Question: My doctor commented when doing a Pap smear that my womb was prolapsed. He said I shouldn’t worry about it until it caused problems. What causes a prolapse of the womb?
The womb (uterus) is where the baby grows during pregnancy. It therefore has the ability to expand dramatically in size, and is only loosely attached to the rest of the body. The ligaments that support it are stretched during pregnancy and may not return to their original size, allowing the uterus to move around more freely.
The more pregnancies you have, the slacker the ligaments become. With the assistance of gravity, pressure on the abdomen from lifting (eg. the result of pregnancy—children), constipation and lack of fitness it is possible for the womb to slowly slip lower and lower into the pelvis. This causes pressure on the bladder and bowel, leading to problems with these organs. Eventually, the womb may move all the way down the vagina to expose the cervix (opening of the womb). The main symptoms are discomfort and bladder incontinence. Correction is by best performed by surgery, but elderly women may use specially shaped rings that are inserted into the vagina to keep the womb in place.

Question: I have had vaginal infections before that have been treated by Flagyl, and I think I have the same infection again. Can I use the drug Flagyl if I am pregnant?
Flagyl is an excellent antibiotic for treating certain types of bacterial infections that occur deep inside the body. Infections of the woman’s Fallopian tubes and pelvic organs are one example.
No medication should be used between the 6th and 14th week of pregnancy unless it is absolutely essential, as this is the time when the organs and limbs of the baby are developing. Flagyl should NOT be used at this time, and it should only be used during the rest of the pregnancy and during breast feeding if there is no alternative. There is no evidence that Flagyl causes damage to the foetus, but it is known to enter the foetal circulation, so there is a potential for problems. It is better to be safe than sorry!

If you concentrate on your baby and observe him carefully over the first two or three days of life you will become familiar with normal infant behavior and will get accustomed to your baby’s idiosyncrasies. It is essential that you learn to understand your baby’s signals to you, and the only way to do this is to stay with him as much as possible, to watch him, nurse him, play with and look after him.
If you watch him closely you may notice that he does several unexpected things: he may shiver quite suddenly for no reason; he may make such snuffling noises that you wonder if his nose and air passages are blocked; he may even stop breathing all together for several seconds. None of these is abnormal.