A trial has started in the UK to assess the use of a drug that normally controls diabetes to see if it could reduce the risk of obese mothers giving birth to obese babies. The drug, metformin, has been prescribed for use in gestational diabetes with little apparent side effects and so Dr Shehata ...
Tag Archive: doctors
‘The Business of Being Born’ by Ricki Lake & Abby Epstein
In 2007 two friends decided to make a film about the current state of childbirth in America. These friends just happened to be Ricki Lake, a popular television personality and Abby Epstein a film director. The result is a personal, heartfelt and sincere documentary about their own experiences of childbirth and a film which ...
How reliable is ultrasound in detecing big babies?
Being told you have a big baby is a serious concern for many women. It often sets in motion a stream of suggestions that mother and baby are monitored and restrictions are put on options around birth, invariably that the mother has to be in a hospital if not on an operating table. American ...
One Born Every Minute: The complication of Obesity
The RCOG now describes obesity as the most common complication and risk factor in obstetric practice. Carole shows all the fears and lack of preparation expected from watching the other women ‘cared for’ by this hospital.
Family Centred Caesarean-Section: The future of elective caesareans
If you have to have a caesarean-section it is extremely comforting to know that a pioneering group of medics are trying to make the experience as mother and baby friendly as possible.
Induction of Labour
Induction: help or hindrance? Like most medical tools, inductions have a valuable role to play when there is a medical need. Like most medical tools they are used too often, too quickly and with minimal regard for the complications they pose to mother and child. The NICE guidelines, on which this post is based, state in the ...
Want a second opinion? Get it yourself!
Seek and ye shall find Occasions may arise when you want to do your own research into maternity issues. You may want to expand your knowledge or challenge someone elses' view. In the past few years there has been an explosion in the use of the phrase 'evidence-based care' which means that all care is (should ...
Birth by Tina Cassidy
The surprising history of how we are born Tina Cassidy is an American journalist who was inspired by the birth of her own children to research the history of maternity care. She talked to her own grandmother and mother and realised that there were so many differences between their births ...
World War 1 Babies
Impact of World War I On Radio 4’s More or Less programme, aired on the 10th September they discussed the impact on the global population of the first world war. Staggering numbers in relation to the death toll included the fact that an estimated 9 million soldiers and 6 million civilians were killed. The majority of ...