New Program to Lower C-Section Risk? Researchers out of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine conducted a study that found that women whose pregnancies were monitored through an alternative program called the Active Management of Risk in Pregnancy at Term (AMOR-IPAT) were less likely to deliver via C-section than women under traditional care (5.3% vs. 11.8%). Under AMOR-IPAT, pregnancy dating and risk assessment are used to determine an optimal delivery date; if the woman goes past that date, induction is offered. The researchers believe their method results in fewer C-sections because babies are delivered before the baby is too large for the mother’s pelvis, and before the placenta is too old to support the baby through labor.

Accutane and Pregnancy: Roughly the same number of women are becoming pregnant while on Accutane (isotretinoin) since the iPledge program became mandatory. Accutane can cause serious brain and heart damage in a developing fetus; for this reason, men and women who want a prescription for the acne medication have to enroll in a program that keeps a database of users, and women need to prove that they are on birth control and need to take a pregnancy test before each refill. (Accutane can also damage a fetus within 30 days after a woman stops taking the drug.) Most of the pregnancies were reportedly the result of a failure to stick with a birth control plan. Today the FDA is to gather its advisers to review the safety restrictions on Accutane and its generic versions.

DYK… it’s World Breastfeeding Week?