Dangerous pregnancies
What are the signs and symptoms to look out for?
NOT all pregnancies proceed smoothly without any glitches or complications. There are high-risk cases that require urgent attention and prompt action.
A pregnancy is considered high-risk when the mother is known to have certain conditions, such as ectopic pregnancy, placental problems, eclampsia, HELLP syndrome, placenta abruption or amniotic fluid embolism (AFE). Consequently, these expectant mothers need to take precautionary steps to ensure a healthy pregnancy.
According to consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Liew Fah Onn, the major causes of maternal death (from the World Health Organisation 2005 World Health Report) are: severe bleeding (25%), infections (13%), unsafe abortions (13%), eclampsia (12%), obstructed labour (8%), other direct causes (8%) and indirect causes (20%).
“Obstetrical emergencies are life-threatening medical conditions that occur in pregnancy or during or after labour and delivery. What can go wrong is usually unpredictable,” he says.
Over 90% of maternal deaths occur in developing countries and the most common cause of maternal death is obstetrical haemorrhage (heavy bleeding during pregnancy or labour), followed by deep vein thrombosis (the formation of a blood clot or thrombus in a deep vein, most commonly of the legs).
According to Dr Liew, the lifetime risk of maternal death in Malaysia is 1 in 560. There are many conditions to look out for.
Parenthots finds out about some of the conditions as well as their symptoms and signs.
Variety for picky eaters
Instead of trying to pull a fast one on your children and hiding vegetables in their food, a new study suggests that it’s more important to expose kids to variety in order to develop better eating habits.
In recent years, food writers have been coming out with a slew of children’s cookbooks that encourages parents to use a little stealth and strategy to increase their kids’ vegetable intake, with titles like Deceptively Delicious and The Sneaky Chef.
But a study published in the March/april issue of the Journal Of Nutrition Education And Behavior has found that parents may be underestimating their children’s taste buds and unnecessarily engaging in 007-style kitchen trickery.
Readers write In
Three mothers share their stories this week. One is on the community football league that brings families together; another is on encouraging a child to open up and communicate; and the last is on childbirth and breastfeeding.
If you have a parenting story to share or something that your family does that would be of interest to other parents, e-mail it to parenthots@thestar.com.my. The best article every month wins a RM200 voucher from Giant hypermarket.
Book reviews
Lonely Planet has taken its formula for successful travel guides and used it for kids. The series, called Not-for-parents (Everything You Ever Wanted to Know), is a walking encyclopaedia of sorts about the respective cities.
Petal Pushers emphasises a great deal on a strong family bond and how a close-knit family can overcome any obstacles that come their way. Great for upper-primary kids.
Contest
Want to win an ipad organiser from Gin & Jacqie? Just enter the Parenthots G&J ipad Organiser Contest. There is one ipad organiser to be won every week! Hurry over to fill up the online contest form at Parenthots.
Gen Y questions
Parenthots has two new experts to answer parents’ questions at the Q&A section online. Jamilah Samian and husband Ahmad Fakhri Hamzah are professional trainers, NeuroLinguistic Programming practitioners and authors. Jamilah has written Cool Mum Super Dad, Cool Boys Super Sons and, together with Ahmad Fakhri, The Groovy Guide To Parenting Gen Y And Z. The couple have six children. They will be answering questions on parenting generations Y and Z. If you have any question, just submit it online via the Q&A section of Parenthots.