Pregnancy

If a plate of salty buffalo wings makes your feet swell up like balloons, you might be experiencing edema — fluid trapped in the body's tissues, most often in the feet, ankles and legs. Fluid retention can be an annoyance, but it can also indicate a more serious condition. What is edema? Edema is sometimes caused by damage to or pressure within veins that causes them to leak fluid — blood plasma that is mostly water — into nearby tissue. (At other times, edema is caused by heart,...

WASHINGTON — An Arizona congressman wants a nationwide ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Republican Rep. Trent Franks had introduced a bill that would ban such procedures only in the District of Columbia. But following the Kermit Gosnell case, he plans to amend it so it would apply nationwide. Gosnell is a Philadelphia abortion doctor who was convicted of killing three babies after they were born alive. Several states have banned abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — El Salvador's Supreme Court heard opening arguments Wednesday in a landmark abortion case in which a woman suffering from kidney failure and lupus has not been allowed to terminate a pregnancy in which the fetus is given no chance of surviving. The Central American country's laws prohibit all abortions, even when a woman's health is at risk. At present, the woman and any doctor who terminated her 23-week pregnancy would face arrest and criminal charges.

SEX DETERMINATION DNA testing via blood test may offer an early way to establish the sex of a fetus THE QUESTION Might DNA tests on a pregnant woman's blood or urine offer a simple, reliable way to determine her baby's sex? THIS STUDY analyzed data from 57 studies, involving 6,441 pregnancies, that included DNA testing of blood or urine samples at various times during pregnancy to establish the presence or absence of the Y chromosome, which indicates a male fetus.

I found out I was pregnant on an early December morning last year and, for two days, went about my routine in a euphoric trance: a grin on my face, elbows out slightly to guard my belly from the crush of commuters and holiday shoppers. I daydreamed about turning the guest room into a nursery, of taking prenatal exercise classes and bonding with other moms-to-be. We would trade tips on baby gear and shop for maternity clothes, for my body had begun the 40-week process of nurturing a new life.

Morning sickness, unexpected Braxton Hicks contractions and planning for your newborn--they're all part of being pregnant, and the experience is rarely seen as more than an obstacle in the business world. But as many "mompreneurs" know, this life-altering stage can motivate and teach women how to run their businesses better. "Pregnancy was new to me and business was new to me," says Meg Mateo Ilasco, who was blindsided by pregnancy right after quitting graduate school to start an independent craft business in 2001.

(HealthDay News) -- Having asthma doesn't necessarily mean an unhealthy pregnancy. The key is to control symptoms and prevent attacks. The University of Virginia Medical Center offers these suggestions for asthmatic women who are pregnant: Avoid anything that triggers asthma symptoms, such as tobacco smoke or pet dander.As prescribed by your doctor, keep taking your asthma medications throughout your pregnancy.Keep exercise moderate. If you have exercise-induced asthma, use your asthma medication.

(HealthDay News) -- Many women feel dizzy during pregnancy, a condition caused by hormones that help increase blood flow to the baby, but may restrict blood flow to you. The American Pregnancy Association offers these suggestions to help relieve dizziness during pregnancy: Try not to stand up for long periods. When you do have to stand, move your feet frequently to help maintain your circulation.When you start to stand up, do so slowly.Keep a cool body temperature. Avoid very hot baths or showers.Don't go too long without...

Dear Carolyn: I'm pregnant with our first child. My husband is being very supportive in many ways, but I've also asked him to go to my doctor's appointments. I want him there for support in case something goes wrong, and I also think he should experience everything I have to go through during this pregnancy — tests, exams, etc. I've told a friend I expect him to go, and she thought I was being unreasonable. She said I'm going to be a mom and that's just what I have to do. Is it...

ANKARA, Turkey — A hospital says a Turkish woman who was the first to get pregnant with a transplanted donor womb has had her pregnancy terminated. Derya Sert was born without a womb and had one transplanted in August 2011. The 22-year-old became pregnant after doctors placed an embryo into her womb, using one of her own eggs.  A statement from Akdeniz University Hospital said Tuesday the eight-week pregnancy was terminated because the fetal heartbeat had stopped.  It said Sert would receive new fertilization...

WASHINGTON — New research is raising fresh concern that an age-old treatment for troubled pregnancies — bed rest — doesn't seem to prevent premature birth, and might even worsen that risk. Doctors have known for years that there's no good evidence that bed rest offers any benefit for certain pregnancy complications, and it can cause side effects in the mother, not to mention emotional and financial strain. Yet estimates suggest nearly 1 in 5 moms-to-be is told...

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Colombian superstar Shakira is learning how to balance her demanding work schedule with being a new mom one day at a time. "It's part of motherhood you know," she said of juggling personal and professional life. "You got to figure it out as you go. " The 36-year-old singer and her soccer star boyfriend Gerard Pique welcomed their first child, Milan Pique Mebarak, on Jan. 22. "He's great. He's so mellow, but he's very alert too," she said...

In her April 25 letter about abortion , Carol Shaw Greger wrote that "if a woman does not ‘choose' to go to a drugstore to buy protection [against pregnancy], it is not the taxpayers' fault. Protection is not too expensive. " But protection is not 100 percent effective. Protection fails. Moreover, incest and rape occur, and in these situations women are not in a position to run out for some protection. Valerie Silensky , Mount Rainier

While I'm away, readers give the advice. On dating outside your race: I never considered myself a racist, and I promise you many of my friends are of just about every race and color in the world. Then one day my daughter introduced me to her new boyfriend. He was about as nice a guy as you would ever hope your daughter would bring home. He was African American. It was then I found I indeed did have a problem. I banned her from dating him. That is not a good thing to...

More than 88 percent of the 1.2 million abortions performed each year in the United States occur in the first trimester of pregnancy. Most doctors will not perform them beyond 22 or 24 weeks. Barely 1 percent of abortions — about 15,000 each year — are done after 21 weeks. A full-term pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks from the first day of the last menstrual period, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. But exactly how many abortions are performed late in pregnancy, when in a pregnancy they...

MONDAY, April 28 (HealthDay News) -- The number of women starting their pregnancies with type 1 or type 2 diabetes has doubled since 1999, but rates of gestational diabetes have stayed the same, new research finds. In some age groups, the results were even worse. Researchers from Kaiser Permanente found that the number of teenagers who had diabetes before birth jumped fivefold. "It's important to recognize with the increase in overweight and obesity, more women than ever will be entering their reproductive years with...

While I'm away, readers give the advice. On conquering self-esteem issues: I had a self-esteem problem in my early 20s. The best advice I ever received — and it's so simple, it's astounding — was "Run your own race. " I worked, hard, on training myself to repeat that phrase anytime I was being overcritical of myself, or comparing myself with others. It taught me to be the best version of myself, not a poor imitation of someone else. It truly changed my life.