Employed by the Red Cross after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, text messaging contributed to record donations. In less dire circumstances but indicative of the popularity of text messaging, millions text their vote for their favorite American Idol. But what can text messaging do for you?

With text4baby, the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB) is flipping the text message and using it to help expectant and new moms.

The familiar ping, ding, or ringtone sounds out from your handset:

“Give your baby a good start by not drinking alcohol, smoking or using drugs. For help call 800-784-8669 (smoking); 800-662-4357 (drugs & alcohol).”

“Feeling…

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Mother Nature often knows best, but she can also be deadly. Herbs, natural remedies, and dietary supplements have become increasingly popular as treatments for a wide range of conditions. Many consider these natural, non-traditional therapies harmless, but natural doesn’t mean safe, especially for pregnant women.

While expectant moms know that smoking or drinking alcohol during pregnancy can be risky, few realize that herbal medicines, natural remedies, and alternative therapies can actually harm pregnant women or their unborn babies.

Unlike traditional medicines, herbs and other natural supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, so there are no set standards for…

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Statistics indicate that fewer than 4% of US women admit to using marijuana or other illegal drugs. Though it may be impossible to get reliable data on how many women actually use marijuana or other illegal drugs while pregnant or breastfeeding, a team of French scientists, examined the results of previous studies on the effects of marijuana use while breastfeeding.

Their findings, published in the Journal of Toxicology, clearly show that women who use marijuana should not breastfeed. According to the French researchers, a combination of animal trials and human data indicates that compounds in marijuana can be easily passed on to the…

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Fears over vaccine safety are causing many people to adopt a wait and see approach with regard to the H1N1 vaccine, raising concerns that the H1N1 flu pandemic will be even more widespread.

In an effort to address these concerns, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) held a webcast on October 14, 2009.  The hour-long program featured Dr. Bruce Gellin, National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO), Dr. Jesse Goodman, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. Harvey Fineberg, Institute of Medicine (IOM), and Rear Admiral Anne Schuchat, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Vaccine development, vaccine composition, and vaccine safety were among the…

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Pregnant or breastfeeding? You won’t want to miss the latest guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on how to protect your baby should you become infected with the H1N1 flu virus.

AAP Guidelines
In an article published October 13, 2009 in AAP News, Drs. Lawrence and Bradley take a cautious but practical approach. They recommend that breastfeeding mothers infected with the H1N1 flu virus take the following precautions:

• Wash your hands carefully before each and every contact with your baby
• Wash your breast(s) with mild soap and water and rinse well
• Wear a surgical mask…

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Not one, not two, but eight leading maternal and infant health organizations have issued a joint statement urging pregnant women to get vaccinated for both seasonal flu and the H1N1 (swine) flu.

The decision by the March of Dimes, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Nurse-Midwives, Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses, Infectious Disease Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine to issue a joint statement was prompted by the disproportionately high number of deaths due to H1N1 infection among pregnant women.

The H1N1 flu is…

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This question and answer previously appeared in the May 2009 issue of Feeding Times in the Ask Amy column.

Q. A client commented that her unborn baby gets excited when she eats fruit. Can unborn babies get flavors from the foods their mothers eat?
—Susan Thurman, Family Support Worker, Healthy Start

A. I am frequently asked this question by breastfeeding moms but seldom pregnant moms. The short answer is yes, unborn babies (fetuses) can detect the flavor of foods their mothers eat. 

According to Joy V. Browne, PhD, the sensory system is one of the earliest systems to develop. Smell is detected through the…

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The prevalence of myths and misconceptions about pregnancy was the subject of a recent survey of 1200 women conducted by Tommy’s.  A leader in maternal and fetal research, Tommy’s was founded in 1992 by two London, England obstetricians frustrated by the lack of research on pregnancy related problems. 

Since 1995, Tommy’s has partnered with Johnson’s Baby to create, Let’s Talk Baby, a health awareness campaign that happens every September.  Given the results of a recent survey conducted by Tommy’s, it appears that mothers have a lot to learn.

• 20 percent thought eating spicy foods would cause labor
• 40 percent believed they couldn’t begin…

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Whenever I browse most pregnancy guides, sometimes I wonder how I got through those nine months without daily full-blown panic attacks.

Have you seen some of those bold-faced chapter subheadings, addressing the various disasters that no doubt wait around every corner? It’s like a survival guide for nuclear winter.

My preferred pregnancy books—the ones that celebrate aspects of pregnancy in a realistic way, and address fear and pain without magnifying it—are not new. “Birthing From Within” was first published in 1998; “Spiritual Midwifery,” in 1976 (and retains its original groovy language to prove it).

A recent trip to the bookstore confirmed that most…

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The majority of births in the Western world take place in hospitals. But the assumption that hospital births are safer than home births is one that is being challenged.

The Cochrane Collaboration conducted a review of the available data in 1998 and again in 2006. Only one study met the selection criteria and it yielded insufficient evidence in favor of either planned hospital birth or planned home birth for low-risk pregnant women. The reviewers concluded, “In some countries almost all births happen in hospital, whereas in other countries home birth is considered the first choice for healthy and otherwise low-risk women. The…

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Nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended, compared to 33 percent in France and 28 percent in Scotland.

In 2001, the last year for which data is available, there were over 3 million unintended pregnancies in the US. In addition, the percentage of births occurring within 24 months of a previous birth (the shorter the interval between births the greater the health risks for mothers and babies) increased from 11 percent in 1995 to 21 percent in 2002, despite the Healthy People 2010 target of 6 percent.

Why such a high rate of unintended pregnancy? What can be done…

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Electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) seems to make sense. Childbirth seems like a volatile time for both mother and child. While we can get a general sense how the mother is doing by looking at her, we don’t know how the child is doing until the moment of birth. By then (so goes the case for EFM) it may be too late to help the ailing baby.

That’s why 85 percent of childbirths occur with EFM in place. (Keep in mind that this may be an underestimate. The most recent year for which figures are available is 2002, but the data show…

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