Posted by: drbretthill in Pregnancy and birth, Eat on
JANUARY_SHORT 28, 2011
Dr Brett Says: Many Mum's think that they need to 'eat for two' throughout their pregnancy and sometimes even use that as a leave pass to eat lots of high sugar/high carbohyrdrate processed sweats and treats. This new research suggests that may not be the best idea for your baby and that keeping your blood sugars under control during pregnancy can help set up your baby for later in life.
From abc.net.au
PETER CAVE: It's increasingly common in Australia for women to develop diabetes during pregnancy. But the latest science should perhaps prompt expectant mums to get into shape - not just for their own health.
New research from Australia's Garvin Institute has found a clear link between gestational diabetes and fat babies. And scientists have found those same babies are likely to be overweight throughout their childhood and are at risk of developing diabetes themselves.
Emily Bourke reports.
EMILY BOURKE: Gestational diabetes is on the rise in Australia and Anna Dungan is among the 8 to 10 per cent of women who develop diabetes during pregnancy.
ANNA DUNGAN: I had a very healthy weight. I ate healthily. I exercised regularly. I don't have a family history and I don't belong to a high risk ethnic group either. So it was a little bit of a surprise.
Second time around I was expecting it because if you've had it the first time the chances are fairly high.
EMILY BOURKE: The latest research is sobering for expectant mums.
JENNY GUNTON: We found that if your mother has gestational diabetes - we looked at mice - then the offspring become fat, even though they tend to eat less.
EMILY BOURKE: Dr Jenny Gunton from the Garvan Institute led the research.
JENNY GUNTON: The blood sugar level in the mother during pregnancy was the thing that predicted all of the changes we found in the babies.
So the higher the blood sugar level during pregnancy, the fatter the babies. The higher the blood sugar level during pregnancy, the slower the metabolic rate in the offspring.
EMILY BOURKE: Anna Dungan's experience with her first born bears this out.
ANNA DUNGAN: He was a little large throughout my pregnancy. I think he was in the 90th or 95th percentile for weight towards the end. And I was induced two week early. So when I was induced he was born average weight for a full term baby.
EMILY BOURKE: Anna Dungan and her son are on a healthy diet and exercise plan.
But Dr Jenny Gunton says there are significant implications if mothers fail to bring their sugar levels under control.
JENNY GUNTON: Not just for the short term outcomes, not for the next 14 weeks of your pregnancy, but because your baby is going to be at risk of having diabetes and obesity and all of the other problems in the longer term if you aren't able to keep your blood sugar levels as well controlled as possible.
EMILY BOURKE: While the Garvin research was conducted on mice Dr Gunton says the findings put to bed many theories about overweight babies.
JENNY GUNTON: There's been a lot of debate over time about what was the underlying factor, whether it was the circulating fat levels like cholesterol or whether it was the blood sugar or whether it was the mother's weight or all sorts of things.
But in our study it's a really close relationship between the mother's blood sugar levels during pregnancy and all of the bad effects on the babies.
EMILY BOURKE: The risks also apply to women who have type one and two diabetes before pregnancy.
But for expectant mum Anna Dungan it's not all bad news.
ANNA DUNGAN: I don't see being diagnosed with gestational diabetes as a burden. I actually feel grateful that I've had a warning, a wake-up call early on.
You know the sorts of things that I have had to incorporate into my lifestyle to stay healthy are things that are good for ordinary people to follow as well.
PETER CAVE: And that was Anna Dungan ending Emily Bourke's report.
Posted by: drbretthill in Pregnancy and birth, Eat on
JULY_SHORT 27, 2010
Dr Brett Says: I am a massive advocate of mothers breast feeding and my practice proudly displays the sticker of the Australian Breast Feeding Association declaring that 'breast feeding is welcome here'. The positive impact it has on your babies health is often not fully understood and our society does not do enough to improve our breast feeding rates. This study though surprises even me. Remember that this study only talks about costs related to 3 specific diseases and in the US alone, imagine if the full cost was tallied!
From pediatrics.aappublications.org
The Burden of Suboptimal Breastfeeding in the United States: A Pediatric Cost Analysis
Melissa Bartick, MD, MSca, Arnold Reinhold, MBAb
Posted by: drbretthill in Pregnancy and birth on
JUNE_SHORT 15, 2010
Dr Brett Says: This is good advice that I give to all the pregnant ladies in the practice. High heels are not great at any time but partucularly not for expecting mums. They dramatically change the biomechanics of the whole lower limb, pelvis, lower back, in fact the whole spine. They create lots of pressure which is exactly what a pregnant mum doesn't need. Now can someone please tell this to my pregnant wife!
From ninemsn
Pregnant women who want to emulate celebrities by wearing high heels are putting their feet at risk, an expert warns.
Dr Brett Says: Great article here. We see lots of pregnant mums, recently birthed mums and babies in our practice for exactly these reasons.
From Herald Sun
PREGNANT women are increasingly turning to chiropractors to treat sore backs and help them prepare for childbirth.
Posted by: drbretthill in Pregnancy and birth, Eat on
APRIL_SHORT 6, 2010
Dr Brett Says: There is so much evidence now to support breast feeding but it is worth reminding just how good it is.
From Google.com
CHICAGO - The lives of nearly 900 babies would be saved each year, along with billions of dollars, if 90 percent of U.S. women fed their babies breast milk only for the first six months of life, a cost analysis says.
Dr Brett Says: It is outrageous that some women wanting to birth at home will now be forced to 'go it alone' rather than have the support of a trusted, learned midwife. These mums are making informed decisions about their health and the health of their babies but are being overruled by blokes that think they know better than mother nature.
From Manly Daily
LEGISLATION requiring midwives to collaborate with doctors, who would have the final say on whether a homebirth could go ahead, has passed through the Senate.
Dr Brett Says: This is certainly something chiropractors have been aware of clinically but it is great to see the research backing it up. Jeanne does fantastic work worldwide both in researching and in sharing the information.
From The Coffs Coast Advocate
PREGNANT women may reduce the potential for a caesarean delivery with pre-natal chiropractic care, visiting paediatric chiropractic expert and home birth advocate, Dr Jeanne Ohm, told a Coffs Harbour community forum yesterday.
Dr Brett Says: The right to a natural safe healthy birth in the sanctity of your own home should be a given. Given that home birth has been shown to be as safe as hospital births in all but the most high risk cases and also to have much lower intervention rates, allowing mums to stay at home for a low risk birth should be a no brainer.
From news.com.au
HOME births would be driven underground by new maternity laws, a Senate committee has admitted.
Dr Brett Says: We keep getting told that our health problems are due to bad luck, bad germs or bad genes but time and again studies are coming out and saying that our lifestyles play a much larger role. These people only gave up 2 stimulants and made a massive 32% difference to their fertility. Imagine if they ate, exercised and thought in a healthy way in all aspects of their life!
From Adelaide Now
WOMEN wanting to become pregnant are as likely to succeed by giving up alcohol and caffeine as by attending a fertility clinic, a UK nutrition specialist claims.
Posted by: drbretthill in Pregnancy and birth, Eat on
APRIL_SHORT 22, 2009
Women who breastfeed their babies may be lowering their own risk of a heart attack, heart disease or stroke, research suggests.
Dr Brett Says: Like we needed more reasons to beast feed. Being a father of a breastfeeding infant it is just so obvious how natural and healthy it is for both mum and baby.
A US study found women who breastfed for more than a year were 10% less likely to develop the conditions than those who never breastfed.
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