Pregnancy

While most people recognize that folic acid is important when you’re pregnant, this B vitamin is actually essential for all of us. While it is particularly critical when you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, folic acid supports growth and development in the body – supporting your overall health.

Suffering through one miscarriage can be devastating. Multiple or recurrent miscarriages, defined as the loss of two or three consecutive pregnancies, can challenge even the strongest and most optimistic women and couples. While the causes of miscarriage are not always clear, challenges such as uterine issues, hormonal imbalances, cervical weakness, and blood-clotting issues or infections can often be addressed. The heartening news is that most women who have a miscarriage will go on to have a healthy pregnancy.

f you’ve struggled with infertility, you know it is not especially fun or funny. However, when one Clinic Sofia patient found herself laughing about certain aspects of her own experience, she sought to create a community to share some of the more humorous aspects to what she and others endure on their path to parenthood. Lisa Tuttle recently founded a nonprofit and website called Farcical Fertility—a place where couples can come to “laugh instead of cry” and share their own experiences or read others’ stories. The site also accepts donations, which will be used to provide fertility grants that will be given to help relieve the financial burden of infertility treatments for couples in need.

The 33rd Annual Midwest Infertility and Adoption Family Building Summit, a daylong event with speakers, information and resources to help those struggling to get pregnant, took place Nov. 17. Clinic Sofia’s Dr. David Clay had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion, “Infertility 101,” as well as a couple of TV interviews leading up to the event.

Breastfeeding can be a challenge for many new moms. Consulting a lactation consultant and pumping more can be helpful in your breastfeeding journey.

There are also women who get pregnant relatively easily the first time around, but face secondary infertility, or failure to conceive after 12 months of unprotected sex. Sometimes age plays a big role; women who conceive easily in their early 30s have a different set of eggs later in that decade. Also, hidden scars caused by childbirth, male factors (low sperm count or motility), hormonal changes or shifts in weight can all play a factor in your ability to get pregnant.