Health Canada is advising expectant mothers and breastfeeding women not to take the vitamin-mineral supplements Maxum Matragen or Maxum Multi-Vite by Seroyal International Inc. Maxum Multi-Vite has been approved as a vitamin-mineral supplement for only the general public but lacks the required cautionary statement on the label regarding pregnant and/or breast feeding women. The product Maxum Matragen is being promoted by the company as a prenatal supplement; however, neither product has been authorized for sale by Health Canada for use by women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Both products contain ingredients such as Ginkgo biloba, Green Tea Extracts and Vanadium, whose safe use during pregnancy or in breastfeeding women has not been well established. Products containing these ingredients require a cautionary label warning consumers to consult with a health care practitioner prior to use if they are pregnant or breastfeeding, neither Maxum Matragen nor Maxum Multi-Vite carries such a warning on their labels.

In addition, the daily doses as labelled for Maxum Matragen and Maxum Multi Vite do not provide the minimum recommended daily dose of 400 mcg of folic acid and the recommended 16-20 mg of iron for expectant, pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Health Canada has not received any adverse reaction reports associated with Maxum Matragen and/or Maxum Multi-Vite. Pregnant or breastfeeding women who may be taking Maxum Matragen or Maxum Multi-Vite are advised to consult their health care professional prior to continuing use of these products.

The company Seroyal International Inc. has voluntarily recalled these products from the market.

Please visit the Public Health Agency of Canada’s website for more information on healthy living during pregnancy.

Consumers requiring more information about this advisory can contact Health Canada’s public enquiries line at (613) 957-2991, or toll free at 1-866-225-0709.

New research suggests that taking probiotics during their pregnancy may help women keep belly fat under control after pregnancy.

Researchers from the University of Turku in Finland enrolled 256 pregnant women in a study on weight gain, dividing them into three groups during their first trimesters.

Women in two of the groups received dietary counseling consistent with what doctors recommend for healthy weight gain and optimal fetal development.

They also were sent home with foods such as spreads and salad dressings with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, as well as fiber-enriched pasta and breakfast cereal.

Women in one of those two groups also received daily capsules containing lactobacillus and bifidobacterium, the most commonly used probiotics — bacteria that help maintain a healthy bacterial balance in the gut. The third group received dummy capsules and received no dietary counseling.

All of the women were weighed at the start of the study and then again 12 months after childbirth.

Central obesity — defined as a body mass index of 30 or more and a waist circumference over 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) — was found in 25% of the women who had been given the probiotics as well as advice on what to eat.

Those not given probiotics didn’t do as well. Central obesity was found in

• 43% of the women who got dietary counseling alone
• 40% of the women who got neither probiotics nor dietary advice

The average body fat percentage in the probiotics group was 28%, compared with 29% in the diet-advice-only group and 30% in the third set of women.

“The women who got the probiotics fared best,” says Kirsi Laitinen, a nutritionist and senior lecturer at Turku. “One year after childbirth, they had the lowest levels of central obesity as well as the lowest body fat percentage.”

She adds that more research is needed to confirm the potential positive role of probiotics on belly fat. Additionally, she says her team of researchers will continue to track the women and their babies to determine whether giving probiotics during pregnancy has any influence on the health of the children.

Good news for expectant moms who are suffering from morning sickness. Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children’s (SickKids) Motherisk Program have found that morning sickness, which impacts up to 80 per cent of pregnancies, enhances children’s long-term neurodevelopment. The study will appear in the April 23 advance online edition of The Journal of Pediatrics.

This is the first study to assess the direct impact of morning sickness on children’s neurodevelopment. While previous studies suggested an early protective benefit of morning sickness, the long-term effects, including intelligence and specific cognitive skills, had not been directly investigated.

“Our findings suggest an association between NVP and improved neurodevelopment in the offspring,” says Dr. Irena Nulman, lead author of the study. “NVP is a widespread and puzzling physiological phenomenon that has yet to be sufficiently studied,” adds Nulman

Morning sickness may result from an altered secretion of hormones (HCG and thyroxine) during pregnancy. The change in hormone levels happens to ensure adequate placental growth.

For this study, participants were recruited through Motherisk’s NVP hotline database. The research included 121 women who called the hotline from 1998 to 2003. Participants were split into three groups of mother-child pairs: mothers who experienced morning sickness and were treated with diclectin (a drug used to treat nausea and vomiting during pregnancy); those who experienced morning sickness and did not take diclectin; and those who did not experience morning sickness.

Children aged three to seven years were assessed with standardized age-appropriate psychological tests, including measures of intelligence and behaviour. Other factors such as mother’s IQ, number of cigarettes smoked per day, alcohol consumption and socioeconomic status were also taken into account.

The study showed all children across the three groups scored within the normal ranges for neurodevelopmental outcome. It indicated children of women with morning sickness scored higher on performance IQ, verbal fluency, phonological processing and numerical memory. It also suggested diclectin does not appear to adversely affect fetal brain development. Severity of morning sickness was a significant predictor of higher scores, and maternal IQ also played a role in the outcome.

According to a report, Huang Yijun of Huangjiaotan, China, had been told in 1948 that her child had died in the womb, but the procedure to remove it was too expensive for her at the time.

An X-ray of the woman abdomen showed the unborn fetus.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I discovered she had a baby in her belly,” Dr. Liu Anbin at Qingshen hospital told the Central European News Agency. “I’ve been a doctor for more than 40 years, and it’s the first time I have seen something like this.”

Doctors are now doing further tests to determine if the fetus has to be removed or if the elderly woman can be spared surgery.

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Arriving usually in the second trimester, the linea negra is more commonly found in women who already have darker skin pigmentation and is caused by an increased production of the pigment melanin during pregnancy.

This unwanted line can last for several months after your baby is born. For some women the line will never completely go away. Some believe that there may be a connection between a woman’s insulin level and her getting linea negra, or even not getting enough folic acid.

It is an oldwives’ tale that if the linea negra stops at the belly button, the woman is having a girl, and if it goes all the way to the bottom of the rib cage then the woman is having a boy.

During my pregnancy I had read all about this line, but didn’t get one until I was 36 weeks along. The insulin explanation makes sense because my OB found that my sugar levels were high closer to the end of my pregnancy around the time this line appeared. It also goes all the way down my tummy, which confirms the wives tale about having a boy.

Obviously, I want to know how to get rid of it and from what I have read – only times fades this line.

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Amber Jade Mills, 23, was stopped last November when police saw her swerving, beeping the horn and parking across two spaces.

When the police pulled her over, she blew a blood alcohol reading of 0.226.

The mom-to-be is being assessed for home detention and will appear in court again later this month.

It is her third drink driving offence.

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Some media reports erroneously stated that the study by The University College London researchers revealed that light drinking by pregnant women could be beneficial to their babies. While other articles said light drinking during pregnancy would not affect the behavior or mental acuity of babies born to drinking mothers.

The Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group, a subgroup of the Research Society on Alcoholism, says the conclusion of the study was not reported accurately. “Unfortunately, several media outlets misinterpreted this report to mean that drinking improved the children’s outcome,” the FASD Study Group said.

The published report looked at the drinking patterns of pregnant mothers of three-year-olds and assessed the behavior and cognitive skills of the children. The University College London researchers actually reported that the children born to women who drank lightly during pregnancy were not at increased risk compared with children of mothers who did not drink during pregnancy.

The study’s authors, Dr. Yvonne Kelly at University College London and colleagues, suggested this result may be based on the higher socioeconomic status of the light drinking mothers and their children involved in this study. Higher socioeconomic status is well known to improve an infant’s neurodevelopmental outcome.

“Generally, the adverse effects of light drinking during pregnancy are subtle and may go undetected in children,” said Feng Zhou, Ph.D., president of the FASD Study Group and a professor of anatomy, cell biology and neurobiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. “Other alcohol research studies of moderate drinking during pregnancy have shown an adverse impact on multiple aspects of development through adolescence and young adulthood even when other important environmental factors are taken into account.”

“The media reports are alarming for a number of reasons but it is particularly disturbing at this time of year when holiday parties may make alcohol consumption more accessible and appealing to pregnant women who have read the erroneous reports,” he said.

In short, he said that, “The consensus of public health providers and alcohol researchers is that even light drinking can interfere with biological processes critical in the development of the fetal brain.”

We saw this reported in the media a while back, but opted not to cover it because of the research that has been done in the past to prove otherwise. A zero alcohol policy during pregnancy is always the safest choice to make.

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But Amber Hartnell of Hawaii says her birth experience was different. The mom of 2 says she experienced an orgasm during labor when she gave birth to her son in September 2005.

“All of a sudden the orgasm just started rolling through and rolling through, and it just kept coming, and my whole body was spiraling and rolling, and I was laughing and crying,” she said.

Amber’s husband was amazed – and also relieved – to see his wife experience such pleasure.

“It made me feel like everything was gonna be all right,” he said. “The experience didn’t have to be a traumatic, painful experience. It could be an experience of ecstatic joy.”

The couple even allowed the birth of her second child to be filmed as part of a documentary titled “Orgasmic Birth.”

Debra Pascali-Bonaro, a childbirth educator for 26 years says,

“It is, as we say, the best-kept secret. I believe by women having such terrible fear. … Women aren’t getting the choices they need, to make the experience as easy as possible.”

The secret? Intimacy. Another couple, who also experienced the same thing spent much of their labor kissing and caressing.

“The physical touch and the nurturing was just really comforting to me,” Tamra Larter said, adding that she ultimately experienced an orgasmic birth. “It was happening, and I could hardly breathe, and it was like, ‘oh, that feels good.’ That’s all I could say really.”

Dr. Christiane Northrup, a board-certified OB-GYN said orgasms during labor are caused by basic science.

“When the baby’s coming down the birth canal, remember, it’s going through the exact same positions as something going in, the penis going into the vagina, to cause an orgasm,” Northrup said. “And labor itself is associated with a huge hormonal change in the body, way more prolactin, way more oxytocin, way more beta-endorphins — these are the molecules of ecstasy.”

Number 2 is coming in a couple of weeks – sign me up!

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Dr. Dave Hnida wants women to know there can be too much of a good thing when they exercise while pregnant. A little bit can mean easier labor and delivery, but too much exercise can be risky.

It varies from woman to woman.

“The official guidelines say start at 5 minutes a day and work your way up and don’t do more than 30 minutes a day. And definitely do not do an hour, ” he warns.

Many experts say don’t take up any new strenuous exercise during pregnancy. They recommend easier activities like walking and swimming.

“One of the best exercises in pregnancy is swimming because there’s no pressure on your joints. It’s enough exercise and usually you don’t get short of breath,” Moritz said.

“Moderation and common sense are the best roads to follow during pregnancy,” Hnida said.

Non-strenuous exercise can shorten labor, lessen the need for medications during labor, plus a lower rate of complications overall.

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For this holiday season, Indiana’s Planned Parenthood is offering an unusual stocking stuffer: gift certificates redeemable for health services at clinics throughout the state.

the organization says it made the move toward gift certificates because it is worried that more and more people will forgo basic health care.

“Women in particular are likely to forgo basic medical needs when faced with putting gas in their car or food on the table,” said Planned Parenthood of Indiana’s president and CEO, Betty Cockrum.

Planned Parenthood provides contraception, pap smears and other routine health services for women, as well as abortions. The gift certificates, ranging in values from $25 to $100, can be redeemed for all clinic services.

Because the clinic offers abortions, some anti-abortion supporters see it as less about the gift of affordable health care and more about making a mockery of the holidays.

“This campaign to offer lethal gift certificates that Planned Parenthood is engaging in right now is offensive,” said Sister Diane Carollo, director of the Office for Pro-Life Ministry for the Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis. “And it’s offensive because Christmas is about the celebration of human life.”

Planned Parenthood is quick to argue some 95 percent of women who come to their clinics come for basic health services — not abortion.

“It’s about basic health care. It’s about annual exams, it’s about pap smears, it’s about birth control,” said Cockrum. “I would be amazed if a dime of it goes toward an abortion.”

Planned Parenthood chapters in Illinois, New York, Alaska and Michigan are considering similar gift certificate programs for the holidays.

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