Pregnancy and Lactation Weekly Digest

Pregnancy news for the Week Ending October 8, 2017.

With Trump’s backing, House approves ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy

The House on Tuesday approved a bill banning most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, advancing a key GOP priority for the third time in the past four years — this time, with a supportive Republican in the White House. The bill, known as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, is not expected to emerge from the Senate, where most Democrats and a handful of moderate Republicans can block its consideration. But antiabortion activists are calling President Trump’s endorsement of the bill a significant advance for their movement. Read more about it here.

Study links vegetarian diet in pregnancy to substance abuse in offspring

Researchers claim to have found a link between substance abuse at age 15, and diet of the child’s mother during pregnancy. But it is far from clear that avoiding meat in pregnancy “causes” substance abuse in teenagers. The research was based on a long-running study in the UK. Researchers asked almost 10,000 teenagers about their use of alcohol, cannabis and tobacco, and about half responded. Read more about it here.

Pregnancy tests found to be inaccurate withdrawn from sale

Batches of do-it-yourself pregnancy test kits have been withdrawn from sale in Australia after they were found to be unreliable and inaccurate. The move was sparked by the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s review of a wide range of pregnancy self-test kits that rely on detecting the hormone known as human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, in a woman’s urine shortly after conception. Read more about it here.

Pregnant women should still get the flu vaccine, doctors advise

Flu symptoms can be more severe when you’re pregnant, landing women in the hospital, threatening their lives and even leading to preterm birth or miscarriage. The virus is a risk to the woman and the baby. So, it’s particularly important that people who are pregnant get the flu vaccine. And it’s also important that the effects of those vaccines be studied in pregnant women. Read more about it here.

New campaign in the UK urges women to avoid alcohol in pregnancy

A new hard-hitting health campaign in the UK will urge women to avoid drinking any alcohol during pregnancy. Mothers-to-be will be warned that their unborn child could be at risk of irreversible brain damage if they choose to drink alcohol. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) hopes to “set the record straight” after years of “mixed messages”. They estimate that around 500 babies are born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) every year in Scotland. Read more about it here.

The most popular article on The Pulse this week was Swollen Feet During Pregnancy. Read this great article here.

Diego Wyszynski

Dr. Diego Wyszynski is the Founder and CEO of Pregistry. He is an expert on the effects of medications and vaccines in pregnancy and lactation and an accomplished writer, having published 3 books with Oxford University Press and more than 70 articles in medical journals. In 2017, he was selected a TEDMED Research Scholar. Diego attended the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.