Preparing your Body for Pregnancy
Your lifestyle can affect the health of your growing baby. Everything you eat, smoke, drink or otherwise ingest while pregnant affects not only your body but also the developing body of your baby. [hana-code-insert name=’rectangle’ /]Because your developing baby will entirely depend on your body for nourishment and protection, it is necessary to alter your lifestyle prior to conception so that you eliminate any bad habits or risk factors that might compromise your health.
Change your lifestyle to suite the comming baby
Do not assume that because you feel fine eating, drinking or smoking something that this is also healthy for your baby. Your baby’s developing body is far more fragile than yours. Your baby’s dividing and growing cells contain fragile genetic material that can be poisoned by various substances. Should such poisoning occur, your baby may develop abnormally and be born with birth defects, mental retardation, poor growth or other substantial undesirable complications.
Pregnant women should avoid certain foods and substances because of the way those foods and substances can negatively affect developing babies.
Avoid Smoke, alcohol or harmful drugs
Many parts of your daily routine (E.g. Smoke, alcohol, or certain drugs) can be quite harmful to your developing baby. They have a much more powerful and negative effect on a developing fetus. You should also meet with your doctor to review all the prescription medications you are currently taking to determine whether they are safe for you to continue to use during pregnancy.
Take Vitamins , Minerals and iron
Your baby requires vitamins and minerals in order to develop properly. You may want to consider taking prenatal vitamins even before you become pregnant so as to prepare your body for the demands of pregnancy and inclusion of folic acid in these supplements. Folic acid prevents a very serious developmental complication called a neural tube defect from occurring. Pregnant women and those women hoping to become pregnant soon should take between 800 and 1,000 micrograms of folic acid each day.
Keep in mind that prenatal vitamins are intended to supplement a healthy diet, it will not provide all of the vitamins and minerals you need to ensure a healthy pregnancy. You will still need to eat a healthy and nutritious diet to support your health and your baby’s health.
Be aware of the fact that some women experience nausea while using prenatal vitamins. This nausea can contribute to the symptoms of morning sickness and make you feel very uncomfortable. You may need to eat food before taking your vitamins to avoid the nausea.