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Emmy award-winning reporter John Biffar, hosts the local medical series Health Matters which airs on NBC2 News Today weekday mornings between 5-5:30 a.m. and during NBC2 News at 4:00 p.m.
 
 
 

      

Pregnancy Discomforts
February 15, 2007

More than 90,000 patients currently await a life saving organ transplant, and at the Almost all pregnant women describe some type of discomfort while awaiting the arrival of their newborn.

Pregnancy is a life changing experience for any woman, but as new mom Jennifer Fairfield-Williams explains it often comes with some uncomfortable changes. "Your top concern is about the baby and being healthy and all of those things."

And as Dr. William Rincon explains pregnancy completely changes a woman's body both physically and mentally, adding discomfort all over. "Pregnancy is a metamorphosis. There's total change of the complete body so you're going to get discomfort starting from the head all the way down to your toes."

Doctors like Dr. Rincon say, "You can have, you know, warm baths, warm soaps, massages, maybe have a more comfortable bed, don't sleep in a bed that's too soft."

Dr. Rincon says that the level of pain varies from person to person, but there are a number of common complaints women should expect, such as hair loss, difficulty sleeping, and muscle pain. "And of course there are muscles that are being stretched, ligaments that are being stretched and so your body is going through changes and so the most common complaint is back pain."

In the end I think many moms will agree- the joys of pregnancy and end result far outweigh these minor discomforts.

Doctors remind patients that most discomfort is normal, and routine doctor visits can help prevent many of the more complicated problems women worry about during pregnancy.