Deanna DiUlio, Certified Nurse Midwife

03/21/2025

Let’s talk about exercise in pregnancy! 🤰 🧘🏻‍♀️🏊🏽‍♀️🏋🏾‍♀️
Is it safe?
The short answer is, yes!

-For the vast majority, exercising while pregnant is safe
-There are certain conditions that exist where you should not exercise while pregnant
-The type of exercise you do and how much you do is dependent on where you were in your fitness journey prior to pregnancy

Just a few of the benefits of exercise in pregnancy (also benefits when not pregnant 😉)

➡️Reduces back pain
➡️Eases constipation
➡️May decrease your risk of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and cesarean birth (outside of pregnancy: improved blood sugars for diabetics, and improved blood pressures for those with hypertension, which could decrease the amount of medications needed to manage high blood pressure)
➡️Promotes healthy weight gain during pregnancy (helps with weight management when not pregnant)
➡️Improves your overall fitness and strengthens your heart and blood vessels

*Talk to your provider about what is safe for you in your pregnancy*

02/18/2025

There are events in life that change us forever. My patient who suffered a SCAD was lucky enough to have survived! Thankfully, she was otherwise healthy. This is an exceedingly RARE condition.

Try as we might, some conditions that will affect pregnancy and/or the postpartum period cannot be predicted. However, coming in for regular prenatal care and following up postpartum to monitor for developing conditions is necessary, and can be life saving!

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is an emergency condition that occurs when a tear forms in a wall of a heart artery. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection also is called SCAD.

Risk factors for SCAD include:

Being female.
SCAD can happen to anyone. But it tends to affect women more than men.

Childbirth. Some women who have had SCAD have recently given birth. This may be due to changes in hormones and stress on the blood vessels. SCAD has been found to occur most often in the first few weeks after delivery. But SCAD also can occur during pregnancy.

Extreme stress. SCAD can happen after extreme stress. This includes intense physical exercise and severe emotional distress.

12/05/2024

On to the next adventure! For anyone who may be curious, I have left Seattle to practice rural medicine. I will be providing primary care for women and of course, continuing to provide midwifery care for pregnant women.

10/04/2024

For those who have not yet seen the news. This is very upsetting. The birth center at VM had an amazing culture. Decreasing access to maternity care does not benefit a community. Apologies if I’ve posted the article out of order!

09/04/2024

06/06/2023

Sometimes foods or ingredients masquerade as being better for us. Please do not consume sucralose (brand name Splenda). Sugar can be harmful at high levels as well, understand I am not promoting the consumption of high fructose corn syrup containing products either. Plain sugar, in moderation and natural based sugar products in moderation, are better choices.

The researchers found that sucralose causes DNA to break apart, putting people at risk for disease. They also linked sucralose to leaky gut syndrome.