Welcome back.
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We've been talking
with Dr. Neil Nedley.
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We've been talking about
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prenatal influences and
how to avoid premature births
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and avoid having children
that are maybe low birth weight
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or actually just come too early.
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Dr. Nedley, the definition
there, was, just to recap,
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was an early birth is anytime
before 37 weeks. Correct?
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Any time before 37 weeks.
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One in eight kids
today are born premature.
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Higher than it's
ever been in America.
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And that's probably increasing
because of some of the risk
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factors we talked
about before the break like
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more people smoking,
more people drinking...
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Actually, not as many smoking
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although, smoking
has cut down in men
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but not near as much in women.
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But most women that get
pregnant, they quit smoking
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if they are smokers.
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But there's an increased risk
of a host of other problems.
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That we have... Some of
which we've talked about.
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such as alcohol, caffeine,
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and maternal obesity, high blood
pressure, gestational diabetes,
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and then others that we
haven't talked about yet.
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We'll talk a
little bit more about
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some of the things that cause it
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but I also want us to
really see the impact of it.
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Like, what does this
really do to the kids?
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Right. And
unfortunately it does..
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increases their likelihood of
a lot of bad things that happen.
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For instance, it
increases their likelihood
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of having
premature heart disease.
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It increases their likelihood
of having high blood pressure
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at an earlier
age than they should.
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It increases their risk of
developing Type 2 diabetes.
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And it's one of the reasons why
Type 2 diabetes is increasing.
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So how does that work?
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I mean, why would they
get heart disease sooner?
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Why would they
get diabetes sooner?
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Does anyone really know?
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Yeah. Those are mechanisms that
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we're just kind of,
you know, speculating on.
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We just know the association.
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You can see it
when we study statistics
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that out of these
one in eight children
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that are born prematurely
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when they're followed
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over the course of the
next thirty or forty years
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we see a dramatic increased
risk of a number of problems.
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And it's not just
physical problems.
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It increases
their risk of cancer;
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increases their risk of
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bipolar disorder, of depression,
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of attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder.
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A lot of the ADHD kids, not
all of them but many of them
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were born premature and that
increased their risk of ADHD.
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It also... There's a tendency
for decreased muscle strength.
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You know, you don't see
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the great physical
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muscle builders coming from
those who were born premature.
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So it can even affect,
you know, their strength
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and their capacity to
be able to even perform
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at a high athletic level.
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It increases their
problems intellectually.
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In other words it does
have a role in decreasing IQ.
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And some studies show
as little as five points,
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others show maybe
a 15 to 20 point IQ
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decrease depending on
how premature the baby was.
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So, that has to do
with brain development.
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Is the brain
developed in uterine?
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Is it the last
thing being developed?
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Well, no. The brain is actually
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one of the first
things being developed.
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The brain is
really kind of the prime
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part of embryology
that's being developed.
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So the first
trimester is very important.
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The second
trimester is very important.
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But also the completion of it
seems to be important as well.
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So all of these
different things make
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what we're saying
very, very serious.
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In other words, you don't
just mess around with this.
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You don't say oh. You
need to be very careful
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about what you're doing
with your prenatal care.
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You need to be
very careful about it.
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You need to get on
the right lifestyle.
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And another
factor that was cited
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and this was cited
by the US Government
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as reasons for
increased prematurity
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and this would be
lower down on our list.
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This isn't among the top ten.
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But elective C-sections
actually increase the risk
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of preterm delivery.
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Not the emergency C-sections.
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There are women that need
to have a Caesarean delivery
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to save their life or to
save the life of the child.
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And that's about
five percent of cases
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definitely are going to need
an emergency Caesarean section.
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But the Caesarean section
rate is far higher than that
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in America and it's
really due to what we call
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elective Caesarean sections.
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Well people are not
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trying to have a C-section
before 37 weeks are they?
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No, but what happens is
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sometimes the
calculations are off.
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And so the doctor thinks
he's taking a 38 or 39 week baby
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in reality,
once they get it out,
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they realize the
baby's actually premature.
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All of our calculations are
not completely 100% reliable.
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Because it's based on the
family history of the mother.
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Well, no. They're
taking a look at the
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head size on the ultra sound.
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They're taking a
look at the history
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of when the last
period was. - Right.
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And they're looking
at factors like that.
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But none of those
are 100% reliable.
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Sometimes a goof is made.
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So it's better to let nature
have its course if you can.
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Exactly. There needs
to be a concerted effort.
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In fact the US Government
task force has mentioned this.
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There needs to be a concerted
effort to try to decrease
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the number of elective Caesarean
sections done in this country.
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Okay. So, all of these prenatal
influences and then their impact
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What can we do to
avoid these problems?
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What kind of
things can we be doing?
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Well, one of the things, it
a very modifiable risk factor
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is avoiding infectious diseases
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of the mother
after she gets pregnant.
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Many mothers don't see that
as something that's very vital
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and they just go about
their regular routines as far as
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trying to avoid infections.
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But it becomes very
important, when you're pregnant,
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to avoid contracting infections.
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So what kind of infections?
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Like the common cold?
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Yeah, the common cold.
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Even the flu
virus can significantly
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increase the risk
of premature delivery.
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There are other infections
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like the sexually
transmitted infections.
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The human Trichomonas infection
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increases the
risk of still birth,
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increases the risk
of premature delivery.
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And that's a
sexually transmitted disease.
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Chlamydia, the most common
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sexually
transmitted disease in teenagers
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is actually a cause,
again, of premature delivery.
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So, as soon as you get
pregnant should you go get
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tested to see if you have any
sexually transmitted diseases,
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if you have any
question whatsoever?
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Well, that
would be a good thing.
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However, another factor is
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if there's
inappropriate antibiotic usage
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it increases your
risk of preterm delivery.
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So you don't want to use
antibiotics indiscriminately.
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But if you do have an infection,
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you want to use
a safe antibiotic
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and get that taken care of.
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But actually,
the time to check for
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sexually transmitted diseases
is before you get pregnant.
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You really want that
treated before you have a baby.
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And that's why
planned pregnancies
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often are better
than the unplanned.
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I noticed tick bites
are related to premature...
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Yeah, Lyme's
disease, Q fever, these are
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infections that can be
transmitted through ticks
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that can increase the
risk of preterm delivery.
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So it's very important
for mothers to stay out of
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those tick environments, if
they can, when they're pregnant.
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So, what about immunizations?
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Now that's a very
controversial subject
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for some that are
having babies and they say
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Well, I don't want any of that.
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Is that a good thing? bad thing?
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What would you say? I
know I don't want you to...
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Well, I can tell you,
immunizations are safer today
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than they've ever been before.
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It's US Government law now that
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no mercury can be
involved in vaccinations.
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There used to be
some mercury there
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and that was increasing
the risk of problems, frankly.
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Now that the mercury is out
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and if the
vaccine is actually a dead
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vaccine where it's not a
live one that also decreases the
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risk. Yes, if the mother
contracts measles or rubella
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or rubeola during pregnancy
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it increases her
risk of preterm delivery.
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That's why it's
important to be vaccinated
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to actually help the
health of not only you
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but
potentially, your next child.
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Chicken pox?
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Chicken pox as well.
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You can't be
vaccinated for that.
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You actually can be now.
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The chicken pox
vaccine is out now.
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Just get it
before you get pregnant.
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Yeah, that's right
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Nutritionally, I
noticed also in your research
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there are some things that
you can do to just mitigate
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or try to avoid this premature
birth that you mention.
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Do you want to
talk about those at all?
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Yes, there are a number
of nutritional factors that
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can actually help
you carry a baby to term.
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And one of those is
getting enough omega-3 fats.
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Another is
getting enough calcium,
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enough zinc, enough folic acid.
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All of these
nutrients are important,
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particularly during pregnancy.
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We can't stress enough
of the role of folic acid
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in helping brain
development, as well.
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It also can help
prevent preterm delivery.
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So, these things are eating
your green leafy vegetables,
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eating like English
walnuts, nuts that are
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high in those omega-3s. - Yes.
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All those
different kind of things.
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I know in some of your
books you have those lists but
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just a simple
research on the internet
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or at the library you can
figure what those foods are.
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But is it basically, foods as
grown of all different colors?
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Would that be safe?
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Well, that would pretty
safe. Yeah, that's true.
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And the nutrients
there, we can list them are
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Calcium, magnesium,
zinc, riboflavin, folic acid,
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antioxidant vitamins such
and E and C, omega-3 fats,
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and a very important
amino acid called arginine.
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All of these, if
they are increased
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to appropriate amounts or above
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are going to decrease a
mother's risk of preeclampsia.
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Now, preeclampsia is a condition
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where it tends to
occur on the first baby
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but that's where the individual
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can actually end
up having a seizure.
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Often they'll have
swelling of the ankles first
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and high blood
pressure, protein in the urine.
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Then it can develop to
a mother having a seizure
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and of course that can threaten
her life, the life of the child.
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and if these
nutrients are all up there,
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the risk of
preeclampsia goes down.
00:11:09.87\00:11:12.46
And so that means the
risk of preterm delivery
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because when
someone has preeclampsia
00:11:14.98\00:11:16.96
that means preterm
delivery is gonna happen.
00:11:16.97\00:11:18.82
Some of the highest foods
I noticed on your list here
00:11:18.83\00:11:22.26
are roasted pumpkin
seeds, lentils, soy beans.
00:11:22.29\00:11:25.66
These are all seeds. - Yeah.
00:11:25.69\00:11:27.11
There all things from seeds.
00:11:27.14\00:11:28.60
And those are
foods high in arginine.
00:11:28.63\00:11:30.25
Arginine really improves
the circulation to the uterus,
00:11:30.26\00:11:33.98
to the baby, and actually
dilates the blood vessels.
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When we get better
circulation to the baby,
00:11:38.29\00:11:40.06
better circulation to the uterus
00:11:40.09\00:11:41.85
we have less problems
with preterm delivery.
00:11:41.88\00:11:44.70
The foods that are at the top of
the list there, you named them,
00:11:44.73\00:11:48.56
Pumpkin seeds,
soy beans, lentils.
00:11:48.60\00:11:50.53
There's also garbanzos
or chick peas, kidney beans,
00:11:50.56\00:11:54.35
lima beans,
almonds also are up there.
00:11:54.38\00:11:57.50
These are foods that a
woman can eat while pregnant
00:11:57.53\00:12:03.97
that are going to
help her and the baby.
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This is a very, you know,
spiritual time in people's lives
00:12:06.18\00:12:09.38
when they have that first child.
00:12:09.41\00:12:10.66
Is there anything that you'd
say as a Christian physician
00:12:10.69\00:12:14.34
as we're closing out this
program on having a baby that...
00:12:14.35\00:12:18.01
What do you tell your
patients when they're coming in?
00:12:18.04\00:12:20.74
in terms of maybe some
spiritual insights as well?
00:12:20.77\00:12:25.09
Studies have shown when you
reduce the stress of the mother
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you have a much
greater risk of being able
00:12:29.35\00:12:32.31
to carry that baby to full term.
00:12:32.34\00:12:34.18
And part of stress
reduction is having a good,
00:12:34.19\00:12:38.15
spiritual, core
belief system in place.
00:12:38.18\00:12:41.36
And that is a belief
system that can be based
00:12:41.37\00:12:44.22
on something
firm and foundational
00:12:44.25\00:12:46.22
such as the Word of God.
00:12:46.25\00:12:47.53
So, you know, in
a program like this
00:12:47.56\00:12:51.13
that's so
important, spiritual focus
00:12:51.16\00:12:53.95
but in a program like this
00:12:53.98\00:12:55.10
we couldn't cover everything
someone needs to know.
00:12:55.11\00:12:57.19
What should someone who
wants more information do?
00:12:57.22\00:12:59.78
I would have them contact us.
00:12:59.79\00:13:01.43
We're compiling
all of this information
00:13:01.46\00:13:03.63
and putting it in one place
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So someone who's going to
have a baby can utilize it.
00:13:05.21\00:13:09.15
Thanks for joining us
for Health for a Lifetime.
00:13:09.18\00:13:11.55