Welcome to the midwife's page. Kathy
Gallant has once again returned as our regular midwife who runs an antenatal
clinic at the surgery on Wednesday afternoons with Dr Masharani. This page will be used to provide information about relevant obstetric topics and
information about things like when and where antenatal classes are running .
Aquanatal classes now at the leisure centre.
Go and do some exercise at the Lutterworth leisure centre on
Tuesday afternoons between 3 and 4 p.m. For further information telephone 01455
2000800
Antenatal classes
Unfortunately antenatal classes are no longer available
at Lutterworth. There are some classes running in Blaby and the
Leicester General Hospital. For further information talk to the midwife
when you next attend your clinic appointment.
Pregnant patients may also enjoy going to
aquanatal classes being held at the new Lutterworth leisure centre on
Tuesday afternoons between 3 and 4 p.m. For further information
telephone 01455 2000800
Down's risk and maternal age
Most parents are aware that the risk of their baby having Down's syndrome increases with the mother's age; but even young women have a finite risk of having baby with Down's syndrome (see the calculator below).
Dr Masharani has added a simple little calculator indicating,
approximately, the incidence of live birth babies with Down's syndrome with maternal age.
|
Maternal age (yrs) |
Frequency of live births with Downs compared to normal births |
|
|
This information is taken from a study published by Hook in the Journal of American Medical Association in 1983 and the values may differ from other similar calculators but do give a ball park figure.
For more information on what Down's syndrome is click here
Dr Masharani will include links to more information about Down's risk testing in future weeks. Meanwhile ask the midwife for further information when you next visit the antenatal clinic.
Prevention of Group B streptococcal disease in neonates
Group B streptococcal infection in the newborn can be fatal. In 2001 there were 376 reported cases in the UK of whom 39 infants died. The bug lives in the woman's vagina and back passage and the baby picks it up from
these sites. Risk factors for the baby catching the
disease are:
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Mothers with previously affected babies
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Premature rupture of membranes ( before 37 weeks of pregnancy)
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Prolonged rupture of membranes ( more than18 - 24 hours before delivery)
-
Women with raised temperature in labour
In USA, Canada and Australia there is routine screening of mothers for this disease at about 35- 37 weeks of pregnancy. This service is not available in the UK. Instead there is screening of the at risk population.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)
looked at this issue and published guidelines for treatment of women and
neonates with this condition in June 2003. The RCOG do not recommend routine screening as they argue that about 24,000 women would have to be screened and 7000 women given antibiotics to prevent one neonatal death so the vast majority of the pregnant population would not benefit
from routine screening.
The Group B Strep Support charity are not happy the RCOG position that routine screening is not indicated. The charity also feels that the standard test available on the NHS is not as
good as the enrichment culture method (ECM) test that they advocate.
