PeterChew

She sighed a big sigh of relief when her COVID-19 tests were negative. M, 29, pregnant with a pair of twins was at 30 weeks of gestation. She had been having fever and cough for 2 days before she was admitted to the ward for observation.  For expectant mothers, the deadly virus has caused much stress and anxiety. It also raised many unanswered questions.  Effects on the mother:  Current data indicates that pregnant mums do not have a greater chance of getting sick from COVID-19 than the general public. There is also no evidence to suggest that infected expecting mums have more serious complications than non-pregnant women. In an analysis of 147 women, only 8 percent had severe disease and 1 percent were in critical condition, according to a report published on February 28 by the World Health Organization.  At present, there is no data to show an increased risk of miscarriage. Though there have been some babies born prematurely, it is...

http://www.alife.org.sg She looked worried and upset when she stepped into my consultation room. “Doc, my menses has a fishy smell for the past 2 months.” She said. “Am I having a growth in my vagina?” T, a 32-year-old housewife had been married for 5 years. Her husband worked in a neighboring country and returned home for a week every 2 to 3 months. She last had sexual intercourse with him 2 months ago.  On further questioning, T also noticed yellowish, sometimes greenish vaginal discharge on and off for the past 6 months. The discharge was accompanied by occasional itchiness and burning sensation around her vulva. On examination, her vulva was inflamed and red. The vaginal discharge was creamy yellow and foul-smelling. The cervix was angry looking with red hemorrhagic spots. A microscopic examination of the vaginal discharge demonstrated the presence of the parasite, trichomonas vaginalis as shown in Figure 1 below. Figure 1 T was suffering from trichomoniasis, a ...

She sighed a big sigh of relief when her  COVID-19  tests were negative. M, 29, pregnant with a pair of twins was at 30 weeks of gestation. She had been having fever and cough for 2 days before she was admitted to the ward for observation. For expectant mothers, the deadly virus has caused much stress and anxiety. It also raised many unanswered questions. Effects on the mother: Current data indicates that pregnant mums do not have a greater chance of getting sick from COVID-19 than the general public. There is also no evidence to suggest that infected expecting mums have more serious complications than non-pregnant women. In an analysis of 147 women, only 8 percent had severe disease and 1 percent were in critical condition, according to a report published on February 28 by the World Health Organization. At present, there is no data to show an increased risk of miscarriage. Though there have been some babies born prematurely, it is unclear whether it is due to ...

Never did she expect that starting a family was such a challenge. She had had 3 miscarriages for the past 4 years. Y, aged 35, came from a neighboring country. For her first pregnancy, she conceived within 6 months of her marriage. She thought that everything would be smooth-sailing. Unfortunately, she had a miscarriage at about 10 weeks of gestation. She felt upset and grieved over her loss for a while. It took her another year to conceive the second time. The pregnancy progressed smoothly until the fetal heart stopped beating at 12 weeks of gestation. She was devastated and suffered a short spell of depression. She had some blood tests done by her local  Singapore gynaecolygy clinic , who told her that all the results were normal and the miscarriage was due to “bad luck”. She moved with her husband to another town due to his work commitments. She was pregnant soon after. Again, mishap happened at around 16 weeks of gestation. This time, she was told that the miscarr...

M was upset and looked at me in disbelief when I told her the not-so-sweet news. She had failed her glucose tolerance test (GTT) and had been suffering from gestational diabetes.  M, aged 34, and a first-time mum was at 24 weeks of gestation. "Doc, I have a sweet tooth." She confessed. "I would indulge in cakes and ice-cream after my morning sickness was over. Would the high blood sugar affect my baby?" She then revealed that her mum was also diagnosed to have diabetes recently.  Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is a condition in which a woman develops high blood sugar levels during pregnancy. It happens when the body does not produce enough insulin to effectively convert glucose to stored energy resulting in its build-up in the blood.  Gestational Diabetes Mellitus  It can affect any pregnant mother, but the following are the risk factors:  Obesity: BMI more than 25kg/m2  History of delivering a big ...

She was distraught when her blood tests confirmed that she had been infected with CMV- the cytomegalovirus. K, a 28-year-old kindergarten teacher and a first-time mum was at her 18 weeks of pregnancy. She had a mild fever and a bhygtsore throat about 2 weeks ago. There were some swollen lymph nodes on her neck.  " Doc, will CMV affect my baby?" She asked." I read in the internet that it can cause blindness, hearing loss, and mental retardation in my child." I told her that she had about a 40 % chance of transmitting CMV to the baby. Of the babies that become infected, only 10% will show signs of congenital CMV with multiple disabilities.  Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a very common virus that can infect almost everyone. The primary (first time) infection usually occurs in children and less often, in adults, as in K's case. It is estimated that between 60 to 90 percent of all adults would have had the infection. It belongs to the same family of virus...