Maternity Insurance|Maternity Care|Postpartum Care

In medical science Goitre is known as a swelling of the thyroid gland. The formation of goitre is due to lack of iodine in the body which is consumed through the intake of food and drinks. People staying in the seaside hardly suffer from goitre as all the sea foods are rich in iodine where as people who are in the habit of consuming denatured food usually develop goiters. It has also been examined that women are more prone to the swelling of the thyroid gland than men. Goitre is characterized by the development of large swollen glands, difficulty in breathing, inability to swallow liquids and solid foods efficiently including painful throats. The following are some therapeutic tips for natural treatments for goitre that may help you to get rid of the disorder effectively.

If the Goitre is left untreated for a long period of time, the patient may suffer from ailments like strep throat, tonsillitis, larynghitis, infected vocal chords and various respiratory diseases.

Ways of Natural Treatments for Goitre

o To treat goitre naturally you are recommended to follow a perfect diet schedule that would help to heal the swelling to great extent. In the breakfast you may start with a glass of milk, a handful of unbaked nuts and fresh fruits. A little later you may have a vegetable fruit juice with a teaspoon of yeast added to it. For lunch you are advised to have steamed vegetable, whole meal bread and buttermilk. After sometime you may take in a glass of fruit juice or milk. During dinner you may have salad of raw vegetables, vegetable soup, sprouts, nuts and home made cheese. Just before going to bed you may take up a glass of fruit juice or a vegetable juice.

Taking in or iodine is one of the effective ways to get rid of the disorder. But you are required to have iodine in its organic form like lettuce, turnips, carrots, garlic, onions and such.
o Usage of watercress for healing Goitre is quite effective. The vegetable is a good source of the element iodine. On application of the paste of the vegetable on the affected area would help the gland to function properly and to reduce the swelling significantly.
o The cabbage leaves are also known for their therapeutic properties. The intake of tea with the juice of the crushed cabbage leaves along with almonds.
o Kachnar can also be used for treating goitre. A decoction of the bark should be taken twice a day in empty stomach.
o The dandelion leaves when crushed and added with clarified butter for topical application gives relieve to the swelling to a great extent.
o Goitre can also be healed if seeds of flex are crushed in water, heated and applied over the affected region.

Regular exercise is also one of the effective means of natural treatment for goitre. General warm ups or aerobic activities would help the muscles of the thyroid glands to stretch out freely.

You've just found out you're pregnant and everything seems perfect. You feel as though nothing can interfere with how happy you feel. Then you're hit with an unexpected turn. Your spouse decides to leave you and you find yourself pregnant and alone.

An unsupported pregnancy is the hardest thing to go through. This may have been unexpected or something that you seen coming, regardless this type of situation is not the least bit easy. The following tips will help you to stay positive and gain confidence that you are not alone.

Be Worry Free

As we all know, the hardest thing in the world is to not worry. With a pregnancy alone we have so many decisions to make and things to worry about. But if you ever went one day knowing that everything will fall into place you would see how smoother your day would go. Yes, it's easier said than done. However, try taking it one day at a time. Theirs no reason to worry now about what could happen in five years. Stay positive because you never know what tomorrow holds.

Redirect Your Focus

Wow, you're having a baby! Feel blessed to be able to have this experience. Redirect your focus on your baby. Read lots of books to educate yourself about how your baby is growing and to keep yourself occupied. Join a parenting class or take pregnancy yoga to surround yourself with pregnant women. Also, do things to boost your confidence. Get a pedicure, massage or go shopping. Every girl loves to go shopping. It will help you to feel new and improved with those new curves you'll be getting. Try starting off with a new pair of maternity jeans that will compliment your curves.

You Are Not Alone

Know that you are not alone. For starters there are many other women out there that are going through or have been through the same thing. Chatting with other women with a similar situation will help you feel better venting to someone who knows how you feel. Join groups online to share ideas on what you do to help deal with your situation. You will feel good about helping others to deal with theirs.

Most importantly, you have a miracle growing inside you. Your baby is with you every moment of the day. And even at times when you want to be left alone, you won't be because the one inside you is counting on you to give he/she all the nutrients and love needed to grow.

There are several positive aspects to making use of the Paternity Test as well as, denying paternity, deciding on paternity, troubled about inconclusive results from a previous DNA laboratory, needing a new independent legal test, or you suspect that the results report is false.

Inheritance Rights of Heirs

Often, children whose paternity has been officially confirmed tend to have heirship or gift of money rights if their dad passes away. An excellent reason to get testing completed shortly after birth. Each legitimated boy or girl may inherit from their own father and a legitimated biological dad can certainly inherit from their toddler after paternity test confirmation.

Fiscal Support / Supporting Your Children:

By and large, whenever your own youngster is born on the outside of marital relationship, then paternity ought to be confirmed prior to the daddy having a lawful obligation to economically support the baby. The legal job to help the toddler won't contain privileges to be an active biological dad with some form of custody access after legitimation.

Family unit Connections:

Babies in whose paternity can be identified will generally experience a strong on-going interconnection with his / her daddy and his extended family than are kids whose daddy won't acknowledge them. A DNA Paternity Test can help your child know their relatives.

Social Security Benefits:

Each time an employed daddy contributes to the Social Security platform he sets the stage for future benefits. In case he passes away or becomes handicapped or disabled, their officially acknowledged sons and daughters are entitled to receive monthly dollars till they reach the age of adulthood in the U.S.

Government Allotments:

Virtually any daddy in the armed services could gain an additional allotment so that he could furnish an adequate amount of cash for the family and his loved ones. His particular boy or girl can also be qualified for commissary usage and also armed forces wellness treatment and insurance coverage.

Legitimation / Visitation, Parenting Opportunity / Custodianship:

Generally, if your youngster exists outside marital relationship, then youngster need to be legitimated before the unwed father obtains authority to custody, visitation rights or parenting time. The unwed biological father doesn't have a say so during the nurturing or rearing of the kid without legitimating and little one's mother is the de facto custodial parent.

Health and fitness Insurance plan:

If a dad's company provides dependent insurance protection, the boy or girl will ideally qualify for protection in the coverage.

Genetic Information and facts:

Every youngster who actually knows who his / her birth mom and dad are, will be able to verify family medical background plus acquire information about any kind of genetically-linked bloodline conditions. Such details could also become helpful in pinpointing an important possible organ, tissue or bone marrow donor, in case a particular is ever needed.

Paternity Test Possibilities:

You can find a variety of choices for DNA testing results, apart from instances where twin individuals could be the potential supposed dads. Be sure that you let us know when supposed fathers are very closely linked. e.g. siblings, first cousins and other relationships at the time of small sample collection.

Before thinking of having a baby the parents must be mentally prepared. Because once they decide to have a baby every decision they take will also affect the baby. Giving birth to a child brings a major change in individual's life into a parent life. Women play a major role carrying the baby and protecting the baby carefully. It is the responsibility of the mother to protect the baby.

And even the health of the mother will affect the child. So the mother must take care of her properly while carrying the baby. The husband must take care of his wife and make her happy while carrying because even a small depression in the mother will affect the child inside. Becoming a mother is a sheer joy. Every woman's life is fulfilled only after giving birth to a child.

First of all a new mother must be advised by her friends and family members. A new mother requires a hundred percent support from her family members and husband. During the early stage, the baby must be taken care of properly. The mother must be in complete rest during the early stages of the baby's growth. As the child grows inside there will be some changes in body of the mother.

During pregnancy period the lady must have in mind that she is not one person but two. The mother must in take all nutritious food for those nine months for good health of the baby. Maintenance of good health, proper rest and exercises that are advised by the doctor must be carried out properly.

Proper food habits must be practiced during pregnancy like milk products, fruits, vegetables, grains, fish, and beans etc. which will add vitamins and minerals that are required for the development of the baby. Folic acid is a vitamin that is very much essential for the women during both before and after pregnancy. Foods that contain iron are more important for the growing baby. Vegetables like cauliflower, potatoes, and tomatoes contain iron content.

Both the men and women must practice a well balanced diet once they plan for baby. Both must take vitamins and minerals rich food like vegetables, fruits, and green leaves. Vitamin E and Vitamin C are very important. The men must be away from drugs, alcohols and cigarettes. Proper vaccination before pregnancy is very important. Both must be mentally prepared and should follow the advice of the doctor properly to give birth for a healthy child.

You are pregnant and you just want to know as much information about your baby as possible. But the government of Canada only allows one free ultrasound scan (and that's only if you have an OHIP card), unless there is dire need of another one. What do you do?

If you do have health insurance and a valid OHIP card, you have two options:

1. Either you have to pay (if you can even get an appointment) - this can be pretty expensive.

2. You can get free pregnancy ultrasound at an institution that teaches ultrasound. Read on for details.

If you are not a Canadian citizen and don't have health insurance, the government will not even honor one free pregnancy ultrasound scan. However, you still have the second option of getting the pregnancy ultrasound done by an institution that teaches ultrasound.

These institutions are normally looking for pregnancy patients for instructing students during classes. Therefore, if you volunteer to get your ultrasound scan done by these institutions in front of students, the institutions normally reward you with a detailed pregnancy report and assessment. The ultrasound scans are performed by the instructor but the students get to watch what is going on.

One such institution where you can get a free pregnancy ultrasound scan is Mainz Ultrasound Training (located in Mississauga, near Toronto). Simply contact them using the "Contact" link at the top and they will gladly make an appointment for you as soon as they can.

Other places you might want to consider are Mohawk College and Michener Institute. Both these institutions also teach ultrasound and might regularly be in need for pregnancy ultrasound patients.

Hope this has been helpful.

There are many reasons why people choose to employ a doula during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period- some lifestyle choice based, some based on a previous birth experience, some just because of the continuity that having a doula provides.

Here are my top reasons why pregnant women and their partners should consider a doula:

• Doulas are professionals that don't mind being yelled at. There can be something very comforting to a woman that they are able to express themselves without repercussions. This applies both antenatally and postnatally.


• Doulas are there to support both the mother and father; being able to give Dad the opportunity to pop out if he (and the labouring woman) so wish.


• Doulas are able to respond to situations sympathetically (and often empathetically too) without sharing too much of their own experiences.


• At the same time as the last point, Doulas aren't brought down and burdened by the 'stuff' that occurs as you work with them. They tend to reflect a lot on their practice to see where they can improve or do things differently, but then leave that behind as professionals.


• Doulas tend to be highly motivated individuals with a real passion for birth, mothers and babies- that is the sort of supporter you want on your side.


• At the same time, Doulas are not 'wannabe midwives' that just fancy having a go and dipping their toe in the water- many have undertaken strenuous training and are passionate about their particular role in supporting the mother rather than performing clinical tasks.


• Doulas are bound by the same rules as your care providers in terms of confidentiality.


• Doulas can be a rich source of information and resources- many operate their own lending library for clients, and others lend pieces of equipment such as birth pools.

Even if the above points don't sell the possibility of a doula to you than consider meeting one for a chat to see if you connect with them and they are able to offer a service that you may be interested in. Many Doulas are also able to offer complementary therapies such as antenatal massage or aromatherapy for before and during the birth, and many postnatal doulas offer services including baby massage classes or night nannying. Initial consultations are very often free of charge and you are under no obligation to take up their services, in fact even if you decide to use a Doula it is always best to chat to a few.

So, think about a Doula for your next birth- you may be surprised.

How to tell when you are pregnant
Pregnancy signs include: the lack or the delay of menstruation, enlarged or painful breasts, sudden unexplained fatigue and increased need of sleep, frequent urination, and nausea. If you think you might be pregnant, take a pregnancy test.

A urine pregnancy test can be made after 10 to 14 days after the disappearance of the menstruation. Most urine and blood tests can even be made earlier, even at the date the menstruation should appear. Also, a doctor can confirm the pregnancy if you go and pay him a visit. But still the simplest way is to buy a home designed pregnancy test so you can find out for you self whether you are pregnant or not in the privacy of your home.

A happy mommy - not just a dream!
The pregnancy period is a very special period in your life. If you find pout just what to expect while pregnant and when giving birth, you will feel more relaxed and accept the changes you are going through easily. When you are pregnant, treat yourself just as if you would be treating your child. Rest for as long as you want to, go to sleep whenever you feel tired (8 hours of sleep every night are an absolute must!). Try to avoid stress and save some time for yourself every day. You will also fell very good about yourself if you try and remain active through activities like swimming, dancing or simple walks.

When do you have to go to the doctor for prenatal care?
You can prevent any undesirable complications and you can make sure you will have a healthy baby through prenatal care (start it once you've found out you are pregnant). Pregnant women go to their doctor usually once a month during the first 7 month of pregnancy, and then twice a month, ending up to go even every week as the due date approaches. During these visits the doctor can easily follow your baby's growth, can identify any small problem that might appear and can advice you how to stay healthy. The first visit is usually the longest. The doctor will ask you a series of questions to calculate your due date and if there are any risks regarding the pregnancy. You can expect to be asked things like the date of your last period, if you were pregnant before, if you use drugs or alcohol, if you've even been exposed to sexually transmitted diseases.

Then, you will get a complete gynecological exam. During every visit, your medic will check the blood pressure, keep a track of your weight gain, and recommend a urine test for diabetes or infections, blood tests for anemia and kidney problems. The doctor will also follow the growth of the baby by ultrasounds or by measuring the uterus, examine your belly and listening to the baby's heartbeat.

What to eat during pregnancy?
A healthy diet is vital for a healthy pregnancy. It's the best thing you can do to assure the proper growth of your baby. It will also make you stronger and ready to give birth and to breastfeed your baby. Eat healthy, equilibrate and drink lots of water. Limit the consumption of sweets. Don't try to loose weight, it might be harmful. You should expect to gain anywhere from 14 to 30 pounds during pregnancy. Don't forget to take vitamins and iron to prevent anemia.

What to avoid during pregnancy?
Try to stay way from everything that could negatively affect your baby. So you must avoid things like smoking, alcohol and drugs. All these can trigger a premature birth or can create physical or mental problems to your child, even from the period he is still in your uterus.

How to tell something is wrong during pregnancy?
Most pregnancies start out without problems, buy those can appear unexpectedly. If you have any of these alarming signs, you should go to your doctor immediately: sudden weight gain, swallowing of you feel and hands, sever and repetitive headaches that last more than 2-3 hours and don't go away even with medication, fainting, blurry vision, seeing light spots, pain or burning sensations when urinating, exaggerated thirst and troubles urinating, strange and smelly vaginal secretions, bleeding.

Also you should consider seeing you doctor in any of the below listed situations too: if you feel like you baby hasn't moved for more than 8 hours or more (after the 6 month of pregnancy), when you contraction start early (uterine contraction at every 10 minutes or faster, abdominal cramps, pelvic pressure or a descending sensation, changing in you vaginal secretions or the sudden release of a water like liquid)

Do you have to breastfeed?
Breastfeeding is one of the best things you can do for your baby, as it is the most nutritive food he can get. The milk from his mother can protect him from diarrhea cause by medicine, aliment or contaminated water, will help him be immunized, protecting him from disease and infections and will also help building a close relation between you and your baby. If you are only feeding you child with your milk (not even water or tea), and if you feed him every 4 hours during the day and every 6 hours at night while your menstruation did not appeared yet, you are at shelter from a new pregnancy (only under all these conditions) until your baby will be six month old. You can start to breastfeed as soon as your child is born. In the first few days your breast will produce thicker liquid called colostrum. The colostrum gives your baby all the nutrients he needs. At the end of day two or three, regular breast milk will start producing normally.

How to take care of yourself after birth?
Most women can restart their regular activities as soon as a week after giving birth. It's highly recommended that you are as active as possible, excepting the case in witch you've suffered an operation. The movement can improve you blood circulation, help your breathing return to normal and help you regain muscular elasticity. Watch out for the signs of complications like infection and heavy bleeding. If there are any, call the doctor or go to the hospital immediately.

After giving birth, when to start using family planning methods?
It's important to let your body rest after pregnancy and birth. You need time and energy to take care of yourself and your baby. Normally you can regain your fertility and then get pregnant after as little as 6 weeks from birth, even before having your period. Breastfeeding will delay the fertile period. You will have to start thinking of protecting yourself from a new pregnancy even before birth. If you want to breast feed, you will have to choose a method that won't affect your milk like: condoms, the mono-hormone pill, injectable contraceptives etc.

If you are not breastfeeding you can start using oral contraceptives starting 3 to 6 weeks after giving birth. You shouldn't rely on the all know method of recognizing the fertile period. It's hard to tell when this period will come after birth, so don't used this method; it's doomed to fail in the first few months. And remember that if there are no medical problems after birth, you and your partner can start having sex as soon as you feel comfortable about it. After a normal birth, most women start having sex after 4 to 6 weeks, but some do it much earlier or even after 6 months, it all depends on their body and libido.

When a couple hears the devastating news that they are dealing with the inability to conceive unless there is medical intervention, one of the many thoughts they will have is how to pay for the treatment. Infertility treatment can be as minor as medicated cycles which assist the woman in developing and releasing an ovum, or as complicated as IVF with ICSI. Medicated cycles can be as inexpensive as a couple hundred dollars, plus doctor office visits, and lab work, to the truly expensive IVF cycles with ICSI costing between $12,000 and $17,000 plus medications, and lab work. For most Americans that is a lot of money to spend on a chance to get pregnant. However, if you find yourself faced with the expense of IVF, there are things you can do to afford this expensive medical procedure.

The very first thing you need to do is read your health insurance policy and find out what procedures and medications are covered and to what extent. Sometimes the difference between having a procedure or a test covered or denied is based solely on how it was coded by the doctor's office and nothing more. Talk to your doctor about how things are coded, as well as your insurance company. Some, but not all, insurance companies have patient advocates that you can talk to and find out what is and is not covered. A few phone calls can save you hundreds to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses if you know what to expect and what is covered before you have a procedure done.

A few states do require some form of infertility coverage, but what is covered varies among these states, and any employer that "self-insures" is exempt from the law. A self-insure health plan is when the employer operates their own insurance plan instead of purchasing it from an insurance company. You can easily find out if your employer's health plan is self-insured by just asking or reading your plans benefits information. To see if your state has mandated infertility coverage, and if it does what must be covered, visit Resolve's State Information on Insurance Coverage at http://www.resolve.org/family-building-options/insurance_coverage/state-coverage.html.

If you find that little or nothing is covered by your insurance, don't panic. There are options out there, and they do not require you to max out your credit cards or get a second mortgage on your house. The first thing you should do is talk to the billing department of the fertility clinic that you have been to, or that your doctor has referred you to and find out what kind of payment options are available through them.

Some fertility clinics offer low cost loans, reasonable payment plans, and some offer what is known as shared risk plans. A shared risk plan requires a couple to commit to a series of IVF procedures, usually 3, for a set price. If the first IVF procedure does not take, the second is performed, and the same with the third. If the last IVF procedure does not result in a pregnancy, the couple gets a portion of their money back. Because the first IVF procedure can be successful, this can be a very expensive procedure, usually costing about $26,000 to $30,000 dollars for three possible procedures. A couple also has to qualify for the shared risk program, and could be disqualified due to age or other factors that they won't know about until extensive medical tests have been performed.

Another option is to budget for the procedure and medications that will be needed. Drastically cut back on all non-necessary spending, and put every last penny into a savings account so that you can walk into the fertility clinic, cash in hand, and not have to worry about your credit rating, interest rates, or the possibility of a shared risk being too successful. Budgeting may seem like a crazy idea, but if you were to track your spending for just a week, you could probably find ways to save at least $50, and possibly a lot more. Yes, it would take a while to save up the money needed to pay cash for the treatments, but in the long run, you won't have the burden of a successful procedure as well as the medical bills of giving birth and caring for a baby piling up either. There are options out there, and you need to do your homework and find out what is available to you either through your health insurance, fertility clinic, medication assistance through drug companies, or just by saving every penny.

Many couples considering infertility or IVF treatments are often faced with a tough question: how are we going to pay for this? Most health insurance policies do not cover these treatments - unless you live in a state with mandated coverage, and work for a large employer. Many couples don't have that kind of cash, so they borrow money to fund the treatments - sometimes paying high fees. A common employee benefit program not only provides an interest free loan, it also cuts the cost of infertility treatments by 1/3 or more.

Most health insurance policies do not cover the cost of infertility treatments such as IVF and others. Fifteen states mandate varying degrees of coverage, and these mandates apply only to companies employing fifty or more employees. That leaves couples living in the thirty five other states, and those working for small employers with no coverage for these treatments.

IVF and other infertility treatments can cost $20,000 and upwards depending upon the procedure and the number of cycles they need to undergo. Many couples don't have the savings set aside to pay these fees upfront, so they seek out loans that allow them to pay over time - with interest.

A Healthcare Flexible Spending Account allows you to get an interest free loan from their employer, and cut your infertility costs by one third or more. For example, you could elect to contribute $10,000 into a flex account. The full amount of the election is available to be spent on qualifying expenses on the first day of the new plan year. Infertility treatments such as IVF are qualifying expenses. Schedule your infertility procedure for the beginning of your employer's flex plan year. Your employer funds the full $10,000 election, and you now have fifty two weeks to pay back your interest free loan!

But that's not all. You will be paying back your loan with pre-tax dollars, which may cut your costs by one third or more. If you are in the 25% federal income tax bracket, and paying FICA taxes of 7.65% your total savings is 32.65%. Savings may be higher for people in higher tax brackets, or those living in states with an income tax.

Staying beautiful during pregnancy need not be difficult. It is easy to stress over hormone induced spots and whether your beauty products are safe for you and your unborn baby to use, so I have come up with a quick guide to staying beautiful during your child bearing year.

During your first trimester you may experience an increase in acne. This is due to all of the extra hormones you are producing. It is advised that you avoid cleansers targeted at ridding you of spots, this is due to the majority of them containing salicylic acid, which when absorbed in to your bloodstream could do harm to your baby. Instead you should opt for a softer cleanser and increase your water intake. If your skin problems persist, visit your doctor and he may prescribe you with an anti-bacterial topical cream.

Still wanting to battle those wrinkles and lines during your pregnancy? Well you may want to reconsider continuing with your anti-aging beauty routine. Creams designed to tackle or prevent wrinkles usually contain retinoid's, and much like salicylic acid they are a big no-no for your maternity skin care routine. Instead, just take advantage of that pregnancy glow, you will see a youthful radiance that no anti-aging routine will ever be able to give you. There are many other natural measures you can take to enhance your pregnancy beauty. Indulging in some yoga, ensuring you get enough water each day and eating well will enhance your natural beauty.

One of the biggest worries during pregnancy for any image conscious woman is whether or not she will develop stretch marks. The majority of stretch mark prevention creams are not safe for maternity use due to their chemical content, but there are friendlier products available for you to use, such as Bio Oil or a product from the Mama Mio range. Couple a great cream with some yoga and plenty of water to see optimal results. Doing all of this will ensure your skin remains supple and will help it stretch.

Worried about your boobs losing a battle with gravity? There are creams for that too! Pregnancy does not affect the direction everyone's chest points in, but you can ensure yours stay firm by using a bust boosting cream pre and post-natally.

Switching to mineral make up will also do you a lot of favours. Aside from reducing any shine, it is less likely to contain nasty chemicals that will harm your un-born baby.