Pregnant Women Wrongly Advised to Eat More Fish

Recently a non-profit organization, the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition, held a press conference urging women to eat more seafood. They were enthusiastically encouraging pregnant women to eat at least 12 ounces of seafood per week. They were confident in their recommendation despite the fact that it was in direct opposition to the National Academy of Sciences, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration. The coalition made no mention of the risks of mercury in large fish. Days later, many of the members of the coalition distanced themselves from the recommendations. It turns out that their coalition received a $60,000.00 grant from the National Fisheries Institute.

In response to the coalition’s statement, the March of Dimes put out a statement urging pregnant women to not exceed 12 ounces of seafood per week. So before you up your intake of seafood, consider the standing recommendations of the FDA on fish consumption during pregnancy:

1.) Don’t eat shark, swordfish, mackerel or tilefish
2.) Eat no more than 3 to 4 servings per week of fish like tuna, salmon, Pollock, catfish and seafood like shrimp and shellfish
3.) Minimize consumption of tuna; especially albacore tuna

You can also take an omega 3 supplement called Expecta Lipil to get your healthy fatty acids without the risks associated with tainted fish.

New Study Shows Stress Affects Pregnancy

A new study has found that in the weeks and months following 9-11, there was an increase in low birth weight babies born in and around New York City. The study, published in the journal Human Reproduction, found that in the week following the disaster, there was a 44 percent increased risk of newborn babies weighing below 3.3 pounds, and a 67 percent increase in those weighting between 3.3 and 4.4 pounds, compared to babies born three weeks before the disaster.

The rates then stabilized for a few months, but in December and January, there was another peak in low birth weight babies, and yet another in April and May. The authors postulated that the stress of 9-11 immediately caused a higher incidence of pre-term births. The second wave of low birth weight babies may have occurred because the holidays after 9-11 were an emotionally difficult and stressful time, and the third wave may have occurred because these babies were in the earliest—and most vulnerable—phase in their gestation during 9-11.

When an expectant mom is exposed to stress, those stress hormones can pass through the placenta wall and expose the baby. This can do trigger labor to begin prematurely and also initiate the final physiologic shifts toward maturity. Unfortunately rushing the process often leaves the baby with deficits that threaten its health and wellness. If you’re exposed to a stressful situation or are experiencing chronic stress, try to minimize it through stress busting activities like yoga, meditation, biofeedback, and massage.

Your spouse’s habit can affect your pregnancy

You’ve probably made many changes in your lifestyle since you’ve become pregnant, but here’s one your partner should make. Two large studies in the Journal Sleep found that pregnant women exposed to second hand smoke were far more likely to have problems related to sleep. They found that when expectant women were passively exposed to tobacco smoke by being near smokers, they were more likely to experience inadequate sleep, problems falling asleep, frequent premature awakenings and increased snoring. Interestingly, those exposed to second hand smoke had about the same incidence of sleep disturbances as pregnant women who smoked. These findings were based upon questionnaires of over 30,000 pregnant women polled in 2002 and then in 2006 providing even greater credibility to the finding. In about 80 percent of these cases, the woman’s spouse was a smoker.

Although sleep disturbances may seem inconsequential to the pregnancy, they have been shown to increase your risk of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, prolonged labor and cesarean section. These studies provide one more reason why pregnant women should avoid tobacco smoke—at home, when socializing, and in the workplace. Tobacco smoke is also associated with heart disease, cancer, and having a low birth weight baby. So ask your partner to take a pledge to stop smoking during your pregnancy. You, he and your child will all benefit from a smoke-free home.

Our New Baby

On September 10th, my wife Morgan gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I wanted to thank all of you—friends, patients, readers, and family—for your support and kind thoughts. The birth of our daughter was the culmination of nearly two years of fertility treatment. Morgan and I have included details of our story in my book Perfect Hormone Balance For Fertility, which will be published in April, 2008. Having watched Morgan live the principles of this book and my pregnancy book, and seeing her thrive throughout her pregnancy, I feel emboldened even further to encourage you to consider the recommendations we offer in Perfect Hormone Balance for Pregnancy.

While pregnant, Morgan truly had minimal symptoms. All of her tests indicated that her risk for pregnancy complications was equal to that of a woman half her age; Morgan is in her early forties. Throughout her prenatal visits, her obstetrician expressed disbelief at her health and the development of our daughter. Morgan and I live a healthy lifestyle to begin with, but she really applied herself to take an active role in her pregnancy. We improved our food choices, worked together to minimize the impact of stress on her, created a truly green household environment, and she was still walking about five miles per day up until her date of delivery. Now that we’re completing our first week as parents together, I am pleased to say that we’re enjoying ourselves, our new baby, and each other.

To any of you that read my book, I encourage you to embrace whatever aspects of this program you find applicable. Better still, I’d love to hear from you. If you have any comments or anecdotes that you’d like to share, please post them here or send them to me at drrobertgreene@aol.com. Thank you again for all your support.

Best thoughts,
~Robert