Brit teens clueless about birth

No wonder teen pregnancy rates are so high in Britain.

A new poll reveals that 20% of18 to 25-year-olds think pregnancy lasts one year.

10% believe eating red meat influences the sex of a baby.

Here's my favourite part: 20% thought the umbilical cord was a musical note.

Javine Hylton: post-baby body

British singer, Javine Hylton has dropped most of her baby weight since giving birth in February of this year. She says, however, it hasn't been easy (motherhood and losing weight). I rate this woman. Not only does she admit that losing weight is bloody hard, she also acknowledges the absolute shock that is having a baby for many first-time mums. She says in Closer magazine:

“I’d always thought of myself as a fit, athletic person, but I’d spread everywhere! My bum was enormous – it came round on all sides and stuck out behind me! I’d put on four stone while pregnant – going up to fourteen stone – and although I’d lost some of the weight, my pre-pregnancy jeans wouldn’t fit. I’d cover up in Harvey’s biggest T-shirts and tracksuit bottoms.”

Six weeks post-birth, she hired a trainer, ramped up her fitness and started to eat well. Javine has gone from 14 stone (88 kg) in pregnancy to about 10.5 (65 kg) in the photo above.

Source: http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1032969/Javine-Hylton-shows-post-baby-figure.html

Pregnancy and obesity: moral panic?

"Obesity is one of the "greatest threats" to women of childbearing age in the UK, experts have warned. A new report showed that more than half of women who die in pregnancy or shortly after birth are overweight or obese.
These women are putting themselves and their babies at risk of complications that could lead to death, the study warned."

The Guardian reports (again) that obese women are in essence, selfish for 1) getting pregnant 2) even attempting to give birth. Whilst there are plenty of medical studies reporting the risks inherent in obesity for both pregnant and non-pregnant women alike, I find it particularly troubling that no one bothers to report the immense health risks implicit in both the British and American maternity systems. Sure, being overweight can complicate your birth...but so can over-monitoring, unnecessary medical intervention, 'elective' caesarean and induction. Overweight women have unnecessarily been dealt the bad hand when it comes to prenatal care. It is hard enough for overweight pregnant women to find a doctor or midwife that will look after them without suggesting that they lose weight before the birth. Moreover, the idea that obese women are knowingly putting their unborn children in danger by even wanting to become mothers is offensive. In addition, what the reports fail to mention in their vague soundbites is that the 'obese' women who are at most risk are refugee and immigrant or poor women who have little access to quality maternity care. This little bit of information completely changes the timbre of the original report.

Of course women who have poor health care are going to be more at risk; obesity only compounds the risk. Obesity, on its own, does not necessarily produce a higher maternal mortality rates. If you look at the maternal morality rates among Anglo-Celtic and African-American women in the US, the disparity is astounding and the difference really comes down to prenatal health care (not the amount of weight gained). There are plenty of 'healthy' fat people in this world. Obesity is not necessarily a cause of maternal mortality; fatness is inconvenient for doctors and big women are and always will be a problem for hospitals that do not have the facilities to look after these 'special' cases.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-7124334,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/dec/04/health

Pregnant in Britain? Get paid to eat.

Well, we have now reached the zenith of our discussion about pregnancy and nutrition. Called the 'Health in Pregnancy Grant' According to the BBC News, British pregnant women will be paid £200 from 2009 during their 29th week of pregnancy as an enticement to eat well for their babies.

Whilst there is no way to establish whether pregnant women will actually spend the one-off payment on 'good' food, women who would like to receive the payment must visit with a health practitioner to discuss prenatal nutrition before receiving the money. The measure has been put in place as a result of high infant mortality rates among women of lower socioeconomic groups.

Sure it's great that the British government wants to implement a program to help undernourished pregnant women. Yet, it is very clear to me that the British government is more interested in 'saving babies' than helping women to maintain good health for themselves, first and foremost. How is giving women money to women just over 10 weeks before birth going to make that much of a difference? If pregnant women cannot afford to feed themselves well during pregnancy what will happen after the baby is born?

There are a lot of factors that contribute to low birth weight and maternal diet is only one of them.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6984122.stm