Questions about pregnancy and infants

[MacGyver]

1) Is amniocentesis offered for every pregnancy? Or is it only offered for patients who have genetic defects in their family history?

2) How many weeks old is it possible to obtain gender from ultrasound?

3) Ob/gyn doc measured the length of the fetus. Was she doing this just to keep records, or was she using this to calculate somehting? (due date, conception date, etc).

4) What are the dangers of taking a newborn infant on an airplane? Can normal sucking do enough to avoid ear problems during takeoff/landing? Or would that be too much for an infant to handle?

5) Whats the immune system status of a newborn infant? Is it so poor that they can barely ward off routine germs? What are the chances that a newborn infant would acquire infection from an airplane trip, and is there significant mortality involved?

6) What OTC meds are contraindicated in pregnancy?

7) What are the statistics involved regarding due dates? I'd like to know the mean and standard deviation for births relative to their due dates. For example, what percent of births are born within 1 week of their due date? 90%, 75%, 60%?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[terpgirl]

You should be able to do a serach on google or ask and get a lot of answers. I can tell you that a lot of this is out there.

-Liz

 

[DrMom]

I'll jump on a few of these that I can deal with quickly. Keep in mind that I'm answering mostly as a mom, not so much as a med student:

1. Amnio is not routine. It is offered for older (usu > 35, I belive) mothers and in cases of family hx of problems

2. US for gender is usually best done around 20 weeks. Much before that isn't very reliable.

3. They use the measurements to estimate due date and to track growth (if there are serial USs)

4. I know of no problems with newborns on airplanes. It does help if they are sucking during landing especially.

5. Really basic answer for this one. Infants do have a functioning immune system and antibodies from mom. While it is not fully-developed (and hasn't been exposed to much), they aren't horribly susceptible to everything. Use common sense and the baby should be fine.

6. I recommend asking the OB for a list. Most of them have one available.

7. Anything within 2 weeks of the due date (either direction) is considered full-term. Very few women give birth on their actual due date. I don't have any actual stats on hand, though.