Helen Dunnett, Author at Pregnancy & Medicine Initiative ~ Page 2 of 3

Fighting for two: cancer and pregnancy [Documentary]

Twelve years ago, when Caroline Swain’s son Max was still a baby, she noticed a lump on her breast and the worst was confirmed – she had breast cancer. This in itself was already a big change in her life. But then she found out that she was 5 weeks pregnant. It took a forward-looking medical team, a supportive family,…

Putting pregnant women at the heart of its advice

It’s no secret that women and men are different, which is why medical advice must always take these differences into account. So when the American Heart Association published its latest set of guidelines in late 2013, it prepared a separate set of guidelines for women. And these cover every stage of their lives, including pregnancy. In pregnancy, the American Heart…

When cancer comes young, can pregnancy come later?

These days many women don’t have to deal with the question of whether they’ll be able to have children until later in life – perhaps when they’re in a stable relationship, they’ve settled in a home, or they’ve reached a point in their career where pregnancy seems right for them. But for others, like those who’ve suffered from cancer at…

If doctors share data, we’ll all benefit

Stefan Larsson, a doctor and BCG Fellow, makes the case for increased collaboration between doctors for improved quality of healthcare. His research has shown that when doctors agree on standards of healthcare, and measure their services against them, the overall standard of care rises. In 2013, he led research into measuring these standards across several countries and in four diseases.…

International Meeting on Cancer & Pregnancy: closing the information gap

What advice should be given to a pregnant woman with cancer? As we try to close the information gap around this subject and call for a centralization of expertise on this subject, events like the International Meeting on Cancer and Pregnancy, which was held at the end of November 2013, are essential. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQHLjqqvaU4 It is possible to treat cancer during…

Treating epilepsy in pregnancy

Epilepsy and pregnancy. Not an impossible combination, but certainly a difficult one. It’s also rare – according to research from 1999 only 0.5% of all pregnancies occur in epileptic women – but it is this very scarcity of cases that causes epilepsy in pregnant women to be under-researched. As it stands, the advice for mothers-to-be suffering from epilepsy is mixed.…

The Internet: a help or hindrance to high-risk pregnancies?

A normal pregnancy throws up endless questions. About what’s safe, about what’s advisable to eat or drink, what activities you can do, and what (if any) medicines you can take – and many other things too. So where do women turn? Less than a generation ago, pregnant women, and would-be pregnant women, typically turned to their mothers, close female relatives…