A healthy diet It is very important to endeavour to be in optimal nutritional health before you conceive and in pregnancy. When you are pregnant you are feeding two not one! Because of chemical additives in the food you buy in the supermarket, etc. it is very had to...
It is very important for you and your unborn baby that you choose the right pregnancy and childbirth support. Many pregnant women and their husbands/partners assume pregnancy care is the same irrespective of who provides it. This is certainly not the case. There are...
Pregnancy care checklist We are often asked about ‘what happens when’ with pregnancy care. With that question on mind I have put together the table below as a guide. 8 Weeks First visit with me for most patients I will give you a referral for routine pregnancy...
Contents Labour pain relief Caesarean section deliveries Who administers the spinal and epidural anaesthetics? Effectiveness How are regional spinal or epidural anaesthetics given? What are the benefits of regional epidural anaesthetics? What are the...
Catherine saw me at nine weeks gestation for management of her fifth pregnancy. Her first three pregnancies had been unsuccessful. I had not known her then. She saw me for the first time for management of her fourth pregnancy, which was successful. She told me in her...
Is a pregnant woman more at risk of being infected with coronavirus? In pregnancy a woman’s body has immunologic and physiologic changes which might make her more susceptible to viral respiratory infections. This logically would include coronavirus (COVID-19). But...
Stephanie’s first antenatal visit with me was at 7 weeks and 6 days gestation. It was her second pregnancy, but first ongoing pregnancy. She had had a miscarriage in 2016. She advised me she had had a cervical LLETZ operation and two cone biopsies for management of...
It is becoming more popular for pregnant women to request an iron infusion because of tiredness in pregnancy. The iron infusion will only benefit if there is an iron deficiency, which can be checked by a blood test. Most tiredness in pregnancy is not due to iron...
Many patients have told me they started thinking about what it will be like to be a mummy when they were young girls cuddling dolls and pretending their dolls were real babies. Becoming a mother has a very special place in a woman’s heart and for so many women is the...
Urinary incontinence is a common and distressing pregnancy and postpartum problem. It is usually urinary stress incontinence. Stress incontinence happens when the bladder sphincter muscle does not function well enough to hold in urine in the bladder. Recently I was...
Desiree saw me initially for management of her first pregnancy in 2015. She had been an insulin dependent diabetic since she was five years old and was requiring 30 units of insulin per day when I saw her for her first antenatal visit. She also had a history of...
I first met Nicole in 2015. She had been admitted to hospital with hyperemesis gravidarum. It was her second pregnancy. Her first pregnancy had to be ended at 29 weeks by Caesarean section delivery after she developed HELLP syndrome. HELLP (Haemolysis, Elevated Liver...
Trish saw me with her husband for the management of her second pregnancy. Sadly, her first pregnancy ended at 20 weeks gestation (pregnancy). She said she had spontaneous rupture of membranes and light contractions before delivering a stillborn little girl. I had not...
Carolyn had an uncomplicated first pregnancy until she was 35 weeks 6 days gestation (pregnancy). She phoned the Birth Unit as she had pain in her right upper abdomen. She was asked to come in to be assessed. I attended to see her. She was slightly tender in the...
A patient booked with me for management of her 4th pregnancy management. The pregnancy progressed well until 38 weeks and 3 days gestation. That evening she became aware of painful vein swelling in her left thigh. Her GP arranged a doppler ultrasound scan the next...
I am often asked early in the pregnancy about when to have gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) screening, with the patient under the impression that is should be done as soon as possible. This is not the case. GDM screening is usually done at 26 to 28 weeks pregnancy....
Ashley saw me for her first antenatal visit for her first pregnancy at 9 weeks pregnant. Her pregnancy progressed well until the routine morphology ultrasound scan at 19 weeks when vasa praevia was suspected. The placenta was found on an ultrasound scan to be on the...
Sam saw me recently for her postnatal visit. She had had an extremely eventful pregnancy with an excellent outcome. Sam had two earlier pregnancies with me as her obstetrician. The first delivery was by Caesarean section because of the lack of progress in labour. The...
Adriana saw me with her husband for a pre-pregnancy consultation. She saw me for a second opinion. She wanted to discuss her obstetric history and my thoughts as to what could be done so she had a good pregnancy outcome next time. She had a history of three...
Acute appendicitis can be a very difficult diagnosis to make in pregnancy. Because of this, there can be a delay in making the diagnosis and surgically dealing with the inflamed appendix. With a delay, there is an increased morbidity risk. Appendiceal rupture occurs...
Hannah saw me for management of her first ongoing pregnancy. She had two miscarriages in the past. There was no relevant history except she was hypothyroid and was taking thyroxine. The pregnancy started well. The first visit with me was at 10 weeks and there were no...
I was very excited to see a wonderful patient for the first antenatal visit of her second pregnancy. Sadly, her first pregnancy had not worked out as she had a mid-trimester loss. She has been diabetic since as she was five years old. She has an insulin pump and is...
It was Monday afternoon last week. Rebecca attended with her husband Russell for her antenatal visit at 38 weeks 6 days gestation. She had had a right breast biopsy the previous Thursday and was anxious to find out the result. The result had just come through. I had...
Sherree saw me for management of her first pregnancy. She had been a diabetic for five years before her pregnancy. Before her first visit with me, she had an appointment with her endocrinologist. Prior to being pregnant, he had managed her diabetes with oral...
An anxious patient contacted me on Thursday evening. She had a pregnancy-related discomfort and decided to search on Google for the reason. She became concerned about what she read. She came to the conclusion from what she read that she had a particularly serious...
I was in the special care nursery to visit the babies of two patients I recently delivered. Both patients needed delivery at 35-weeks pregnancy because of pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is one of the commonest complications of pregnancy. While in most patients it is...
Last week was a very busy week. Wonderful patients had successful pregnancy outcomes of beautiful babies. I saw lots of antenatal patients for mid-pregnancy routine checks. I saw patients for their first pregnancy visit who were both excited and nervous. I saw...
I saw a couple today for follow up after her third miscarriage. I met her for the first time for her first antenatal visit of this most recent pregnancy. She was nine weeks pregnant by dates at the time of her first antenatal visit. She was well and excited. All was...
A healthy diet It is very important to endeavour to be in optimal nutritional health before you conceive and in pregnancy. When you are pregnant you are feeding two not one! Because of chemical additives in the food you buy in the supermarket, etc. it is very had to...
Iodine deficiency has become more common in the community. It is thought due to most households (more than 80 per cent) not using iodised edible salt and also the food industry rarely uses iodised salt. As well in the dairy industry iodine-containing sanitisers...
There is increasing concern about the quality of most people's diet. Healthy eating today is much more difficult than in the past because of modern farming and food preparation procedures. This even has had an impact on the nutritional value of fresh fruit and...
Any medicine is to be avoided unless it is absolutely necessary. If you have any queries please ask your general practitioner or me. As a general rule medical preparations that you can buy 'over the counter' (not on prescription) in a pharmacy or supermarket are safe...
Walking is an excellent idea. As well, antenatal exercise classes are available through the hospital and privately. You can inquire about the hospital classes when you book. See also in link section exercise in pregnancy. Working Normally I am not concerned about...
Pregnancy is an exciting time when you have new life (your baby) developing and growing in your uterus. I am regularly asked "what can I do?", "what can't I do?", "what can I eat?", "what can't I eat?" etc. A mother-to-be wants to look after her precious cargo in her...
Stretch marks are due to tearing of the deeper (dermis) layer of the skin. Usually stretch marks appear as angry red lines While common in pregnancy, not every pregnant woman gets them. As well they can occur at other times when not pregnant such as with rapid growth...
Swelling of hands and feet is common in pregnancy. Swelling is due to pregnancy hormones resulting in fluid retention in the body. It usually occurs in the feet/ankles and hands/wrists. It can also be noticed in the vulval area, in the face and in the general body....
In osteoporosis there is reduced bone mineral density which predisposes to increased risk of bone fracture. Osteoporosis leading to fracture can occur during pregnancy, though it is very uncommon. There is likely to be a background condition such as such as coeliac...
Sciatica pain is due to compression sciatic nerve In pregnancy this can be caused by the pressure of the gravid uterus and in advanced pregnancy of the baby on the sciatic nerve. I once had a gynaecology patient who had severe sciatica and a large fibroid uterus...
Pregnancy is the most significant modifiable factor known for breast cancer risk in women. Although an initial increase in risk occurs immediately after parturition in women older than 25 years, the overall lifetime risk of breast cancer decreases after pregnancy. The...
Folate is a water-soluble B vitamin that is found naturally in a variety of foods. Excellent food sources of folate include asparagus, bran flakes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, chickpeas, dried beans, lentils and spinach. Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate that...
It is recommended you drink 1- 2 litres of good quality water per day during pregnancy. While there are filtration and chemical treatment of tap water, there is an increasing concern in the community about its quality. There is no guarantee of the quality of water in...
Yes. It is a good idea to get a dental checkup now you are pregnant unless you have had one recently. Pregnant women are more at risk. Pregnancy hormone results in increased blood flow in the mucous membranes, including around the teeth. This can result in bleeding...
*Saturday morning appointments are not available for initial antenatal visit.
