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Prenatal Testing and Pregnancy

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This page was last updated on September 3, 2001.

Pre-Natal Testing and Pregnancy

Prenatal Testing

Preconception Products - Baby Center
misc.kids FAQ on Prenatal Testing: Overview and Personal Stories
misc.kids FAQ on Pregnancy and Pre-pregnancy Tests
misc.kids FAQ on AFP and Triple Screen
misc.kids FAQ on Ultrasound
misc.kids FAQ on Amniocentesis
Folic Acid for Healthy Babies: A Primer (National Center for Environmental Health, CDC)
CDC page on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
MMWR Recommendations and Reports: Chorionic Villus Sampling and Amniocentesis: Recommendations for Prenatal Counseling
Obstetric Ultrasound page maintained by Joseph Woo, M.D.
The Fetus
is a collection of more than 150 articles on fetal development, along with a discussion forum, links to other ultrasound related sites, and "the case of the week," which allows doctors to test their skills at diagnosing difficult or unusual cases. There is also a section for parents' stories about personal experiences.

Where to turn if you get bad news from prenatal tests

Many links useful for parents who have received a prenatal diagnosis of a disability can be found on the Disability page of this site. Also potentially useful are the sites on the page for Grief and Coping with Neonatal Loss and Infertility.

Abiding Hearts is an organization for women who are continuing a pregnancy after a diagnosis of a fatal or short-life-expectancy birth defect. Their goal is to support parents as they make decisions regarding the birth of their child, funeral or memorial preperations, or how to spend whatever time they will have with their child. They also try to work with hospitals and patient-right advocates to make sure the families are treated with respect and dignity, as well as to educated care-givers as to the special needs of these families.

The mailing address for Abiding Hearts is P.O. box 5245 Bozeman, Montana 59717 (406)587-7421 or (205)595-1503.

Parents who have interrupted a pregnancy after prenatal diagnosis can visit A Heartbreaking Choice, a new web site with articles and resources for parents who have been in this unfortunate situation.


Resources on Premature Birth


Some very general information about premature birth can be found at Boston University's MedValet site.
Here is some very comprehensive information on premature birth from the University of Wisconsin.
Preemie-L is a support group for parents of premature babies. There site includes a mailing list, a message board on feeding problems, advice for friends and family of anyone who has had a premature baby, and other resources on premature infants
Pump List: Useful Links includes some links on pumping for a hospitalized baby and breastmilk for preemies.
Comeunity, a site for adoptive parents and children with special needs, has a page on the special needs of children born prematurely.
Information and Resources for Parents from Emory University has information on the development of premature babies.
Neonatology on the Web provides resources more geared to medical professionals.
Some articles on outcomes for extremely premature infants are "Outcomes of Extremely Immature Infants -- A Perinatal Dilemma" in The New England Journal of Medicine, November 25, 1993, Vol. 329, No. 22, "What Is the Outlook for Very Premature Babies?", in BMJ 1997;314:107-111, and "Long-Term Developmental Outcomes of Low Birth Weight Infants" in The Future of Children Vol. 5 No. 1 Spring 1995.

General Pregnancy Resources

Maternity - Baby Center

Birth Planning FAQ
General Pregnancy FAQ (part 1 of 2)
General Pregnancy FAQ (part 2 of 2)
Group B Strep FAQ
Bradley Method FAQ
Pregnancy Nutrition FAQ
Morning Sickness FAQ
Preeclampsia affects 5-10% of all pregnancies, and is one of the major causes of fetal and maternal deaths.
Reviewed Web Sites for Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (TOXEMIA) has links to Web sites with more information about this condition.
AAP: Women of Childbearing Age Still Not Consuming Enough Folic Acid

Robin Elise Seibert's Pregnancy, Reproduction, and Health Education page has many other FAQS and links to other sites with information about pregnancy. This is one of the most comprehensive childbirth and pregnancy sites on the net.

Ask NOAH About Pregnancy: NOAH is a web site with information on a variety of health topics. The pregnancy section has pages covering preconception through childbirth, including a lot of information from the March of Dimes.

DONA's Homepage has information about doulas (labor support people).