Pregnancy For Dummies, UK Edition E-Book

Sarah Jarvis

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 552

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Everything expectant mums need to know, trimester by trimester

Both new and seasoned parents alike have questions and concerns over the course of the nine-month adventure. Pregnancy For Dummies offers comfort and reassurance while serving as a guide to what mother and baby experience before, during, and just after birth. Here, you’ll find expert advice on diets and exercise when you’re pregnant; guidance on following your baby’s development, trimester by trimester; tips on how to prepare for the big day; techniques for taking care of yourself before and after delivery; and support for caring for a newborn baby.

Pregnancy For Dummies gives parents-to-be authoritative, friendly, up-to-date advice on every aspect of pregnancy and childbirth. This new edition offers all of the latest information expecting parents want to know, including medical and nutritional information and updated resources/changes in NHS practice, so that new mums will feel prepared and reassured ahead of the birth.

• A guide to what mother and baby experience before, during, and just after birth
• Helpful information on preparing for pregnancy
• Advice on diet and exercise during pregnancy
• Information on your rights and welfare benefits
• Guidance on how to care for a newborn baby

If you’re an expectant mum looking for practical, down-to-earth guidance on what to expect before, during, and after pregnancy, Pregnancy For Dummies will keep you prepared and reassured every step along the way.

Leseprobe

Pregnancy For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/pregnancy to view this book's cheat sheet.

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

What You’re Not to Read

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organised

Part I: The Game Plan

Part II: Pregnancy: A Drama in Three Acts

Part III: The Big Event: Labour, Delivery and Recovery

Part IV: Special Concerns

Part V: The Part of Tens

Appendix

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: The Game Plan

Chapter 1: From Here to Maternity

Getting Ready to Get Pregnant: The Preconception Visit

Taking a look at your history

Evaluating your current health

Answering Commonly Asked Questions

Getting to your ideal body weight

Reviewing your medications

Considering herbal remedies and vitamin supplements

Recognising the importance of vaccinations and immunity

Quitting contraception

Introducing Sperm to Egg: Timing Is Everything

Pinpointing ovulation

Taking an effective (and fun) approach

Chapter 2: I Think I’m Pregnant!

Recognising the Signs of Pregnancy

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

Getting an answer at home

Going to your GP for answers

Antenatal and Labour Care – What’s Available?

Where to have your baby

Looking at your options: Private or NHS?

Who’s Who? The Varying Roles of Health Care Professionals

Your GP

Your midwife

Independent midwives

Your obstetrician

Maternal-foetal medicine specialists

Your paediatrician

Your health visitor

Chapter 3: Preparing for Life during Pregnancy

Working Out Your Due Date

Planning Antenatal Visits

Preparing for Physical Changes

Spotting breast and bladder changes

Coping with mood swings

Living through leg cramps

Noticing vaginal discharge

Putting up with backaches

Handling stress

Understanding the Effects of Medications, Alcohol and Drugs on Your Baby

Taking medications

Smoking

Drinking alcohol

Using recreational/illicit drugs

Looking at Lifestyle Changes

Pampering yourself with beauty treatments

Relaxing (or not) in hot tubs, saunas or steam rooms

Travelling

Getting dental care

Having sex

Working during Pregnancy: A Different Type of Labour

Chapter 4: Checking Out Your Rights and Welfare Benefits

Your Rights When You’re Having a Baby

Discrimination against pregnant women

Ordinary and additional maternity leave

Financial Benefits during Pregnancy

Statutory Maternity Pay

Maternity allowances

Sure Start Maternity Grants

You and your Mat B1

Entitlements as a New Parent

Child Benefit

Working Tax Credit

Child Tax Credit

Statutory Paternity Pay

Chapter 5: Diet and Exercise for the Expectant Mother

Looking at Healthy Weight Gain

Determining how much is enough

Avoiding weight obsession

Understanding your baby’s weight gain

Taking Stock of What You’re Taking In

Using a healthy eating pyramid

Supplementing your diet

Determining Which Foods Are Safe

Debunking popular food myths

Identifying potentially harmful foods

Considering Special Dietary Needs

Eating right, vegetarian-style

Combating constipation

Dealing with diabetes

Working Out for Two

Adapting to your body’s changes

Exercising without overdoing it

Comparing forms of exercise

Part II: Pregnancy: A Drama in Three Acts

Chapter 6: The First Trimester

A New Life Takes Shape

Adapting to Pregnancy: Body Changes in the First Trimester

Breast changes

Fatigue

Any-time-of-day sickness

Bloating

Frequent urination

Headaches

Constipation

Cramps

Booking Baby In: Your First Antenatal Appointments

Understanding the consultation

Considering the physical examination

Looking at standard tests

Your booking appointment – now it’s your turn!

Recognising Causes for Concern

Bleeding

Miscarriage

Ectopic pregnancy

Chapter 7: The Second Trimester

Discovering How Your Baby Is Developing

Understanding Your Changing Body

Forgetfulness and clumsiness

Wind

Hair and nail growth

Heartburn

Lower abdominal/groin pain

Nasal congestion

Nosebleeds and bleeding gums

Skin changes

Checking In: Antenatal Visits

Recognising Causes for Concern

Bleeding

Foetal abnormality

Incompetent cervix

Identifying other potential problems

Chapter 8: The Third Trimester

Your Baby Gets Ready for Birth

Movin’ and shakin’: Foetal movements

Flexing the breathing muscles

Hiccupping in utero

Keeping Up with Your Changing Body

Accidents and falls

Braxton-Hicks contractions

Carpal tunnel syndrome

Fatigue

Piles

Insomnia

Feeling the baby engage

Pregnancy rashes and itches

Preparing for breast-feeding

Sciatica

Shortness of breath

Stretch marks

Swelling

Urinary stress incontinence

Varicose veins

Thinking about Labour

Writing a birth plan

Timing labour

Using perineal massage

Hitting the Home Stretch: Antenatal Visits in the Third Trimester

Preparation for Parenthood Classes

Recognising Causes for Concern

Bleeding

Breech presentation

Decreased amniotic fluid volume

Decreased foetal movement

Foetal growth problems

Leaking amniotic fluid

Pre-eclampsia

Preterm labour

When the baby is late

Getting Ready to Head to the Hospital

Packing your suitcase

Choosing – and using – a car seat

Chapter 9: Understanding Antenatal Testing

Non-Invasive (Screening) Tests

Screening for alpha-foetoprotein

Screening for Down’s syndrome

Screening with ultrasound scans

Understanding screening accuracy

Invasive Tests for Foetal Abnormalities

Amniocentesis

Chorionic villus sampling

Other Antenatal Tests and Procedures

Foetal echocardiogram

Doppler studies

Cardiotocography

Doppler velocimetry

Foetal blood sampling

Part III: The Big Event: Labour, Delivery and Recovery

Chapter 10: I Think I’m in Labour!

Knowing When Labour Is Real – and When It Isn’t

Noticing changes before labour begins

Telling false labour from true labour

Deciding when to call the labour ward or your practitioner

Checking for labour with an internal examination

Getting Admitted to the Hospital

Monitoring Your Baby

Foetal heart monitoring

Other tests of foetal health

Nudging Things Along: Labour Induction

Inducing labour

Augmenting labour

Getting the Big Picture: Stages and Characteristics of Labour

The first stage

The second stage

The third stage

Handling Labour Pain

Breathing exercises

TENS

Gas and air

Pethidine and meptid

Epidural

General anaesthetic

Considering Alternative Birthing Methods

Delivering without drugs – natural childbirth

Giving birth at home

Immersing yourself in a water birth

Chapter 11: Special Delivery: Bringing Your Baby into the World

Having a Vaginal Delivery

Pushing the baby out

Getting an episiotomy

Handling prolonged second-stage labour

The big moment: Delivering your baby

Delivering the placenta

Repairing your perineum

Assisting Nature: Operative Vaginal Delivery

Having a Caesarean Delivery

Understanding anaesthetics

Looking at reasons for caesarean delivery

Recovering from a caesarean delivery

Congratulations! You Did It!

Shaking after delivery

Understanding postpartum bleeding

Hearing your baby’s first cry

Cutting the cord

Checking your baby’s condition

Chapter 12: Hello, World! Your Newborn

Looking at Your Bundle of Joy – Goo, Blotches and All

Vernix caseosa

Caput and moulding

Black-and-blue marks

Blotches, patches and more

Baby hair

Extremities

Eyes and ears

Genitalia and breasts

Umbilical cord

Newborn size

Baby begins to breathe

Knowing What to Expect in the Hospital

Preparing baby for life outside the womb

Understanding baby’s developing digestive system

Considering circumcision

Spending time in the neonatal intensive care unit

Checking In: Baby’s First Doctor’s Visit

Considering heart rate and circulatory changes

Looking at weight changes

Bringing Baby Home

Settling Baby in at Home

Bathing

Burping

Sleeping and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Crying

C is for colic

Newborn jaundice

Dummies (For Dummies)

Preventing newborn injuries

Shopping for the baby

Registering Your Baby’s Birth

Recognising Causes for Concern

Chapter 13: Taking Care of Yourself after Delivery

Recuperating from Delivery

Looking and feeling like a new mum

Understanding postnatal bleeding

Dealing with perineal pain

Surviving swelling

Coping with your bladder

Battling the haemorrhoid blues

Understanding postnatal bowel function

Continuing to recover at home

Recovering from a Caesarean Delivery

Going to the recovery room

Taking it one step at a time

Understanding post-caesarean pain

Dealing with post-op pain

Getting ready to go home

Continuing to recover at home

The Party’s Not Over: More Postnatal Changes

Sweating like a . . . new mum

Dealing with breast engorgement

Understanding hair loss

Chasing away the baby blues

Recognising postnatal depression

Returning to ‘Normal’ Life

Getting fit all over again

Losing the weight

Pondering your postnatal diet

Doing pelvic floor exercises

Having sex again

Choosing contraception

Chapter 14 : Feeding Your Baby

Deciding between Breast and Bottle

Considering the advantages of breast-feeding

Checking out the benefits of bottle-feeding

Latching onto Breast-feeding

Looking at the mechanics of lactation

Checking out breast-feeding positions

Getting baby to latch on

Orchestrating feedings

Maintaining your diet

Looking at options for contraception

Determining which medications are safe

Handling common problems

Bottle-feeding for Beginners

Stopping milk production

Choosing the best bottles and nipples

Feeding your baby from a bottle

Dealing with Baby’s Developing Digestive System

Part IV: Special Concerns

Chapter 15: Pregnancies with Special Considerations

Figuring Out How Age Matters

Over-35 (or older) mums

Not-so-young dads

Very young mums

Having Twins or More

Looking at types of multiples

Determining whether multiples are identical or fraternal

Down’s syndrome screening in pregnancies with twins or more

Genetic testing in pregnancies with twins or more

Keeping track of which baby is which

Living day-to-day during a multiple pregnancy

Going through labour and delivery with twins

Covering special issues for mums with multiples

Getting Pregnant Again

Realising how each pregnancy is different

Giving birth after a prior caesarean delivery

Preparing Your Child (or Children) for a New Arrival

Explaining pregnancy

Making baby-sitting arrangements for your delivery

Coming home

Chapter 16: When Things Get Complicated

Dealing with Preterm Labour

Checking for signs of preterm labour

Stopping preterm labour

Preventing preterm labour

Delivering the baby early

Handling Pre-eclampsia

Understanding Placental Conditions

Placenta praevia

Placental abruption

Recognising Problems with the Amniotic Fluid and Sac

Too much amniotic fluid

Too little amniotic fluid

Rupture of the amniotic sac

Describing Problems with Foetal Growth

Smaller-than-average babies

Larger-than-average babies

Looking at Blood Incompatibilities

Dealing with Breech Presentation

Pondering Post-Date Pregnancy

Chapter 17: Pregnancy in Sickness and in Health

Getting an Infection during Pregnancy

Bladder and kidney infections

Chickenpox

The common cold

German measles (rubella)

Herpes infections

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Tummy bugs (gastroenteritis)

Vaginal infections

Handling Pre-Pregnancy Conditions

Asthma

Chronic hypertension

Deep-vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolus

Diabetes

Fibroids

Seizure disorders (epilepsy)

Thyroid problems

Chapter 18: Coping with the Unexpected

Surviving Recurrent Miscarriages

Coping with Late-Pregnancy Loss

Dealing with Foetal Abnormalities

Finding Help

Beginning to Heal

Part V: The Part of Tens

Chapter 19: Ten Things Nobody Tells You

Pregnancy Lasts Longer than Nine Months

Other People Can Drive You Crazy

You Feel Exhausted in the First Trimester

Round Ligament Pain Really Hurts

Your Belly Becomes a Hand Magnet

Piles Are a Royal Pain in the . . .

Sometimes Women Poo While Pushing

The Weight Stays On after the Baby Comes Out

Hospital Towels are Relics from Your Mother’s Era

Breast Engorgement Really Sucks

Chapter 20: Ten (Or So) Old Wives’ Tales

The Old Heartburn Myth

The Mysterious Umbilical Cord Movement Myth

The Curse Myth

The Heart Rate Myth

The Ugly Stick Myth

The Coffee Myth

The Myth of International Cuisine

The Great Sex Myth

The Round Face Myth

The Ring Myth

The Moon Maid Myth

The Belly Shape Myth

The Ultrasound Tells All Myth

Chapter 21: Ten Landmarks in Foetal Development

The Baby Is Conceived

The Embryo Implants Itself

The Heart Begins Beating

The Neural Tube Closes

The Face Develops

The Embryonic Period Ends

The Sexual Organs Appear

Quickening Occurs

The Lungs Reach Maturity

A Baby Is Born

Chapter 22: Ten Key Things You Can See on Ultrasound

Measurement of Crown-Rump Length

The Face

The Spine

The Heart

The Hands

The Foot

The Foetal Profile

The Stomach

It’s a Boy!

It’s a Girl!

Appendix: The Pregnant Man: Having a Baby from a Dad’s Perspective

Cheat Sheet

Pregnancy For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

by Dr Roger Henderson, GP, Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP, Joanne Stone, MD, Keith Eddleman, MD and Mary Duenwald

Pregnancy For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Published byJohn Wiley & Sons, LtdThe AtriumSouthern GateChichesterWest SussexPO19 8SQEngland

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About the Authors

Dr Sarah Jarvis is a GP and GP trainer in inner city London. She is a Fellow of, and the Women’s Health spokesperson for, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). She was a founder member, and later chair, of the Women’s Taskforce at the RCGP. She was also the medical advisor/presenter of the television series, The Maternity Guide, on Channel Health. She is also a medical writer and broadcaster, and is the doctor to The One Show on BBC1 and the Radio 2 doctor, as well as appearing regularly on ITV’s Daybreak, Radio 5 Live and Sky News.

Sarah writes regularly for a variety of magazines, including Good Housekeeping, and My Weekly and in the past for Pregnancy and Baby and You. Her great passion (as far as work is concerned) is patient education, and she has written over 500 patient information leaflets, as well as two previous books, A Younger Woman’s Diagnose-It-Yourself Guide to Health and Diabetes For Dummies. Her other great passion is her family, and she loves spending time with her two children, Seth and Matilda, and their dog, Dasher.

Dr Roger Henderson was born in 1960 and raised in Whitehaven, Cumbria. He qualified as a doctor from St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, in 1985 and as a general practitioner in 1990. He entered the media world in 1995, and is now one of the UK’s most respected media medics, writing regular columns for national newspapers and magazines. He is also a popular lecturer and after-dinner motivational speaker on a wide range of health-related topics and his medical responsibilities include being the senior partner of a six doctor general practice, running a main surgery and two busy branch surgeries. Married to a doctor, and with three teenage children, his spare time is spent thinking about how nice it would be to have some spare time.

Joanne Stone, MD, is a full-time faculty member in the internationally renowned Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. She is the director of the Perinatal Ultrasound Unit and also cares for patients with problem pregnancies. She has lectured throughout the USA, is widely published in medical journals, and has been interviewed frequently for television and magazines on topics related to pregnancy, with a special emphasis on the management of multifoetal pregnancies. She was a co-star in the critically acclaimed series Pregnancy For Dummies on the Discovery Health Channel. Away from the hospital she loves to spend time with her husband, George, and her two girls, Chloe and Sabrina.

Keith Eddleman, MD, works with Joanne at Mount Sinai. He is also a full-time faculty member and is the Director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine. He teaches medical students, residents, and fellows; lectures throughout the world; and appears often on television to discuss issues concerning the care of pregnant women. His areas of special expertise are ultrasound and reproductive genetics. He was also a co-star on the critically-acclaimed series Pregnancy For Dummies on the Discovery Health Channel. His free time, when he has any, is split between spending time with his family at their apartment in Manhattan or at their country house in upstate New York.

Mary Duenwald is a writer and editor who has for many years specialised in medicine and science journalism. She has written for The New York Times, Discover, Smithsonian, and Departures. She has been executive editor of Harper’s Bazaar, Women’s Sports & Fitness, and The Sciences magazines and a senior editor for Vogue. She is currently a contributing editor for GQ. She is also the mother of twins Nick and Claire Murray.

Dedication

Sarah:

To Seth and Matilda, who remind me daily that pregnancy was worth it.

Roger:

For Becky, Douglas, Sarah and Jack. Always.

Joanne, Keith and Mary:

To George, Chloe, Sabrina, Regina, Philip, Frank, Melba, Jack, Nick and Claire for all their love and support.

Authors’ Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my children, who have been remarkably patient as I laboured through the writing of not just one, but three For Dummies books; and my father Derek, who reminds me what bravery is all about. I would also like to acknowledge the enduring support of all my colleagues at the Richford Gate Medical Practice, and of Mr Silesh Kumar, who nurtured me through the sections on maternal-foetal medicine.

— Sarah

Writing this book was truly a labour of love. We would like to thank everyone who played a part in the ‘birth’ of this book, and specifically the following:

Kathy Cox, Traci Cumbay, Chad Sievers, Tami Booth, Jennifer Ehrlich, Christy Beck, Elizabeth Kuball, Paula Lowell, and the other folks at Wiley, who conceived this idea and walked us through the whole process. Sophia Seidner, Carolyn Krupp, and the folks at International Management Group for connecting us with Wiley. Dr Jill Fishbane-Mayer for establishing the initial connection. Drs Jeffrey Penman, Lynn Friedman, Mary D’Alton, Richard Berkowitz, and Ramona Slupik for excellent comments and suggestions. Dr Ian Holzman for nurturing us through the newborn chapter. Kathryn Born for taking our scrap art and turning it into terrific illustrations. And to all our patients over the years whose inquisitive minds and need for accurate information inspired us to write this book.

— Joanne, Keith and Mary

Publisher’s Acknowledgements

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Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Commissioning, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Rachael Chilvers (Previous Edition, Daniel Mersey)

Commissioning Editor: Kerry Laundon

Assistant Editor: Ben Kemble

Proofreader: James Harrison

Production Manager: Daniel Mersey

Publisher: David Palmer

Cover Photos: © iStock / Olivier Lantzendörffer

Cartoons: Ed McLachlan

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Kristie Rees

Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Lavonne Roberts, Corrie Socolovitch, Laura Westhuis

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Indexer: Becky Hornyak

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Kathleen Nebenhaus, Vice President and Executive Publisher

Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director

Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel

Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Introduction

Our goal, in writing Pregnancy For Dummies,2nd Edition,has been to write a scientifically correct, comprehensive guide to one of the most memorable experiences in anyone’s life – pregnancy. We have dozens of years of experience caring for pregnant women from all walks of life, and, equally relevant, us women authors have been pregnant, allowing us to look at this life-changing event from both sides of the coin.

About This Book

We want this book to be practical, as well as theoretically accurate – and there’s nothing like personal experience to make you realise that intellect and human nature are sometimes mutually exclusive! For example, if Sarah had been asked to talk on her radio show about the scare relating to second-hand cot mattresses and cot death in 1994, she would have dismissed it as unscientific scaremongering – as it was, she sat on a postnatal ward with her one-day-old first baby, refusing to take her son home until her husband had bought a new cot mattress! In this book, we don’t just roll out the party-line answer, or the safe answer; instead, we base our response on medical research. Sometimes, no solid evidence exists to indicate whether something is safe or unsafe, and when this is the case, we tell you.