Tanya called in on a Monday morning. “I’m getting married in a few months and we want to start trying to get pregnant right away. What should I be doing now to have the best chance of a healthy baby?” Preconception health and pregnancy planning present a terrific opportunity to assess a wide range of factors that can give your baby the best start. This blog will outline the things to consider, as I relayed to Tanya: Your Personal Health Are you generally healthy? If you already get …
The Baby Blog: cannabis
Birth Defects Prevention Month Series- Alcohol, Smoking and Other Drugs: Why Ten Fingers Plus Ten Toes Doesn’t Always Equal the Whole Story
By Lauren Kozlowski, MSW, MPH, MotherToBaby Georgia Carly called and I could hear the stress in her voice immediately. She had been smoking marijuana on weekends and having a glass of wine most evenings with her dinner. She just found out she was pregnant with her fifth child. Carly knew her baby could suffer if she did not change her use of alcohol and marijuana. Carly was scared, so she contacted MotherToBaby. We were able to discuss what kinds of risk the substances she had used may have, …
We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby! What Have Four Decades Taught Us about Alcohol and Drugs in Pregnancy?
By Lorrie Harris-Sagaribay, MPH, Teratogen Information Specialist and Coordinator, MotherToBaby North Carolina Back in the early 1970s, pregnant women and their health care providers didn’t talk about alcohol and drugs in pregnancy. Birth defects caused by alcohol? Unheard of! Then, along came two pediatric specialists at the University of Washington who changed everything: Drs. David W. Smith and Kenneth Lyons Jones noticed that a group of babies who had been exposed to high amounts of …
Alcohol, Tobacco & Marijuana: What You Need To Know During Breastfeeding
By Beth Conover, APRN, CGC, MotherToBaby Nebraska So…you were really good during your entire pregnancy, giving up every drop of alcohol, quitting smoking tobacco, and, of course, avoiding any drug like marijuana. You were concerned about the development of your baby, and doing everything you could to make a healthy outcome more likely. Good job! But now here you are….you’ve had your baby, you’re giving breastfeeding your best shot…do you still need to be so careful? If you’re wondering this, …
Clearing The Smoke About Marijuana Use During Pregnancy
By Sonia Alvarado, Senior Teratogen Information Specialist, MotherToBaby CA Unless you don’t own a television and never listen to the radio, you know that marijuana has been in the news a lot lately and for marijuana users who have had to smoke in illegally, it appears societal attitudes about pot smoking may be changing. Twenty states have laws legalizing some form of marijuana use. Two states, Colorado and Washington, have legalized its recreational use. In an interview, the NFL Commissioner …
