Parenting Advisor

By Julia Rosen - The New York Times When I told my doctor that I was thinking of getting pregnant a few years ago, she advised me to start taking a prenatal vitamin right away. So I stopped by the grocery store on my way home and made for the supplement aisle. As I studied the array of options before me, I quickly grew overwhelmed. I noticed that different brands contained slightly different concoctions of ingredients, with wildly different amounts in each. Each multivitamin extolled its benefits, but also bore the familiar disclaimer that its claims had “not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration,” which I found unsettling. Who, I wondered, was looking out for pregnant people? The answer turns out to be complicated. Like other dietary supplements in the United States, over-the-counter prenatal vitamins are not regulated like drugs and do not require F.D.A. approval before hitting shelves. As a result, their content and quality can vary, and what’s on the label doesn’t alwa...

To select a doctor, many of us rely on a single recommendation or even a random search on Google. Your gynaecologist or women’s health specialist assists you with your pregnancy, screens you for diseases, helps you plan a family and more. And when you are pregnant, this person (other than yourself) will understand your situation and is the one to ensure two people (you and your baby) are at the best possible health. O&G stands for Obstetrics and Gynaecology. What's the difference between obstetricians and gynaecologists? Most gynaes are qualified with a post-graduate qualification in O&G i.e. MRCOG or Master of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Therefore, they are trained both in obstetrics as well as gynaecology. An obstetrician specialises in pregnancy related aspects of women's health whereas a gynae specialised in the 'non-pregnancy' related aspects. Next, you may also need to understand that there are 4 primary subspecialties in ob/gyn: 1) maternal fetal m...