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 …
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.
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 …
Natural Remedies, Fertility and Lead: An All Too Common Mix
By Kurt Martinuzzi, MD, Asst. Professor in the Dept of Ob/Gyn at Emory University and Claire D. Coles, PhD, MotherToBaby Georgia Director Aryan* and Shanaya had been married for two years and very much wanted to start a family. When they were not successful at getting pregnant, they were tested for fertility (all tests came back as normal) and months of expensive medical treatments were tried without success. Emotionally and financially spent, the couple sought the counsel of friends and …
Marijuana, Pregnancy & Breastmilk: Getting Closer to Answers
By Sonia Alvarado, MotherToBaby California Teratogen Information Specialist I wrote a blog about marijuana and pregnancy three years ago and it’s become the most visited blog on the MotherToBaby website. No surprise, considering that marijuana is an even hotter topic today than it was previously! Three years ago, two states had laws allowing recreational use. Now, 29 states allow medicinal use, recreational use or both (with limits on amounts varying from state to state). I was recently asked …
Guest Blog: CMV. The Most Common Viral Infection Affecting Newborns That You’ve Never Heard About
By Kristen Hutchinson Spytek, National CMV Foundation President C-M-V. Three letters that keep me up at night and shake me to the core. Three letters that have managed to routinely shatter my expectations, body slam my optimism, expose my vulnerability, alter my perspective and even now, force me to recalibrate daily. My daughter, Evelyn Grace, was born on March 12, 2013 at 36 weeks with congenital cytomegalovirus. Or CMV. Evelyn was my first pregnancy; I was thirty-one years old. My husband …
