Gestional diabetes is a condition that some women develop during pregnancy. Between 2 and 7 percent of expectant mothers develop this condition, making it one of the most common health problems of pregnancy.
These days, most women who develop diabetes during pregnancy go on to have healthy babies. Your practitioner will monitor you closely and you'll most likely be able to keep your blood sugar levels under control with diet and exercise, and by getting insulin shots if you need them. However, poorly controlled diabetes can have serious consequences for you and your baby.
For most women with gestational diabetes, the main worry is that too much glucose will end up in the baby's blood. When that happens, your baby's pancreas needs to produce more insulin to process the extra glucose. All this excess blood sugar and insulin can cause your baby to make more fat and put on extra weight, particularly in the upper body.
This can lead to what's called macrosomia. A macrosomic baby may be too large to enter the birth canal. Or the baby's head may enter the canal but then his shoulders get stuck. In this situation, called shoulder dystocia, your practitioner and her assistants will have to use special maneuvers to deliver your baby. Delivery can sometimes result in a fractured bone or nerve damage, both of which heal without permanent problems in nearly 99 percent of babies. (In very rare cases, the baby may suffer brain damage from lack of oxygen during this process.) What's more, the maneuvers needed to deliver a broad-shouldered baby can lead to injuries to the vaginal area or require a large episiotomy for you.
Because of these risks, if your practitioner suspects that your baby may be overly large, she may recommend delivering by cesarean section. Fortunately, only a minority of women with well-controlled gestational diabetes end up with overly large babies.
Shortly after delivery, your baby may also have low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) because his body will still be producing extra insulin in response to receiving extra glucose from you. Your delivery team will test his blood sugar at birth by taking a drop of blood from his heel. If it's low, you'll want to feed him as soon as possible, either by breastfeeding or giving him some formula or sugar water.
Most of the information for this post came from www.babycenter.com.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Music with Labor and Delivery
Today we have an excellent post from a guest blogger, Carol Smith! I know you're going to enjoy it!
Labor and Delivery: Can Music Make a Difference?
Not for nothing did William Congreve say that "music had charms to soothe the savage breast;" if you’ve ever seen a woman about to give birth, you’ll know that if anyone needs soothing, it is her. Labor pains can wrack your body and make you feel like you’re being put through a wringer; it’s something that’s hard to understand if you’ve not gone through it yourself. No matter how prepared you are with your Lamaze and natural breathing classes, there’s always the chance that you may lose control because of the pain. And when you’re in the throes of pain, how do you calm yourself? One answer that really works is – MUSIC. So how does music make a difference during labor and delivery?
• According to this article, scientists have proved that music has therapeutic properties. It eases labor pain and removes the depression that moms feel after giving birth.
• When you listen to your favorite songs or slow music, you take your mind off the labor pain and the impending delivery.
• Music also helps you drown out the other sounds that could grate on your nerves – like the traffic outside your room or the noise made by other patients and workers in a hospital.
• It helps create a setting where you are at peace with yourself and your surroundings.
• Music reduces stress and anxiety and boosts your chances of having a normal and safe delivery
• It reduces the need for epidurals and other pain medication which could potentially harm your baby as it raises your pain threshold. You’re able to bear much more pain without suffering the accompanying physical agony.
• Music helps you relax and breathe deeply from your abdomen.
• Songs which have inspirational lyrics help soothe your mood and prepare you for the impending birth of your child. Some songs encourage and motivate you through the pain with their uplifting lyrics and soothing tunes.
One man’s meat is another’s poison, so what works for your friends may not necessarily work for you. Before you go into labor, be prepared with a collection of your favorite songs, tunes and melodies that calm and relax you and put you in a good mood so that you can play it while you’re in labor and waiting to deliver. Music is much better, more effective, and definitely safer than drugs that are meant to mitigate your pain.
By-line:
This article is contributed by Carol Smith, who regularly writes on the topic of ultrasound tech school http://ultrasoundtechschools.org/ . She invites your questions, comments at her email address: smithcarol.311@rediffmail.com
Labor and Delivery: Can Music Make a Difference?
Not for nothing did William Congreve say that "music had charms to soothe the savage breast;" if you’ve ever seen a woman about to give birth, you’ll know that if anyone needs soothing, it is her. Labor pains can wrack your body and make you feel like you’re being put through a wringer; it’s something that’s hard to understand if you’ve not gone through it yourself. No matter how prepared you are with your Lamaze and natural breathing classes, there’s always the chance that you may lose control because of the pain. And when you’re in the throes of pain, how do you calm yourself? One answer that really works is – MUSIC. So how does music make a difference during labor and delivery?
• According to this article, scientists have proved that music has therapeutic properties. It eases labor pain and removes the depression that moms feel after giving birth.
• When you listen to your favorite songs or slow music, you take your mind off the labor pain and the impending delivery.
• Music also helps you drown out the other sounds that could grate on your nerves – like the traffic outside your room or the noise made by other patients and workers in a hospital.
• It helps create a setting where you are at peace with yourself and your surroundings.
• Music reduces stress and anxiety and boosts your chances of having a normal and safe delivery
• It reduces the need for epidurals and other pain medication which could potentially harm your baby as it raises your pain threshold. You’re able to bear much more pain without suffering the accompanying physical agony.
• Music helps you relax and breathe deeply from your abdomen.
• Songs which have inspirational lyrics help soothe your mood and prepare you for the impending birth of your child. Some songs encourage and motivate you through the pain with their uplifting lyrics and soothing tunes.
One man’s meat is another’s poison, so what works for your friends may not necessarily work for you. Before you go into labor, be prepared with a collection of your favorite songs, tunes and melodies that calm and relax you and put you in a good mood so that you can play it while you’re in labor and waiting to deliver. Music is much better, more effective, and definitely safer than drugs that are meant to mitigate your pain.
By-line:
This article is contributed by Carol Smith, who regularly writes on the topic of ultrasound tech school http://ultrasoundtechschools.org/ . She invites your questions, comments at her email address: smithcarol.311@rediffmail.com
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