Top Ten Tips for Expectant Mothers
Are you pregnant? Are you thinking of becoming pregnant? Here are 10 important things to consider for a healthy pregnancy.
- Vitamins:
Take prenatal vitamins with folic acid and essential fatty acids starting 2-3 months before conception (when you start having unprotected sex in order to get pregnant). Take at least 800 micrograms of folic acid per day. Folic acid prevents open neural tube defects such as spina bifida. The neural tube closes on approximately day 24 of pregnancy. Also take a supplement of essential fatty acids (omega-3, 6, & 9) each day. Essential fatty acids can be found in many foods, but have been added to most prenatal vitamins. They have been shown to be good for babies’ brain and eye development, as well as moms. - Dental Health:
Have a dental check up prior to conception to make sure there are no infections in your mouth. This is important because bacteria in your mouth may cause preterm labor and preterm delivery (premature baby). - Clean Living:
Don’t smoke, drink alcohol or use street drugs. Cigarettes expose the embryo/fetus to over 200 toxic chemicals which can interfere with the growth of the baby, causing the blood vessels to constrict. This constriction of the blood vessels causes an increase in blood pressure and a decrease in oxygen and nutrients going to the developing fetus. - Sleep:
Once pregnant, rest as much as possible. During pregnancy you should not take any sleeping medication, but you can have a glass of warm milk to help you relax. Seven to eight hours of restful sleep every night is usually sufficient, although sometimes your body wants more sleep. A nap during the day or late afternoon will provide a wonderful “pick-me-up.” - Stay Hydrated:
Drink lots of water, at least two quarts per day. If dehydration occurs during pregnancy, it can cause your mouth to feel dry and your uterus may cramp, which is very concerning when pregnant. Also, avoid adding salt and sugar to anything you eat or drink.
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
Add a Comment13 Comments
Good comments, but why is it bad to have an occasional glass of wine? In Europe, this is considered normal.
August 3, 2009 - 6:27pmThis Comment
Alcohol is both a depressant and a stimulant. Doctors advise women to abstain from alcohol in order to avoid any potential affects upon the fetus. Whether or not it's normal in Europe is immaterial. We'd like to believe that, in moderation, anything is okay. However, the health of the fetus should be the highest priority, wouldn't you agree?
For more information, please see:
The Dangers of Drinking for Two: Alcohol and Birth Defects, by Celeste Krauss, MD
August 3, 2009 - 6:56pmi am sure you know that every gram of alcohol kills brain cells in adults.....a yet developing fetus does not have all of it's brain cells yet....a child deserves to be born as healthy as it can be wit all of it's brain cells. and inside the womb it's so defenseless and would be harmed much more than an adult. think future behavior, learning ability (academically), etc.. health problems, medical costs.....it all starts in the womb. lets think a tad beyond the incredibly selfish and termporary enjoyment of one or occasional glass of wine....when the harm done to a baby is PERMANENT.
August 4, 2009 - 9:06pmAlso, it is ok to take some sleep aids such as benadryl or even ambien in pregnancy. Benadryl is an anti-histimine and is not addictive, but ambien can be.
August 3, 2009 - 10:27pmNO!!!!!! drugs are not oK in pregnancy. benadryl and ambien can cause sever damage to the "still developing and defenseless fetus" . i would never even think of consuming those for myself when not pregnant let alone when pregnant. Please let babies develop as best it can naturally. moms need to become more responsible and less selfish. pregnancy is a temporary condition, except for sever conditions moms need to stay drug free. one of the worst offenders is morning sickness drugs: they prevent moms from absorbing Folate ! the most important nutrient for baby. How is baby supposed to grow without Folate. ? and doctors will dole these out saying they are safe......atrocious!
August 4, 2009 - 9:13pmwe need to re-educate women that Folate is what they need. Folic acid is synthetic and not usable by 30% of people. Folate is found naturally in foods like whole grains and vegetables as well as a few very select good whole food prenatal supplements like Healthy Baby Vitamins. Most others and all prescriptions use Folic acid as it is cheaper. also Folate won't do any woman or baby any good unless all other b vitamins and all 31 nutrients are present. So a prenatal needs to be a multivitamin with all micro nutrients.
August 4, 2009 - 6:05pmone more thing, besides nutrition, the most important thing a mom can do to make a healthier baby wasn't even mentioned: exercise. prenatal exercise creates babies at lower risk for all health problems and with superior academic and athletic abilities once 19 years of age. Birgitta Lauren, prenatal fitness / nutrition @ www.expectingfitness.com
These are all interesting comments, but the differences in opinion and information can be really confusing! I've had three pregnancies, and with the first, I didn't even know about the importance of folic acid because it wasn't "in the know" at the time and not much was said about it. During my second pregnancy, I was so sick with morning sickness that I wasn't able to take prenatal vitamins at all. And yet I had an extremely healthy baby.
August 4, 2009 - 9:56pmthere is always someone that will utter such nonsense....common sense would tell any smart person that a baby would have been healthier had moms diet been better. just like all those that will say: but back in the 50's we drank and smoked and kids still came out healthy.....when we have truck loads of proof that they didn't....think depression, cancer rates, ADHD, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, mental and behavioural problems, crime (yes a criminal mind is a birthdefect; and boys from smoking moms have higher risk of becoming violent criminals) . let's try our best to help a child come into this world as healthy as we can make it. and stop making excuses...and i don't deal in opinions only facts. you still didn't get the difference between folate and folic acid....
August 5, 2009 - 1:35pmI'm sorry....are you saying that my comment is nonsense?? That's nice. (Who are you, by the way? I'm assuming that you're Birgitta from a previous comment.) Regarding folate vs. folic acid, I know about folic acid because of all of the awareness work that the March of Dimes has done very aggressively in recent years. Here's a link to some helpful info on folic acid: http://search.marchofdimes.com/cgi-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=6&page_id=11339...
I've never heard of a criminal mind being a birth defect -- that's interesting. Do you know of a study that shows that? I've never in my life heard that before. I would think that there would be more environmental factors involved when it comes to committing a crime.
In your previous comment, you mention that prenatal exercise creates babies with superior academic and athletic abilities. That sounds a little extreme to me -- again, do you have a study that you can refer us to on that? I was unable to exercise during each of my pregnancies and I do believe that my kids have superior academic and athletic abilities. ;) In fact, one of my kids is off-the-charts gifted (started reading medical journals at the age of 5) and plans to go to Harvard Medical School one day to become a surgeon. I was unable to exercise during his pregnancy and never took a prenatal vitamin (nor folic acid) because I was so sick that I couldn't keep them down. Go figure.
I do believe that we as moms need to have access to all of the great health information that exists, such as Dr. Stein's Top Ten Tips for Expectant Mothers, and that we should be respected and not judged for the choices we make (and sometimes have to make out of necessity). The worst thing you can tell a mother is that you HAVE to take folate or you HAVE to breastfeed or you HAVE to make sure your toddler has two naps a day, or you HAVE to (fill in the blank) or you'll have an unhealthy child. That's ridiculous.
August 5, 2009 - 4:04pmOn the point of insomnia - for women with chronic insomnia, going without a sleep medication (even an over the counter) can be dangerous. Statements about every pregnant woman being the bastion of health and fitness are fine until the pregnant woman has a condition that demands medications that others consider "unnecessary".
August 5, 2009 - 1:49pm