Important things about pregnancy

From the last post, many people had questions about what to eat and not to eat while you’re pregnant. Doctors usually recommend regular doses of vitamins and supplements. However, alcohol and caffeine products should not be consumed during pregnancy because it can increase the risk of premature delivery. Furthermore, there are myths that vaccinating pregnant mothers can cause health risk to the baby. During antenatal appointments, your doctor more than likely informs you on vaccinations shots. Vaccination shots prevent parents from getting sick because some illness affect the baby physical and mental health. Mom junction does a great job at explaining the benefits of getting vaccinated following the types.

·       Hepatitis B vaccine – Contains non-infectious HbsAG; unlikely to cause risk to the fetus

·       Hepatitis A – Inactivated vaccine similar to Hepatitis B; Recommended in high risk conditions

·       Inactivated influenza vaccine – Should be given before the flu season begins

·       Tdap or Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis – Given between 27 to 36 weeks of gestation

·       Meningococcal (MenACWY and MP

·       SV4)

·       Vaccinations not recommended –

·       Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV)

·       Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)

·       Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine (MMR)

·       Polio (IPV) Vaccine

Besides physical activities and what foods you should/not eat, many first time pregnant mothers question if they can travel during their pregnancy. You definitely can travel during pregnancy but there are some risk factors you have to consider. Several airlines will not allow women who are 36 weeks to travel. Most doctors prefer women to travel if they have a history of pre-term labor or miscarriages, multiple pregnancies such as twins. High blood pressure, gestational diabetes, incomplete cervix , and history of bleeding during pregnancy.

http://www.momjunction.com/articles/important-things-to-know-when-you-are-pregnant-for-the-first-time_00315/#gref 

Your Health in Pregnancy

Your health in pregnancy

A healthy diet and lifestyle is very important during pregnancy and when you are trying to get pregnant. Eating healthy can lead to great results pertaining to your health of course, and becoming fit/well. When you become pregnant or trying to get pregnant, you don’t need to go on a special diet. Many pregnant women always say that they’re “eating for two” especially when they’re expecting twins or triplets but that’s not the case. You don’t need to eat for two nor go on a special diet but you do need to eat a variety of foods so you can get the proper nutrients your baby need. It’s all about finding your balance and avoiding foods that are high in fats and sugar. Health in pregnancy doesn’t only pertain to healthy foods, it’s a list of foods to avoid, preparing food, vegetarian, vegan, smoking, alcohol, pills, medicines and other drugs, X-rays, keeping active, infections, work hazards and flying/traveling.

            Typically, everyone should follow the “Eat Well” plate to balance out a healthy diet such as consuming fruits and vegetables, protein, small portions of foods and drinks that are high in fat and/ or sugar. Foods that are high in sugars and fats are oils, salad dressing, cream, chocolate, cake, pudding, etc. According to the pregnancy book (2009), Eating too much saturated fat can increase the amount of cholesterol in blood, which increase the chance of developing heart disease. Milk and dairy products are essential to your baby needs because it contain calcium. However, there are some foods that you should not eat when you are trying to get pregnant because it can harm the baby. To begin with, make sure you cook eggs fully though because it prevents the risk of salmonella food poisoning and raw and undercooked eggs. Fish is one of the biggest questions many women have throughout their pregnancy. Some type of fish you have to avoid such as shark, marlin and swordfish, and limit the amount of tuna you eat. These oily fish have a lot of mercury in it and can damage a baby nervous system. Peanuts right along with fish was advised from the government that it should not be eaten while pregnant if the child immediate family had any allergies towards it.   

            Vitamins and minerals are essential needs while you are pregnant to prevent problems. Folic acid is important for pregnancy as it is a B vitamin that can prevent birth defects. Taking 400 microgram of folic acid before you’re pregnant and everyday after you’re pregnant can help a lot. Also making sure you are eating foods that contain folic acid, such as green vegetables, brown rice and some breakfast cereals. Vitamin D, Iron, vitamin C, and calcium are all vitamins you should take. Pregnant women that are vegetarian and vegan contain special diets because they have to find other foods that are high in proteins since they don’t eat meat. Getting proper nutrients such as iron and vitamin B12 have to be followed up with a doctor or a dietician so they can get the proper needs for their baby.

            Smoking cigarettes is probably one of the most adverse outcomes for babies! It's dangerous to smoke during pregnancy because cigarettes contain more than 4,000 chemicals including 60 cancer causing compounds. When you smoke cigarettes, the toxins of to your blood stream which is the baby's only source of oxygen and nutrients, so not only are you getting affected by cigarettes, your baby is suffering the consequences as well. Smoking doubles the chances of your baby being born early weighing less than 5 1/2 pounds or they can die before they are born. According to Baby Center (2017) stated these babies' risk of having certain types of congenital heart defects was 20 to 70 percent higher than it was for babies who's moms didn't smoke. The defects included those that obstruct the flow of openings between the upper chambers of the heart (right ventricular outflow tract obstructions) and openings between the upper chambers of the heart (atrial septal defects). The same thing goes for women that thinks it's safe to consume alcohol. There is no know safe amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant because it can harm your baby by going into the placenta which affects the baby's development. 
 References 
https://www.babycenter.com/0_how-smoking-during-pregnancy-affects-you-and-your-baby_1405720.bc

https://www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Pregnancy_Book_comp.pdf

What to do

Congratulations, you are pregnant! That’s probably one of the best news you’ll ever receive in your life. What to do now? You should start calculating your baby’s due date with a due date calculator. The due date calculator let you find out your baby’s sex, the heart beat, and when to hear the heartbeat etc.  Next, you want to choose a doctor or midwife because it’s important to find someone you want to be comfortable with delivering your baby during the 9-moth process. After you chose a doctor or midwife, you can set up a prenatal appointment when you’re 8 weeks pregnant.

When to decide when you are going to announce your pregnancy to your partner, family, and friends. Making this news public to one person such as your partner or friends may lead to everyone knowing. If you tell one, one is going to tell all and that’s when the baby shower and new clothes start coming in. Before you break the news, have you ever thought about which trimester you would be in?  According to Baby Center (2015), a lot of women wait until after the first trimester because that’s when the risk of miscarriage drops. Miscarriages is the loss of pregnancy in the first 20 weeks and about 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, and more than 80 percent of these losses happen before 12 weeks (Baby Center, 2015). When making the news public you should consider what would be better breaking the news to someone via phone, in writing video, or in person. Also take your partner’s ideas and thoughts into consideration when deciding.

During the the first trimester, you should plan before you have your baby. You should definitely take finance into a huge consideration because babies are very expensive and they are worth every dime. You and you partner should open a savings account because the first year your baby is born; he/she is going to cost you a lot money. In order to stay on track, creating a pregnancy checklist can help you become organized on how much money you are going to spend on clothes, diapers, milk, and toys etc. Then you have to talk to your boss to see when is your maternity leave and when is your partner’s paternity leave so you both can take turns with your new born. The next step some woman take is figuring out what they are going to name their child. Some woman wait until after the baby is born to think of a name while you have others already have a list of possibilities. Naming a baby has a lot of meaning because that identify who you are and what you go by.
This information is useful because a lot of women don't know where to start when they first get the news about they're pregnant. This can steer a lot of women in the right direction. 

https://www.babycenter.com/pregnant-now-what