During Pregnancy
After discovering that you are indeed pregnant, you need to look into several aspects during pregnancy. Taking care of your body will now have multiple impact that a child is inside your womb. There are certain changes you need to adapt, while you must also let go of a few unhealthy lifestyle routine.
Staying Healthy During Pregnancy
Your health is the topmost priority while pregnant. This will span during the initial stages of your pregnancy until you are ready for childbirth. Aside from making healthy choices for taking care of your body, you also need to take note of what you need to stay away from if you do not wish to build up certain complications on your baby's health.
A regular prenatal health care is one of the ways to protecting your child. You need to schedule regular appointments with your health care provider so he or she can monitor the development and health of the baby inside your womb.
Your first examination must be done during the initial 6-8 weeks of your pregnancy. The frequency of your prenatal check-up will vary as you near your due date. For the first 28 weeks of pregnancy, you visit the doctor once in every 4 weeks. When you reach 36 weeks, the visit is done every couple of weeks. After that, a weekly prenatal check-up is done until the actual date of your delivery.
You also need to create a dietary guideline to ensure you are eating healthy foods during your pregnancy. Eat lots of vegetables, fruits, lean meats, low-fat dairy products, or whole grain breads.
Sex During Pregnancy
Several women find discussing sex during pregnancy awkward. However, there are several factors that can contribute to your level of sexuality while pregnant: your beliefs on sex, your partner's own belief on sex, and the physical and emotional aspects relating to your pregnancy.
Although there are no clear scientific evidence that prohibits sex during pregnancy, sexual intercourse is allowed up until 7 months of pregnancy. However, to those women who welcome the idea of sex during pregnancy must be pleased to know that the level of enjoyment you can get from the act is not lessen, if not more enjoyable. Again, it varies according to the factors stated above.
In fact, several reasons contribute to making sex during pregnancy more pleasurable:
- lack of use of birth control
- engaging in sex as pleasure, instead of procreation
- increased vaginal lubrication, etc.
Whatever your choice is, you need to openly discuss it with your partner to ensure that (should you decide on engaging in sex while pregnant) but are comfortable about the choice.
Smoking during pregnancy
No-smoking campaigns have been in existence for a while now. This is done to raise awareness on the health dangers posed by smoking. Therefore, smoking during pregnancy cause raised eyebrow as it does damage on both the woman and the unborn child. Survey done in the United States reveals that 10% of pregnant women engage in smoking.
A more compelling evidence is the statistics gathered by the US Public Health Service regarding pregnant women who quit smoking:
- reduced stillbirths by 11%
- reduced newborn deaths by 5%
Indeed, the harmful chemicals present in cigarette smoke are harmful to the developing baby. Therefore, smoking while pregnant must be avoided if the mother not only wants to avoid pregnancy complications, but also death on their newborn.
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Understanding During Pregnancy Recommended Resources:
The National Academies Press
Colorado State University
