If you are pregnant, one of the questions you likely hear the most from friends, family or co-workers is whether your baby is a boy or a girl. In the past, you could not find out your baby's gender until birth. Today, however, there are various...
If you're pregnant, prenatal testing may seem like a positive thing, a way to check your baby's health and find out whether you're having a boy or girl. While 97 percent of all prenatal tests deliver good news, according to the University of...
While embryos are male or female from the day of conception, gender isn't obvious on ultrasound until at least 12 weeks, and more often 16 to 20 weeks, Dr. Joseph Woo of Hong Kong states in Obstetric Ultrasound. Male and females fetuses have...
Choosing whether to learn the gender of your baby is an important decision for many expectant mothers and fathers. Although some prefer the element of surprise, an estimated 50 percent to 70 percent of parents-to-be decide to find out their baby's...
Determining a baby's gender before birth only became possible during the last century with the development of ultrasound and chromosomal testing technology. While some take this technology for granted, others choose not to find out the gender of...
Down syndrome, a congenital chromosomal disorder that causes physical anomalies and developmental delays, affects approximately 1 in 700 to 800 people, the Mayo Clinic reports. People with Down syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome number 21....
Rett Syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects girls exclusively, is usually first noticed when your child is six to 18 months of age. The so-called early onset stage of Rett syndrome can be marked by signs and symptoms that include a...
Premature ovarian failure, sometimes referred to as premature menopause, refers to the loss of normal ovarian function before the age of 40. Ovarian failure can mean that the body cannot produce eggs or cannot produce the normal amounts of the...
Symptoms of low estrogen typically occur in women approaching and experiencing menopause. However, younger women can also experience low estrogen, but their symptoms (and causes) differ from menopausal women. There are three types of estrogen:...
When prenatal screening identifies features of a genetic syndrome or there is a family history of genetic disease, a woman's health care provider may suggest prenatal genetic testing. Highly accurate, prenatal genetic testing can diagnose a baby's...
Color vision deficiency, or color blindness, is an incurable condition in which the affected person cannot distinguish one or more colors from one another. This deficiency is more common than you might believe: It affects 8 percent of boys and 0.5...
Cholesterol is made by your liver or obtained from your food. Regardless of the source, high levels of cholesterol in your bloodstream increase your risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Many of the things you do contribute to high...
Finding out you are pregnant, especially with your first child, can be an exciting time filled with joy, wonder and apprehension. There is so much to learn, so much to do and so much to look forward to. Caring for yourself and ensuring the health...
Acampomelic campomelic dysplasia (ACD) is a rare genetic syndrome. A form of campomelic dysplasia, ACD has the same features, except for bowing of the long bones. Features of the syndrome become apparent prenatally, or just after birth. ACD can be...
Bone marrow is a soft spongy material that is located inside of the bones. Bone marrow is necessary for the transition that stem cells make to become one of the types of blood cells (red blood cells, platelets or white blood cells). Bone marrow...
The International Mosaic Down Syndrome Association estimates that one in 27,000 people suffer from Mosaic Down syndrome, a genetic condition in which a subset of cells inherits three copies of chromosome 21. Normal cell division in a developing...
Pregnancy is traditionally divided into three trimesters lasting approximately three months each. Since the average pregnancy actually lasts 40 weeks, not nine months, this can sometimes be confusing, according to Penn Medicine. Different doctors...
If you're hoping to get pregnant with a baby girl, you may have to work a little harder to achieve your goal. More boys than girls are born each year in the United States, although the difference is slight: around 1.04: 1 in favor to boys. A...
Modern technology allows parents to find out the baby's sex prior to birth. A baby's sex is defined as the 'biological and physiological characteristics' that define a girl or boy, according to the World Health Organization. Most commonly, you can...
If you would like to plan ahead during your pregnancy, you may wish to find out the sex of your unborn baby. Once you know the gender, you can buy appropriate clothing and items for the nursery. However, beware of old wives tales that state you...
A child born with Ataxia-Telangiectasia will appear to develop normally for the first two years of life, but then delayed development of motor skills will become increasingly apparent. The child may begin to exhibit poor balance, impaired speech...
When prenatal screening identifies features of a genetic syndrome or there is a family history of genetic disease, a woman's health care provider may suggest prenatal genetic testing. Baby's DNA, obtained by chorionic villus sampling--commonly...
During a pregnancy with twins or other multiples, it is normal for the babies to vary in size slightly. When this growth disparity gets too large, the smaller fetus could become endangered. Discordant fetal growth between babies sharing a womb may...
The development of a baby is a complex process that involves months of change and growth. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 4 million babies were born in the United States in 2007, but the U.S. National Institutes of Health...
Grainy images from a prenatal sonogram are often baby's first picture for the baby book. This procedure has become commonplace in modern obstetrical care, with many low risk mothers receiving two or more ultrasounds during pregnancy and high-risk...
Identifying Russell-Silver syndrome (RSS) can be challenging because there is great variety in how the condition presents. Your child may display numerous symptoms, or he may have only a few. If your child is a textbook case, he may have a small,...
Working out at home or at the gym is supposed to enhance your well-being and make you feel alive, but for some people, working out means pain. Pain in the left side of your head after physical exertion can be a sign of something serious or just a...
Triple X syndrome is a genetic disorder in which a girl has three X chromosomes instead of two. Triple X occurs once in every 1,000 female births. However, doctors believe many girls with Triple X go their lifetime undiagnosed. The major...
Radon is a colorless, odorless gas that comes from uranium found in the ground and water supply. Outdoors, it dissipates into the air and is considered harmless. Indoors, however, it can build up and become toxic. Alpha particles from the gas are...
