Nutrient Needs During Pregnancy
Dietary and lifestyle changes are necessary during pregnancy. Even father needs to eat well before the conception. The male's lifestyle may affect his fertility. Alcohol, smoking and drug abuse are associated with decreased production and function of sperms. In order to protect and enhance the sperm function father need to consume well balanced diet that contains good amount of vegetables, fruits,whole grains, lean meat and dairy food products. Also he must stop smoking, drinking alcohol and avoid getting indulged in drug use and strive for the health of baby.
Healthy Lifestyle For Mother Before Conception and During Pregnancy
It is a long process for a mother from the time of conception till the post delivery. During this process she needs to take care of her unborn baby and of her own health where she needs proper planning, lifestyle change and change in eating habits.
1) Healthy Weight
Women who get pregnant at the healthy weight are more likely to conceive easily, without much complications and can easily nurse her baby. If a women is obese then there is an increased risk of high blood pressure and diabetes during pregnancy. They may also require cesarean section to deliver a baby. Not only mother has risk of life but also her baby has greater risk of having difficulties in breathing or may have any birth defects. Overweight weight women should lose some weight prior conception. Similarly underweight women should strive for gaining healthy weight. Underweight women has lighter placenta which cannot deliver adequate nutrition to the fetus. In such women there is a greater risk of delivering low birth weight baby or premature baby.
2) Consume Adequate Folic acid
Folic acid helps in growth and development of a baby and reduces the risk of birth defects. This neural tube birth defect arises three to four weeks after conception. Hence it is necessary to consume folic acid atleast one month before conception. The required dose of folic acid is 400 milligrams daily can be taken either through fortified food or supplements.
3) Reduce Caffine Consumption
Some studies shows that caffiene consumption of 500milligram or more daily can delay conception and may affect the fertility. Women who are planning for pregnancy must consume no or less than 300mg of caffiene. During preganancy women should stop caffiene consumption as the caffiene that mother drinks passes to her fetus. Fetus cannot breakdown caffiene and remains in th body for longer time which increases the risk of birth defects and miscarriage.
4) Avoid smoking and alcohol
Cigarette smoking and alcohol decreases the fertility of women. Baby born to smoker mother has increase risk of premature deaths and low bith weight baby. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can lead to learning and behavioral disabilities in new born baby. Hence women need to completely abstain alcohol to eliminate these disorders in the future.
5) Moderate Fish Intake
Food and Drug Administration recommends that women of childbearing age or pregnant women should avoid certain fish that contains high level of methylmercury because it can harm the nervous system of the fetus. Fishes like shark, swordfish and King mackerel has high methylmercury toxin. Women can eat other fishes like tuna, salmon, crab, shrimps, scallops and cod as they have low levels of methylmercury.
5) Maintain your preexisting diseases
Women must ensure the presence of any chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, thyroidism and sexually transmitted diseases before concieving. If she has any preexisting diseases then it is very important to successfully manage them before conception. Women with diabetes increases the risk of fetal complications like congenital abnormalities and miscarraiges. Hence it is necessary to treat the diabetes before pregnancy.
6) Consume Adequate Carbohydtare and Proteins
During pregnancy, the mother's need for kilocalories increase and she needs to gain atleast 1/2 to 1 kg of weight per week till the delivery. To gain this weight she needs to consume additional combination of food groups that provide enough carbohydrate, proteins, essential fatty acids, calcium, iron, zinc and fiber as these nutrients are required during and after the pregnancy.
7) Indulge in physical activities
Daily exercise is very important during pregnancy as it improves sleep, reduces stress, prevent backache, lowers the risk of chronic diseases, maintains the regular bowel movements, labor can be easily performed and maintains the post pregnancy weight as it was before. However women must not get involved in heavy and unsafe activities, for instance - sports like football, basketball; weight lifting, skating, aerobics, etc. She can involve herself in the low impact activities like cycling (stationary), walking, swimming and slow dancing. These low impact activities pose less risk to both mother and her baby as in contrast with high impact activities.
General Dietary Consideration During Pregnancy
As mentioned before the nutrient need increases during pregnacy specially need for folic acid. Food high in folate are green leafy vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Other nutrient concern is absorption of calcium and vitamin D. As most of the women lack calcium and vitamin D in the body the demand for them increases way too much during pregnancy. Mother must ensure she gets adequate calcium and vitamin from milk and dairy products as they both preserves bone mass and prevents osteoporosis. Also to prevent vitamin D deficiency, exposure to sunshine in the morning is necessary. During pregnancy the immune system of both mother and baby are low and undeveloped respectively. Hence mother must take care of her health and maintain good hygiene. If there is any doubt immediately visit or contact your family physician.
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