Pregnancy & Childbirth
Benefits of Breastfeeding – Why it is Good for Mother and Baby
You have been told that breastfeeding is good for you and your baby but you would like to know more. Why is it so – how does breastfeeding benefit you and your baby? In a nutshell, if you can feed your baby exclusively on breast milk for the first six months of his/her life, you are giving your baby an early advantage in life by providing not only the correct amount of nutrition but also the ability to fight infections by increasing his immunity against diseases, and in the process benefiting yourself too.
Read the rest of this entry »
Miscarriage Signs and Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, Outlook
Signs and Symptoms of Miscarriage
The signs and symptoms will depend upon the type of abortion.
- In threatened abortion, the symptoms may be mild such as slight bleeding or abdominal cramping. On pelvic examination, the doctor will find a closed cervical os.
- In inevitable abortion, there is likely to be persistent and severe bleeding along with low back pain and severe abdominal cramps, which may not be reduced even with pain relievers. Rupture of membranes may cause a gush of fluid to come out of the vagina. On examination, the os will be found to be open and much dilated and some products of conception may be visible or felt.
- In incomplete abortion, there will be persistent and severe bleeding but abdominal pain and cramps are less. Some products of conception are expelled by the uterus but some are still retained within it.
- In complete abortion, since all the products of conception have come out, bleeding gradually becomes less and pain ceases too.
- In missed abortion, pain is unlikely. There may be a brownish vaginal discharge but os is closed. A missed abortion may be suspected if there is loss of symptoms of pregnancy or a decrease in size of the uterus.
- In infected abortion, there is likely to be fever, chills, foul-smelling vaginal discharge, and pelvic discomfort or pain.
Miscarriage, Spontaneous Abortion, Types, Risk Factors, Causes
Miscarriage (spontaneous abortion) is a pregnancy which terminates spontaneously before completing 20 weeks or the delivery of a fetus weighing 500 grams or less (at which stage it is unable to survive outside the uterus). Unfortunately, more than 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage (early pregnancy loss) and in most cases they occur in the first trimester (first 3 months of pregnancy). This is taken to be a conservative figure, with the actual percentage being much more, since quite often in a very early miscarriage, a woman may not even know that she had been pregnant.
Postpartum Depression – Who is at Risk & How to Cope
Who is likely to suffer from Postpartum Depressive problems?
You are more likely to suffer from postpartum depression and psychosis if you are going through the following situations -
- You have a family history of similar problems.
- You have a family history of psychiatric problems.
- You have suffered from depressive disorders in previous pregnancies.
- Unhappy relationship with your partner.
- The pregnancy was unwanted or you were not prepared for it.
- Events such as recent death of a loved person.
- Stillbirth or death of the newborn baby.
- Baby born with congenital defects.
- Severely ill baby.
- You have feelings of guilt that the baby’s death or illness is somehow your fault, even if that is not so.
- If you are suffering from postpartum depression, chances are that you will suffer from the same problem in your next pregnancies.
- You may be going through financial difficulties associated with loss of employment.
Postpartum Depression, Psychosis and Baby Blues
Following the anticipation and anxiety of delivery comes the time when the baby is finally born. There is relief, happiness and a sense of accomplishment for you as a mother as you hold your newborn baby. Sometimes however, it happens that as the days go by, you feel unaccountably sad, depressed, tearful, anxious or totally detached from your baby. You somehow feel inadequate as a mother or feel guilty for not caring enough for the baby.
Such feelings are not unusual and are often just a temporary phase, which may even go unnoticed by others and you soon come out of this condition of “baby blues” as it called. This is one end of the spectrum of depressive reactions which may follow childbirth, the other end being postpartum psychosis, with postpartum depression right in the middle.