Women's Health: Obese pregnant women who lose weight have healthier newborns ♦ Increasing vitamin D supplementation in elderly women ♦ Substantial differences in obstetric care for First Nations women in Canada

Obese pregnant women who lose weight save money, have healthier newborns, Severely obese women who maintained or lost weight during pregnancy had healthier babies and lower healthcare costs. The work compared 82 severely obese pregnant women with 85 healthy weight women. The obese mothers experienced more medical problems during pregnancy, higher medical costs and longer lengths of hospital stay. Twenty-six percent of the obese mothers maintained or lost weight during pregnancy.

Exercise Could Provide a Margin of Safety for Women Who Want to Delay Preventive Mastectomy, Penn Study Shows Regular physical activity could play a role in helping women at high-risk of breast cancer delay the need for drastic preventive measures such as prophylactic mastectomy. Results of the study help clarify the emerging connection between exercise and breast cancer risk. The authors suggest that women who have an elevated breast cancer risk or worry about having such risk should consider doing 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic activity per day for five days per week.

Increasing vitamin D supplementation in elderly women Elderly women should take in more vitamin D than previously recommended during the winter months.

Substantial differences in obstetric care for First Nations women in Canada There are substantial differences in obstetric care provided to First Nations women compared with women in the general population, and these differences may contribute to higher infant mortality in First Nations populations.