Not long ago, pregnant women deciding whether to get a COVID-19 vaccine had to weigh their concerns about the coronavirus against the unknowns of new vaccines that hadn’t been tested in pregnancy. Now, with all American adults eligible for a vaccine, evidence that pregnant women can and should get a COVID-19 shot is mounting. One,…
Being pregnant is never easy, and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic brings new challenges to pregnant mothers, who are considered to be a high-risk group. This means that if infected, pregnant women are more likely to be hospitalized and require ventilation, and their risk of preterm birth increases. Besides health concerns for mothers and…
You’re pregnant! Congrats! You might be feeling excitement, anxiety, joy, trepidation or all of the above. That’s normal. Not only are you on the verge of a new chapter in life—especially if this baby will be your first—but it also seems there is so much to keep track of in those approximately 40 weeks of…
Though not everyone talks about it openly, marijuana and related products like CBD (cannabidiol, one of the active ingredients in marijuana) are a big topic in the world of motherhood. While there is limited research available on what effect marijuana has on a baby in utero, researchers and physicians warn against its use by moms-to-be.…
Today, obstetricians have many tools at their disposal to learn important information about the health of a baby. Most people are familiar with ultrasounds, in which a technician runs a wand over the belly to pick up high-frequency sound waves and make an image of the developing baby. But moms-to-be might be surprised that much…
When Nicole Starling was 18 weeks pregnant, she found out she was having a girl. And she learned that her baby girl had myelomeningocele, the most severe form of spina bifida, a birth defect that occurs when the spine and spinal cord don’t form properly. “At first, we were super excited to hear we were…
Pregnancy can be a very exciting and rewarding time in a woman’s life, but for the 1 in 5 women who experience a mental illness—including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and other mental health conditions—it might also bring new challenges. We talked to Mary Kimmel, MD, medical director of UNC’s Perinatal Psychiatry Inpatient Unit about pregnancy,…
Whether you know it or not, you probably practice some form of emotion regulation almost every day. “Emotion regulation” is simply what a person does to manage their response to an emotional experience in their life, especially when the experience is negative. Positive emotion regulation is a skill that can be difficult at times no…
Editor’s note: This article originally ran December 3, 2021, and was updated January 10, 2022, to reflect updated public health guidance. Pregnancy is all about timing: when you ovulate, when you conceive, your first, second and third trimesters, your due date. So when should pregnant women or women trying to conceive receive their COVID-19 booster…
“You have a blood clot.” Hearing these words from your healthcare provider can be shocking—and scary. Blood clots can break loose and go straight to your lungs, causing sudden death, right? Can’t they cause strokes or heart attacks? Yes, but not always. In most cases, clots can be treated successfully without long-term problems. So before…
Monoclonal antibody therapies are very effective at reducing risk of severe disease and hospitalization from COVID-19, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended its emergency use authorization (EUA) to include all children under the age of 12 who test positive for COVID-19, experience mild to moderate symptoms, and are at high risk of…
If you’ve ever fibbed to your healthcare provider about how much you exercise or how many glasses of wine you have per week, you’re not alone. Between 60 to 80 percent of people have admitted to not being forthcoming with doctors about information that could be relevant to their health. “The No.1 reason patients may…
