Baby Briefs Hormone May Help to Prevent Pre-eclampsia
How Long Do Moms Exclusively Breast-feed? Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed survey results from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II, published in Pediatrics, and found that 85 percent of the 1,457 women who prenatally intended to exclusively breast-feed planned to do so for three months or more. However, only 32.4 percent breast-fed for as long as they had originally planned. Married mothers and mothers who had other children were more likely to achieve their exclusive breast-feeding goal. The authors found that “babyfriendly” hospital practices, particularly those that encourage giving babies only breast milk in the hospital, may help more mothers achieve their exclusive breast-feeding goals. Visit pediatrics.aappublications.org and search for “Infant Feeding Practices Study II” for more information. — Katherine Kopp
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BABY & TODDLER 2014
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A recent study from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine showed that the hormone adrenomedullin plays a critical role in preventing pre-eclampsia, a condition that can occur after the 20th week of pregnancy. Researchers found that adrenomedullin seems to protect women from pre-eclampsia when emitted by the fetus, not by the mother. “If the baby’s cells are not secreting this hormone, the mother’s blood vessels don’t undergo the dilation that they should,” says the study’s senior author, Kathleen M. Caron, assistant dean for research at the UNC School of Medicine and an associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology. Pre-eclampsia is a condition in which blood vessels in the placenta fail to dilate to accommodate increased blood flow to the fetus. It affects roughly one in 15 pregnancies and can threaten the lives of baby and mother if not treated. The research, published in the June 2013 edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation could lead to new methods for detecting and preventing pre-eclampsia by using adrenomedullin levels as an early indicator to identify which patients might be predisposed to developing pre-eclampsia.
32.8%
of all deliveries are by Cesarean section. SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
carolinaparent.com
Drinking Milk During Pregnancy May Affect Baby’s Height A new study of 685 Danish motherchild pairs over a 20-year period suggests that the amount of milk a woman drinks during pregnancy may affect the adult height of her offspring. The researchers tracked milk consumption during pregnancy and the height of the offspring at birth and age 20. After adjusting for the mother’s height, age, body mass index and other factors, they found: Mothers who drank more than 5 ounces of milk a day had bigger babies, on average, than those who drank less. By age 20, children with mothers who drank more than 5 ounces of milk a day during pregnancy were, on average, almost a half-inch taller. These children also had an average of 8 percent higher blood levels of IGF-1, or insulin-like growth factor, which promotes bone growth. Source: The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Sept. 4, 2013)