Pregnancy and Family Planning Articles

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Rayven Perkins @ Thursday, 25th September 2008 @ 12:58 AM

It seems that everywhere you look nowadays, someone is involved in surrogacy. Whether it is an episode of your favorite TV program, a box-office movie, a real-life celebrity, or a co-worker, surrogacy is everywhere. With all this talk, its natural that many women would like to get involved and become a surrogate mother themselves. So what are the age qualifications? Before we talk about how old a surrogate mother needs to be, it is important to clear up one important issue. Ever... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Tony Edwards @ Tuesday, 23rd September 2008 @ 12:19 PM

Just picking up some ordinary vitamins at the drugstore is not enough for a healthy pregnancy. Prenatal vitamins contain important nutrients in stronger dosages than regular multivitamin supplements (even those formulated for women). Here is a look at what prenatal vitamins should contain and the benefit of each ingredient for new mother. Prenatal Vitamin Ingredients Folic Acid Folic acid is the most commonly prescribed prenatal supplement for the months prior to becoming pregna... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Aydan Corkern @ Monday, 22nd September 2008 @ 8:59 PM

When it is time for a baby to come into the world, chances are the mother is going to let you know. No matter how beautiful the birthing experience can be, it can also be some of the most lengthy and horrible pain that a woman will ever go through. There are several methods of childbirth these days, but they all involve, at the very least, those first throes of labor when the contractions begin to come at regular intervals. Although sometimes women are put in the hospital early and babies are ta... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Jodi Selander @ Thursday, 18th September 2008 @ 9:10 PM

Having a baby is a tremendous life transition. Most couples prepare for this transition by reading books about pregnancy and birth, taking childbirth education courses, and discussing the myriad of options for the accompanying baby gear. However, having the best postpartum experience possible involves more than just making decisions about the proper gear to buy and which set of grandparents get to visit first. Eighty percent of women experience some sort of postnatal mood disorder, the mi... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Rayven Perkins @ Thursday, 18th September 2008 @ 12:28 AM

My potential surrogate mothers and their intended parents are attracted by the idea that Medicaid, or other federal programs, can assist with the costs of the surrogate mother's pregnancy and the birth of the surrogate baby. Maternity health insurance can be quite expensive and this is a way to trim thousands of dollars away from the cost of surrogacy which can be used for other expenses, including the surrogate's compensation. So that begs the question: if a surrogate mother ... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Warren Wong @ Sunday, 14th September 2008 @ 8:33 PM

Before the days of ultrasounds and home pregnancy kits, when women suspected they were pregnant, they calculated the approximate due date by starting with the first day of their last menstrual period, added on seven days and then counted back three months. When they visited the doctor for a urine test to confirm the pregnancy, the doctor used a cardboard wheel, called a pregnancy wheel, to come up with the same calculations. Now with the advances in technology, this wheel is now available in ele... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Warren Wong @ Sunday, 14th September 2008 @ 8:18 PM

If you ask several different people the question then is a woman most fertile? you will likely get a different answer from each one. Some of the common beliefs are that women are fertile all during the month, except during the time of their menstrual period. Others believe that the fertility period is the seven days after you finish your period. There is actually a very small window of opportunity for the fertile period during which you can become pregnant. There are only about five days during ... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Warren Wong @ Sunday, 14th September 2008 @ 8:14 PM

A pregnancy after 40 has increased risk for both the mother and the baby. In fact, getting pregnant after the age of 35 does carry the increased chances of developing complications during the pregnancy and during the delivery. Being in good health before you become pregnant and obtaining prenatal care as early as possible is essential. It is very common for babies born to mothers in this age group to have genetic disorders. This is because as you age, so your eggs and they are more likely to hav... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Warren Wong @ Sunday, 14th September 2008 @ 8:12 PM

The first trimester of pregnancy is the first twelve weeks. For at least the first month of this trimester you may not even realize that you are pregnant until you miss your first period. It is then you realize that there have been signs and symptoms that would have alerted you to the fact earlier ?such as feeling tired, having to go to the bathroom more often, and having sore and swollen breasts. Many women report that they have more headaches than usual and have been looking for reasons for th... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Warren Wong @ Sunday, 14th September 2008 @ 8:02 PM

If you are trying to conceive, it is important that you know when you are most fertile. Every woman has a fertile period each month and this is the time you should make sure you have sexual intercourse. To determine when you are likely to be the most fertile, start counting the days from the first day of your menstrual period. The ovulation cycle usually starts 14 days after this and the period of fertility starts about 4 or 5 days before this. Although every woman is not alike, it is sa... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Warren Wong @ Sunday, 14th September 2008 @ 8:01 PM

One of the most common pregnancy symptoms is a missed menstrual period. Quite often women don't even realize that they are pregnant until they miss their period and sometimes they are disappointed to find that they are not pregnant at all. It is important to be able to recognize the symptoms of pregnancy because there are times when these are not actually pregnancy signs, but signs that something else is happening in the body. It is common for women to have monthly periods while they are pr... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Warren Wong @ Sunday, 14th September 2008 @ 8:00 PM

More and more women have having babies later in life when they have their lives and financial situations in order. Heath risks increase anyway for older women and pregnancy sometimes aggravates or brings on additional medical conditions. However, older women are more aware of the need for folic acid during pregnancy, as well as the need of maintaining a healthy diet and getting lots of exercise than younger women usually are. They also have higher rates of choosing to breastfeed, rather than bot... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Warren Wong @ Sunday, 14th September 2008 @ 7:59 PM

There is no one best time to conceive that will suit all women. The time at which conception occurs is unique to each person and depends on each ones fertile period after the date at which the menstrual cycle starts. You do have several options open to you to help you find what the time is right for you. One of these methods involves keeping detailed records of your basal temperature starting when you finish your monthly period. When you are ovulating your basal temperature is at its highest for... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Warren Wong @ Sunday, 14th September 2008 @ 7:54 PM

The very early symptoms of pregnancy don't start immediately. You won't know that you are pregnant right away and most women don't realize that they are until they miss their menstrual period. If you have been trying to get pregnant for some time, you may even use a pregnancy wheel to help you determine the best time of the month to conceive. If this is true, you won't get any results right away. The earliest time you can find out for sure if you are pregnant is at least a we... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Warren Wong @ Sunday, 14th September 2008 @ 7:50 PM

More and more women are now using EPT ?early pregnancy test, to find out whether or not they are pregnant. These tests are home pregnancy kits that can tell you whether or not you are pregnant even before you miss your first period. There are strips and midstream tests that measure the amount of hormones in your urine. The main hormone in your urine that will tell you if you are pregnant is called HCD (human chorionic gonadotropin) and the placenta starts secreting this hormone quite soon after ... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Warren Wong @ Sunday, 14th September 2008 @ 7:45 PM

A false pregnancy refers to a situation when a woman has all the signs and symptoms of being pregnant, yet this woman is not pregnant. It is not common in humans, yet it does happen. However, it is mainly psychological. False pregnancies have been reported all throughout history. Hippocrates wrote about 12 women who he encountered as early as 300 B.C. Mary, Queen of Scots, is one of the most famous examples in history that reported that she was pregnant on several occasions and when the truth wa... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Warren Wong @ Sunday, 14th September 2008 @ 7:45 PM

All women know their own bodies better than anyone else and are able to detect some signs that they are pregnant even if they are not the usual ones. Some women have unusual pregnancy symptoms that others may laugh at or find really weird. Take for example a woman who has one child and noticed that all while she was pregnant she had a noticeable zit on her nose. When the baby was born, the zit went away. Since this lady has infrequent periods, she would not be able to tell if she was pregnant by... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Chad Wiley @ Friday, 12th September 2008 @ 7:14 PM

Anyone who has decided to marry should already have spent months before the wedding planning all the details. This ensures that enough time for everything to be considered and to plan so that you do not forget anything and that nothing goes wrong. After all planning for the big day, is the greatest event in many peoples lives. With wedding planning you should begin about ten to twelve months before the big day. During this period should consider the exact date of the wedding very early on... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Jackie Lee @ Thursday, 11th September 2008 @ 6:08 PM

Congratulations, you are pregnant! The next nine months are going to be an exciting time, not just for you but for your growing baby! Think of all the things a baby has to accomplish in only nine (ten) short months. They start as a single cell and then divide at an enormous rate. Their organs develop, the heart forms and starts beating and all five senses form. Basically your baby goes from a little blob that can't be seen with the human eye into a seven, eight, nine or even ten ... more...

Family » Pregnancy and Family Planning | By Rayven Perkins @ Thursday, 11th September 2008 @ 12:20 AM

Deciding to become a surrogate mother is a very noble, selfless thing to do. The fact that a surrogate is willing to sacrifice her body, her emotions, and her time, and that her family is willing to sacrifice as well is a wonderful gift for her intended parents. But a surrogate who decides to help another family before completing her own may find herself in a position that would require her to need a surrogate mother herself. A surrogate mother should always be done creating her own fam... more...