Pregnancy Singapore

15/10/2025

RSV, a Hidden Threat to Infants

Having a baby is one of the most enriching experiences. You will bring your bundle of joy out to meet loved ones, but your baby is also being exposed to pathogens for the first time. A virus that is particularly nasty for babies is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is highly contagious and more common than you think. In Singapore, RSV circulates all year and could cause severe illness in infants.

Here’s what you need to know.

What is RSV?
A sniffle may seem like nothing to worry about, but could be a symptom of something serious, such as RSV.

Unfortunately, most parents have not heard about RSV which is highly infectious and typically causes mild symptoms in healthy adults, but can unknowingly be spread to infants and cause severe disease.

In infants under 6 months old, RSV accounts for 47% of hospitalized bronchiolitis and pneumonia cases, even in babies born healthy and full-term. By age one, 2 out of 3 infants would have already been infected. As there is no way to anticipate which infant will suffer a serious infection, immunisation is the most effective way to prevent RSV.

Keep Your Child Safe from RSV
There are various options available that you can ask your doctor about, depending on the gestational age, medical conditions, or whether you prefer antenatal or postnatal immunisation.

Protecting your baby from birth up to 6 months to 1 year old is important due to the risks of serious infection, and now possible with immunisation. Speak to your OBGYN and pediatrician early so that you know what to expect when your baby is born.

For further information on RSV, visit https://togetheragainstrsv.theasianparent.com/ for more information.

09/10/2025

Do you know? RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) spreads faster than the flu virus🚨 (yup, up to 4x more contagious!) 🦠
And it also a leading cause of hospitalizations in babies under one. 💡Stay aware, stay protected.

This educational article is kindly sponsored by Sanofi.

26/09/2023

Special shoutout to Pregnancy SG fabulous followers. Your strong support have brought us thus far. Thank you! Cheers to our 1000 followers! Pregnancy Singapore

12/08/2023

5 common myths on Cord Blood Banking

Many parents are beginning to realise the potential benefits of cord blood banking (CBB). This has become an important discussion of the birth plan. You may have heard of some common beliefs about CBB. Let's look at the 5 most common myths!

Myth #1: My child can only use his own cord blood for himself.
There are many reported stem cell transplants using one's own stem cells (AKA autologous stem cell transplants) internationally. These are mainly performed to treat non-genetic diseases. The biggest advantage of autologous transplant is the low risk of tissue rejection.

However, it is important to note that your baby's precious cord blood stem cells may be used for his/her sibling (if it matches) when needed. This is known as allogeneic transplant. Currently, cord blood transplant is now a standard treatment for many diseases such as leukaemia, lymphoma and thalassemia.

Myth #2: It is easy to find a bone marrow donor when the need arises.
Bone marrow do contain many stem cells. However, there are 3 main advantages of cord blood stem cells compared to a bone marrow donor's stem cells. Firstly, CCB is easy and risk-free to you and your baby, while extracting stem cells from the donor's bone marrow is invasive. Secondly, cord blood ensures an available supply of stored stem cells when needed. A bone marrow donor search is costly and time-consuming, especially during the critical period. Lastly, cord blood stem cells have a higher potential to transform into other cell types.

Myth #3: Cord blood can only treat blood disorders.
Currently, there are prospective clinical trials using cord blood stem cells to treat autism. In a recent US clinical trial by Duke University, significant improvements in social communication and language expression were observed in 25 autistic children after transfusion of autologous cord blood stem cells. A similar trial is on-going in Singapore.

Myth #4: The chance of using the stored cord blood is small.
Studies show that 1 in 217 persons may need stem cells for treatment in his/her lifetime and 1 in 3 persons may benefit from the regenerative medicine therapy in the future. Currently, there are about 80 diseases that can be potentially treated via cord blood stem cell transplants including certain types of cancers, genetic diseases and blood disorders. There are over 40,000 stem cells transplant using cord blood stem cells done globally.

Myth #5: All cord blood banks are the same.
Consider your family cord blood bank carefully as they do vary in quality, experience and technology to collect, process, and store your baby’s cord blood. It is important to choose a trusted family cord blood bank that has received international accreditations, such as Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) and American Association of Blood Banks (AABB). Also, do discuss with your doctor and research on the cord bank's proven track record of successfully transplanted patients.

26/06/2023

6 things you should know on elective egg freezing

has become the buzz word in Singapore and will be legally allowed from July 2023.

While it is a giant step forward for women to control their fertility, there are facts that you should know before deciding if you should do elective egg freezing.

#1 What is social egg freezing and what procedure is needed?
Elective egg freezing (EEF) means to store the eggs (oocytes) of a woman for future fertility when she wants to conceive with IVF at a later date. EEF involves daily hormonal injections for about 2 weeks and a egg-retrieval procedure is planned to retrieve the stimulated eggs. The retrieved eggs are then frozen for storage.

#2 Why elective egg freezing?
EEF allows women to freeze and optimize the egg quality at a younger age as oocyte quality will decline with age especially above 37. Note that the legal age of EEF is up to 37 in Singapore. So do consider before you hit 37.

#3 How do I know if I need EEF?
See a doctor to assess if you are considering EEF program. If your me**es are irregular or your ovulation tests have been negative, you may have polycystic o***y syndrome which can affect your chance of fertility. Conversely, some women may have premature ovarian failure (menopause). Do your blood hormone test and anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) to find out. Try to download PCOSg app to predict your fertility.

#4 How much is EEF in Singapore?
This will depend on your doctor and IVF centre charges. Also, the public and private center charge may differ. In general, it is expensive and may set you back on average $10K.

#5 What is success rate of EEF?
In general, egg harvesting should be successful. However, whether the eggs are of good quality and usable in future, it is an unknown. Average of 9 eggs were frozen per retrieval in a study for women with mean age of 37.

Vitrification, which is the preferred freezing method, has 74% “thaw” survival rate. Studies show that only 15% returned to use their frozen eggs for IVF. The mean egg fertilisation rate was 67%. The pregnancy rate achieved per post embryo transfer was 48%. The live birth rate per embryo transfer was 35%. Remember, does not guarantee future pregnancy.

#6 What are your risks of EEF?
Injection pain, ovarian hyperstimulation which causes bloating and breathless, infection are possible rare complications, although it is a safe procedure.

22/06/2023

Best Pregnancy Care in 2023
Congratulations for getting pregnant!
Good antenatal care optimizes best health for your baby.

Regular antenatal visits
Make your first prenatal visit to your gynae around 6-8 weeks. Don’t go too early unless you have pain or bleeding or history of previous miscarriage. The pregnancy scan can only see baby after week 6-8. The visits are usually 4-weekly till 32 weeks, and subsequently will be 2-weekly after.

Perform prenatal blood tests
Your gynae will order blood tests to check for anemia, infections, blood group and progesterone hormone level which assess risk of miscarriage. Down syndrome screening test can also be done to reassure you. Make sure all the necessary screening tests are completed to manage your pregnancy risks.

Eat right and well
Balance your intake of healthy carbs, proteins and fibres, and ensure you are getting enough vitamins and minerals such as iron, calcium and DHA (fish oils). Folate (vitamin B) is critical for the brain and spine development of your baby, so make sure you’re eating enough green leafy vegetables and take folic supplements.
You will only need to increase 300 calories in second trimester and 450 calories at last trimester. So don’t eat for two!

Quit smoking, alcohol and raw food
S***f out the ci******es as smoking can cause premature birth or low birth weight. If any family members are smokers, ask them to give up if they stay with you as second-hand smoke is harmful too. Alcohol is best to be avoided as it causes birth defects in excessive amounts. Uncooked meats, eggs that aren’t completely cooked and raw fish should not be eaten as they could cause infection, which can cause miscarriage, stillbirth or infection in the baby.

Stay active
Exercise helps you manage your weight and combat pregnancy symptom of back pain. Aim for 20 minutes of moderate exercise daily. Walking and swimming are best to get your heart rate up without putting too much stress on your joints. If you have a medical issue, check with your doctor to see which exercise is most suitable.

21/08/2022

21/08/2022

We are pleased to co-organised physical antenatal talk with Stemcord after 2 years!
So exciting. StemCord Pte Ltd

25/07/2022

So you’re expecting your first bundle of joy, and you want to do everything perfectly during your pregnancy. That’s only normal! To make sure that we take good care of our little bun in the oven, here are our Top 10 mistakes you should not make in pregnancy. 🫄

Read on .pregnancy.com.sg

27/06/2022

Pregnancy Singapore congratulates and celebrates with Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital on its 10th awesome years in delivering 16000 babies! Well done for 🇸🇬

13/06/2022

Developed thousands of years ago, acupuncture is an ancient treatment in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Fine needles are inserted to stimulate crucial points in your body known as
“acu-points”. Stimulating these acu-points improves blood flow, allowing “Qi” or healing energy to circulate in your body, hence boosting your body’s self-healing and restoration process. Despite acupuncture’s popularity, there are some misconceptions.

Click this 1-min read to learn 3 debunk myth of TCM Acupunture.

www.pregnancy.com.sg

23/05/2022

Heard about the importance of first 1000 days in optimising your baby’s brain? Stay tune this week!