The Uncertainties Of Teenage Pregnancy

Pregnancy is essentially one of the joyful experiences of being a woman. The process of anticipating, nurturing and giving life can be a momentous event for a woman. Despite some discomforts, pregnancy is one on the pivotal moments in a woman’s life. But perhaps not in the case of unwanted teenage pregnancy. Teenage life is basically the stage of adolescence, and as such, pregnancy for a teenager can cause much distress and anxiety. Instead of discovering her potential and her identity, teenage pregnancy can place an unnecessary burden to a teenage girl. The stress during the pregnancy, revealing it to the parents and the shame and worry teenage pregnancy brings can cause so much pressure on the mother thus affecting her health and well-being.

Although teenage pregnancy in the United States has steadily decreased over the years, the pregnancy rate among teenagers remain high. In 1991, 60 out of 1000 young women gave birth during their teens but in 1998, the number was reduced to 51 out of 1000. Such outcome was instigated by the use of contraceptive measures and less sexual activity among teenagers. But the statistics remain alarming according to the Women’s Health Channel. Approximately 1 million women is beset by teenage pregnancy annually in the United States alone. Thirteen percent of pregnant women in 1997 were teenage girls. As the mother is basically unprepared for pregnancy, early pregnancy can put significant health risks to herself as well as to her unborn child.

Teenage pregnancy cannot only place the mother’s health to a detriment but can consequently beget social and emotional issues as well. As for the baby, teenage pregnancy can lay bare complications such as premature labor and birth. Socioeconomic consequences may also present themselves during and after teenage pregnancy. As adolescence is certainly not an ideal time for pregnancy, teenage pregnancy can put failed academic performance, poverty, physical and mental illness as matters to be dealt with. As teenage mothers are generally caught unprepared and unaware of the proper measure to implement for a healthy pregnancy, these young women may not seek medical care and attention which may lead to possible medical complications.

During teenage pregnancy, the mother may need emotional understanding, proper medical care and education as a healthy pregnancy is a venture that needs scrupulous grounding. A teenage mother must be aware as well of her nutrition needs and the potential complications of pregnancy. As most of the teenage pregnancy cases are unplanned, the young mother may experience varied emotions. Some teenage mothers may have positive feeling about the pregnancy while others might be reluctant to be mothers. Guilt and anxiety are also prevalent emotions triggered by teenage pregnancy. Depression as well can be the most common concern for a teenage mother.

At worst, a pregnant teenager may even require the attention of a mental health professional. Studies have shown that teenage pregnancy can result to underweight babies as there is a tendency for the mother to have poor eating habits and to smoke and drink. Parental obligation is necessary for teenage pregnancy prevention. Parents and community authorities must ensure that teenagers are educated and guided on the issues of sexuality, std, contraception and the risks and responsibilities of pregnancy. Young as they are, family and community support must be made available to adolescents so as not to get involved in the complicated lot of teenage pregnancy.


Source: Dr. Rose Windale (ArticleDashboard.com)

How To Reduce Morning Sickness In Pregnancy First Stages

Pregnancy is probably one of the most exciting moments in a woman’s life. There are many wonderful things will happen in the next nine months, that you can really enjoy. However, in some women, there is a condition that can turn your pregnancy into quite a difficult time: nausea and vomiting, or people used to call morning sickness. Although morning sickness is becoming common in the pregnancy first stages, it does not mean that you cannot do anything to reduce it. Anyway, this is your precious moment, so don’t let anything ruin your excitement!

Morning sickness usually occurs in the pregnancy first stages, which starts in the 4th week, get worse around 6th and 8th week, and then decreasing when you enter the 12th week of pregnancy. The rapid increase of hormone level in the blood is the culprit of morning sickness you had. The hormone change is needed for your body to prepare your womb and your body for developing the pregnancy. It might takes a while for your body to adjust with the hormonal changes, which will trigger morning sickness.

Morning sickness is basically not dangerous for you nor for the baby. However, in some cases the vomiting could gone so bad that the mother can lack of food and fluids in her body. And when this continue over several days, it can cause dehydration and malnourishment, which may lead you to the hospital for intensive care and diagnosis.

So, before all of those problems come and ruin your pregnancy, you can try these natural diet as well as medicational methods to ease and reduce nausea and vomiting during pregnancy,

Avoid the trigger

What causes vomiting could be vary between one woman to another. Cooking smell often causes nausea. That’s why it is recommended for women in pregnancy first stages to avoid strong smelling cooked food (especially Asian dishes which is rich of onion and garlic). In a severe nausea condition, some women might have nausea just because they eat their regular food. In this case, you can eat anything that you can take, ignoring the nutrition level in it. The most important thing is that you still have some food entering your body.

Water or other fluid is also important to avoid dehydration. If you cannot take water, try to add few drops of lemon in it. Drink as plenty of fluids as you can in regular sips during the day.

Snack upon waking-up

Having tea and biscuits or crackers early in the morning is believed to reduce morning sickness. If you have severe nausea, take peppermint tea or ginger tea with some ginger biscuits or cakes. Ginger is an ancient method of using natural herbs to reduce nausea.

Small frequent meals

Pregnant women are recommended to have small but frequent meals to relieve nausea symptoms. You can have healthy foods every 2 hours from these choices,

Toast and jam (without butter)
Crackers or plain biscuits
Fruit salads (apple, tomato, banana)
Yogurt
Soup with toast
Cereal with low fat milk and banana
Sandwich with low fat spread
Hard boild eggs

Besides heathy diet, pregnant women should take vitamins to ensure both mother and baby’s health.

Taking 10-25 mgs of Vitamin B6 can ease the morning sickness, while Vitamin K and C can relieve some symptoms while taken together. If you have severe morning sickness but do not fond of gingery taste, you can substitute ginger tea with 1 gram encapsulated ginger powder per day.

Last but not least, remember that positive attitude can always help you in any conditions, including the uncomfortable period during your pregnancy first stages. So, always think positively, of your pregnancy and of your baby.


Source: sariefah (ArticleDash.com)

Unplanned Pregnancy: Facing The Consequences

Although conceiving a child is considered one of the most joyous experiences that can happen to a woman, an unplanned pregnancy can leave a woman feeling otherwise even when she is in a steady relationship.

The many responsibilities associated with motherhood, the lack of support from the father or her family, and the social stigma put on unplanned pregnancy can all make it a devastating experience. Not to mention that raging hormones during pregnancy, in general can make matters worse, leaving women who become pregnant out of wedlock to suffer more emotionally than wedded women.

Unplanned pregnancy can lead to mothers to decide on three things: abortion, adoption, or keeping the baby. Whereas abortion is legal in majority of the western countries, it isn’t in nations where Christianity is the predominant religion. But even when abortion is legal it still isn’t an easy decision since it often accompanies emotional, physical, and psychological problems on the mother.

How to make an unplanned pregnancy worth saving? A small number of young people might not be aware of the consequences of pre-marital sex, with unplanned pregnancy as one of those. However, if you’re not one of these people then you should be somewhat informed of the high possibility of conceiving when you’re sexually active.

With that as a huge possibility (in the absence of contraceptives), unplanned pregnancy is inevitable. The guilt associated with abortions can be emotionally overbearing to the young mother than to let the unplanned pregnancy continue and hold the baby for adoption.

Today, there are a great number of couples who, for some reasons, resort to adoption and babies are highly in demand. If you believe that you or the father of the baby will be unable to provide his overall needs, then adoption would be the best option. Nobody said it will be guiltless but guilt will be of lesser degree than the decision to abort the baby.

Emotional support is greatly needed during this time, which you can get from supportive networks like friends, relatives, and most of all your parents.

Unplanned pregnancy is one of the biggest issues that transcend beyond cultural. Many unwed mothers are more prone to experience poverty in their lifetime and be dependent in welfares. Statistics show that unplanned pregnancy accounts for more than half of all pregnancies, and the sad truth is that it is most prevalent in teenage girls who are neither economically nor emotionally prepared for the situation.

Unplanned pregnancy is more than just an individual’s problem but it is among the biggest factors of population growth that affects an entire nation. Thus, if you’re not ready to parent a child, then by all means use contraceptives or better yet don’t engage in sex at all.


Source: Lucile Taylor (ArticleDashboard.com)

How To Reduce Pregnancy Weight Gain

One of the most important things that women worry about when they are pregnant is their baby's health. After that, their second largest worry is pregnancy weight gain. Some women put more thought into this than others do, but this is something that your doctor will be worried about.

Plenty of times, women take the old proverb 'eating for two' a little too seriously and end up gaining loads more of weight than they should have. When a lady gains too much weight during pregnancy, there are a few issues that will happen.

Your doctor will be in a position to tell you what a safe pregnancy weight gain will be. Your body does need additional minerals and vitamins to help feed your growing baby in your stomach, but if you go over the top, your body will store everything as fat. If your pregnancy weight gain starts to get out of control, there are a few medical conditions that may result. If you find yourself worrying about your pregnancy weight gain, contact your doctor right now. If your next appointment is coming up, you can wait till then to discuss with them about it.

Tell them that you are concerned about your pregnancy weight gain and ask them if you are on the right track or not. In a few cases, you will just be sensitive about your weight. In other cases, you will have something to fret about.

It is always better to ask your doctor than to wonder. Remember that your pregnancy weight gain will not always leave after you have given birth. You could have seen models and actresses that may fit right back to their clothing a week or so after they give birth, but you must know this is not the standard.

You should expect that some of your pregnancy weight gain will stay with you for some months after you have given birth. If you opt to breast-feed, you can find the weight comes off quicker than you believe. However, if you are still having the same pregnancy weight gain after some months and have not lost a pound, you may need to talk to your doctor about the way to get those additional pounds off.


Source: Thomas Choo (ArticleDashboard.com)

Four Ways To Avoid Stretch Marks During Pregnancy

There are thousands of women who want to know how to avoid stretch marks during pregnancy. Why? Well, we all that pregnancy is one of the causes that make women get these unwanted lines on the skin. They also happen when a person gains weight and during puberty stage, when one's body is growing. The bad news is, there's no guarantee that you can avoid stretch marks during pregnancy because of the fact that genetics play a vital role in determining whether or not you will get them. This means that, if one of your family members had these scars before, it means that you have a great chance of having them later in life.

Aside from pregnancy, weight gain can cause individuals to get these marks. If you had them already, another bad news to know is that, you will be having them forever, since they are permanent scars with no cure. Topicals and surgical methods that claim to remove them completely only reduce their visibility, to make them less apparent.

Pregnancy is a stage where the skin stretches to a point of no return, which means that, whether you like it or not, you will have them sooner or later.

However, I've heard stories from women who have successfully avoided these scars during pregnancy, so it will not hurt to try these tips to avoid stretch marks.

1. Exercise to make the skin stretch and more elastic, to avoid getting these unsightly marks. Move the legs, thighs and abdomen when engaging in exercises, which can be as short as fifteen minutes a day.

2. Eat a lot of food rich in Vitamins A, C, E and zinc to make the skin healthier and more elastic, and to keep it full and less prone to scarring.

3. Over-the-counter products which aim to avoid stretch marks are all over the market, ranging from shea butters, to gels to lotions. These products have common ingredients which aim to make the skin more elastic, at the onset of stretch marks. Apply them everyday to ensure your skin is protected from these scars.

Here is a well-known over-the-counter product to help prevent getting permanent scars.

Clinique CX Stretch Mark Cream

This product is made prevent and minimize marks, and it is also the latest topical to hit the market. It contains palmitoyl oligopeptide, hydrolyzed collagen and acetyl hexampeptide-2, which we all use to stimulate collagen production.

It’s got Mimosa tenuiflora bark extract in it as well which helps maintain natural collagen levels. There are sucrose, caffeine and sandalwood extract in this product to help your skin repair itself as soon as unwanted marks are formed, and it also has shea butter, muru muru butter and linoleic acid which will increase suppleness and help bolster the lipid system within the skin’s surface, helping to smooth the skin, and stop new lines from forming.

4. Massage your skin with baby oil while the skin is still wet from bathing, to make it more firm and elastic, which helps avoid stretch marks.All in all, while genetics determine if you will suffer from these scars or not, you might have a chance of fighting back if you apply the tips above during and after pregnancy. I don't guarantee, however, that you will indeed succeed, because of your genes.


Source: Juana Cruz (ArticleDashboard.com)

Concerns During Pregnancy : Don’t Worry Too Much.

There’s nothing more nervous than to get something go wrong while you are pregnant. It does not matter if it’s your first time that being pregnant or your third time. There are a lot of things that to be concerned about while you are pregnant and it is more comfortable once you know what those things are.

Vaginal hemorrhage

This may also call as spotting, but make certain that is what is happening. There are some difference between actively hemorrhage and spotting. Spotting is thinly bleeding kind of similar your menstruation, the blood could be pink, red or even brown. If you have bleeding actively with any pelvic pain, you should call your doctor. If you can’t contact your doctor go immediately to the nearly hospital. Hemorrhaging can be a number of things from fetal implantation, miscarriage, labor, infection or even ectopic pregnancy. Please tell everything to your doctor and let him know, then everything can be rejected, you will feel better too.

Epigastrium pain or cramping

While you are pregnant it is hard to decipher the difference between an actual stomach pain/cramping and a growing pain. However, if you do have a painful sensation of any sort rest, if it doesn’t subside after a few minutes call your doctor and report the painful sensation to him. Do not worry about this if you find out that you only got gas or were getting Braxton hicks contractions, at least you know that everything is all right on pregnancy.

Gush of liquid

This may show that you are in labor and that your water broke, however if it is not close to the time of deliver it may be something else. Call your doctor quickly and go to the emergency room.

Dehydration

During pregnancy it is easy to get dehydrated, especially if you are having morning sickness or don’t drink enough water. If you detect that yourself look pale, dry mouth or get dizziness, you may be dehydrated and had better be seen by your doctor. Dehydration can induce premature labor and/or distress during the pregnancy.

Painful urination

It could be a sign of urinary tract infection, as well known as UTI. It can be treated by medication and drinking a lots of water. A urinary tract infection is not something to be worry about. it is very common illness during pregnancy. The growing belly pushes against your ureters and makes it more difficult for them to flow through. This can induce urinary tract infection. A different way to find out if you get urinary tract infection is if you get a foul odor while you pee.

If you are ever in doubtfulness or have a concern, you should talk with your doctor. It is common that first time of pregnancy most of women are very nervous about many pains that they experience. Do not fear to call the doctor. The only one thing that you should do is tell him everything to find out what’s wrong and then your anxiety will be relief.


Source: Narisa R. (ArticleDashboard.com)

Sex During Pregnancy: Is It Safe?

When a pregnant woman is dealing with nausea, vomiting and fatigue, morning sickness, and weight gain, it seems that the last thing that she would think about is sex. There are many women who are active when they are pregnant. But they think that engaging in a sexual activity might be bad for the baby’s health. Is it really safe to have sex when you are pregnant?

Whether this would bring good news or not, having sex during pregnancy is safe for women who have uncomplicated and low-risk pregnancies.

Normal Pregnancy Allows for Sexual Activity

If you are not sure that you are fit for such an activity, consult a doctor or a midwife. The sexual desires of a woman tend to fluctuate when she is pregnant, but the activity can become awkward and uncomfortable since the body shape of a woman changes considerably.

Always remember that staying intimate doesn’t meant hat you have to engage in sex. Closeness and pleasure can be provided by kissing, touching, cuddling, and manual stimulation. These activities are low risk, and they could not add up to the problems of your pregnancy..

You just have to make sure that your pregnancy is healthy and fit.

Some Risks and Tips

You should also know that a pregnant woman who engages in sex is not a hundred percent safe. There are risks that are associated with the activity, and here are some things to consider:

1) Never engage in practices where your partner blows in the birth canal. It can cause blockage of the blood vessel, which is potentially fatal for the baby and for the mother as well.

2) Never have sex with a partner if you do not know his sexual and health history. This is a risk factor for sexually transmitted diseases and infections, which is very serious on the baby’s part. You are not only putting your life at risk but also the life of the unborn child.

3) Don’t engage in sex if the doctor doesn’t allow you to. This might end up in early labor, potential miscarriage, bleeding, cramping, amniotic fluid leaking from birth canal, cervix problems, and a condition called placenta previa.

4) You might also consider engaging in different sex positions while you are having sex. The traditional man-on-top and spooning position is very uncomfortable for a pregnant woman. It is also important to know that a pregnant woman should not lie flat on her back because the uterus might compress the major blood vessels. This can cause pelvic pressure, intense pain, dizziness, and other uncomfortable and dangerous situations.

Having sex while you are pregnant does not have a direct effect on the baby because it is fully protected by the amniotic sac and the strong muscles of the uterus. Aside from these, there’s a thick mucus plug that seals the cervix and helps guard the baby against infection. It is good to know that the penis does not come into contact with the fetus during sex.


Source: James Pendergraft (ArticleDashboard.com)

Pregnancy Testing

Just a few years back, home pregnancy testing was expensive and a bit more complicated than it is now - with tests offering a fraction of the sensitivity that today's diagnostic kits boast. The good news is that pregnancy testing is easy, affordable, and accurate - with early-detection tests capable of determining pregnancy as early as 8-10 days dpo.

HCG pregnancy tests determine pregnancy through the detection of the hormone hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) in a woman's urine. In technical terms, hCG is a glycoprotein hormone secreted by the developing placenta shortly after a fertilized egg has implanted in the uterine lining. The appearance of hCG soon after conception - and its subsequent rise in concentration during early gestational growth - make it an excellent marker for the early detection of pregnancy.

Pregnancy tests come in two common formats - tests strips and midstream tests. To use a pregnancy test strip, you fill a clean, dry container with urine and hold the test strip in the container for several seconds. With midstream tests, you simply hold the test in your stream of urine (or you can dip the absorbent end into a container of urine). Both test formats are equally reliable - but always read pregnancy test kit instructions carefully. Though they all function by the same principle, unique manufacturing specifications and instructions may apply.

Also, the way results appear among products may differ: some brands have tests lines (horizontal lines) and other tests may indicate a "plus" sign. Newer digital pregnancy test kits will even tell you, in words, if the result is positive or negative. Indeed, things have changed quite a bit, even in the last 10 years or so!

With most home pregnancy testing products, the "reaction time" of the test is five minutes. Generally, at three to five minutes, you can interpret the test results. IN some cases, a positive result will show up quickly if the hCG level is high in the urine. However, most tests require a minimum five minute interval to verify a negative result for pregnancy. Manufacturers also recommend that you should not read tests after a designated time period, as most test brands have the possibility of developing evaporation lines. If you leave the test to sit for too long, an evaporation line may develop and look like a positive result.

Once the reaction time of the test is complete, color bands will appear (or fail to appear) in the test region of the strip or midstream unit. All tests have a "control" color band (or color line) that indicates whether the test is working or not. The "test" color band indicates a positive or negative result (please refer to the graphic below). Given proper testing and interpretation procedure, a faint line in the test region may be read as a positive result, though it's a good idea to verify any result with an additional test 24-48 hours later (using first morning urine).

How Early Can I Test? And When Should I Test?
Early Pregnancy Test Sensitivity

HCG is measured in thousandths of International Units, or mIU. The most sensitive pregnancy tests can detect hCG levels at as low as 20 mIU. This level of hCG is present in the urine of pregnant women at about 8 days after conception - (though conception/implantation can actually take place several days after the last recorded intercourse). Test sensitivity equates with early-detection - and the lower the number, the sooner a test can detect pregnancy.

If pregnant, the amount of hCG in your system should be around 25 mIU at 10 dpo (days past ovulation), 50 mIU at 12 dpo, 100 mIU at around two weeks dpo. Blood tests can determine pregnancy as low as between 5 to 10 mIU/hCG, though with levels of 5 mIU, a conclusive determination cannot be made without risking a "false positive" as low levels hCG can be present in the body without pregnancy.

Drugstore pregnancy tests generally detect pregnancy at 50 mIU - 100 mIU hCG, though you can find early-detection pregnancy tests on the Internet with sensitivity levels as low as 20 mIU. With all diagnostic products, take care to follow the instructions.

For earliest detection of pregnancy, use first morning urine, as this urine sample contains the most concentrated amount of hCG. If using first morning urine is not feasible, avoiding urination for several hours before using a pregnancy test.

Besides pregnancy, elevated concentrations of hCG may be found in women with trophoblastic diseases. These conditions should be ruled out in the interpretation of hCG levels to establish a diagnosis of pregnancy.

Source: Ovulation-Calculator.com

Top 10 signs of pregnancy

If you're extremely tuned in to your body's rhythms, you may begin to suspect you're pregnant soon after conception. But most women won't experience any early pregnancy symptoms until the fertilised egg attaches itself to the uterine wall, several days after conception. Others may notice no signs of pregnancy for weeks and begin to wonder "Am I pregnant?" only when they miss a period. Below is a list of some of the first signs of impending motherhood. You may experience all, some, or none of these symptoms of pregnancy:

1. Food cravings. Yes, it's a cliché, but food cravings sometimes can be a sign of pregnancy. Don't rely on them as a sure symptom (it may be all in your head, or even a sign that your body is low on a particular nutrient), but if cravings are accompanied by some of the other symptoms on this list, start counting the days from your last period.

2. Darkening of your areolas. If the skin around your nipples gets darker, you may have successfully conceived, though this may also signal a hormonal imbalance unrelated to pregnancy or be a leftover effect from a previous pregnancy.

3. Implantation bleeding or cramping. About eight days after ovulation , you may experience implantation spotting, a slight staining of a pink or brown colour, as well as some cramping. This is caused by the egg burrowing into the endometrial lining. You might also see some spotting around the time you expect your period.

4. Frequent urination. Once the embryo implants and begins producing the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), you may find yourself going to the bathroom more often.

5. Fatigue. Feeling tired? No, make that exhausted. High levels of the hormone progesterone can make you feel as if you've run a marathon when all you've done is put in a day at the office. Fatigue is a hallmark of early pregnancy, though probably not a surefire symptom on its own.

6. Tender, swollen breasts. If you're pregnant, your breasts will probably become increasingly tender to the touch, similar to the way they feel before your period, only more so. Once your body grows accustomed to the hormone surge, the pain will subside.

7. . Altered sense of taste. You may notice that your sense of taste changes. Some women say they have a metallic taste in their mouth, others that they cannot stand the taste of coffee, tea, or a food they usually like.

8. Morning sickness. If you're lucky, morning sickness won't hit you until a few weeks after conception. (A lucky few escape it altogether.) But as early as a couple of days following conception, you may begin feeling nauseated and queasy. And not just in the morning, either -- pregnancy-related nausea can be a problem morning, noon, or night.

9. A missed period. If you're usually pretty regular and your period is late, it's worth trying a pregnancy test. A missed period is the surest sign of pregnancy in a woman of childbearing age who usually has regular periods.

And finally...

10. A positive home pregnancy test. If you've waited to test until at least the first day of a missed period and a blue line appears in the test window, you're most likely to be in the family way. Make an appointment with your doctor to confirm the good news.

Source: babycentre