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Pregnancy and Lactation Weekly Digest

For the Week Ending August 19, 2018. 

More than 9,000 people receive Pregistry’s Weekly Newsletter every Tuesday. Subscribe to the Newsletter here and check your inbox for the most interesting articles published the previous week!

 

The Results have ARRIVED

The ARRIVE trial was a randomized controlled clinical study that compared inducing labor at 39 weeks to letting labor occur naturally. The results of the trial suggest that elective induction of labor at 39 weeks in women with low-risk pregnancies may reduce the need for cesarean delivery compared to waiting for spontaneous labor to occur. Read more here.

This is important for you because if you want to try to avoid a C-section, induction at 39 weeks might be an option you’d like to discuss with your doctor.

Designer Babies

Geneticists have claimed to be able to fix mutant genes – some of which are fatal – in developing embryos. The ethics of such a practice are murky, but other geneticists think we may not have to worry about the ethics just yet – they say the technique didn’t really work as claimed. Read more here.

This is important for you because even if this technology is not ready today, it is coming. Society needs to think about how we will limit and regulate its use.

#MomsToo

The troubles that women have in Hollywood are well known – from unequal pay to ageist/sexist roles to outright harassment and rape. Moms have their share of issues there too, even behind the scenes. TV writers and showrunners who are pregnant or have children are afraid of not getting hired or not getting paid because of their families, and they have good reason to be. Read more here.

This is important for you because it seems like almost every industry struggles with how to fairly incorporate and compensate working mothers and pregnant women.

Future Health

When asked how to improve America’s health moving forward, almost a third of experts gave suggestions focusing on children: cutting the number of children living in poverty; helping grade school kids read; improving caregiver training; making childbirth as safe as possible for everyone. Read more here.

This is important for you because ensuring a healthy America tomorrow means taking the best care that we can of our children today.

The most popular article on The Pulse this week was What Is The Pelvic Floor And Why Is It Important In Pregnancy? The pelvic floor contains the muscles and ligaments that connect the pubic bone and the tailbone. They help support the bladder, bowel, uterus, and vagina, and stabilize the joints of the pelvis and spine. During pregnancy these muscles also help support the weight of the growing baby and assist in the birthing process. Do your Kegels and read it here.

Diana Gitig
Dr. Diana Gitig has a Ph.D. in cell biology and genetics from Cornell University, and has been writing about issues in biology – from molecular biology to cancer to immunology to neuroscience to nutrition to agriculture - for the past fifteen years. She has three teenaged children.

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