Prenatal care

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Health Care Meltdown: Confronting The Myths and Fixing Our Failing System Bob LeBow, M.D., M.P.H. See book keywords and concepts

For example, it 222 is generally agreed that for every dollar we spend on prenatal care, we save $7 in the long run. And a smoking cost study released in April 2002 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)1 calculated how much money our society could save by reducing the use of tobacco products. The study put the nation's total cost of smoking at $157.7 billion a year, or $7 for every pack smoked, about evenly split between smoking-related medical costs and lost job productivity.

Do We Still Need Doctors?: A Physician's Personal Account of Practicing Medicine Today John D. Lantos, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

We can lower infant mortality by providing great neonatal intensive care or great prenatal care. We can decrease mortality from lung cancer by developing better chemotherapy or by reducing smoking. We can encourage changes in diet and lifestyle or we can provide an entitlement to bypass surgery. In general, there seems to be a systemic bias toward treatments that can be marketed in profitable ways and for treatments that require doctors. Until recently, there was a bias in favor of hospital-based treatments, but that era is now over. Might the future reverse the bias in favor of doctors?

At the same time, others go without prenatal care, mental health care, nursing home care, or treatment for drug addiction—the basic medical care that could save and transform their lives. In our crazy allocation system, it seems that some win and others lose and we can't explain why or how to avoid it. International disparities are even more disturbing. In the United States we sometimes spend more on just a few patients than the entire health budgets of some countries.

Health Care Meltdown: Confronting The Myths and Fixing Our Failing System Bob LeBow, M.D., M.P.H. See book keywords and concepts

HIV/AIDS coverage through Ryan White funds, prenatal care through expansion of Medicaid income criteria, or family planning through Title X funding. There used to be more local health department involvement in infectious diseases, such as follow-up for tuberculosis and venereal diseases, but resources have been stretched to a point where these activities are often impossible to carry out. Access to care in a more comprehensive sense has public health implications. As such, there has been some recognition of the merits of population-based approaches to providing access to care.

Alternative Medicine the Definitive Guide, Second Edition Larry Trivieri, Jr. See book keywords and concepts

In response to this and similar studies, many hospitals now make music therapy available as part of prenatal care. Music therapy has also been shown to be effective for improving the survival rates of babies born prematurely. Birth weight is extremely important in the survival of such babies. In a study of 153 babies born prematurely, those who listened to Brahms' Lullaby six times a day were able to go home an average of one week earlier than babies who did not receive music therapy.

The Omega-3 Connection: The Groundbreaking Anti-depression Diet and Brain Program Andrew L. Stoll See book keywords and concepts

And for those who receive regular prenatal care, attention to a balanced diet throughout pregnancy has become a given. But despite the new vigilance, one nutrient group has fallen through the cracks: the omega-3 oils, necessary not just for evolution of the human brain but also for its growth in the womb. Both old and new research indicates that a lack of omega-3 s during gestation may impair development of the visual system and may compromise future intelligence.

The Longevity Code: Your Personal Prescription for a Longer, Sweeter Life Zorba Paster, M.D. and Susan Meltsner See book keywords and concepts

We have no say in the prenatal care we receive, the socioeconomic status of our families, or the toxic substances we're exposed to in our childhood homes. But those items show up in our longevity code nonetheless, creating physical, emotional, social, spiritual, or material deficits that we will have to overcome in order to live fully far into the future. Then there are those of us who started out in pretty good shape but did a bit of damage to our minds and bodies over the years. We took up smoking or were less than prudent about what we did with whom.

Diseasing of America: Addiction Treatment Out of Control Stanton Peele See book keywords and concepts

For the United States is distinctive not only for its uneven distribution of prenatal care and thus the high infant mortality and disability rates among ghettoized and impoverished mothers. The broad middle class of America is oddly ambivalent and anxious about childbirth. We saw, for example, that many middle-class mothers express tremendous fear about their prenatal behavior, including having unwittingly drunk barely detectable amounts of alcohol.

Indeed, World Health Organization pediatrician and epidemiologist Marsden Wagner has found that prenatal care improves birth outcomes only up to a certain point. The most crucial factor in successful birthing is, instead, community supports for the expectant mother.20 America rarely offers such supports, particularly for the highest-risk infants and mothers. The United States ranks twenty-second among nations in preventing infant mortality, behind not only European nations, Australia, and Japan, but Bermuda and Singapore as well.

Alternative Medicine the Definitive Guide, Second Edition Larry Trivieri, Jr. See book keywords and concepts

It is now standard procedure among most obstetricians and midwives to screen women for STDs, often including HIV, during prenatal care. Mandatory treatment of HIV-positive women with anti-AIDS drugs can be especially draconian during pregnancy and can cause fetal deformities—seek competent legal and medical advice in such a situation. If you are pregnant and have an STD, check with a health-care provider before taking any medications, including herbal preparations or nutritional supplements.

Receive early and regular prenatal care, eat a healthy diet, and eliminate smoking, alcohol, and drugs. • Unless advised otherwise by your physician, place your baby on his or her back at night and during naps. This is important and runs contrary to the advice many mothers have received that the best sleeping position for their babies is on their stomachs. Consult with your physician to determine if your baby has any health conditions that might necessitate a different sleep position, such as birth defects, breathing difficulties, heart or lung problems, or regularly spitting up after eating.

Services generally include prenatal care, delivery, and postpartum checkups. It is important for a woman to very carefully choose the professional who will deliver her baby. Prospective birth attendants should be interviewed thoroughly. It is essential that a woman feel completely comfortable and trusting of the person who is going to guide her through one of the most challenging and intimate moments of her life. She should also feel that this person's philosophies surrounding the birth mirror hers as much as possible, whether this person is an obstetrician or a midwife.

Stop the Medicine! A Medical Doctor's Miraculous Recovery with Natural Healing Cynthia A. Foster, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

The point is that they had no prenatal care, and yet they delivered healthy babies. During obstetrics training, doctors learn how to push themselves beyond their physcial limits. Many doctors tell me now after they've experienced some sort of illness due to the incredible amount of stress they've placed on their bodies from the lack of sleep and working long hard hours, that they didn't" realize what they were doing to their bodies. They didn't know they couldn't handle that much stress. Since everyone during their training works those hours, it just becomes accepted.

Alternative Medicine the Definitive Guide, Second Edition Larry Trivieri, Jr. See book keywords and concepts

WHO researchers conducted a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial in order to compare current standard prenatal care with a newer model that emphasizes "actions known to be effective in improving maternal or neonatal outcomes" with fewer doctor visits. Over 12,500 women in Argentina, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand were assigned to clinics offering the newer model, while 12,000 were provided with care under the standard model. Both groups were screened for problems such as low birth weight, preeclampsia, severe anemia after birth, and urinary tract infections.

Reclaiming Our Health: Exploding the Medical Myth and Embracing the True Source of Healing John Robbins See book keywords and concepts

The idea made sense, and soon spread through the nursing networks, with the result that wherever nurses provided prenatal care, both maternal and infant mortality rates began to decrease. It was a nurse and midwife, Margaret Sanger, who led the campaign for access to contraception. Despite violent opposition from the AMA, she forged ahead, educating women about family planning, and coining the term birth control.

The Woman's Encyclopedia of Natural Healing Dr. Gary Null See book keywords and concepts

Researchers calculated that the cost of prenatal care and delivery could be reduced by 40 percent if such birthing centers existed in all communities. C. Laino, "Birthing Centers Present Option," Medical Tribune (June 2, 1994): 12. Researchers contrasted numerous aspects of the childbirth experience at an in-hospital birth center with more conventional maternity practices. They reported that women delivering in the birthing center felt more satisfaction with their own achievement and more involved in the birthing process than women receiving the more standard care.

Textbook of Natural Medicine 2nd Edition Volume 1 Michael T. Murray, ND See book keywords and concepts

They provided prenatal care where allopaths had little to offer, recommending a diet of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and milk. Loose clothing, daily exercise, and cold baths were recommended to tone the body in preparation for childbirth.23 After the birth, women were encouraged to get out of bed within days, if not the same day, thus decreasing the risk of postpartum blood clots and pulmonary embolism. Women were taught to experience childbirth as an empowering, natural and holy function, rather than as an event to be dreaded as risking imminent death.

Your Doctor is Not In: Healthy skepticism about national health care Jane M. Orient, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

Or it could be that lack of prenatal care does not cause premature babies but is correlated with maternal factors that do cause prematurity. The raw data for this study did show a positive correlation that the investigators chose to disregard. Married women had healthier babies. The correlation is independent of race, age, or education, and has appeared in other studies also. Infant mortality is almost twice as high for illegitimate babies.27 So why don't we bring back the shotgun wedding? Shotgun weddings might do much more to lower the infant mortality rate than Medicaid ever did.

Advocates of national health insurance argue that spending more money on preventive prenatal care would not only correct a national disgrace but also would save tremendous amounts of money now spent on neonatal intensive care. Would it? A study was done. The result: Expanding Medicaid eligibility to cover more prenatal visits had no effect on birthweight or infant mortality.26 The editor of JAMA didn't like the implications. He explained them away by asserting that insurance was "necessary, but not sufficient." He could be right.

The Woman's Encyclopedia of Natural Healing Dr. Gary Null See book keywords and concepts

Researchers calculated that the cost of prenatal care and delivery could be reduced by 40 percent if such birthing centers existed in all communities. C. Laino, "Birthing Centers Present Option," Medical Tribune (June 2, 1994): 12. Researchers contrasted numerous aspects of the childbirth experience at an in-hospital birth center with more conventional maternity practices. They reported that women delivering in the birthing center felt more satisfaction with their own achievement and more involved in the birthing process than women receiving the more standard care.

Breaking Out of Food Jail: How to Free Yourself from Diets and Problem Eating, Once and for All Jean Antonello See book keywords and concepts

I have not gotten on a scale since 1984 (except for prenatal care). I know my weight is stable because my clothes fit the same. And I refuse to wear clothes that are tight. I guess I feel a tremendous freedom that I never felt all those years of dieting and bingeing." • "I WOULD CO TO THE GROCERY STORE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT—IN MY PAJAMAS!"—Cow**?/. A single business manager/consultant, Connie told me that her eating disorder history just wasn't that interesting. But I found that it was "interesting" enough to get her into big eating trouble.

Stop the Medicine! A Medical Doctor's Miraculous Recovery with Natural Healing Cynthia A. Foster, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

We were upset if the mothers didn't receive any prenatal care, concluding that they were being irresponsible. Regardless, the Hispanic ladies who came to deliver their babies in the county hospital, those who didn't drink heavily or do any drugs, seemed to have the easiest births with the fewest complications. What was amusing to me is that two times during this rotation, ladies came in after having given birth at home. They didn't come to the hospital sooner because they had no idea they were pregnant.

Reclaiming Our Health: Exploding the Medical Myth and Embracing the True Source of Healing John Robbins See book keywords and concepts

How would our lives be different if we made sure that all pregnant women had access to prenatal care and adequate nutrition? Would we have fewer low birth weight and extremely premature babies? Would we less often need to spend an average of $200,000 to keep extremely premature babies alive, babies who live only a few years in most cases and even then are troubled by severe brain damage?

Alternative Medicine the Definitive Guide, Second Edition Larry Trivieri, Jr. See book keywords and concepts

They are generally run by midwives, who follow the prenatal care and deliver the baby. Occasionally obstetricians will be called in to deliver the baby. In the 1970s, there were only 30 such centers in the U.S., but now there are more than 300 nationwide. In the case of an emergency or complication, they all have a written or verbal transfer agreement with a nearby hospital. Although most FSBCs offer technologies such as pain medication and fetal heart monitors, their care offers less intervention, is more personalized, and allows parents more active participation.

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