New research findings have established many important facts that should be on the mind of every pregnant woman. In the age of up-to-date prenatal care and ever-increasing care for the unborn bundle of joy, knowledge of what is good and bad for you is crucial. Here are some of the most prominent findings for expecting mothers in 2015.
Too much Ultrasound scans can actually hurt your baby.
A new British research has found that exposing a fetus to multiple ultrasound scans in the first trimester can have adverse effects. While these effects are vague, the doctors involved in the research advise caution using ultrasound to avoid any harm to the fetus.
In addition, Pasko Rakic, a neuroscientist at Yale University School of Medicine, found that prenatal overexposure to ultrasound waves might alter the way they neural cells development in animals, which consequently affect their intellectual ability and behavior. The Yale team has made a recommendation to all pregnant women to use ultrasound only when indicated, much like how they would use X-Rays.
Chronic kidney diseases can cause pregnancy complications
It has been known for a long time how diabetes mellitus, HIV and immunodeficiency inflecting a pregnant woman can harm her baby or cause pregnancy or delivery complication. However, now research show that having chronic kidney illness can affect the pregnancy and delivery; such as preterm delivery, newborns needing intensive care after delivery and even abortion and congenital defects.
Raw meat, raw eggs and liver are bad for pregnant women
Another myth debunked, raw meat and eggs do not have bigger nutritional value or higher protein content than cooked. On the opposite, they can be a source for salmonella infection, which is quite bad for the mother and fetus.
Liver, which has been thought to be a great source of protein and iron, is full of elements that are hard to digest and process by a pregnant woman, in addition to its richness of Vitamin A, a vitamin not recommended for consumption in the first trimester.
Chemotherapy will NOT harm your baby
For many years, pregnant women who have cancer were given a choice between life-saving chemotherapy and postponing it until after delivery. Now, this choice will not torture any expecting ill mother anymore. Frédéric Amant and his team of researchers have announced that after years of research, a fetus that has been exposed to chemotherapy will develop normally without any complication.
