New Book from Top OB-GYNs is Pregnancy Game-Changer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

“Pregnancy must-have” empowers expectant moms with fresh look, new insight

Washington, D.C. – The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the most trusted group of experts in women’s healthcare, is releasing a new, fully revised version of its perennial pregnancy must-have, “Your Pregnancy and Childbirth: Month to Month” (Jan. 26, 2021). This modernized seventh edition features the latest medical information, brand new chapters that answer today’s essential questions, a beautifully redesigned cover, and new and updated anatomical drawings. The book also addresses the coronavirus (COVID-19) health crisis with details on telehealth, travel during pregnancy, breastfeeding and more.

ACOG is the nation’s leading group of physicians providing health care for women, comprised of over 60,000 members. For more than 60 years, ACOG has written the medical guidelines that obstetricians-gynecologists and other medical professionals use when caring for women. “Your Pregnancy and Childbirth” is unlike anything else on the market, with recommendations supported by ACOG’s clinical guidance and the everyday experiences of obstetricians-gynecologists who have cared for millions of pregnant women.

Engaging and relatable, this easy-to-understand book encourages women to

• learn about pre-pregnancy health and planning, pregnancy, labor and delivery, and the postpartum period
• use the information they learn to talk with their obstetrician-gynecologist and others who may care for them during pregnancy
• be empowered, active decision-makers in their care.

Offering real clinical guidance without the clinical jargon, this straightforward book breaks down each step of becoming a mom, month-by-month, in ways that every woman can understand and relate to during each phase of the pregnancy experience. It answers women’s most pressing questions, including what bodily changes to expect each month; changes in fetal development; how to manage self-care; how to think about pain relief during labor and delivery; how to handle travel, work, and exercise; and a new chapter where new moms and moms-to-be can find quick answers to frequently asked questions.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is the nation’s leading group of physicians providing health care for women. As a private, voluntary, nonprofit membership organization of 60,000 members, ACOG strongly advocates for quality health care for women, maintains the highest standards of clinical practice and continuing education of its members, promotes patient education, and increases awareness among its members and the public of the changing issues facing women’s health care.

“Your Pregnancy and Childbirth: Month to Month”
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists | Jan. 26, 2021

About the Official Spokespeople for “Your Pregnancy and Childbirth, Month to Month” 7th Edition

Lisa M. Hollier, MD, MPH, is immediate past president and former interim CEO of ACOG. Currently, she is a professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She also serves as the chief medical officer for Texas Children’s Health Plan. Dr. Hollier is a national ACOG spokesperson on maternal mortality, having conducted interviews with ABC News, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, CBS News, USA Today, PBS Newshour, The Huffington Post, Politico, and other well-known outlets. She dedicated her ACOG presidency to producing guidance on heart disease and pregnancy, which is the number one killer of women overall, but particularly in the postpartum period. She can speak to the importance of both prenatal and postpartum care as she has frequently done on the national stage.

Topics:

• Maternal mortality/morbidity – common causes and ways to prevent or treat life-threatening pregnancy-related conditions
• Heart disease in pregnancy and other chronic conditions, such as gestational diabetes and hypertension
• High risk pregnancies as result of conditions such as preeclampsia, obesity, advanced maternal age, prior C-section
• Prenatal and postpartum care – what to expect at check-ups, common tests and vaccinations during pregnancy, how to prepare for labor and delivery, the importance of ongoing care after childbirth

Tamika Auguste, MD, is a board-certified ob-gyn at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. Dr. Auguste also serves as chair of the Ob/Gyn Clinical Practice Council at MedStar Health and as associate medical director of the MedStar Health Simulation Training & Education Lab. At ACOG, she was a member of Dr. Haywood Brown’s presidential task force on redefining the postpartum visit that helped produce ACOG’s guidance Optimizing Postpartum Care. She is also a CREOG Education Committee member and the vice chair of the Council on Patient Safety in Women’s Health Care. Dr. Auguste is a media expert for ACOG and has conducted several interviews on the importance of ongoing postpartum care and maternal mortality. She also regularly responds to inquiries about common issues in pregnancy, including the signs of pregnancy, emergency deliveries, preterm birth, nutrition, mastitis, induction of labor, and toxemia, to name a few. She has spoken with reporters from The Washington Post, Woman’s Day, ProPublica, Women’s Health, New York Magazine’s The Cut, and many more outlets.

Topics:

• Prenatal and postpartum care – what to expect at check-ups, how to prepare for labor and delivery, the importance of ongoing care after childbirth, postpartum depression
• Nutrition – Essential prenatal vitamins, what to know about weight gain and how what you eat and drink affects breastfeeding
• Induction of labor – what circumstances would necessitate it
• Pregnancy symptoms –cravings, aches and pains, changes in a woman’s body
• Common conditions in pregnancy, such preeclampsia or hypertension

M. Mercer, MD, FRCSC, is an obstetrician–gynecologist and maternal–fetal medicine specialist in Cleveland, Ohio. At MetroHealth Medical Center, he chairs Obstetrics and Gynecology and is director of The Women’s Center. He also serves as professor and chair of reproductive biology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He has been in obstetric practice for more than 30 years. Dr. Mercer has a long history with Your Pregnancy and Childbirth: Month to Month. He chairs the YPC Editorial Task Force for the upcoming seventh edition and served on the task forces of the previous two editions. His dedication to the seventh edition was essential in shaping the book’s tone and readability and ensuring the highest level of accuracy.

Topics:

• Prenatal and preconception care – genetic testing during pregnancy, vaccinations needed during pregnancy, what to expect at check-ups
• High risk pregnancies as result of conditions such as preeclampsia, obesity, advanced maternal age, prior C-section
• Preterm birth, perinatal and infant mortality
• The 4th trimester – the first three months after pregnancy and why that period is a critical time for women, postpartum and transitions of care
• The history and evolution of Your Pregnancy and Childbirth: Month to Month

Shannon M. Clark, MD, is a double board-certified obstetrician–gynecologist and maternal–fetal medicine specialist focusing on the care of women with high-risk pregnancies. Dr. Clark is an associate professor with roles as a clinician, researcher, and educator at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. She has published multiple peer-reviewed articles and is a reviewer for numerous medical journals. She is also actively involved in educating and training medical students, residents, and fellows. Dr. Clark has contributed to multiple hot topics of interest for pregnancy-related magazines, websites, and blogs and is a media expert for ACOG. Dr. Clark has taken a special interest in pregnancy after the age of 35. She was inspired not only by the experiences of friends and patients but also by her own personal experience of becoming a mom to twins at age 42. She is the founder of BabiesAfter35.com, a website dedicated to fertility, pregnancy and motherhood after age 35, and life and health after age 40.

Topics:

• Advanced maternal age – complications that can exist for the mother and fetus
• Fertility after age 35 – what to know about age-related fertility decline, IVF and other assisted reproductive technology
• High risk pregnancies as result of conditions such as preeclampsia, obesity, advanced maternal age, prior C-sections
• Pre-pregnancy health and what’s important to know when trying to become pregnant

Diana Ramos, MD, is an adjunct assistant clinical professor at Keck University of Southern California School of Medicine and is the first Latinx woman and the first public health physician to hold the position of president of the Orange County Medical Association. Dr. Ramos has worked as reproductive health director of the Los Angeles County Public Health Department and is vice chair of the ACOG California executive committee and the ACOG delegate to the American Medical Association. Dr. Ramos speaks both Spanish and English and among her areas of expertise are health disparities preconception, interconception health, contraception, and quality improvement. In Los Angeles County she has led several initiatives to improve the health of women, including decreasing maternal morbidity and mortality by focusing on postpartum hemorrhage, cesarean section reduction, and maternal overweight and obesity. She has written and contributed to numerous articles in obstetrics and gynecology and public health literature. She has lectured locally, nationally, and internationally on a wide array of topics including preventive health and women’s health with an emphasis on health care disparities, patient safety, social media and the internet, and quality care improvement. She also serves as a regular ACOG media expert, responding to inquiries about exercise during pregnancy, edema, weight gain during pregnancy, maternal mortality, and complications in pregnancy from outlets such as Shape, WebMD, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among others.

Topics

• Exercise during and after pregnancy – what exercises are safe during and after pregnancy
• Weight management including the proper diet and exercise plan
• Maternal mortality – common causes and ways to prevent or treat life-threatening pregnancy-related conditions
• Complications in pregnancy such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes

Manijeh Kamyar, MD, is a board-certified maternal–fetal medicine specialist and obstetrician–gynecologist at Northwest Perinatal Center in Portland, Oregon. She is a member of the YPC Editorial Task Force and a past member of ACOG’s Patient Education Review Panel. Drawn to medicine by her desire to serve others in a meaningful way, Dr. Kamyar considers it a gift to be able to help women navigate one of the most intimate and significant parts of their lives. She speaks both Spanish and English and is passionate about helping patients and their loved ones understand complicated and difficult topics, leaving her office not only with the information they need to care for themselves and make decisions but also a sense of calm and peace of mind. Dr. Kamyar’s interests include fetal anomalies, maternal diabetes and nutrition, and maternal substance abuse and use. As a specialist in high-risk pregnancies, she also sees patients for preterm labor, multifetal pregnancies, recurrent pregnancy loss, maternal cardiac conditions, and maternal thyroid disease.

Topics:

• High risk pregnancies as result of conditions such as preeclampsia, obesity, advanced maternal age, prior C-section
• Nutrition during pregnancy – Essential prenatal vitamins, what to know about weight gain
• Multiple pregnancy
• Gestational diabetes – the importance of screening, risks associated with gestational diabetes and treatment options
• Prenatal and postpartum care – what to expect at check-ups, common testing and vaccinations during pregnancy, how to prepare for labor and delivery

Holly Wong Cummings, MD, MPH, is an obstetrician–gynecologist at Penn Medicine and assistant professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology at Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania. She also serves as a Young Physician member of ACOG’s Patient Education Review Panel. Dr. Cummings helps care for women across their reproductive lifespan. She enjoys helping new mothers navigate the complexities of breastfeeding and meet their breastfeeding goals. Her favorite part of the job is providing individualized care to a patient and tailoring her care to what that person needs. She appreciates the combination of creativity and science that practicing medicine provides and tries to keep abreast of all the possible options out there and present them to patients to help them make the choices that work best for them.

Topics:

• Breastfeeding – how to initiate, how long to breastfeed and why it’s important for the health of the baby and the mom
• Vaginal birth after cesarean/trial of labor after cesarean
• Travel in pregnancy – when air travel is safe, concerns with the use of seatbelts
• Various types of screenings in pregnancy including Aneuploidy screening and genetic carrier screening
• Preconception counseling – what things to consider when trying to become pregnant
• Vaccination in pregnancy and the myths that exist around the flu vaccine and others
• Exercise in pregnancy – what is safe and what isn’t