Cord blood banks advertise heavily on television and in magazines read by pregnant women. The ads can leave mothers feeling guilty if they choose not to bank the cord blood or like they are tempting fate by not doing it. At the very least you may be wondering if it is worth the investment.It is a significant investment for many families, especially in the current economic climate. Cord blood banks charge two different fees for their services. One is a collection fee which covers collection, enrollment in the program and the first year’s storage fee for the cord blood. This fee can be over a thousand dollars. The second fee is an annual storage fee, which usually is around $100.
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Filed under Childbirth, Pregnancy by More4kids Inc.
by Patricia Hughes
At your first prenatal visit and again in the late second or early third trimester, your doctor will test your blood for iron. A low level of iron puts you at increased risk of developing anemia. Approximately 20 percent of pregnant women suffer from anemia caused by an iron deficiency in pregnancy.The reason iron deficiency is so common in pregnancy is that women require about twice as much iron as when they are not pregnant. During pregnancy, your blood volume increases by about fifty percent, which can result in an iron deficiency. This often occurs in the second trimester, as the blood volume increases and the baby begins to demand more iron. For this reason, you will be tested again, even if your iron was fine in early pregnancy.
Women who experience iron deficiency in pregnancy are at risk of developing anemia. The biggest risks to the baby are low birth weight and preterm labor. A study in California showed that women who experience iron deficiency anemia in the second trimester are twice as likely to have a preterm labor as women with normal levels of iron. Check out: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/71/5/1280S
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by Patricia Hughes
When we discover we are pregnant, the foods we eat take on significance like never before. In addition to making changes in your diet to include a variety of healthy foods, consider what is in the foods you eat. Two potential issues are pesticides used in growing foods and artificial additives.Pesticides in Food:
Many studies have demonstrated the danger of pesticide exposure on the fetus. Some of these studies looked at people that handle pesticides in their work, such as exterminators and farmers. A study in California found that mothers who live or work in agricultural areas of the state had an increased risk of having children born with defects of the limbs. Other studies have shown an increase in cleft palate and other birth defects with pesticide exposure.
Other studies have linked exposure to pesticides with health problems such as an increase in childhood cancer, neurological disorders and hormone disruption. For more information on these studies: http://www.kidsforsavingearth.org/mnchec/articles/pesticides.htm. The studies have shown that the risk increases according to exposure. If the child is exposed to pesticides through food, in sprays and pest control products used in the home and in the community, the risk would be higher. For this reason, it is best to reduce or eliminate exposure to pesticides both during pregnancy and after the baby is born.
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