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Some women have risk factors before pregnancy or events that happen during pregnancy that make their pregnancy high-risk.

Jade Elliott sits down with Dr. Sean Esplin, a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist with Intermountain Healthcare, on this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast. Together they discuss high-risk pregnancies and what to do if you are at high risk.

When is a pregnancy considered high risk?

A pregnancy with complications that could affect the health of the mother, the baby or both would make a pregnancy high risk.

What risk factors might women have before becoming pregnant that might make them high risk of having complications?

1. Age of the mother (under 17 or over 35)

2. Pre-existing medical conditions such as:

• High blood pressure
• Being overweight or obese
• Chronic disease like diabetes or autoimmune diseases
• Heart, lung or kidney problems
• Chronic infections like HIV or STDs
• History of miscarriage
• Family history of genetic disorders

Talk to a doctor before becoming pregnant if you have one of those conditions.

What can you do before and during pregnancy to help your pregnancy be low risk?

• Take folic acid supplements or pre-natal vitamins before and during pregnancy
• Stay up to date on immunizations
• Eat a healthy diet and maintain proper weight
• Get regular physical exercise, unless advised by your doctor
• Avoid cigarettes, alcohol and drugs, except medications approved by your doctor
• Go to your pre-natal check-ups

What kinds of things might happen during pregnancy that would make it high risk?

• Expecting multiples (twins, triplets, etc.)
• Gestational diabetes
• Pre-eclampsia – characterized by high blood pressure, protein in urine. Swelling may occur.
• Premature labor
• Placenta previa – when the placenta partially or totally covers the cervix or opening of the uterus.
• Fetal development problems

What are some signs or symptoms during pregnancy that you should call your doctor about?

• Vaginal bleeding or leaking fluid from the vagina
• Sudden or severe swelling of face, hands or fingers
• Pain or cramping in the lower abdomen
• Fever or chills
• Pain or burning with urination
• Severe or long-lasting headaches
• Vision problems
• Persistent vomiting, nausea, dizziness
• Baby is moving less than normal after 28 weeks. Fewer than 10 movements within two hours
• Have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby

For more information on high-risk pregnancies and maternal fetal medicine, click here.

The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News.

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KUTV’s Jade Elliott is the new host of the Baby Your Baby Podcast. 

Jade joined 2News after spending most of her news career in eastern Washington from Spokane to most recently back in her hometown, the Tri-Cities, where she was the main morning news anchor for KAPP/KVEW-TV.

Jade is a wife and mom and, when not reading the news, she loves to sing, emcee events, wakeboard and watch football with her family. Married to a proud former Utah Ute football player, you can find them both at the stadium during the season.

Jade loves getting up dark and early to bring you the latest news from overnight and throughout the morning. You can catch her during the week on 2News in the morning.

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It’s exiting for parents to watch their baby grow and learn. During the first year, new parents will see a lot of changes in their baby from learning to smile to crawling.

Holly Menino sits down with Jackie Swan, the early Intervention Program Director at Summit County Health Department, on this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast.. Together, they discuss the developmental milestones a baby will experience during the first year.

Question: What does a baby do at 2 months?

Answer: Begins to smile, learns to self-calm, coos, turns toward sounds, pays attention to faces, begins to follow things with his eyes, can hold head up and begins pushing up on tummy, makes coordinated movements with arms and legs.

Question: As the baby starts to grow, what can you expect at 4 months?

Answer: Smiling spontaneously, likes to play with people, copies some movements and facial expressions like smiling/frowning, begins to babble, babbles with expression and copies sounds he hears, cries in different ways to show hunger, pain or being tired, lets you know if happy or sad, responds to affection, reaches for a toy with one hand, uses eyes and hands together, follows moving things from side to side, watches faces closely, recognizes familiar people, holds head steady, pushes down on legs when feet are on a surface, may be able to roll over from tummy to back, can hold a toy and shake it, bring hands to mouth, on tummy pushes up onto elbows.

Question: Of course, the major milestone for 6 months is sitting independently. What other skills happen at 6 months?

Answer: Knows familiar faces, likes to play with others especially parents, responds to other people’s emotions, likes to look at self in mirror, responds to sounds by making sounds, babbling with vowel sounds and takes turns with parent while making sounds, responds to own name, makes sounds to show joy and displeasure, begins to say consonant sounds, looks around at things nearby, brings things to mouth, shows curiosity about things, transfer toys hand to hand, rolls over in both directions, sits with no support, in standing supports weight on legs.

 Question: What are the milestones at 9 months?

Answer: May be afraid of strangers, clingy to familiar adults, has favorite toys, understands the meaning of “no”, makes a lot of different sounds mamamamama and babababa, copies sounds and gestures of others, uses index finger for pointing, understands when you hide an object, plays peek a boo, puts things in mouth, moves things smoothly from hand to hand, pincer grasp, gives toys to you on request, stands holding onto surface, gets into sitting position, crawls, sits and reaches for toys, pulls to stand.

To see the toys Jackie and Holly are talking about during the podcast, click here.

To learn more about toys that help babies learn and develop, click here. 

 The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News. 

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Alcohol use is a common question for newly pregnant women or breastfeeding moms. Even though most people know to avoid alcohol in pregnancy, many people don’t know the details about alcohol use in pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Holly Menino sits down with Al Romeo, RN, PhD;  a registered nurse w with the Utah Department of Health’s MotherToBaby/Pregnancy Risk Line program. Together they discuss the risks of alcohol use and drinking while breastfeeding. 

 Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) are caused by alcohol use during pregnancy and are 100% preventable. Estimates are that FASD affects up to 5 in 100 newborns. In Utah, 3% of women report drinking alcohol in last 3 months of pregnancy, affecting approximately 1,500 births each year.

There is no known safe level of alcohol use. Daily alcohol use and binge drinking increase the risk of FASD. Some of the risks of alcohol use include miscarriage, birth defects (facial features such as a smooth philtrum (space between upper lip and nose) and thin upper lip; heart defects; skeletal defects (growth deficiencies)), developmental delays (attention deficits; learning disabilities; poor judgment (difficulty understanding right and wrong)). 

FASD is difficult to diagnose, especially when the person does not have symptoms and the mother’s alcohol use in pregnancy is unknown. There is no cure and life-long treatment, interventions, and supports are needed to address related symptoms such as inappropriate behaviors. 

Moms sometimes have questions about drinking alcohol while breastfeeding. For every serving of alcohol (12 ounces of beer, 4 ounce of wine, 1.5 ounces of hard liquor), women should wait 2 to 2.5 hours before breastfeeding. So, for 1 serving, the usual 3 hours between breastfeeding should be fine. For 2 servings, mom should wait 5 hours before breastfeeding again. If moms have concerns or questions about a particular situation, she can contact MotherToBaby Utah. They will provide her with more information. Their phone number is 801-328-2229 and website is MotherToBaby.utah.gov.

For more information on FASDs, click here.

The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News.

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Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal disorder. About 1 in 800 babies are born with it.

Holly Menino sits down with Dr. Jennifer Goldman-Luthy, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah and works in the University Pediatric Clinic and the University Hospital Nursery, on this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast. Together, they discuss Down syndrome, how it is diagnosed and how it impacts a newborn baby.

  What are the symptoms of Down syndrome?

•  Facial features can include epicanthal folds (the way the eyelids cover the inner corner of the eye) and upslanting eyes, sometimes with white spots in the colored part of the eye (Brushfield spots); low set, small ears; flatter nose and flatter face; small mouth or tongue that sticks out.
• The body can have: short neck with extra skin at the back of the neck, a single palmar crease, wide hands with shorter fingers, short stature, a deep groove between the first and second toes.
• Mild to severe intellectual disability (most are mild to moderate).
• Low muscle tone which can make it harder to roll over, sit up, and walk as early as other kids, and can make it hard to swallow safely.
• Increased risk for: congenital heart defects, problems with development of the intestines or not swallowing safely, reflux, constipation, respiratory/breathing problems including sleep apnea, impaired hearing, vision problems like cataracts, celiac disease, Alzheimer’s disease, childhood leukemia or other blood disorders, thyroid conditions, problems with the stability of the upper spine, shorter attention span and impulsivity, delayed speech, repetitive mannerisms (tics), autism, and behavioral problems.

 How is it diagnosed?

During pregnancy:

• Routine pregnancy screening could detect about 90% of babies with Down syndrome.
• Not all choose to get the screening done. To learn about screenings and genetic testing listing to this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast.
• So only about 50% of babies with Down syndrome are detected before delivery.

How can I learn more about Down syndrome?

• Medical Home Portal website
• National Down Syndrome Congress website
• National Down Syndrome Society website

  To learn about Baby Gwen and her parents’ journey after learning Gwen had down syndrome, click here.
  The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News.