Gynecology Blog

Nausea in pregnant women during the second and third trimesters can be a sign of flu, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

"People don't necessarily think of influenza when you include the symptoms of nausea or vomiting, but our study showed that they are common with influenza in pregnancy," said Dr. Vanessa Rogers, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and lead author of the study, which appears in the May edition of Obstetrics and Gynecology. More...

The good news is that stretch marks can be prevent during pregnancy but the bad news is that if the problem is an inheritance passed on to you by your family, then the prevention of stretch marks is a bit doubtful.

The stretch marks generally appear in the ninth month of pregnancy because it is the time your skin is stretched to the maximum extent. Weight gain, weight loss, sudden growth are some of the major changes which cause these stretch marks. Whatever the reason be, these look ugly and specially for a today women, stretch marks seems to a curse. It not only looks ugly but also speaks of your age. More...

According to statistics over 40% of first marriages and almost 70% of first live-in relationships fail to reach the 15-year mark. A new study has revealed that pregnancy loss or stillbirth makes it even more difficult to keep up the marriage for long. Although it's also true that such tragedies can also bring the couple together.

It has been revealed by a study that in contrast to couples that had successful pregnancies, ones who had a miscarriage have 22% separation chances, and ones who experienced a stillbirth have 40% chances to do so. It has been said that the risk of separation or divorce can be up to 10 years after the event. More...

A new US study suggests that acupuncture specifically designed for depression may reduce symptoms during pregnancy: although the study was small, the researchers say it is the first of its kind and hope that it raises awareness about depression in pregnancy and helps patients and doctors consider an alternative to antidepressants. More...

Pregnancy and the postpartum period are peak times for women to experience depression, and routine screening for the condition should be a priority, say the authors of an opinion paper issued today in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

An estimated 14% to 23% of pregnant women experience depression, while 5% to 25% will have postpartum depression. The illness carries serious repercussions for both mother and baby, noted the authors of the paper. More...

Health experts recommended obese women gain at least 15 pounds during pregnancy. The 2009 IOM guidelines now recommend a weight gain of 11 to 20 pounds. However, some health experts say the new recommendations may still allow for too much extra weight for obese pregnant women. Research shows obese women are more likely than normal-weight women to have pregnancy-related complications, like gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, preeclampsia, higher rates of C-section delivery and infant death. Research also shows babies born to obese moms are more likely to have excess body fat and insulin resistance. Thus, the cycle of obesity and health problems may be perpetuated into the next generation. Raul Artal, M.D., Obstetrician/Gynecologist with Saint Louis University says obese women who gain less than 10 pounds while pregnant are much less likely to develop pregnancy-related complications.

According to the CDC, about 4.3 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2007. During pregnancy, a woman needs to provide nourishment for herself and for the growing fetus. In 2009, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued updated guidelines on pregnancy weight gain, recommending women of normal pre-pregnancy weight gain 25 to 35 extra pounds.

By the end of the pregnancy, the weight of the baby accounts for about one-fourth of the total weight gain (roughly 7 to 8 pounds). Another seven pounds is for maternal stores of nutrients, protein and fat. The rest of the weight can be attributed to the placenta (1 to 2 pounds), amniotic fluid (2 pounds), uterus (2 pounds), breast tissue (2 pounds), body fluids (4 pounds) and maternal blood (4 pounds).

Parents will soon be able to determine the gender of their unborn accurately at early stages of pregnancy, a new study finds. Ultrasound performed in the second trimester had long been the easiest method to detect the gender of the fetus.

In cases, in which the determination of the gender needed to be performed in earlier stages due to medical reasons, however, invasive tests such as amniocentesis, associated with a small risk of miscarriage, were inevitable. More...

Researchers are reporting that they are now able to determine a foetus’ gender with 100% accuracy at five weeks using a maternal blood test. Previous tests had only been available for women several months into their pregnancies. The findings were reported this week in the publication Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The study was conducted from 2003 to 2009 and included 201 expectant mothers in the Netherlands who were referred by geneticists or gynaecologists advising them on possible genetic diseases. Although the researchers were not able to issue a conclusion in 12 of the cases, in the 189 cases on which they did make a determination, they were correct 189 times. More...

Nyree Paten gained so little weight during her recent pregnancy that some of her neighbors did not even realize she was expecting. A few days before her due date, she weighed only two pounds more than she had at her first prenatal visit.

But Ms. Paten, 35, of the Bronx, was under doctor’s orders to gain no more than 10 or 15 pounds — she was already about 100 pounds overweight. More...