So, you stopped smoking as soon as you found out you’re pregnant – good for you! Or perhaps you have modified your diet plan to ensure you baby gets all the vital nutrients throughout your pregnancy – Well done! Having a baby may sound simple enough, yet countless pregnancies undergo complications and issues which could have been prevented, even when the mom-to-be seemed to be well-informed, and took prenatal care quite seriously. What are we missing here?
There are actually a number of thing to be aware of to ensure that a pregnancy goes well. Let’s take a look.
Aiming for a healthy pregnancy? Start even before you get pregnant.
You’ve probably heard about the importance of acid folic – it’s a type of B vitamin that helps to prevent neural tube defects in fetuses. These defects are said to mostly occur during the early formative days after conception. For a majority of women, regular intake of this crucial nutrient officially begins as soon as they find out they’re pregnant at their doctor’s office, for they do not generally know about their pregnancies immediately after conception. By the time they begin to take it, it may be too late. While neural tube defects are not a particularly common occurrence, and there is no need for excessive worry, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. In short, take heed of the universal advice that all women of childbearing age should take a supplement containing 0.4 mg of folic acid each day to reduce the risks of a pregnancy affected by neural tube defects.
Here are a few other aspects of a healthy pregnancy to look into before you get pregnant.
Have a reproductive plan.
Yes, it’s exactly as it sounds – plan how many kids your partner and you would like to have. Then only can you plan their timings too, to have a better chance of achieving your goals in life. Get your doctor on board with this plan for he’ll be able to point you to the right direction and also help smoothen out any issues pertaining to your pre-pregnancy health, etc.
Practice a healthy lifestyle
In other words, eat well and exercise regularly. These steps go a long way in helping you reduce the chances of developing gestational diabetes (high blood sugar diagnosed during pregnancy), but you’ll have to make the right changes before you get pregnant. Gestational diabetes can be dangerous to your health as well as your infant’s. Studies have shown that pre-pregnancy exercise may actually help lower risk for gestational diabetes, and the benefit increases with more vigorous levels of exercise – again, the key point here is, before you get pregnant.
Thinking of getting pregnant? Modify your diet. Here are some suggestions:
- Increase your intake of fiber. Just taking in an extra 10 grams of fiber in the form of wholegrain cereals, fruits, and vegetables is associated with 26% lower risk of gestational diabetes.
- Is gulping cola or similar sweet, carbonated drinks a daily thing for you? Ditch them! Or, at least, reduce your consumption. Women who drank five or more such beverages per week before they got pregnant were at greater risk of gestational diabetes.
- Consume less red meat as well as processed meats. Eating less of these foods before pregnancy can decrease the chances of developing diabetes when you are pregnant.
- Replace animal protein with protein from nuts to lower your risk of gestational diabetes. Studies have shown that substituting vegetable protein for animal protein before pregnancy can decrease the risk of gestational diabetes by about half.
Have you been vaccinated?
Inquire from your doctor if you need a booster for any vaccines. Some vaccines can be given during pregnancy, but the rubella and varicella vaccines are recommended before you get pregnant.
Are you at your ideal weight?
Not only is it more difficult to conceive if you’re overweight or obese, but also, being so puts you at risk for complications during pregnancy, such as high blood pressure, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and stillbirth. There’ll also be a higher chance that your baby will have to be born via a cesarean delivery. Talk to your health care provider to find out what a healthy weight is for you and about a plan to help you achieve it.
If you have a health issue, talk to your doctor before getting pregnant
Many health problems affect not only the pregnant woman but also the developing infant. Some examples are diabetes, high blood pressure, infections, asthma, seizure disorders. Getting health problems under control before and during pregnancy reduces the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth as well as other health problems for the infant.
