Archive for December, 2011

Do’s and don’ts for pregnant women

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

During the dynamic 9 months of pregnancy, a pregnant lady undergoes many emotional and physical changes, such as her belly comes out, her bump grows and lot more. This is the time when a woman requires care and love from her partner and from other family members. It is very important to keep a pregnant lady fit, healthy and happy.

There are many pregnant ladies who opt for exercise, as it has a positive impact both on the mother and on the baby. Although, there are many pregnant ladies who are filled with umpteen excuses to avoid exercise, such as it is boring, no time, lack of energy, it may harm the baby and lot more but the fact is that exercise helps the baby and mum to be healthy.

Do’s

A pregnant lady must start with mild exercises

  • To get started with exercise, a pregnant lady must wear comfortable exercise clothes and footwear that gives strong arch support and ankle support.
  • A pregnant lady should wear a good fitting support bra so that she can protect her swollen breasts.
  • As exercise leaves a positive impact; therefore, choosing an exercises that do not causes tiredness and pain is important.
  • Frequent breaks must be taken during the exercise and a lady should drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.
  • If feeling tired or out of breath then no need to continue, rest can be taken.
  • Stretching and relaxing; stretch before and after exercises are very important.
  • Exercise must be very slow and one at a time.
  • For healthy exercise a pregnant lady must eat healthy diet that must include fruits, carbohydrates and vegetables. Intake of calcium is also vital as it helps in formation of baby’s bone (skeleton).

Don’ts

There are few points that should be avoided-

  • A pregnant lady must avoid exercises that strain her lower back and lifting weights above the head.
  • Exercise should be done on stable surface as Exercising on unstable or uneven surface can cause pain to the mother.
  • Avoid exercising in hot surroundings.
  • Hard contact sporting activities must be avoided.
  • A pregnant lady must avoid exercising by lying flat on the ground because this reduces the blood supply to the baby.

Although, certain advice and guidelines must be taken from the doctor before planning to start an exercise program. The sole benefit of exercise is that it keeps the mother and the baby healthy, energetic and happy as care during pregnancy is very vital.

Your pregnancy shopping list!

Friday, December 16th, 2011

Pregnancy is the time when each and every family member, friends, neighbors everyone is happy and take care of the pregnant woman. There are so many things, which are required to be taken care and need to be purchased.  Proper care of nutrition is also to be taken as it helps in the growth and development of the baby. Shopping during pregnancy is really fun for the pregnant ladies as they will be shopping for two. It is very important to make a list before going for shopping; it decreases the chances of missing out important things.

Here are some points and tips that will help you in shopping in an organized way, which are as follows-

1. Pregnancy Clothes: It is very important to buy pregnancy clothes for basic requirements that is for comfort and health. However, you will be needing pregnancy clothes from the middle of the second trimester of your pregnancy stages.

2. Maternity Undergarments: From the time you are pregnant there is a general increase in your bust size, so you need to buy maternity undergarments in the first trimester of your pregnancy.

3. Maternity Shoes: During pregnancy, you must wear flat and comfortable shoes or chappals. As during the last trimester the feet of a pregnant lady swells; hence, it is vital to buy maternity shoes.

4. Maternity Books: Maternity book is the most essential item of your pregnancy shopping list as pregnancy and motherhood is a new challenge to experience. So it is good to read as much as you can because it makes you feel better and keeps you happy.

5. Craving Food: You must keep some healthy craving food items handy that are particularly advised by your doctor so that you can stay away from unhealthy foods. Foods like chocolates, popcorn and ice creams are all permitted but must be taken in lesser quantity.

6. Feel Good Things: During pregnancy, do whatever you want to do. Pampering oneself is very important at this time, there are many pregnant ladies who indulge themselves to make themselves feel good. Different things include wearing stockings, buying new jewelries, eating new things and many more.

7. Finally, Baby Shopping: Finally you are stepping into your baby shopping now. You will need a book for baby names, toys, zero size clothes, prams, and many more things that must be needed for a baby.

Use these tips to plan your perfect pregnancy shopping.

Bio-Technology helps in preserving umbilical cord stem cells for treating threatening diseases

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Thanks to bio-technology that has ensured us with promising cure for diseases like leukemia and diabetes. Doctors have been able to preserve umbilical cord blood stem cells through bio-technologically updated preservation techniques. All the public and private banks use this technique. Preservation of the unspecialized stem cells is done in laboratories that are regenerative in nature and can give rise to specialized cells that help in treating leukemia. The cells are preserved within 10 minutes after a mother gives birth to her child. After the cord is collected, it is sent to the laboratories to be cryopreserved. There are several procedures to preserve the blood stem; in some process the red blood cells are removed from the cord blood and preserve it without red blood cells, while some other process involve preservation with the red blood cells.

Different doctors and scientists have different opinion about which is the best preservation technique, both the process has been successful for preserving blood stem cells for future usage.

A cryopreservant is added to the cord blood that allows stem cells to survive the cryogenic process. After the process is complete the unit is left to cool down at -90˚ C. Then it is kept in liquid-nitrogen tanks that keep it frozen at -196˚ C. This process keeps the cells alive for years. In its preservation code of technique, the process is much similar to the bone-marrow preservations.

It is a painless procedure that is largely supported by people over bone marrow transplantation. Stem cells from cord blood are much simple to get because they are voluntarily obtained from the placenta at the time of delivery with the consent of mother.

Both private and public preservation banks offer facilities for preservation of Umbilical cord blood stem cells. Public banks take universal donors, while private banks take limited people to bank with. Medical community prefers public banks because the cords in public banks are for universal usage and can be used for treating unanimous patients. A broader range of recipients may benefit from cord blood stem cells, therefore, banked stem cells from cord blood can be more readily available and this can be especially crucial for patients with severe cases of leukemia, anemia or immune deficiency who would, otherwise die before a match can be found. Cord blood also is less likely to contain certain infectious agents like some viruses that can pose a risk to transplant recipients.

These cells are stimulated in body through a tube or a central line that goes into the seam in the patient’s chest. The transplanted cells move into the spaces inside the bones and create new marrow. These grow and make healthy new red blood cells platelets and white blood platelets. These umbilical cord blood stem cells are an exact genetic match for the child. Therefore, preserving them they guarantee a source of perfectly matched stem cells in the event that they develop a life threatening disease that could be treated using these cells.