonly used to treat pain. Drugs that fall into this category include morphine, fentanyl, oxycodone, and codeine, to name a few. While these drugs are legal and play a role in pain management,...
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Pregnancy
A cancer diagnosis can change everything in your life overnight—including raising questions about having children after cancer. Whether or not you can get pregnant after cancer treatments depends upon a number of factors, including your type of...
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Pregnancy
When it comes to pregnancy, many women know that it is important to eat healthy (most of the time…), exercise, and take your prenatal vitamins. But far fewer realize how important it is to take care of one more important thing: your teeth. In fact,...
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Pregnancy
By now, almost everyone has seen or heard of the MTV show 16 and Pregnant, which documents the pregnancies and deliveries of teen moms. The show demonstrates the reality of teen pregnancy and has actually been credited with some of the recent...
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Pregnancy
With asthma being a very common medical condition, many women wonder how this diagnosis may affect their pregnancy. And with some women being afraid to take any unnecessary medications in pregnancy, they may think they should skip their asthma...
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Pregnancy
There is definitely one pregnancy symptom that is not at all enjoyable: hemorrhoids. They can show up during pregnancy or in the postpartum period, and up to 35 percent of pregnant women will experience them. Either way, they can be a nuisance....
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Pregnancy
Once you get a positive pregnancy test, you will probably start wondering how your new baby is going to affect all the aspects of your life. For women who work outside the home, many start to think about when to tell their bosses they are pregnant...
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Pregnancy
Preterm labor is defined as labor that starts between 20 and 37 weeks of pregnancy. Approximately 10 percent of babies are born preterm in the United States. This can be an overwhelmingly scary time, especially if you are earlier in your pregnancy....
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Pregnancy
When a sperm fertilizes an egg, things usually go according to plan. The sperm and egg each contribute equally to donating their chromosomes to the future developing fetus. Sometimes, however, this process can be a little mixed up and cause the...
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Pregnancy
In October 2013, the American College of Obstetricians/Gynecologists (ACOG) issued an updated definition for term pregnancies. The updated definitions are significant because they change when pregnancies are classified as “full term.” Prior to the...
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Pregnancy
First reported in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019, coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) has spread across the globe, with upwards of approximately 930,000 people infected and 46,000 deaths in more than a dozen countries (as of April 1 2020)....
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Pregnancy
Gestational diabetes is diabetes that a woman develops during pregnancy. Out of every 100 pregnant women in the United States, three to eight develop gestational diabetes. Fortunately, with the right tools, gestational diabetes can be treated...
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Pregnancy
For many women, pregnancy is a time when they scrutinize everything that goes into their body for the sake of their developing baby. With flu season officially here, now is a good time to dispel a few myths about the illness and reiterate the...
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Pregnancy
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a virus that can be spread by sexual contact, as well as through contaminated blood, saliva, or urine. While this infection doesn’t usually lead to major problems in adults, it is the most common infection mothers pass to...
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Pregnancy
Having diabetes, any type of diabetes, means that you have too much glucose, a form of sugar, in your bloodstream. When you have gestational diabetes, your blood glucose has risen above normal during your pregnancy. Gestational diabetes may occur...
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Pregnancy
The use of bed rest or extreme activity restriction is a common first-line treatment for many complications of pregnancy, including: preterm labor, being pregnant with multiples, placenta previa, and preeclampsia or high blood pressure, to name a...
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Pregnancy
By definition, recurrent miscarriages (also known as recurrent pregnancy loss) is the loss of two or more pregnancies. A single miscarriage may be devastating for hopeful parents-to-be, and this emotional toll usually increases as more losses...
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Pregnancy
Up to 85 percent of women experience occasional nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (usually referred to as “morning sickness”), but hyperemesis gravidarum is an extreme version of this more typical pregnancy symptom. Affecting up to 2 percent of...
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Pregnancy
Experiencing a preterm birth for the first time can be a scary, stressful experience. Whether you delivered at 24 weeks or 34 weeks of pregnancy, bringing a baby into the world sooner than you were mentally prepared for can really make thinking...
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Pregnancy
Streptococcus agalactiae, otherwise known as Group B Strep (GBS), is a bacteria that approximately 20-25 percent of pregnant women have in their vagina and rectum. Carrying this bacteria does not mean that you acquired a sexually transmitted...
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Pregnancy
Miscarriage is unfortunately a common occurrence, complicating approximately 25 percent of pregnancies. Another term for a miscarriage is a “spontaneous abortion.” Dealing with this can be very difficult, so it is important to understand your...
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Pregnancy
One of the less glamorous symptoms of pregnancy is an increase in vaginal discharge. This can happen at any time, but many women notice it more in the second and third trimesters. However, not all discharge is created equal, and knowing what is...
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Pregnancy
Food poisoning occurs when people eat or drink harmful microorganisms (bacteria, parasites, viruses), usually in contaminated food or drinking water. Food poisoning is especially important to avoid during pregnancy because the immune system is...
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Pregnancy
Chorioamnionitis is when an infection develops in the uterus during labor. This condition complicates 1-4 percent of all deliveries. Also known as intra-amniotic infection, the diagnosis is made when a mom develops a fever during labor and no other...
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Pregnancy
When you have gestational diabetes, insulin may become part of your management plan. And as with many medications, insulin may cause certain side effects. One of the most common side effects of insulin is hypoglycemia, or low blood glucose. Insulin...
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Pregnancy
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a condition that affects 12-21 percent of all women, depending on the definition used and the population being examined. It can be present when a woman has two main issues: irregular or absent periods, and signs...
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Pregnancy
Sickle cell anemia is a disorder where a certain type of hemoglobin — a compound found in red blood cells that is responsible for helping transport oxygen — is abnormally formed. This changes the shape of a person’s red blood cells from a circular...
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Pregnancy
With approximately 26 percent of American teens and young adults infected with genital herpes, herpes is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. That means 1 in 4 pregnant women may potentially carry the virus, and since it can...
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Pregnancy
If healthy food choices and physical activity do not keep your blood glucose in a healthy range when you have gestational diabetes, your healthcare provider may prescribe insulin to help manage gestational diabetes. It may help you to understand...
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Pregnancy
A placenta previa is when a portion of the placenta lies over the opening of a woman’s cervix. This complicates approximately 1 in every 200 births, and if you have a previa there are a few important things you should know as it can affect how you...
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Pregnancy
When you have Gestational Diabetes, you will need to check your blood glucose several times a day to see how well your food choices, physical activity and medications, if necessary, are affecting your glucose levels. To check your glucose you need...
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Pregnancy
Have you experienced a pregnancy loss? Sadly, up to 15 percent, or approximately 1 out of every 7 pregnancies, will end in a miscarriage. The odds are, if you are a woman of reproductive age, either you or someone you know has miscarried. If you...
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Pregnancy
A few recalls have made headlines over concerns of fruit contaminated with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. This bacterium can cause the infection listeriosis, which can have serious effects in a pregnant woman. If a pregnant woman consumed a...
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Pregnancy
Having a baby can be an expensive proposition, but not all childbirths cost the same. In general, you can expect to pay more for a C-section—but not always. When comparing a vaginal delivery versus a scheduled C-section, there are a few factors...
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Pregnancy
HELLP syndrome, also considered a possible variant of preeclampsia, is a life-threatening complication that usually occurs during pregnancy’s later stages or even up to a week after childbirth. The acronym HELLP describes what happens to women when...
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Pregnancy
A cerclage is a stitch that is placed around the cervix to help hold it closed. It can be placed at different times in pregnancy, but is usually removed once a women is early term or full term. A cerclage can be used to help a few different...
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Pregnancy
When you have Gestational Diabetes, using insulin may become part of your management plan. You may be nervous about injecting insulin at first. Meet with your diabetes care team to go over the correct steps for injecting insulin with a syringe....
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Pregnancy
When you have gestational diabetes, your diabetes care team may prescribe insulin to help you reach your blood glucose goals. Some women who inject insulin use an insulin pen. Keep in mind that there are several different pens to choose from and...
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Pregnancy
Medicine is rarely so straightforward that it can offer a “one size fits all” pattern. In fact, there is a reason it is called the “practice” of medicine or the “art” of medicine — because oftentimes a doctor or midwife needs to carefully consider...
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Pregnancy
Postpartum depression is a complication of pregnancy that most women have heard about. This is a good thing, since about 15 percent of moms experience it. However, antenatal depression, or depression during pregnancy, is something that tends to be...
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Pregnancy
Preeclampsia is defined as high blood pressure that develops in the second half of pregnancy and is associated with too much protein in your urine, along with other concerning findings such as headaches, vision changes, or pain coming from your...
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Pregnancy
About 11-27 percent of pregnant women will experience restless leg syndrome (RLS) at some point. Unfortunately, many women will notice these symptoms in the third trimester, which can be uncomfortable enough as it is! Women who’ve had RLS when they...
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Pregnancy
With summer in full bloom, many people may be wondering, “Whatever happened to the Zika virus? Do I still need to worry?” Just a couple years ago, the scare of infant birth defects, including microcephaly, was a very real concern for women who were...
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Pregnancy
As of 2015 in the United States, about 9.5 percent of all babies are born preterm, meaning they were born at less than 37 weeks gestation. We know that being born preterm can lead to multiple complications for a new baby, such as problems with...
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Pregnancy
You’ve just given birth to a beautiful baby. But when your pregnancy is complicated by gestational diabetes, you may be concerned about the health of your baby as well as your own. To check for possible complications, your baby may be taken out of...
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Pregnancy
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Pregnancy
Round ligament pain is a common cause of discomfort for many pregnant women. While it does not put you or your baby in any danger, it can still be a nuisance. The round ligaments are support structures in the uterus. They are bands of tissue that...
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Pregnancy
Like miscarriages, elective abortions can be managed medically (with medications) or surgically. When done surgically, a procedure called a dilation and curettage (or “D&C”) is performed. Women who have experienced a miscarriage or undergone an...
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Pregnancy
Chicken pox (varicella) is a highly contagious herpes virus that is transmitted by respiratory droplets. While the incidence of chicken pox has decreased dramatically in recent years thanks to the varicella vaccine, the virus is still risky to...
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Pregnancy
Stillbirth is defined as the loss of a fetus after 20 weeks gestation. This heartbreaking outcome complicates approximately 1 in 160 pregnancies, with 25,000 occurring each year in the United States. Although we don’t always know what causes...
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Pregnancy
An amniotic fluid embolism, or AFE, is thankfully an extremely rare complication of birth. It only occurs in about 1 in 40,000 deliveries, but it can be deadly, with a 20 to 60 percent mortality rate. Here we will break down what it is and how it...
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Pregnancy
An amniotic fluid embolism, or AFE, is thankfully an extremely rare complication of birth. It only occurs in about 1 in 40,000 deliveries, but it can be deadly, with a 20 to 60 percent mortality rate. Here we will break down what it is and how it...
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Pregnancy
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Pregnancy
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is the diagnosis of diabetes, or carbohydrate intolerance, in pregnancy. This condition complicates about 5 percent of all pregnancies, with some ethnic groups being more affected than others. There are a few...
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Pregnancy
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Pregnancy
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Pregnancy
Amniotic fluid is the fluid that surrounds your baby while he or she is in the uterus, and it contributes to the perfect environment needed for your baby to grow and develop. However, more is not always better, and the condition known as...
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Pregnancy
Meconium aspiration syndrome, or MAS, occurs when a fetus inhales fecal material—called meconium—into the lungs from the surrounding amniotic fluid. Meconium is the term for the dark green, thick stool that a newborn usually passes in utero or soon...
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Pregnancy
The abbreviation PPROM stands for preterm premature rupture of membranes. This is when the amniotic sac, or bag of waters, breaks before 37 weeks’ gestation and before labor has started. This complication affects approximately 3 percent of...
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Pregnancy
When you have Gestational Diabetes, making healthy food choices is one of the best ways you can manage your blood glucose while providing enough nutrients to you and your growing baby. This doesn’t mean you have to go on a boring,...
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Pregnancy
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Pregnancy
After giving birth to your baby, the placenta naturally separates from the wall of the uterus as it is no longer needed. However, this sometimes occurs before your baby is born. This premature separation of the placenta from the uterus is called...
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Pregnancy
This is a common question, so let’s make it simple: no, the COVID vaccine does not cause infertility. Here’s why. In order for something to have a potential side effect or complication, there has to be some biological way for this to...