Bikini Pregnant

Exercise during pregnancy appears to be safe even for African-American women at high risk for pregnancy complications, a new study suggests.

The study, which focused on poor, urban African-American women, found that “exercise participation did not increase or decrease the risk of low birth weight or preterm birth," said co-author Suezanne Orr, Ph.D.

“There is not much information about exercise participation in this population. Most of the research has been on middle-aged white women," said Orr, with the Department of Health Education and Promotion at East Carolina University, in Greenville, N.C.

The study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Ethnicity and Disease, looked at 922 low-income African-American women receiving prenatal care at five Baltimore clinics between 1993 and 1995.

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Birth Control Options

Today, in the 21st century of medicine and science, there are a lot of different birth control options. Unfortunately for women, the most modern and effective birth control options are almost all targeted towards females. Of course, there are plenty of older methods that are aimed at men as well. The oldest and most tried and tested birth control option is by way of using contraceptive devices. The most popular of these is still the condom. Condoms are a very simple concept that has been in use in one form or other since the time of the ancient Egyptians. There are also diaphragms, female condoms, and spermicidal foams that are sometimes used as well. The problem with contraceptive devices is that they all have a relatively high rate of failure, and are prone to misuse. If not used correctly, the rate of failure increases dramatically. Still, one or more of these methods used together can give a very low likelihood of pregnancy. More importantly, condoms also protective against many forms of sexually transmitted diseases (although not all!) and for this reason alone will probably remain popular for years to come. With respect to avoiding pregnancy as the goal (as opposed to disease) the more modern and most effective birth control options involved the use of hormone supplements for women. By taking a low amount of estrogen and progesterone during the right time of the menstrual cycle, women effectively trick their bodies into thinking that they are already pregnant. They are then therefore no longer able to get pregnant while taking the hormone supplements. Because being pregnant is a totally natural and not unhealthy condition, these hormone supplements are a birth control option that is generally not harmful, however they do have a number of side effects. The side effects vary from woman to woman, but can include weight gain, nausea, headaches, moodiness, and strange colored discharges. Most of these side effects are temporary and fade with continued use. Also, taking any of this form of birth control can increase your risk of heart disease, especially if you’re a smoker. Hormone supplements are becoming an extremely popular birth control option in industrialized countries. They are extremely effective, have a low margin for error, and are often even covered by health insurance. Birth control options today usually refers to what kind of hormone supplement to choose from, as there are different ways of administering the hormones now. You can take pills, use patches, or get an occasional injection. There are even types of birth control options that involve place hormone effusing devices within the body. Which birth control option is best for you is of course best discussed with your doctor.

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Due Date Calendar

Due Date Calculator So you just found out you’re expecting. The first question you’ll want an answer to (if you don’t already know) is when did it happen? You may want to use a due date calculator to figure out exactly where you are in your pregnancy. Some women know the exact moment of conception, either because it was a planned pregnancy or manipulated by scientific processes, such as during in vitro fertilization or other type of assisted procedure. Other women know exactly when conception occurred because they have had a limited number of encounters, leaving little room for doubt. Once you know the date of conception, you can use the due date calculator to find out the tentative date for delivery of your special arrival. Due date calculators can be found on many sites on the web, and most only require you to enter the last day of your last menstrual cycle. Once you have entered this date, the due date calculator will compute how many weeks pregnant you are, and the approximate date you will deliver. A pregnancy calendar is also nice to have, because it shows the various stages of development the fetus progresses through during each of the three trimesters. From the moment of conception, momentous changes occur as the egg becomes a fertilized embryo and then a tiny developing fetus. By the time many women find out that they are pregnant, the fetus is well on its way to being a completely formed little human. Women may have no symptoms of pregnancy until they miss a menstrual cycle, which may be the first or second cycle after conception. If a pregnancy is suspected, a home pregnancy test can confirm or deny your suspicions rather quickly. Once you know you are pregnant, you should call and schedule an appointment with an obstetrician, who will confirm that you are indeed pregnant (unless of course it’s obvious!), and calculate your due date by using a pregnancy wheel or due date calculator. If there is any discrepancy between the due date calculator and the physical exam, dates can be better confirmed with an ultrasound, which can be performed easily in the obstetrician’s office. The size of the fetus should correspond with the number of weeks that have passed since conception, which should also correspond with the due date calculator. If the development of the fetus is ahead or behind where it should be, then the date of conception is not correct, and neither is the date of delivery according to the due date calculator. If menstrual cycles are irregular, then the due date calculator will be less accurate, since ovulation does not occur regularly.