Woman gives birth inside LRT station

A woman gave birth to a baby boy inside a Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT 1) station on Wednesday morning, an official said.

Atty. Hernando Cabrera, Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) spokesperson, said the woman gave birth at the loading platform of Blumentritt Station at around 9:40 a.m.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Nina Corpuz recalls 'difficult' pregnancy

MANILA, Philippines -- For ABS-CBN reporter Nina Corpuz, giving birth was a breeze compared to the pain she had to endure days before she welcomed her first child.

In her column published on The Philippine Star on Sunday, Corpuz recalled that she had been warned of a "difficult" pregnancy when she met a healing priest, two months before she was set to give birth.


"He touched my very pregnant tummy, kept quiet for a moment, then told me in a serious tone, 'You will have a difficult pregnancy, you take care of that baby,'" she said.

According to Corpuz, the priest opted to pray over her belly instead, when she asked him to explain what he meant.

The warning prompted her to undergo a number of medical tests to ensure she is in good condition in time for her delivery. The tests, she recalled, yielded no worrying results.

Corpuz said her family had convinced her that the priest's warning may have simply referred to an earlier phase in her pregnancy -- during her fourth month, she had food poisoning and was hospitalized for four days.

"After what I had been through, I thought my family must be right that the priest meant it in the past tense," she said.

On her eighth month of pregnancy, however, Corpuz said she experienced severe stomach pain, prompting her husband to bring her to the hospital.

Her doctor, Dr. Jose Moran, suspected that it may be due to appendicitis. But aside from addressing the pain that "grew by the hour," Corpuz and her doctors also had to consider her pregnancy.

"When I was wheeled into the operating room, there were more people than usual since aside from the surgical staff, the delivery room staff was also there, just in case I go into pre-mature labor during the operation.

"I only remember that I was in extreme pain before the anesthesia knocked me out. Next thing I know, I was waking up in the recovery room. The surgeon told me that Dr. Moran’s hunch was right, and that my appendix was already gangrenous and about to rupture," Corpuz narrated.

But the worst was still ahead for Corpuz.

Only days after her operation, the Kapamilya reporter recalled "[waking up] in the he middle of the night shivering in cold sweat." She was rushed to the hospital by her husband at 3 a.m. due to high fever.

She recalled: "Doctors discovered that my wound from the operation was infected! Doctors had to re-open the wound right then and there to drain the infection, without anesthesia!"

Corpuz explained that due to her pregnancy, the doctors could not risk giving her aggressive antibiotics and painkillers.

"They had to keep my wound open, so they could drain the wound every few hours. For someone who turns clammy at the sight of an injection, I cannot begin to describe how painful it was! I imagine that’s what it would feel like to get stabbed, with the knife being given an extra twist inside," she said.

"My days were divided into sleep and pain. But even sleep wasn’t an escape, as my baby would start moving inside my belly and place a well-aimed kick right at my open wound! I would literally wake up screaming after she did that, many, many, many times in the three weeks we were waiting for her to be ready to come out," she said.

The infection slowly got better, Corpuz said, with her doctors eventually deciding that she was in good enough condition to deliver the baby.

On May 1, 2012, the Kapamilya reporter and her husband welcomed Stella, their first child, at 7:02 a.m.

According to Corpuz, giving birth via C-secion paled in comparison to her experience nursing appendicitis and the infection that followed.

"I remember that while I was pregnant, I prayed to God saying sorry for being afraid of giving birth to another human being. I prayed that I would take any pain, as long as Stella turns out okay," Corpuz said.

She added: "When Stella came, I was amazed that I was capable of so much love and sacrifice. My needs, my wants, my life are no longer as important. I’m willing to cry her tears, feel her pain, take all of life’s cruelties for her even if I know I can’t shield her from these things forever. My daughter reminds me that I’m no longer the same. I am a mother."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Priscilla Mereilles back in shape after childbirth

Priscilla Mereilles is back in shape months after giving birth to her first born by husband John Estrada. Mereilles admitted that it was not easy to lose weight and even got depressed. "I got a little bit depressed. You know small jokes and here and there sometimes I get hurt but I know actually he's not really joking, he's just trying to find a way telling me 'Babe, you really need to lose weight.' So I tried on my own by reducing first, I tried to remove the rice, the bread," Mereilles said. Umagang Kay Ganda, November 30, 2012

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Cheska Garcia pregnant with third child

MANILA, Philippines -- Host Cheska Garcia is now pregnant to her third child.

In an interview with "KrisTV" on Tuesday, Garcia admitted that she and husband, basketball player Doug Kramer, agreed to have only two kids.

"Wala eh, it happened. I got pregnant. Actually very safe, pero what happened was it still happened. It's really meant to be," she said.

In 2009, Garcia gave birth to their first child Clair Kendra.

Last November, she gave birth to her second baby girl Scarlett Louvelle.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Taiwanese girl gives birth inside school toilet

TAIPEI -- A 14-year-old Taiwanese pupil has given birth in a school toilet after her teachers apparently failed to notice she was pregnant, police said Thursday.

The girl, who complained of a stomachache during class on Wednesday, went to the school's infirmary and was told by a nurse to go to the toilet, where she gave birth, according to police.

School officials said they did not realize she had been pregnant because she was overweight.

It was unclear if she was aware of her condition.

source: interaksyon.com

If you want a child, do it before you're 30, says leading obstetrician

TOKYO — When entertainers speak, the world listens, and one message they’re delivering lately is profoundly disturbing to at least one leading obstetrician – namely, that giving birth relatively late in life is okay. It’s not, Kyoto Medical University professor and infertility expert Nobuhiko Suganuma writes in Shukan Bunshun (April 12). Suganuma has a message of his own: “If you want children, have your first before you turn 30.”

The influence of celebrities on matters remote from their talents is a remarkable fact of life. When Mariko Shinoda of the girl band AKB48 mused in January about getting married around 40 or 50, Suganuma took notice – he could easily imagine young women listening starry-eyed and thinking, “Me too.”

Suganuma has been treating women for infertility since the dawn of the artificial insemination era more than 30 years ago. His own patients over the years number some 5,000. He has seen the numbers soar nationwide during those decades – and no wonder, he says. Ovaries, wombs and hormones, in his view, are in prime condition before 30. A first childbirth then can prolong the reproductive peak, but starting after 30 “entails risks” – of Down’s Syndrome or other diseases in the child at worst, of miscarriage, or simply of infertility. “There are no firm statistics,” he writes, “but the rising number of women marrying late and then being unable to conceive is an undeniable fact.” Moreover, “the success rate of infertility treatment starts dropping at age 30 and plunges past 35.”

Entertainers whose own highly public lives have popularized late marriage and childbirth include the model Rika, who had her first child at 38; Shoko Aida, formerly of the pop duo Wink (41); actress Koyuki (35); and comedian-actress Naomi Matsushima (40).

For a woman of a certain age who is aware of the risks and decides to proceed with pregnancy anyway, “that’s a matter of individual freedom,” writes Suganuma. The problem, he claims, is that many are not aware of the risks.

Liberal-Democratic Party Lower House lawmaker Seiko Noda was 50 when she gave birth a year ago through artificial insemination. Her son Masaki has been hospitalized ever since with serious medical problems. Suganuma in his Shukan Bunshun article quotes Noda as saying, “No one ever told me that having a child after 40 could be difficult.”

Every year, says Suganuma, the number of women giving birth past age 35 is rising. In 1985, late births (not necessarily first-time births) comprised approximately 7% of the total. By 2010 they accounted for 23.8%.

“Japanese sex education,” he writes, “is all about birth control. Of course, it’s important for teenagers to know how to prevent unwanted pregnancies. But it seems to me it also needs to be taught that under 30 is the most suitable time of life for women to begin giving birth.”

source: japantoday.com