If you've spent any time searching the Internet for natural labor induction techniques, you've likely run across evening primrose. Some midwives and practitioners of alternative medicine recommend taking evening primrose orally or applying it to...
Nature usually takes its course to bring on labor when it's time for a baby to be born. Some women can go past their due date, however, and although their bodies and the baby are more than ready to get started, nothing happens and they continue to...
Going past your due date is quite common, and according to the website Pregnancy-info.net, 7 out of 10 babies are content to wait an extra week or two before making their appearance. You can coax him out using easy techniques, but as Marjorie...
A newborn infant does not always look like the picture-perfect babies you see on television and in magazines. Bruises, which can occur for a variety of reasons, often develop on your newborn's skin. They can appear right after birth or develop in...
Breaking water, also called amniorrhexis or rupture of membranes, is a normal part of labor and giving birth. The "water" is actually amniotic fluid, a straw-colored liquid with a faint odor that may be confused with urine. During...
Labaor may be induced by drugs when it doesn't begin naturally or becomes stalled or when the life of the mother or baby is threatened if labor doesn't occur soon. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) does not recommend...
Down syndrome occurs when a fetus carries three copies of chromosome 21 instead of two copies. Only a test of the fetus' genes can prove if a fetus has Down syndrome, but ultrasound can detect certain characteristic traits associated with it. A 3D...
The normal human gestation period is 40 weeks. Delivery of an infant prior to 37 weeks is considered a premature birth. Premature birth places the child at greatly increased risk of death or permanent physical, learning and behavioral...
Premature rupture of membranes is the early rupture (tears or bursts) of the amniotic sac, after 37 weeks gestation. Typically, a mom-to-be's water will break (or rupture) after the first stage of labor. When the membranes rupture prior to the...
In 2006, according to the Guttmacher Institute, 750,000 females under the age of 20 became pregnant. This represents about seven percent of young girls in the United States between the ages of fifteen and nineteen. California, Texas and New York...
White blood cells (WBCs) are a type of body cell found in the bloodstream that help fight infection. According to MedlinePlus, WBCs are also called leukocytes and the normal amount found in the bloodstream of a newborn infant is between 4,500 and...
A premature birth is one that takes place before 37 weeks of gestation, three weeks or more before the baby's due date. Premature babies can develop a range of health problems, which are more severe the younger the baby is when he is born. In some...
Approximately 12 percent of babies born in the United States are premature, according to 2007 information from the American Pregnancy Association. Often there are no complications, but premature births increase the risk of certain medical...
From the moment of conception, rapid cellular division begins and initiates the start of a child's development in the womb. The developing embryo will go through many changes. From the development of organs and bones to eyes, ears, and tiny feet...
During pregnancy, the unborn child goes through several stages of development. The baby begins as nothing more than a single-cell organism, and with each stage, he progresses until he becomes a human being who is completely developed and able to...
Premature, or preterm, births are defined as occurring before 37 weeks of pregnancy, with 40 weeks being considered full term. According to the March of Dimes, about 12.8 percent--more than half a million--preterm babies are born in the United...
Amniotic fluid is the fluid that surrounds your baby in the womb.This clear-colored liquid protects the baby and provides it with fluids, reports the March of Dimes. Your baby breathes and swallows amniotic fluid. The medical term for low fluid is...
Because metabolism influences the amount of daily energy you use, it is important to have an understanding of what may alter, either by increasing or decreasing, your metabolism. By understanding the degree of increase, you can gain a better...
Smoking has long been recognized as a leading contributor to death and disease worldwide. Despite the known harmful health effects of smoking, however, the March of Dimes reports that at least 10 percent of pregnant women in the United States...
Smoking can have devastating consequences for a pregnancy. From miscarriage to growth restriction to birth defects, smoking during pregnancy increases the risk for many poor outcomes. The more a woman smokes, the higher the risks. Being aware of...
Waiting to go into labor naturally is usually ideal, but sometimes things don't work out that way. Whether it is because a woman is past her due date, experiencing complications with the pregnancy or baby's development or experiencing another...
Bacterial vaginosis occurs with disruption of the balance among normal vaginal bacteria, allowing harmful types to proliferate. The exact cause for this imbalance is not fully understood, although having multiple or new sexual partners, douching...
The uterus is a pear-shaped muscular organ that measures roughly about 7.5cm in the non-pregnant state. It serves as the vessel for a baby's growth and development during a normal pregnancy. The uterus is not usually palpable, or felt, as it sits...
Most women are ready to have their baby and be done with pregnancy as their due date draws near. There are several ways that women have used to get labor started so that delivery can occur. Some women's doctors will induce their labor. This...
When a woman goes into labor, she starts having uterine contractions, the amniotic sac ruptures and birth is imminent. Since normal human gestation lasts between 37 to 42 weeks, the start of labor before the 37th week of pregnancy is considered to...
In nine months, a future human being develops from a ball of cells into a baby. Fetal development follows a well-documented chronology and is divided into trimesters.
The word congenital comes from the Latin word "congenitus," meaning "born with." A congenital disease is a disease or disorder that a baby is born with. Most people think that the term only refers to diseases that are hereditary. That is not...
In the movies, labor is usually preceded by a dramatic and public breaking of the water, but in real life, only a very small percentage of women experience their water breaking before they go into labor. So if you're nervous about your water...
When you learn you’re pregnant, your teeth probably are the last thing on your mind. However, overlooking dental health can have serious consequences for your pregnancy. A 2005 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found...
