Latest discovery for all the pregnant women out there…it is absolutely fine to enjoy and chill out with a glass of wine once in a while and eat sushi according to an award winning economist Emily Oster.
Economist and author Emily Oster, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago and contradicts the conventional wisdom to all the pregnant women and advocates a much more relaxed approach to pregnancy through her book.
“Expecting Better”, a book written by her dispels all the possible pregnancy myths one has and gives an easier and a simpler way for all the expecting mothers to enjoy their pregnancy. According to her, this book was simply a medium for the mums-to-be to decide for themselves what they really want to do based on the several evidences.
She said, “The book was simply to show women the evidence and let them decide for themselves, actually getting the numbers led me to a more relaxed place: a glass of wine every now and then, plenty of coffee, exercise when I wanted it”.
Drinking coffee and wine has been said to be absolutely OK and while gaining little weight during pregnancy is a matter of concern much more than gaining too much.
She has also discussed about the effects of the comsumption of tobacco and wine and how having them in limited amounts will not hamper the IQ or the behaviour of the child and how gardening can surprisingly be dangerous for the newly born.
Emily Oster, the Harvard-educated associate professor of economics
has written the book using the data gathered from various sources and rewritten the rules for the carrying out motherhood and pregnancy in a more relaxed manner.
Study details by Emily Oster
1.Coffee:
It all began 3 years ago when she got pregnant and was advised to give up her 4 cups of coffee, completely unwilling to do that, she researched and found out that the link between excessive coffee consumption and higher rates of miscarriage was not correct.
‘I ultimately decided that the weight of evidence didn’t support limiting my consumption very much. I decided to continue’, she said.
2.Alcohol consumption:
She then researched the study by Journal Pediatrics about the popular belief of drinking alcohol linked with the behavioural changes to unborn children. When she researched further and with the help of the numbers for percentage of women who did not drink against the women who not only drank but also consumed cocaine was 18% is to 45%.
She concluded that consumption of one to two drinks a week for the first trimester and one or two drinks a day after that is permissible and should be the mothers to be should be comfortable doing that.
3.Gardening-a surprising danger to pregnancy:
Gardening was found to pose a massive threat to pregnant women because of the exposure to the toxoplasmosis parasite living in the soil.
Toxoplasmosis can be transferred to the baby while pregnant and is generally caused by a parasite which is acquired from contact with cats and their faeces.
“There is some risk to increase birth defects if you do a lot of outdoor gardening when you are pregnant. That can increase rates of toxoplasmosis”,said Emily Oster.
Other surprising findings:
Finally after researching through hundreds of medical studies, Oster concluded with the following findings which are definitely surprising. They are:
• Dyeing hair is fine and cleaning cat’s litter box should not be a matter of worry.
• Exercising through pregnancy is not unsafe and has several benefits.
• Sushi was good and sardines and herring good for the child’s IQ but raw milk cheese not good for the baby.
• Occasional glass of wine is good. One every day during the second and third trimesters.
• Bed rest in preventing or treating any complications of pregnancy has no valid evidence.
• Stating hydrated during the entire pregnancy will avoid unnecessary labour inductions which should be avoided.
•Epidurals do carry some risks to the mothers, but are great to relieve pain and is also fine for the baby.
• According to her findings use of ice chips to ease labour contractions is an age old practice and the best way to beat it to sip some Gatorade.
• Gardening during pregnancy may be risky because of the exposure to the toxoplasmosis parasite living in the soil.
• Sauna baths, hot tubs, hot yoga should be at least avoided during the first trimester.
• Gaining too little weight during pregnancy should be dealt with utmost attention than gaining too much weight.
• Exercising during pregnancy is fine but avoid hard core cardio work put or strenuous workouts, however studies do not show much evidence about the benefits.
• Women after 35 years also get pregnant against the common belief about the sudden drop in fertility.
• Miscarriage risks from tests like the CVS and Amniocentesis are far lower than cited by most doctors.
• Nausea during pregnancy is a good sign of a healthy pregnancy. Miscarriage is uncommon among women who are sick during pregnancy.
