GynoFiles

The risk of having Trisomy 21, or Downs syndrome goes up as a women ages. Her risk at age 21 is 1/1667, which is lower than her risk of all chromosomal abnormalities which is 1.538. by age 49 however the risk is 1/11 Down's and 1/7 for all chromosomal problems. Those numbers average out to a risk of about 1/700 for that chromosome disorder. On average it is less likely you will have a Trisomy 18 which is 1/6000 and a trisomy 13 which is about a 1/10,000 risk. All women should consider genetic risk before getting pregnant, but those who are over age 35, who have had more than one pregnancy loss, who have a history in their family of mental retardation or genetic disorders or early neonatal deaths are at most risk for birth defects in their children and should see the gyno before planning a pregnancy.Once you are pregnant there are many new tests that can help you determine the health of the baby. These tests fortunately alleviate fears for most women. For families who become awar...

Birth spacing studies in the USA are a bit hard to find, and mostly they find women have healthy next pregnancies, regardless of the interval. between popping out the next kiddo. Yet some studies say moms really should give their bodies time to heal before embarking on another pregnancy. Of course your previous baby needs to be breastfed and you need to resume ovulation before you get pregnant, and mom's really should be getting proper exercise, normalizing their weight, optimizing their nutrition (like rebuilding your calcium and iron stores), and a bit of sleep to prepare for the next pregnancy. But what if you had a c-section, should you wait longer than the 6-12 months most gynos recommend for birth spacing?  Multiple research studies have now concluded that after a prior c-section, a inter-delivery interval less than 18 months is associated with an increased rate of rupture. Rupture rates are relatively small, and limited by the fact that closer birth spacing is als...