What to expect when you're expecting (35 page)

“Can city air pollution hurt my baby?”

Take a deep breath. Ordinary breathing in the big city is a lot safer than you’d think. After all, millions of women live and breathe in major cities across the nation and give birth to millions of healthy babies. Still, it’s always sensible to avoid extraordinarily high doses of most air pollutants. Here’s how:

Avoid smoke-filled rooms. Since tobacco smoke is one pollutant that’s known to hurt the fetus, ask family, guests in your home, and coworkers not to smoke near you. That goes for cigars and pipes, too, because they release even more smoke into the air than cigarettes do.

Have the exhaust system on your car checked to be sure there is no leakage of noxious fumes and the exhaust pipe isn’t rusting away. Never start your car in the garage with the garage door closed; keep the tailgate on an SUV or minivan closed when the engine is running; keep your car’s outside air vent closed when driving in heavy traffic.

If there is a pollution alert in your area, stay indoors as much as you can, with the windows closed and the air conditioner, if you have one, running. Follow any other instructions given by health officials for residents who are at special risk. If you want to work out, go to the gym or go for a long walk at an indoor mall.

Don’t run, walk, or bicycle along congested highways, no matter what the weather, since you breathe in more air—and pollution—when you’re active. Instead, choose a route through a park or a residential area with little traffic and a lot of trees. Trees, like indoor greenery, help to keep the air clean.

Make sure fireplaces, gas stoves, and wood-burning stoves in your home are vented properly. Also, make sure the fireplace flue is open before lighting a fire.

Try the Green Solution (see previous page). Plants, and the air-purification properties that they provide, can help you breathe easier both inside your home and out.

Domestic Violence

Protecting her baby from harm is every expectant mother’s most basic instinct. But sadly, some women can’t even protect themselves during pregnancy. That’s because they’re victims of domestic violence.

Domestic violence can strike at any time, but it’s especially common during pregnancy. While having a baby brings out a new (or renewed) tenderness in many relationships, it rocks others, sometimes triggering unexpectedly negative emotions in a woman’s partner (from anger to jealousy to a feeling of being trapped), particularly if the pregnancy wasn’t planned. In some cases, unfortunately, those emotions play out in the form of violence against both the mother and her unborn baby.

Surprisingly, domestic violence is the leading cause of death among pregnant women, killing more often than pregnancy complications or car crashes. Even without the homicides, the statistics are just as alarming: Nearly 20 percent of women experience violence at the hands of their partners during pregnancy. This means, statistically, that pregnant women are twice as likely to experience physical abuse during their nine months than experience a preterm birth or preeclampsia.

Domestic abuse (emotional and physical) against pregnant women carries more than just the immediate risk of injury to the mother-to-be and her baby (such as uterine rupture or hemorrhaging). Being battered during pregnancy can lead to numerous negative health consequences for the mom-to-be, including poor nutrition, poor prenatal care, substance abuse, and so on. Its effects on the pregnancy can also include stillbirth or miscarriage, preterm labor, premature rupture of the membranes, or low birthweight. And once a baby is born into a physically abusive household, he or she can easily become a victim of direct violence as well.

Abused women come from all backgrounds and socioeconomic areas, every age, every race and ethnicity, and every educational level. If you’re the victim of domestic violence, remember that it is not your fault. You have done nothing wrong. If you are in an abusive relationship, don’t wait—get help now. Without intervention, the violence will only get worse. Keep in mind that if you’re not safe in your relationship, your child won’t be safe either.

Talk to your practitioner, tell your trusted friends and family, and call a local domestic violence hotline. Many states have programs that can help you with shelter, clothing, and prenatal care. Check out The Safety Zone, thesafetyzone.org; Violence Against Women,
4woman.gov/violence/index.cfm
; Family Violence Prevention Fund, endabuse.org; National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, ncadv.org; or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233.

If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

The days when alternative medicine was about as welcome in traditional medical practice as old wives’ tales (and regarded with about as much credibility) are over. Today, these seemingly unrelated branches of healing are no longer considered incompatible. in fact, more and more practitioners in both consider them complementary. Which is why complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is more and more likely to find a place—in some form—in your life and the life of your family.

The practitioners who practice complementary medicine take a broad view of health and well-being, examining and integrating the nutritional, emotional, and spiritual influences, as well as the physical ones. CAM also emphasizes the body’s ability to heal itself—with a little help from some natural friends, including herbs, physical manipulation, the spirit, and the mind.

Since pregnancy is not an illness but rather a normal part of life, it would seem that CAM might make a natural addition to traditional obstetrical care. And for an increasing number of women and their health care providers, it has. A variety of CAM practices are currently being used in pregnancy, labor, and delivery, with varying degrees of success, including the following:

Acupuncture.
The Chinese have known for thousands of years that acupuncture can be used to relieve a number of pregnancy symptoms—but it’s only recently that the traditional obstetrical community has started to catch on. Scientific studies now back up the ancient wisdom; researchers have found that acupuncture triggers the release of several brain chemicals, including endorphins, which block pain signals. How is it done? An acupuncturist inserts dozens of thin needles at prescribed points along invisible paths (or meridians) on the body. According to ancient tradition, the paths are the channels through which chi, the body’s life force, flows. Researchers have found that the points correspond to deep-seated nerves, so that when the needles are twirled (or electrically stimulated, in a procedure known as electropuncture), the nerves are activated, leading to the release of endorphins—and relief from back pain, nausea, and other symptoms, including pregnancy depression. Acupuncture may also be used during labor to relieve pain, as well as to help speed progress along. For those finding conception elusive, acupuncture may help with fertility issues.

Acupressure.
Acupressure—or shiatsu—works on the same principle as acupuncture, except that instead of getting poked with needles, your practitioner will use thumb or finger pressure, or will apply firm pressure with small beads, to stimulate the points. Pressure on a certain point just above your inner wrist can ease nausea (which is why Sea-Bands can also work; see
page 134
). Acupressure on the center of the ball of the foot is said to help back labor. There are several acupressure points that are said to induce contractions (such as those in the ankle)—which is why they should be avoided until term (at which point, impatient moms-to-be might want to give them a try—at the hands of a professional, that is).