By MotherToBaby’s Kirstie Perrotta, MPH, Lorrie Harris-Sagaribay, MPH, Robert Felix and Susan Sherman of the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) Zika Task Force ***This blog has been archived. For more up-to-date information, please visit: Zika Virus Fact Sheet Listeria Fact Sheet Toxoplasmosis Fact Sheet Syphilis Fact Sheet CMV Fact Sheet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “It’s 2018! I didn’t even know …
The Baby Blog
About Our Baby Blog
Every person wants to know what’s best for their baby, especially when it comes to knowing how to minimize exposure risks. Our relatable stories are packed with practical information from our rotating staff of MotherToBaby expert bloggers. Whatever topic you’re looking for, our blogs will provide you a great foundation to learn more.
Special Birth Defects Prevention Month Blog! The Flu: Why Prevention is Key during Pregnancy
By MotherToBaby, a service of the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) Why should pregnant women care about influenza? Isn’t Zika a bigger deal? The second you get pregnant, the advice starts coming in from everyone. No eating unpasteurized cheese (Listeria!), don’t change the cat litter (Toxoplasmosis!), and definitely don’t travel to South America (Zika!). While these are all valid concerns, influenza tends to get forgotten, and dismissed as “just the flu.” The Influenza …
Eating Fish during Pregnancy: What’s the Current Hook, Line, and Sinker?
By Ginger Nichols, Licensed Certified Genetic Counselor at MotherToBaby Connecticut I was pregnant in 2004 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released guidelines on limiting fish consumption in pregnancy because of methylmercury. That pregnancy was definitely the most amazing time of my life; however, it was also stressful. It was the 5th time I had been pregnant, but due to miscarriages and the death of a son who was born very …
Diabetes and Pregnancy: The Not-So-Sweet Story
By Patricia Markland Cole, MPH, MotherToBaby Massachusetts November is Diabetes Awareness Month and both of my parents in recent years have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (a preventable form of diabetes where the body can no longer control the amount of sugar in the blood), so it’s a particularly relatable month for me. Because “the apple does not fall far from the tree” the discussion with my doctor has started to change - Now I am at risk., Therefore, if I become pregnant, a family …
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 …
