Women's Health: Most healthy women would benefit from light meal during labor ♦ Magnesium during labor may reduce risk of fever in mothers and complications in babies

Physical activity has greater impact on body composition in postmenopausal women Everyone knows that exercise is good for you, regardless of your age. But a new study shows that some types of physical activity have a greater impact on body composition in postmenopausal compared to premenopausal women.

Unhealthy pregnancy weight gain tips the scales for mothers seven years later For the first time, researchers studied the association between gestational weight gain and long-term weight retention among a multiethnic urban population. Results show that mothers with excessive weight gain during pregnancy weighed more and had greater body fat seven years after delivery if they began pregnancy at normal or at slight overweight and suggest that excessive gestational weight gain has long-term consequences for women who are normal weight or a little overweight before pregnancy.

Most healthy women would benefit from light meal during labor Most healthy women can skip the fasting and, in fact, would benefit from eating a light meal during labor, suggests new research. Improvements in anesthesia care have made pain control during labor safer, reducing risks related to eating, researchers note.

Magnesium during labor may reduce risk of fever in mothers and complications in babies Women who received magnesium sulfate during labor were less likely to develop maternal fever, a condition that can lead to a variety of complications in newborns including difficulty breathing, seizures, cerebral palsy and a condition known as “floppy baby syndrome,” characterized by inadequate muscle tone.