Delivery
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Delivery

Have you ever thought of what kind of childbirth you’d like to have? In one study about childbirth choices, almost half of women say they know what kind of childbirth they want before pregnancy.²  Often, childbirth choices are influenced by friends and family, social conditioning, and exposure to birth information online, on TV or in movies. These choices include preferred birth place, types of childbirth providers, pain control methods, as well as medical interventions commonly used in birth practices.  Perhaps you’ve imagined the type of childbirth you’d like to have too? 

High blood sugar around the time of conception and throughout pregnancy increases risks of:  birth defects, still birth, preterm birth, c-sections, and the baby developing obesity and diabetes later in life.¹

What is Gestational Diabetes?

November is American Diabetes Month and a great time to put a spotlight on diabetes during pregnancy, which is a rising trend in the United States. In the United States, gestational diabetes (diabetes developed during pregnancy) has increased by 56% from 2000-2010.¹

Since 1988, greater than 35,000 people have received umbilical cord blood for the correction of metabolic, malignant and genetic disorders.¹ As you approach your baby’s due date, it is your medical provider’s role to discuss the option of banking your baby’s cord blood after birth. You might be wondering what this is and what are the benefits to your family or others.

Black women are three times more likely to die of pregnancy related causes than white women.¹

What Factors Affect Black Maternal Mortality Rates?

April 11-17 is black maternal health week. It’s an inadequate window of time where there is an acute lens focused on the healthcare disparities that black women experience during pregnancy and postpartum.

Birth defects affect babies all over the world.   A birth defect is a structural change to a baby’s body part, inside or outside the body. 

What Causes Birth Defects?

Birth defects happen as a result of: genetics, infection, exposure to an environmental toxin like radiation, or exposure to an internal toxin, like drugs, medication, alcohol, or smoking. They can also happen as a result of poor diet (low in folic acid) or uncontrolled blood sugar (Diabetes diagnosis or chronic high blood sugar).  

Every woman carries the risk of having a baby with a birth defect. This is called a background risk. The background risk for every woman is 3-5%. Yet, every woman can be proactive in reducing additional risk to her baby.