Dr Anneen Venter Obstetrician & Gynaecologist

08/09/2025

Having your baby in a rear facing seat might be life saving if you are involved in a crash.

Facing Back to Move Forward - Why A Rear-Facing Car Seat is the Safer Way

https://tinyurl.com/27gqla9e

10/08/2025

Genesis Reproductive Centre is offering one IVF cycle free of charge. Please contact Jakaranda 94.2

Good Morning Angels has partnered with our friends at LottoStar to assist three women who need a little help.

13/07/2025

Gestational or pregnancy induced diabetes (GDM) affects 10-15% of pregnancies.
It is caused by the placenta secreting hormones that increase insulin resistance.

It is diagnosed by doing an oral glucose tolerance test. It involves taking blood for a fasting glucose, drinking 75g sugar mixed with water, and taking blood again after 1 and 2 hours of the drink. The test can make you feel nauseous and dizzy.

Very few ladies with GDM have symptoms.
Some feel tired or dizzy after eating. We can sometimes pick it up by finding glucose in the urine test or seeing a big baby with a lot of amniotic fluid on ultrasound.

It is associated with a higher risk of complications during pregnancy and delivery.
There is increased risk of
- stuctural abnormalities of the brain and heart
- stillbirth (almost 5 times higher risk)
- large for gestation babies
- preterm delivery
- pre eclampsia
The babies have higher risk of
- admission to the NICU
- jaundice
- respiratory distress

Patients should be screened between 20 and 24 weeks of pregnancy.

High risk factors include:
Age above 35 years
Pre pregnancy BMI above 25
PCOS or insulin resistance before pregnancy
Family history of diabetes

Management include;
1. Dietician to assist with low GI eating plan, with enough nutrients and kilojoules
2. Monitoring blood glucose (either by machine testing or using a glucose sensor)
3. Medication such as metformin or insulin

Control of blood glucose is crucial to prevent complications.
Patients who develop GDM have an increased lifetime risk of developing diabetes and insulin resistance. It is important to screen or test yearly after delivery.

📢We welcome you to read the Highly Cited Paper:

📰 Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: Association with Maternal and Neonatal Complications
👍 Citations 23
✍ By Ms.Rebecca Karkia, Prof.Ranjit Akolekar et al.
🔗 Read the full article: https://shorturl.at/kbV8t

15/06/2025

This is a complex but very insightful article about PCOS. PCOS is not only a hormonal disturbance, with often higher testosterone levels and lower progesterone due to irregular ovulation.
It is also
> changes in your DNA, where some genes are switched on or off via methylation
> changes in your brain - insulin resistance changes how your brain responds to food cues, making you want to eat high sugar and high fat meals
> changes in your gut microbiome, worsened by food choices, influencing your mood and metabolism
And this leads to changes in your metabolic profile that makes you prone to insulin resistance, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart disease (metabolic syndrome)

What stands out in this article:
> High fibre diet improves the beneficial bacteria in your gut (fruit, veg)
> Individualised exercise plan to focus on weight loss and muscle building
> Medical treatment for insulin resistance include metformin, inositol and GLP1

Babies born to mothers with PCOS are prone to childhood obesity, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome.

Key message: Any patient, but especially if you have PCOS, should focus on their health before they want to conceive. This means - being a normal weight, exercising, not smoking or using alcohol, eating a fibre rich diet.
If a PCOS patient is in optimal health before they get pregnant then
> Less inflammation
> Easier to get pregnant
> Less miscarriages
> Less gestational diabetes
> Less pre eclampsia, growth restriction, preterm birth
> Less long term effects on the health of the children born (obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome)

# PCOS

📝Hot Opinion by Dr. Tao Tao. et al from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine:
"Polycystic O***y Syndrome: Challenges and Possible Solutions"
📩Full text: https://bit.ly/456Et0T

11/05/2025

Happy Mother’s day to all my dear patients! My prayers are with those who still long to be mothers and those who have babies in heaven.

02/05/2025

This very interesting study published in Human Reproduction showed that patients with endometriosis have a 30-80% increased risk of auto immune disease. They specifically looked at Rheumatoid arthritis, Osteoarthritis, Coeliac disease, Psoriasis and MS. In my patients I have also seen more Hashimotos and lupus. Maybe patients with endometriosis should trial a gluten free eating plan and see if they don’t have less bloating, pain and inflammation.

21/04/2025

What a privilege to attend a Merck sponsored meeting in Istanbul, Turkey.

At Genesis we focus on staying up to date with the latest research and guidelines.

17/04/2025

For the fertility patients…

06/03/2025

For those ladies who do not have a shortage of supply 🍼🍼🍼

By donating your excess breast milk, you can make a difference in the lives of vulnerable, low birthweight babies in South Africa. Your breast milk helps protect these babies from infection, which can lead to a shorter hospital stay. 🍼👶 If you would like to donate, our Netcare Ncelisa Human Milk Banks operate nationwide at selected Netcare hospitals, as well as at Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital in Johannesburg, providing a lifeline to vulnerable newborns. 💙 Find out more: https://www.netcare.co.za/netcare-hospitals/specialist-services/women-mother-baby/maternity/ncelisa-human-milk-banks

24/02/2025

For those who need to understand IVF ICSI

14/02/2025

Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️❤️❤️

05/01/2025

Ladies and gents I challenge all of you to participate in the

This involves voluntarily abstaining from use of any alcohol for the month of January.

I have lived alcohol free for the last 3 years since the death of my sister. I have witnessed the power of alcohol use destroying lives and families.

Alcohol abuse are in many cultures ‘normalised’ and not frowned upon. Few people who are dependant on alcohol are willing acknowledge that they have a problem.

If you are not drinking during the week, but consuming 6 drinks per day on weekends it can also cause damage to your liver and equate to alcohol dependance.

Often people drink to feel more relaxed and escape their situation. The challenge is that alcohol is a downer, and contributeds to depression. That means you have to drink more and more to feel the same effect.

I will include a screening questionnaire from UpToDate that you as a family can complete.
Sometimes it might help to be an eye opener.

So who is with me? (Hopefully all of you pregnant ladies already 😋)