2 Simple Things Can Cut a Woman’s Risk of Needing a C-Section

A study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) suggests that a pregnant woman can reduce her risk of needing a caesarean section, or C-section, by around 10% by doing 2 simple things: eating healthy and staying active. Not terribly surprising, is it?

In 2015, 32% of all deliveries in the United States were C-sections. These procedures may entail less pain, but they are by far riskier than natural childbirth, for both mom and baby. The surgery puts women at risk for:

• Infection.


• Heavy blood loss.


• A blood clot in the legs or lungs.


• Nausea, vomiting, severe headache after delivery (caused by anesthesia and having an abdominal procedure).


• Constipation or, worse yet, the bowels stop working completely – a condition called ileus.


• Injury to the bladder and other organs during surgery.


• Maternal death (around 2 in 100,000 caesarean births).

Some long-term complications can also occur, such as:

• Rupturing the uterus during a future pregnancy or vaginal birth.


• The growth of the placenta low in the uterus, blocking the cervix (Placenta previa).


• The placenta grows deeper into the uterine wall than usual, causing severe bleeding after childbirth and sometimes requiring a hysterectomy.

What’s more, babies delivered via caesarean section face certain risks of their own, including:

• Injury during the delivery.


• Need to spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).


• Immature lungs and breathing problems, if the due date was miscalculated or if the infant is born 39 weeks of gestation.

Read: 7 Reasons Expecting Moms Shouldn’t Neglect Exercise

The studies in the analysis included 23 women of any weight at the beginning of the study, 7 involving obese women only, and 6 that included overweight and obese women only. The data of more than 12,000 women were included in the studies.

The researchers found that women of any weight who were given diet and exercise advice during pregnancy reduced the likelihood that they would need a C-section or gain extra weight. These women were additionally less likely to develop diabetes during pregnancy – about 24% less.

Exercise programs included aerobic classes and cycling at the gym.

The combination of healthy eating and exercise significantly reduced the mother’s weight gain by 0.7 kilograms, or 1.5 pounds, compared with the control group. They also cut their risk of needing a caesarean section by 9%. [1] [2]

That translates into 1 fewer woman having a C-section for every 40 mothers who follow a healthy diet and are moderately active. [1]

Study author Shakila Thangaratinam said:

“Our findings are important because it is often thought that pregnant women shouldn’t exercise because it may harm the baby.

But we show that the babies are not affected by physical activity or dieting, and that there are additional benefits including a reduction in maternal weight gain, diabetes in pregnancy, and the risk of requiring a caesarean section.

This should be part of routine advice in pregnancy, given by practitioners as well as midwives.”

Read: Exercise in Pregnancy is Good for Healthy Mom AND the Baby

Thangaratinam added that all women should receive guidance on healthy lifestyle practices during pregnancy, not just obese women.

“Often with interventions like these, certain groups benefit more than others, but we’ve shown that diet and physical activity has a beneficial effect across all groups, irrespective of your body mass index (BMI), age or ethnicity, so these interventions have the potential to benefit a huge number of people.”

It is especially important for overweight and obese women to adopt a healthier lifestyle when pregnant, however. Women who are overweight during pregnancy increase their baby’s risk of having a high birth rate, which can lead to obesity and high blood pressure later on during childhood. Excess weight also puts a woman at risk for preeclampsia during pregnancy. [2]

It should be noted that the majority of women in the study (80%) were white. More research is needed into how a healthy diet and exercise affect women of other ethnicities.

Sources:

[1] The Huffington Post UK

[2] Live Science

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About Julie Fidler:
	Julie Fidler is a freelance writer, legal blogger, and the author of Adventures in Holy Matrimony: For Better or the Absolute Worst. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two ridiculously spoiled cats. She occasionally pontificates on her blog.

How To Keep Your Digestive System Healthy

Your digestive system is where it all begins. You can’t produce energy, support your mood, or fight infections if you can’t digest, break down, and absorb nutrients. There are many simple things you can do to keep your digestive system healthy, many of which are completely free. Whether it’s exercise, stress reduction, or even enzyme or probiotic supplementation, all can provide enormous benefit to digestive processes.

5 Tips for Healthy Digestion

Digestion begins in the mouth when you begin to chew. In fact, just the act of chewing thoroughly can take a huge strain off your digestive system by prompting your body to provide enzymes to help digestion. Here are a few other things you can do to promote healthy digestion.

1. Follow a Clean Diet

Bananas contain approximately 15-20 percent of your daily fiber needs. Bananas also contain fructooligosaccharide, which is a natural compound that encourages growth of beneficial bacteria. This bacteria–termed “probiotics”–is responsible for a myriad of activities in your body, including facilitating the appropriate digestion and elimination of food. ^[1] This goes to show that diet, particularly a natural plant-based diet, is incredibly powerful for keeping your digestive system in check.

Green vegetables will also help keep your digestive system healthy for their high amounts of fiber, relatively low carbohydrate and sugar load, and good amounts of water. Foods like kale, spinach, wheatgrass, and alfalfa are all good choices to integrate into your diet. Broccoli sprouts are unsurpassed in their ability to stimulate enzymes that detoxify the digestive system. ^[2]

2. Exercise

Another thing you can do to benefit your digestive tract is to do some simple, daily exercises. The colon functions much more effectively when abdominal muscles are strong and consistently in motion. Crunches are an excellent way to strengthen these muscles and to improve your appearance at the same time, but simple walking can keep your digestive system healthy by improving blood flow to the intestines and colon. One study showed that women who walk daily were 31% less likely to develop colon cancer. ^[3]

3. Therapeutic Herbs

There are also herbs that can benefit your digestive tract. Two common varieties include organic cilantro and organic dandelion leaf. Cilantro oil is an enzymatic stimulant. It also helps our intestines secrete digestive acids and juices, and it adds fiber to the digestive process. Some people use cilantro to relieve stomach gas and flatulence. Organic dandelion leaf helps detoxify the digestive tract and help stimulate it when it becomes sluggish. It is one of the best herbs to take for promoting optimal digestive function.

4. Meditation

You can’t discount the effect of your mental health on your physical health. Stress is one of the most pervasive killers in our society. And while we can’t control every circumstance that causes stress, we can change the way we respond. When we’re stressed, our body goes into the “fight or flight” mode, switching off our digestion so we can run away or deal with the problem head on. ^[4]Meditation is an excellent way to relax and reduce stress, and studies show that relaxation is a powerful method for improving digestive health.

5. Probiotics and Enzyme Supplementation

One of the most important things you can ever do to keep your digestive system healthy is to cleanse it on a regular basis. A probiotic such as Latero-Flora may be helpful for replenishing your body’s supply of beneficial bacteria which your digestive tract actually needs. If you suffer from digestive issues of any kind, an enzyme supplement like VeganZyme, which contains no animal products, is designed to be an overall enhancer of optimal, ongoing digestive health.

One Final Thought

If you’re experiencing occasional digestive upset, taking these tips to heart may be the starting off point for getting back into shape. Consult with your doctor to see if other options are available, or to see if you are experiencing a deeper issue, like IBS or gluten intolerance. Even then, there is always a root cause, and you should do what you can with diet, exercise, and simple lifestyle modifications to get your body into an optimal state of health. Not only will you experience dramatic shifts in your digestion, you may notice your mood and outlook, energy levels, and thinking becoming clearer.

What are your thoughts on improving digestion? Do you have any tips that work for you? Please share them with us in the comments!

References:

1. Gage J. Understanding the role of probiotics in supporting digestive comfort. Nurs Stand. 2009 Sep 30-Oct 6;24(4):47-55; quiz 56.


2. Shapiro TA, Fahey JW, Wade KL, Stephenson KK, Talalay P. Chemoprotective glucosinolates and isothiocyanates of broccoli sprouts: metabolism and excretion in humans. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2001 May;10(5):501-8.


3. Hannah Arem, Ruth M. Pfeiffer, Eric A. Engels, et al. Pre- and Postdiagnosis Physical Activity, Television Viewing, and Mortality Among Patients with Colorectal Cancer in the National Institutes of Health–AARP Diet and Health Study. Journal of Clinical Oncology. December 8, 2014. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2014.58.1355.


4. Teresa M Edenfield and Sy Atezaz Saeed. An update on mindfulness meditation as a self-help treatment for anxiety and depression. Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2012; 5: 131-141. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S34937.

Mothers’ Diets Have Biggest Influence On Children Eating Healthy, Study Suggests

Every once in a great while, a perfect child is born. One who never cries, sleeps all night, and gladly eats whatever food you choose to put in front of them.

But unfortunately for most of us with children, developing lifestyle habits, such as a healthy appreciation for nutritious fruits and vegetables, usually requires years of continual work.

New information recently released by researchers at Michigan State University’s College of Nursing helps to shed some light on the problem of establishing healthy dietary preferences in young children, and more importantly, may help both parents and medical professionals find more effective ways to approach it successfully ^[1].

Does Your Diet Really Affect Your Child’s?

In order to better understand the connection between mother’s dietary habits, and those of their children, researchers questioned almost 400 low-income women from all over the state with pre-school-aged children then currently enrolled in educational head start programs.

They found that the children whose mothers ate fewer than four servings of fruits and vegetables per week were less likely to consume the recommended number of servings themselves. Perhaps more interesting, was their discovery that children who were viewed as “picky eaters” by their mothers were also likely to consume an inadequate number of servings per week, regardless of the mother’s own dietary habits.

This has led the researchers behind the study to speculate on improved methods for encouraging better eating habits in children. Many nutritional specialists have become increasingly focused on making healthy foods appear fun and therefore more appealing to kids. And while a certain amount of progress has been made following this approach, it is far from a stand-alone solution.

Tips for Being a Better Influence for Your Child’s Diet

In today’s busy world, it’s easy to fall into a routine of serving your family convenience foods — especially when dealing with young children and toddlers, whose taste buds can be very difficult to please.

Still, the importance of developing smart dietary habits early in life cannot be overstated. Without a balanced and varied diet, growing bodies don’t get the vitamins and minerals they need to thrive.

By focusing directly on the food choices of mothers, experts may be able better influence the diets of their children. This is likely due to a combination of positive modeling and increased access to more nutritious foods.

There’s more to it than just working a few extra vegetables into dinner. (Although cooking meals at home instead of eating out every night is a smart first step for some.) Make sure that fresh snack options are also readily available for those in-between bouts of hunger. Not only is this better for your family’s health, replacing pr-epacked commercial snack products with seasonal organic fruits and vegetables or raw nuts and seeds is a great way to save money in the checkout line.

Parent’s of so-called “picky eaters” should also keep in mind that some children may need to be exposed to a given food as many as 15 times before they are able to decide whether or not they like it. So don’t give up just yet on convincing your little one that broccoli is good. In the long run, it’ll be worth the effort.

References:

1. Jill Vondrasek, Jason Cody. Mothers’ diets have biggest influence on children eating healthy. Michigan State University. 2010 December 14.