In honor of Preeclampsia Awareness Month, Aspirus Women's Health is sharing information on this potentially dangerous condition to help you spot the warning signs and seek proper treatment. A CentralWisconsinMommy.com reader also shares her personal experience with the disease in her blog post.
Q:I’ve heard about a condition of pregnancy called preeclampsia, what is it?
Julie Luks, MD
Preeclampsia is a disorder unique to pregnancy, which usually occurs in the second half of the pregnancy. It is a condition where a woman who has normal blood pressure, develops elevation of her blood pressure, as well as lots of swelling and some abnormalities of tests of blood and urine. These abnormalities could include high levels of protein in the urine, but could also involve changes in the liver enzymes, platelets, and other clotting factor abnormalities.
There are mild and severe forms of preeclampsia, and the mild form is the most common. It affects about 5-8% of pregnancies in the United States, and is most common in a woman pregnant with her first baby, or women pregnant with twins. Preeclampsia most often does not occur for a second time in the same mom.The treatment for preeclampsia usually involves treating the blood pressure, and delivering the baby.
Mild preeclampsia usually develops without any symptoms, so regular prenatal appointments where blood pressure, and urine are tested, are important to prevent the development of more severe forms of the disease. When severe preeclampsia occurs, it can involve the central nervous system, and the mom can have a severe, persistent headache, blurred vision, pain in the abdomen, and ultimately seizures, and coma. These severe consequences are rare, and most moms recover from preeclampsia without any subsequent problems.
Julie Luks, MD, is an obstetrician at Aspirus Women's Health Obstetrics. For more information, or to schedule an appointment, call 715-847-0450.
Q: My daughter’s first-grade teacher informed me that our daughter seems to be having trouble focusing and paying attention in class.Could she have ADHD?
Christian DeGregorio, MD
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, is a condition that is often characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.In many cases, it becomes apparent that a child has ADHD in their early school years because the classroom setting is very structured and requires a great deal of concentration from the child.A child with ADHD may have trouble sitting still during class, can act inappropriately towards classmates, and may have difficulty with homework.
What can be done?Initially, parents should attempt to implement a behavior management plan at home to identify if the child can learn to behave on their own.In addition, talk to your child’s teacher and ask them to evaluate whether or not your child’s behavior in the classroom meets the criteria for ADHD. If their behavior at home and at school is indicative of ADHD, talk to your child’s physician or to a child psychiatrist.They can correctly diagnose if your child has ADHD, and they can also determine the best treatment plan for your child.
Early intervention for ADHD is important to insure that your child’s school experience is positive and successful.
Christian DeGregorio, MD, is a child psychiatrist on staff at Aspirus Wausau Hospital.For more information, or to schedule an appointment, call 715-847-0094.
Q: We are expecting our first baby in a few weeks.My sister told me that I should always place my baby on his/her back to sleep.Years ago when I babysat for our neighbor, my mom told me to lay the baby on her stomach.I’m confused – what is the safest sleep method for my baby?
Ann Line, RN, BSN, RNC
I can see why you are confused.Years ago our parents did what their physician recommended and what they felt was best.Many of us positioned our children on their stomachs for sleeping.
With the completion of many studies in the past decade and with much more information now available, these are the most recent recommendations by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development which are also endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics:
The Safe Sleep Top 10
Always place your baby on his or her back to sleep, for naps and at night. The back sleep position is the safest, and every sleep time counts.
Place your baby on a firm sleep surface, such as on a safety-approved crib mattress, covered by a fitted sheet. Never place your baby to sleep on pillows, quilts, sheepskins, or other soft surfaces.
Keep soft objects, toys, and loose bedding out of your baby's sleep area. Don't use pillows, blankets, quilts, sheepskins, and pillow-like crib bumpers in your baby's sleep area, and keep any other items away from your baby's face.
Do not allow smoking around your baby. Don't smoke before or after the birth of your baby, and don't let others smoke around your baby.
Keep your baby's sleep area close to, but separate from, where you and others sleep. Your baby should not sleep in a bed or on a couch or armchair with adults or other children, but he or she can sleep in the same room as you. If you bring the baby into bed with you to breastfeed, put him or her back in a separate sleep area, such as a bassinet, crib, cradle, or a bedside cosleeper (infant bed that attaches to an adult bed) when finished.
Think about using a clean, dry pacifier when placing the infant down to sleep, but don't force the baby to take it. (If you are breastfeeding your baby, wait until your child is 1 month old or is used to breastfeeding before using a pacifier.)
Do not let your baby overheat during sleep. Dress your baby in light sleep clothing, and keep the room at a temperature that is comfortable for an adult.
Avoid products that claim to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) because most have not been tested for effectiveness or safety.
Do not use home monitors to reduce the risk of SIDS. If you have questions about using monitors for other conditions talk to your health care provider.
Reduce the chance that flat spots will develop on your baby's head. Provide "Tummy Time" when your baby is awake and someone is watching; change the direction that your baby lies in the crib from one week to the next; and avoid too much time in car seats, carriers, and bouncers.
Since the Back to Sleep Campaign began in 1994, SIDS has been reduced by 50% nationally.There is no guarantee that a baby is risk-free, but by following these 10 guidelines, risks can be minimized.For more information go to Kohl’s Safety Seconds at www.aspirus.org.
Ann Line is a nationally certified obstetrical nurse with 24 years of nursing experience, and she is the Aspirus Women's Health Birthing Center Nursing Supervisor.She has helped deliver hundreds of babies and has 18 years of experience in obstetrics as well as 15 years experience in childbirth and infant care education.
Even though a 2001 Surgeon General's report determined that smoking during pregnancy is linked to up to 10 percent of infant deaths, many expectant mothers find it difficult to quit. Fortunately, there is a new online resource aimed at helping pregnant women kick the habit.
Quit For Baby is a blog site that gives pregnant and postpartum women who smoke the ability to talk to a professional and other women in a user-friendly format. Alice, the blog administrator, is a Certified Tobacco Cessation Specialist through the Mayo Clinic.Users of the blog are encouraged to post their questions, concerns, stories and supportive comments to other pregnant women or new moms who are interested in quitting tobacco or staying quit.In addition, users will be encouraged to participate in monthly tobacco cessation support group meetings held at the Wausau Family Resource Center.
For more information about the Quit For Baby blog, please contact Mandy at the Marathon County Health Department at 261-1936.
We are in the process of developing a directory of all Moms Clubs, MOPS groups, and other membership clubs for moms in the Central Wisconsin Area. We will launch the directory in early February. If you have a moms group you'd like listed, please email
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with all of the details (Group name, city, dues info, dates & times of any regular meetings, contact info, etc).
A free directory listing is available to any moms group or club that is open to the public. We will not list groups that are private or that screen potential members based on certain criteria. When supplying contact info, please keep in mind that your information will be visible to all CentralWisconsinMommy.com visitors. Your email address will be encrypted to prevent automatic spammers. But you may want to consider internet safety principles when deciding whether to supply your home phone number or other personal information.
Quit For Baby
