What If an App Could Replace Doctor Visit During Pregnancy?

by Shahrzad WarkentinMay 10, 2019

During those nine months of pregnancy, expectant moms can expectant to spend a lot of time at their doctor’s office being weighed, measured and checked. A new study examines a prenatal care app that could replace some of those in-person visits and it’s working.

A study conducted by researchers at George Washington University and published in the journal JMIR mHealth and uHealth has found that Babyscripts, a virtual care app for managing obstetrics was successful in reducing the amount of in-person prenatal care visits needed during pregnancy while maintaining patient satisfaction.

photo: Jacob Sippel via U.S. Navy

The study included pregnant women between the ages of 18 and 40 who were diagnosed with a low-risk pregnancy, meaning that they had no patient history of hypertension, diabetes, renal disease or other condition that could negatively affect the outcome of the pregnancy. According to the results of the study Babyscripts users visited their obstetrician an average of 7.8 times while those who did not use the app visited theirs an average of 10.2 times.

“The positive results of this study are a huge validation of our belief in the power of technology to support mothers and providers without compromising quality,” Anish Sebastian, CEO and co-founder of Babyscripts, said in a press release. “This research shows that mobile health has the potential to deliver precision care to mothers while allowing providers to allocate time to the most vulnerable of their patients, and ultimately save lives.”

—Shahrzad Warkentin

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Your Birth Control Might Not Work because of Your Genes, Study Finds

by Erica LoopMarch 20, 2019

As much as we might try to plan our families, as Bob Ross would say, sometimes a “happy little accident” can happen. If a happy accident has happened to you or someone you know, human error isn’t necessarily at fault. New research published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology may have found a reason for why birth control fails for some women.

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus studied 350 women who had had a contraceptive implant in place for 12 to 36 months. Five percent of the participants had a gene called CYP3A7*1C—and it’s that gene that put women at greater risk for hormonal birth control failure, according to the researchers.

photo: ecooper99 via Flickr

So what does a gene have to do with unintended pregnancy? The CYP3A7*1C is typically only active in fetuses. After birth the gene switches off—or at least it should. If the gene, which manufacturers the CYP3A7 enzyme, continues to work after birth, it can contribute to the breakdown of the hormones used in some birth control methods.

So what does this mean for you? In theory, if you have the gene in question, your hormonal birth control could fail. But unless you have a full genetic workup, it’s not likely you’ll ever know you have an active CYP3A7*1C. The research is a starting step towards a better understanding of the influence our genes have on what we put into our bodies.

According to the study’s lead author, Aaron Lazorwitz, MD, assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, “When a woman says she got pregnant while on birth control the assumption was always that it was somehow her fault. But these findings show that we should listen to our patients and consider if there is something in their genes that caused this.”

—Erica Loop

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Here’s Why Doctors Want Women to Wait a Year Between Pregnancies

by Shahrzad WarkentinJanuary 18, 2019

All parents-to-be have two big wishes: a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. Now experts are saying there is one thing you can do to help lower health risks for both babies and moms. According to a new study, women should wait a year between pregnancies.

New research published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that pregnancies with shorter intervals less than 18 months apart were at increased risk for adverse fetal and infant outcomes, as well as higher risk of maternal mortality and severe morbidity. The study included 123,122 women of various ages and 148,544 pregnancies.

photo: KathrinPie via Pixabay

For women 35 and older, the risk of maternal mortality was 0.62 percent when there were only six months between pregnancies (between the birth of one and the conception of another), versus only 0.26 percent with an 18 month interval. For younger moms (those 20 to 34) the increase in maternal mortality was not as significant, however those moms had a higher risk of spontaneous preterm delivery, 5.3 percent at a six month interval versus 3.2 percent at 18 months, and adverse fetal and infant outcomes, 2.0 percent at six months, compared with 1.4 percent at 18 months.

“My main takeaway is that this association between short interpregnancy interval and poor pregnancy outcome is well-known, but this shows that it’s for all maternal ages. It doesn’t matter if you’re 20 or you’re 40,” said Dr. Laura Riley, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian, who was not involved in the study.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

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What If an App Could Replace Doctor Visit During Pregnancy?

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