News Moms Need

The U.S. government has launched 18 new applications for mobile phones. Several of them can help you and your family stay healthy. 

One app reports on product recalls. Another is a body-mass index (BMI) calculator for monitoring weight. One takes you straight to MedlinePlus, the federal health Web site that’s loaded with lots of useful info. And an ultraviolet (UV) index helps you check the air quality in you area.

So take a look and start downloading!

We have posted before on the importance of getting your weight under control before you get pregnant.  It helps you and your baby in so many ways.  And it’s also important to gain the right amount of weight during pregnancy.  

I just came across a great podcast from the National Academies of Science called Weight Gain During Pregnancy: How Much Is Too Much? It’s really very good and worth listening to if you’re pregnant or planning a pregnancy.  Check it out.

Pediatric growth charts are a standard part of any checkup.  They have been used by health care providers and parents to track the growth of infants, children, and adolescents in the United States since 1977. They show us how kids are growing compared with other kids of the same age and sex. They also show a pattern of height and weight gain over time, and whether they’re developing proportionately. Girls and boys are measured on different growth charts because they grow in different patterns and at different rates.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has growth charts available on their website. They are not meant to be used as the only diagnostic tool for evaluating a childs’ health. Instead, growth charts are intended to help form an overall impression. If you have any questions about your child’s growth  (or growth charts) speak to your health care provider.

Click here to view Birth to 36 months: Boys Length-for-age and Weight-for-age percentiles

Click here to view Birth to 36 months: Girls Length-for-age and Weight-for-age percentiles

In the last few months, I’ve been trying to be more physically active and make healthier food choices. It hasn’t been easy, especially with all the weekend barbeques and summertime desserts (ice cream… yum). My goal isn’t so much to lose weight, but to live a healthier lifestyle so I can lower my chances of developing serious health conditions like diabetes or cardiovascular disease later in life.

Your body needs nutrients to give you the energy you need throughout the day. Most of these nutrients and calories come from the healthy foods you eat. Out of your daily calorie allowance, you also have a certain amount of “discretionary calories” or extra calories that you can use any way you want – maybe an afternoon snack or a small dessert after dinner (Learn more about discretionary calories). However, it turns out that many of us eat too many discretionary calories, and most of these come from drinks with added sugars (colas and other soft drink beverages).

The American Heart Association (AHA) made a new recommendation about the amount of added sugars we eat during the day. The organization recommends that most women have no more than 100 calories per day of added sugar. To give you a better idea, one can of regular cola has about 130 calories of added sugar, which is 30 calories more than recommended.

Instead of cola, why not try some sparkling water with a slice of lemon? That way, you can use your discretionary calories on something yummy.

South Beach. Atkins. Weight Watchers. Dean Ornish. The list goes on and on. So many diets, so little time. What’s a girl to do?

Turns out, it doesn’t matter much. That’s what Harvard researchers found out when they conducted one of the best studies ever done on diets and weight loss.

They looked at three kinds of diets: low carb, low fat and reduced animal protein. (Reduced animal protein means you eat less meat, chicken and pork. You get most of your protein from other sources like tofu and nuts.)

After 2 years, each diet group lost (and regained!) about the same amount of weight.

Bottom line:  If you reduce calories, you lose weight.

So if you’re trying to lose weight before you get pregnant, you’ve got lots of diet choices available to you. But some are healthier than others. Talk to your health care provider and pick a diet that works for you and your lifestyle.

If you’re already pregnant, now’s not the time to lose weight. Most women need about 300 extra calories a day during pregnancy, so they get the nutrients the baby needs.

Here are some March of Dimes resources that can help:

* Before You’re Pregnant: Getting Ready Physically
* Don’t U Dare (a video for women before pregnancy)
* Weight Gain During Pregnancy
* Pregnancy and the Overweight Woman
* Healthy Choices: Nutrition and Diet During Pregnancy (video)

You might remember me writing about my best friend and her new baby, Milana. I can’t get over how cute Milana is!!! Now that she’s 4 months old and doing fine, my best friend is ready to hit the gym and lose the weight she gained during pregnancy. I’m hitting the gym, too – not to lose any baby weight, but rather to stay at a healthy weight for the baby I’ll have someday.

I know all about the benefits of being at a healthy weight, such as reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease and more. But I was fascinated to learn that being at a healthy weight has a major impact on the health of your baby, even before pregnancy.

USA Today recently featured an article about a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study reviewed research that showed babies born to overweight, obese moms were more likely to face special health risks. Some of these risks include birth defects (spina bifida, cleft palate, heart defects), being born prematurely or being born too large (macrosomia).

Since you can’t diet once you’re pregnant (because you risk limiting nutrients your baby needs to grow), it’s very important to eat healthy and manage weight before getting pregnant. Not only will I have a better chance of having a healthy pregnancy someday, my future baby will also have a better chance of being born healthy.

There are things you can do, before you get pregnant, to help give your baby a better chance of a healthy and full-term birth. See your health care provider before pregnancy and ask about the following topics.

What do I need to know about…

1. Diabetes, high blood pressure, infections or other health problems?
2. Medicines or home remedies?
3. Taking a multivitamin pill with folic acid in it each day? 
4. Getting to a healthy weight before pregnancy?
5. Smoking, drinking alcohol and taking illegal drugs?
6. Unsafe chemicals or other things I should stay away from at home or at work?
7. Taking care of myself and lowering my stress? 
8. How long to wait between pregnancies?
9. My family history, including premature birth?

Next week I’ll be in my 36th week and I start weekly prenatal appointments until the baby is born. The majority of my visits are pretty  routine and include your basic physical: blood pressure, weight, listening to the baby’s heart, and measuring my belly. This upcoming visit however my provider is going to test me for Group B streptococcus (GBS, also called Group B strep).

GBS infection is a common bacterial infection that is generally not serious in adults, but can be life-threatening to newborns. All pregnant women should be screened for GBS at 35 to 37 weeks of pregnancy. The health care provider takes a swab of the vagina and rectum and sends the sample to a laboratory for a culture to test for the presence of GBS. Test results are usually available in 24 to 48 hours. Women who test positive for GBS are treated with antibiotics during labor.

Click here to read the March of Dimes fact sheet on Group B Strep Infection.

Also, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have a special Web site devoted to Group B strep.

On December 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advised consumers not to buy or use more than 25 types of weight loss pills. These pills may seriously harm your health.

Some of the pills contain sibutramine, a controlled substance. Others contain rimonabant, a drug not approved for marketing in the U.S.; it can cause depression and suicidal thoughts. In some of the pills, the FDA found phenolphthalein, a suspected cancer-causing agent. Some ingredients in the pills far exceeded levels recommended by the FDA.

Some of the pills are marketed as dietary supplements and are promoted as being “natural” or “herbal.” In fact, the pills contain ingredients that can be harmful.

For a full list of the products, go to the FDA Web site. If you have been taking any of these pills, stop right away and talk to your health care provider.

Women who can become pregnant, pregnant women and children should not use herbal or dietary supplements without first getting approval from a health care provider. Some supplements and herbal ingredients have undergone extensive testing, but many have not been shown to be safe or effective.

If you are pregnant, do not try to lose weight during pregnancy; this can harm both you and your baby.

Obese women who have weight-loss surgery are more likely to have healthy pregnancies than obese women who don’t have the surgery, according to a new study in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association. Weight-loss surgery is increasing in the United States, but we are still learning about its risks and benefits.

Important: This new study focused on obese women, not overweight women. What’s the difference?

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number that can tell you whether you are underweight, at a normal weight, overweight or obese. BMI is based on height and weight.

Here’s an example: A person who is 5′9″ tall and weighs 203 pounds or more is obese. A person who is 5′9″ tall and weighs between 169 and 202 pounds is overweight.

This new study reminds us that mom’s weight matters during pregnancy. The closer you are to a healthy weight, the more likely you are to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. Weight-loss surgery isn’t for everyone, but a healthy weight is.

For more information, read the March of Dimes articles Weight Gain During Pregnancy, Pregnancy and the Overweight Woman and Pregnancy After Weight-Loss Surgery.

Or take a look at our new video on healthy eating during pregnancy. Get to know Olga, and tell us what you think.