Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:41 — 3.5MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

If you would like to prevent pregnancy, there are many different types of birth control options available to you. Depending on your health and needs, you can find a method that will work for you. There are three main types of reversible birth control. Talk to your health care provider to determine which method is best for you.

Jade Elliott sat down with Nickee Palacios, Health Promotion Coordinator, Maternal and Infant Health Program, to discuss the different options for contraception.

Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARCs)

• Intrauterine Device (IUD): a T-shaped piece of plastic that is put into the uterus and prevents sperm from fertilizing an egg. IUDs are over 99% effective and can last between 3 and 12 years, depending on which type you get. You can get either a hormonal IUD or a non-hormonal IUD, which is made of plastic and a small amount of natural, safe copper.
• The implant (Nexplanon) is a small rod that is inserted under the skin of your upper arm and releases hormones. It is over 99% effective and prevents pregnancy for up to 4 years.

Hormonal Methods

• Birth control pills, patch, ring, and shot
• All four of these methods work by releasing hormones that keep your ovaries from releasing eggs and makes it harder for sperm to reach an egg. These methods, with typical use, are 91% effective.

Barrier Methods

• Condoms and Diaphragm
• These two methods work by creating a barrier so sperm and and egg cannot meet. Neither of these methods contains hormones and are about 82% effective for the typical user.
• Condoms also prevent the spread of Sexually Transmitted Disease.

A new Utah law allows pharmacies to dispense 3 types of birth control; the pill, patch or ring, through a standing order signed by Dr. Miner, Executive Director of the Utah Department of Health. Women, eighteen years and older, can get their pills, patch, or contraceptive ring directly from the pharmacist any participating pharmacy, such as an Associated Food Store, a Costco, or a Smith’s.

Women can come directly to a participating pharmacy to ask about contraceptives or birth control. A pharmacist will do a health screening of her medical and health history. The health screening is nothing to worry about, It is just a list of questions to help the pharmacist understand her health history. She will be asked questions like “Do you have diabetes?” and “Do you smoke?”

To find a list of participating pharmacies, click here, or call 801-273-2871.

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:48 — 7.7MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Pre-term births  can happen to any expectant mother. Doctors says right now, they do not know all of the causes of pre-term birth, but there are some risk factors that can increase the chance of one.

Jade Elliott sat down with Sean Esplin, MD, Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist, Intermountain Healthcare, to discuss pre-term birth, the causes and how technology is helping doctors learn more about it.

Common causes or risk factors that increase the chance of pre-term birth:

• Infection is most common. There are different types of infections and it depends on how the body responds to that infection.
• Smoking or substance abuse during pregnancy
• Short time between pregnancies
• Expecting multiples, twins, triplets, etc. This is becoming more common. Identical twins who share a placenta are especially risky. 50 percent of twins come early.
• Abnormal vaginal bleeding
• Abnormal shape of the uterus or a cervix that is short or weak.
• Maternal and fetal stress

What kinds of symptoms of preterm labor should a woman call her doctor about?

• Call your obstetrician or other health care professional right away if you notice any of these signs or symptoms:
• Change in type of vaginal discharge (watery, mucus, or bloody)
• Increase in amount of discharge
• Pelvic or lower abdominal pressure
• Constant low, dull backache
• Mild abdominal cramps, with or without diarrhea
• Regular or frequent contractions or uterine tightening, often painless
• Ruptured membranes (your water breaks with a gush or a trickle of fluid)

For more information on symptoms and risk factors, click here.

Why is it so difficult to prevent pre-term birth?

Of every 100 women, 10 percent will deliver pre-term. Doctors don’t  know which 10 percent. When they have a heads up it’s easier to prevent. There’s a 30-40 percent recurrence rate if a woman has previously had a pre-term birth. In most cases doctors have no prior knowledge that a woman will have pre-term labor or deliver prematurely. Sometimes they can do surgery to stitch the cervix together if it’s opened prematurely. At 20 weeks gestation, it’s standard practice to look at the cervix in an ultrasound. Sometimes doctors insert a pessary device that helps holds the cervix closed. Sometimes doctors do everything we can, but we can’t stop the labor.

This is the Instagram account mentioned on this episode, @imamom2be.

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:48 — 5.4MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Cooler weather is coming and kids will be playing indoors more often. Whether you have young children who visit or you’re bringing home a new baby, fall is a good time to reduce the risk of injury inside your house. It’s also good to make sure your safety efforts and devices are up to standard and in good working condition.

Jade Elliott sits down with Jessica Strong, Community Outreach Manager, Primary Children’s Hospital, on this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast. Together, they discuss how to make your home safe for kids.

Falls are a leading cause of injury at home.

• Don’t leave babies alone on beds, changing tables, or sofas.
• Secure furniture to the wall using mounts, brackets, anchors, or wall straps to prevent tip-overs.
• Keep a locked gate at the top and bottom of stairs. Replace older safety gates that are large enough to entrap a child’s head and neck.
• Always strap children into highchairs, swings, bouncers, and strollers.
• Keep windows closed and locked

Cribs

• Use an infant sleep sack instead of loose blankets to keep baby warm.
• Remove pillows and all other loose items (blankets, toys) from an infant’s sleep area to reduce the risk of suffocation.
• No older cribs w/drop sides

Heating elements

• Cover all radiators and baseboard heaters with childproof screens.
• Keep electrical space heaters at least 3 feet from beds, curtains, or anything flammable.
• Unplug and store all hot appliances, such as curling irons, out of reach.
• When cooking, turn pan handles toward the back of the stove.

Poisoning

• Store medicines and products in their original containers.
• Lock medicines and household products where children cannot see them or reach them.
• Call medicine by its proper name, not “candy”.
• Use a carbon monoxide alarm to help prevent poisoning.
• Keep the Poison Control Center’s number handy, such as a fridge magnet or programmed into your phone, 1-800-222-1222.

Other safety measures

• Learn CPR and first aid.
• Use Anti-Scald Devices for faucets and shower heads and set your water heater temperature to 120 degrees Fahrenheit to help prevent burns.
• Use corner bumpers on furniture and fireplaces to help prevent injuries from falls against sharp edges.
• Cordless window coverings are recommended to help prevent strangulation.  If your blinds were installed in 2000 or earlier and you cannot afford cordless window coverings, visit the Window Covering Safety Council.

To see Jade and Jessica walk through a home and demonstrate what they are talking about on the podcast, click here.

For more information and keeping your child safe, 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.