Breast Tenderness And Enlargement
Over the course of pregnancy, you can expect that each breast will gain up to 1lb (0.5 kg) in weight. During pregnancy your breasts may be quite tender, especially in the first trimester. While all of these changes are normal, they mean that you should wear a good bra for support. Early in pregnancy you […]
Financing Your Maternity Care
Health care financing has been undergoing rapid change in the past decade. For this reason, it is impossible to write with any certainty what services will be covered by insurance companies and to what extent. Coverage changes at a phenomenal rate and varies by state, by plan, and even within plans, depending on the employer. […]
The Environment for Labor During Pregnancy
Along with changes in health care and in education has come a change in concepts of what labor facilities should look like. In the 1940s a labor room in a major hospital might have been a rather large room done in gray ceramic tile. A low bedspring,coming to about eighteen inches off the floor without […]
The Pregnancy Initial Visit
As soon as you think or know you are pregnant, you should contact a specific pregnancy care provider-see the preceding pages. The initial pregnancy visit should occur sometime in the first 12 weeks-or first trimester-of pregnancy. Optimally, it should take place when you are about 6 to 8 weeks pregnant. If you haven’t had a […]
Folic Acid used for Prevention of Birth Defects
Recent research has shown that folic acid type of B vitamin-is important in the prevention of several types of birth defects called neurol tube defects. The neural tube forms the brain and spinal cord. Neural tube defects, such as spina bifida, occur during the early weeks of fetal development if the tube doesn’t close completely. […]
Optimizing Your Chances for Becoming Pregnant
Once a couple makes the commitment to start, expand, or complete a family, it often becomes crucial to them to accomplish this goal as soon as possible. In their fervor to achieve pregnancy, many couples diminish their chances by having sex too often. Daily sex may lower sperm counts, reducing the chance of one reaching […]