With mosquitoes buzzing again, it’s time to reach for the repellent

By UHS News Team

May 8, 2017

Categories: Children's Health  /  Infections  /  News  /  Pregnancy

You may have noticed the buzz. Mosquito season is back in full swing, and with it the concerns about the threat of Zika infection. Bexar County has recorded one confirmed case of Zika in 2017, adding to the 20 cases it reported last year. All the cases so far are thought to be travel-related, with patients infected in places where the infection is circulating. Unfortunately, one of those places is the Lower Rio Grande Valley, which joined Florida last year as the two U.S. regions with local Zika transmission. Last month, the Texas Department of State Health Services issued new …Read More >

Tags: mosquitoes, pregnancy, prevention

Strengthening mother-baby bonds in the NICU

By UHS News Team

March 2, 2017

Categories: Children's Health  /  News  /  NICU  /  Pregnancy  /  Research

The bond between mother and newborn is not only powerful, it’s important for the healthy development of the child, research has shown. But when a baby is born too soon or has other medical problems requiring a stay in the neonatal intensive care unit, fear and uncertainty can interfere with the forming of those bonds. “We see moms looking terrified,” Umber Darilek, a registered nurse at University Hospital, told Texas Public Radio reporter Wendy Rigby. “A lot of women don’t know how to approach their babies, especially when there are tubes and lines coming out of all directions.” To try …Read More >

Tags: bonding, newborn, NICU, pregnancy

Advice on Zika protection for moms-to-be

By UHS News Team

July 6, 2016

Categories: Children's Health  /  Infections  /  News  /  Pregnancy

The well-publicized risks of Zika infection in pregnancy have been scary. Even scarier is the speed at which the infection has spread across geographic borders, and the fact that the mosquitoes doing the spreading — Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus — are found in in South Texas. For pregnant women worried about which insect repellent will protect them safely, Dr. Patrick Ramsey, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at UT Medicine San Antonio who practices at University Health System, offers some advice: Stay indoors, get rid of standing water on your property and cover up by wearing light-colored, long-sleeve shirts and long …Read More >

Tags: mosquitoes, pregnancy, Zika

A video chat with baby

By UHS News Team

June 3, 2015

Categories: Children's Health  /  News  /  NICU  /  Pregnancy  /  Technology

It’s one of the most joyous times in life — the birth of a baby. But sometimes medical reasons can keep mom and baby apart for hours, days or even weeks. That the time when physical and emotional bonds are formed. And while separation can’t always be avoided, University Health System’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is using some popular technology to make it easier on both mother and child. Baby Chat uses iPads and Apple’s FaceTime application to allow the newborns to hear the sound of their mother’s voice, and for moms to see and hear the movement, breathing and …Read More >

Tags: babies, FaceTime, iPad, pregnancy

Helping women with a common fertility problem

By UHS News Team

July 14, 2014

Categories: News  /  Pregnancy  /  Research

A breast cancer drug may help women with polycystic ovary syndrome achieve a successful pregnancy better than the standard treatment, new research suggests. Polycystic ovary syndrome is one of the most common causes of infertility, affecting 5 to 10 percent of women of childbearing age. The condition, often linked to diabetes, is caused in part by a hormonal imbalance. In PCOS, the ovaries make high levels of androgens — primarily a male hormone that women also produce, typically in small quantities. The standard treatment has long been a drug called clomiphene citrate, which stimulates ovulation. But its success rate is limited. …Read More >

Tags: diabetes, Fertility, polycystic ovary syndrome, pregnancy, research

Saving precious sight

By UHS News Team

July 7, 2014

Categories: Children's Health  /  News  /  NICU  /  Pregnancy  /  Research  /  Technology

It’s among the happiest moments for new parents, when their baby makes eye contact and smiles in recognition. But for very premature babies, a common and potentially blinding eye disease can rob families of that moment. More than half of all infants born 10 or more weeks prematurely have some level of retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP — a disease in which blood vessels in the back of the eye grow abnormally. That can lead to scarring and detachment of the retina. About 5 to 8 percent require treatment, which involves destroying the abnormal blood vessels with lasers or a …Read More >

Tags: babies, NICU, pregnancy, premature, research, telemedicine, vision

Taking aim at birth defects

By UHS News Team

June 26, 2013

Categories: Children's Health  /  News  /  Pregnancy  /  Research  /  Wellness

Citing the fact that Hispanic babies are more prone to a serious birth defect of the brain and spinal cord, the March of Dimes has called on the FDA to require that corn masa be fortified with folic acid, as it requires for many other grain products. Neural tube defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly occur when the protective sheath around the spinal cord fails to close completely. About 3,000 pregnancies each year result in a neural tube defect. Folic acid, a B vitamin found in lentils, leafy greens, citrus fruits and other foods, can reduce the risk of neural …Read More >

Tags: birth defects, folic acid, Hispanics, nutrition, pregnancy

A vital ingredient for baby’s health

By UHS News Team

May 29, 2014

Categories: Children's Health  /  News  /  NICU  /  Pregnancy

Are you getting enough iodine in your diet? A new policy statement by a national physicians’ group says there’s a good chance you aren’t — and that’s worrisome if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding. It could be risky for your child. Iodine is an essential element for a baby’s brain to develop normally. And if mom gets too little, it can weaken both her and her child’s defenses against certain environmental pollutants — including some found in some foods and public water supplies. The American Academy of Pediatrics said this week that many pregnant and breastfeeding women should be taking iodine supplements …Read More >

Tags: brain, lactation, nutrition, pregnancy, salt, supplements

Smoking and drug use tied to stillbirths

By UHS News Team

Categories: News  /  Pregnancy

For several years, a national study that includes San Antonio-area hospitals has been trying to get at one of the most difficult and devastating questions in pregnancy – what can be done to prevent stillbirths? The study’s latest findings point to one answer that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise: avoid tobacco and illicit drugs, including marijuana. The Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network looked at hundreds of live births and stillbirths in five regions across the country, including San Antonio, between 2006 and 2008. In most cases, they were able to perform tests for the presence of drugs and nicotine.  They …Read More >

Tags: children's health, drug use, obstetrics, pregnancy, research, smoking, stillbirth

Simple test saving newborns

By UHS News Team

Categories: Children's Health  /  News  /  Pregnancy

A beautiful newborn baby — by all appearances perfectly healthy — goes home from the hospital in the care of delighted parents. What they don’t know is that within that tiny, beating heart lies an undiagnosed defect that can surface tragically, days or weeks later, without warning. Beginning Sept. 1, hospitals were required to begin screening newborns for these life-threatening heart problems before they’re discharged, so they can be treated in time. A new state law, H.B. 740, adds the screening to the list of conditions babies must be tested for. “These cases are heartbreaking because the babies often leave …Read More >

Tags: baby, cardiology, children's health, heart, pregnancy, prevention, public health, screening