In order to have a successful
pregnancy, a woman should be preparing herself as early as 3 months before she
tries to get pregnant.
All the food and supplements she
will take in, her eating habits and previous diseases can affect her baby's
health and performance in the future.
Below is a list of things to
remember for a healthy mommy and baby.
1. Take folic acid.
Women should be on folic acid
capsules as early as 3 months before they plan to get pregnant.
Folic acid has been proven to
prevent abnormalities related to the brain and spinal cord.
2. Avoid smoking, drinking, and taking
drugs.
All of these pose a great danger to
the developing fetus. Even just sitting close to a person who is smoking
exposes you and your baby to second-hand smoke. This can lead to low
birth-weight babies.
3. Boost your calcium intake.
Calcium is an important mineral
which you need to supply to your growing baby or else she or he will take it
from you.
It is not a myth when they say that
each pregnancy is equivalent to one tooth lost.
4. DON’T use anti-acne and
anti-aging creams.
Vitamin A, in the form of retinol,
tretinoin or iso-tretinoin frequently found in anti-acne and anti-aging creams,
should be avoided during the first 3 months of pregnancy.
It is known to cause severe birth
defects.
5. Monitor what you eat and drink to
avoid diarrhea.
Diarrhea and vomiting in pregnancy
is a doctor's nightmare.
Whereas, in a non-pregnant person,
just taking Diatabs or Imodium solves the problem.
In a pregnant patient, it is
different. These drugs cannot be given to them.
A pregnant woman just waits till the
toxins are flushed out of her system. It is advised to keep drinking
electrolyte-rich fluids to prevent
dehydration.
Eating apples and bananas 3 times a
day also helps.
Avoid diarrhea and vomiting in
pregnancy by frequent hand washing and avoiding raw foods like sushi, medium-rare
steaks, ice cream and caesar's salad dressing (which contains raw eggs). Be
sure to wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly.
6. Avoid eating a lot of fish.
Fish intake in pregnancy should be
monitored. All fish have been proven to contain mercury.
Mercury is a neurotoxin. It poisons
the nervous system of the body.
Mercury exposure has been blamed for
the increased incidence of the following diseases: arthritis, alzheimer's,
chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, learning
disabilities and ADHD.
The US Food and Drug Administration
and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have these recommendations:
-Avoid eating shark and shark’s fin
soup, tuna steaks, mackerel (alumahan, tambacol, tanigui, galunggong,
hasa-hasa) and tilefish (matang-baka).
-Eat only 2 servings a week of other
fish and seafood with lower mercury levels such as shrimp, canned tuna, salmon,
and catfish.
7. DO err on the side of caution
when it comes to coffee.
Some studies say coffee is safe for
pregnancy. Some say it is not safe. Some say 4 cups a day is allowable while
some say even a small amount of caffeine can cause miscarriage and small
babies.
The inconsistency lies on the
different brands, size of cups (tall, grande, etc) and brewing methods.
So what is really a safe amount of
coffee for pregnant women?
Just ask yourself this question:
Would you give your baby a cup of coffee when he is born? Maybe not.
Remember that everything a pregnant
woman drinks or eats goes into her baby, too.
The fact that you just don't see it
actually entering your baby's mouth doesn't mean it's not happening. Be aware
of what you're feeding your baby as early as now.
Source:
Dr. Diana Sarmiento, The Blogging Doc
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