3 Important Ways to Take Care of Your Gums While Pregnant
Dr. Amanda Tavoularis (dentably.com)
 
Pregnancy is a special time in a woman’s life, and it’s important to be as healthy as possible for yourself and your baby. However, because of hormone changes, pregnant women are more likely to develop gum disease or gingivitis during their pregnancy. Gum disease can result in premature births, so it’s important to take care of your gums to help prevent this. I have been practicing dentistry for nearly 20 years and have worked with expecting mothers on keeping their mouth as healthy as possible so they can safely carry their baby to term. 
 
1. Regular Dental Visits
A beneficial way to prevent gum disease while pregnant is to continue visiting your dentist regularly. Professional dental cleanings are more important during your pregnancy and are essential to preventing tooth decay and gum disease. Your dentist can also evaluate your periodontal health so you both can work together to decrease the chance of adverse pregnancy complications. Let your dentist know that you are expecting, and they will be able to accommodate to your baby’s needs as well as your own. 
 
2. Effective Dental Care Routine
Another important part of preventing gum disease is having a good dental care routine during your pregnancy. Good dental hygiene consists of brushing twice a day, flossing once a day, and using an antimicrobial mouth rinse. Another important way to keep your mouth healthy during this special time is to avoid sugary foods. Excessively eating foods high in sugar can lead to tooth decay and gum disease, so try incorporating more vegetables, lean proteins, and nuts and seeds into your diet to help prevent gingivitis.
 
3. Receiving Treatment 
Because of the hormonal changes that come with pregnancy, women have up to a 70% chance of developing gingivitis before giving birth. If you’ve been diagnosed with pregnancy gingivitis, it’s important to seek treatment as soon as possible to prevent delivering your child preterm. The bacteria from gum disease can attack the ligaments, gums, and bones surrounding your teeth to create infected pockets similar to large infected wounds in the oral cavity. These pockets can provide access to your bloodstream and allow bacteria to travel throughout your body, down to the uterus and placenta. 
 
Visiting your regular dentist is the best way to treat your gingivitis or gum disease but note that most doctors recommend waiting until your second trimester before receiving dental procedures. Your dentist will give you a deep cleaning to get rid of plaque and build-up that’s contributing to the disease. If your gum disease is severe your dentist or doctor may prescribe antibiotics to help combat the infection. Your doctor will know which medications are safe for you during your pregnancy but be sure to let them know of any allergies that you have.
 
A good dental care routine, regular dental visits, and seeking treatment are some of the best ways to help prevent gum disease and preterm birth. Enjoy this special time in your life and embrace the wonderful changes happening to your body, but always keep your overall health in mind. You are growing a human so it’s important to prioritise you and your baby’s health as you wait to welcome your new little one.
 

For this session we were asked to do some skin on skin images which I love doing; there is nothing more precious than holing your baby tightly and just taking that moment in! This moment is raw, pure, emotion and shows the bond between child and parent(s). After all they do say skin to skin contact has so many benefits. Studies show that skin to skin contact after birth and in the coming weeks help calm and soothe babies, stimulates digestion and an interest in feeding and simulates the release of hormones which helps with the bonding process. ​

I’d like to introduce the Pateman’s back into the studio, this time with a new addition to the family, Evelyn.

For this newborn session I got to capture adorable Evelyn and her big sister Isabella too. We first met the family over a year ago when they came to us for a newborn session when Isabella was born. It was so lovely to be able to see how grown up Isabella was along with meeting their new addition too. So of course the first thing we started with for their session was the sibling images. Isabella made it so simple for us and was amazing for her photos. We always ask parents to bring a few of their favourite toys so that we can hide them in the props which helps them to look in the right direction. ​If you’re a follower of my blogs, you’ll know sibling images are done as a composite. This is where we take the image of sibling and empty prop and then take one of baby in the prop one their own and add the images together. This is the safest way to get these images. 

​Mum and Dad had requested we did the session in a different style for Evelyn so when their images are on their legacy wall they would clearly be able to see a difference between the two girls, so we ensured we used different props and backdrops so the photos weren’t the same. 
 
We captured some beautiful images of Evelyn on some of our floral backdrops. As you can see from these two images here we captured two images differently just by showing little elbows and shoulders in one but not in the other.