Wisdom and Births

Today I learned how long the optimal inter-pregnancy interval should be. I was previously informed that pregnancies should be spaced at least two years and I had no real opinion on the issue of having "too long" an interval in between pregnancies... I was wrong! This discovery was prompted by a project I am working on in my Internship with REACHUP, Inc. to create educational materials for consumers about preconception and inter-conception health - like the example below! For those who don't know, preconception and inter-conception refers to the time before (pre) and between (inter) pregnancies. Research demonstrates ( and frankly so does common sense ) that your health before you get pregnant and in between your pregnancies is important to your future health and that of your future baby! Planning your family can help you accomplish important goals, get healthy before pregnancy, and make decisions that will make your future family stronger. For example, in the case of s...

November 17, 2012  is World Prematurity Day !   Prematurity, or preterm birth, refers to live births that occur before 37 weeks gestational age. The following are categories defined by how many weeks gestation were completed before the birth: extremely preterm (under 28 weeks gestation) very preterm (28 to 32 weeks gestation) moderate to late preterm (32 to under 37 weeks gestation)    A pregnancy is considered full-term at 39 weeks and as such I think these definitions need some adjusting, but March of Dimes, WHO, ACOG and many others agree that an induction or caesarean birth should not be planned before 39 completed weeks unless there is a TRUE medical indication. However, if your pregnancy is healthy, it is best if your baby is born at 40 weeks or later! (watch for a future post on this!) Preterm birth can lead to a variety of complications and the earlier the baby is born, the more severe the health challenges they will face. More infants die from preterm rel...