Hilary Jones – Doctor Hilary Jones that is; renowned media GP – has launched a new App for mums-to-be.

If you’re wondering about Dr Jones’ credentials (other than TV doctor), the man is a practising GP, has delivered many babies, has five children, has appeared on British TV for 21 years… and has a website.

The App aims to help mums find everything they need to know about pregnancy and their baby (or babies) sans medical jargon, which can be mighty confusing.

The App – for iPhone and iPad – gives exclusive access to 30 videos and scripts that address common concerns from conception through to delivery.

The vids cover five sections – early pregnancy, a week by week guide, complications, concerns, and the birth. Each is then subdivided into topics including conception, nutrition, smoking and drinking, your body week by week, ultrasound scans, coping with common problems, pre-eclampsia, and pain relief in labour.

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Heads up wannabe parents! Vitamin D increases fertility – according to a new study fronted by the Medical University of Graz in Austria.

Researchers say that Vitamin D affects male and female sex hormones to a significant degree.

A natural fertility boost with Vitamin D?… Sounds good! For women, vitamin D helps boost progesterone and oestrogen by 13 per cent and 21 per cent respectively, regulating menstrual cycles and making conception more likely.

And for men, vitamin D is essential for the healthy development of each sperm’s nucleus. It also increases levels of the male sex hormone testosterone, improving a man’s libido.

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When I was preggers I developed Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) and it drove me crazy. It didn’t really affect my sleep but when I was sitting watching a movie, or my favourite show, my legs would start jittering around.

For me; I felt the overpowering need to move my legs, which I would do, expecting to feel relief but would feel nothing – other than the subsequent need to move my legs. No position was comfortable. Grrrr.

It was annoying and uncomfortable but apparently a common side effect of pregnancy – which usually manifests in the later afternoon and through the night.

The twitching, tingling and cramping I felt in my legs was not conducive to pleasant sitting. And boy, did I complain about it – my poor husband.

Do you need some help for restless leg syndrome? Two practical ways to combat RLS, as suggested by Babycentre.co.uk, are:

1. Regular exercise: gentle exercise in the evening and stretch your legs before bed, and a leg massage is never a bad idea.

2. Reduce caffeine intake: caffeine may make your symptoms worse, so avoid tea, coffee and the usual suspects six hours before bedtime.

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If you’re thinking of starting a family, vitamins may help to conceive.

It seems logical to assume that a healthy body will assist in a healthy pregnancy. This, of course, is not always the case but eating a good dose of vitamin enriched food certainly does a heavy dose of good.

To support the above logic, a small pilot study conducted at University College London and the Royal Free Hospital (published in the journal Reproductive BioMedicine online) has revealed that women undergoing a fertility treatment who take pregnancy vitamin supplements have a higher chance of conceiving.

We can take from this that vitamins help to conceive.

Independent.ie reports that the research was carried out on 58 subfertile women, who were split into two groups, with one group receiving the vitamin and the other receiving folic acid.

The results showed that 60% of women taking Pregnacare Conception (containing nutrients such as vitamins A, C and E, zinc and selenium) got pregnant (18 out of 30) compared to 25% of those taking folic acid (11 out of 28).

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Birth, and the mere thought thereof, can be utterly overwhelming.

When I was pregnant, I decided that living in ‘Pleasantville’ until the day my water broke was the best option. I attended one antenatal class, at the last moment, and it got me through 12 hours of labour and a pretty straightforward delivery. But I am not the best example! Not at all! Learn as much as you can mums-to-be…

… and to help; there is a new antenatal iPhone app! How cool is that!?

Lazy Daisy, the UK’s fastest growing Active Birth and antenatal class programme, has launched an antenatal iPhone app to help educate mums on the go.

The antenatal iPhone app has been designed to guide expectant mums through a toolkit of techniques to support pregnancy and birth.  The antenatal class app explains pregnancy and birth visually (with top tips for each trimester), auditorially (through guided relaxations to boost birth confidence) and practically (with virtual labour practise designed to help mums embrace the sensations of labour.

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