Dr. Jeevagan

Pregnancy is an ideal time to start taking really good care of yourself, both physically and emotionally. If you follow the few simple guidelines below, you should give yourself the best chance of having a problem free pregnancy and a healthy baby.Healthy and fit baby is all what mother demands so here are the tips for a healthy pregnancy.

1. See your doctor or midwife as soon as possible: As soon as you find out you're pregnant, get in touch with your GP or a midwife to organise your antenatal care.

2. Eat well: Aim to eat a healthy, balanced diet whenever you can. Try to have, at least five portions of fruit and vegetables daily. Plenty of carbohydrates, such as roti and rice, as the basis of your meals. Choose wholegrain carbohydrates rather than white, so you get plenty of fibre. Daily servings of protein, such as fish, lean meat, eggs, nuts or pulses, and some milk and dairy foods. Two portions of fish a week, at least one of which should be oily.

3. Take a supplement: Pregnancy vitamin supplements aren't a substitute for a balanced diet. But they can help if you're worried you're not eating well, or you're too sick to eat much.

4. Be careful about food hygiene: There are some foods that are not safe to eat in pregnancy. This is because they can carry a health risk for your baby. It is always recommended to avoid foods such as raw papaya and raw pineapple during pregnancy as cause pregnancy or birth complications. It can even lead to miscarriage. Avoid eating outside food.

5. Exercise regularly: Good exercise choices for pregnancy include, brisk walking, swimming, antenatal classes, yoga, pilates, etc. One should do exercise which she is used to doing regularly when not pregnant and should avoid starting any new exercise during pregnancy without supervision.

6. Begin doing pelvic floor exercises: Your pelvic floor comprises a hammock of muscles at the base of your pelvis. These muscles support your bladder, vagina and back passage. They can feel weaker than usual in pregnancy because of the extra pressure upon them. Pregnancy hormones can also cause your pelvic floor to slacken slightly.

7. Cut out alcohol: Any alcohol you drink rapidly reaches your baby via your bloodstream and placenta.

There is no way to know for sure how much alcohol is safe during pregnancy. That's why many experts advise you to cut out alcohol completely while you're expecting.

8. Cut back on caffeine: Coffee, tea, cola and energy drinks are mild stimulants. There are concerns that too much caffeine may increase your risk of miscarriage. It's also thought possible that too much caffeine may contribute to your risk of having a low birth weight baby.

9. Stop smoking: Smoking during pregnancy can cause serious health problems, for you and your baby. These risks include an increased risk of, miscarriage, premature birth, low birth weight.

10. Get some rest: The fatigue you feel in the first few months is due to high levels of pregnancy hormones circulating in your body. Later on, it's your body's way of telling you to slow down.To wind down ready for bed, try relaxation techniques, which are safe in pregnancy, such as yoga, stretching, deep breathing, visualisation, massage.

What will happen if you don't follow these tips?

1. Insufficient Growth

2. Neurological Disorders

3. Low Birth Weight

4. Body Weakness

5. Fetus and Infant Death

If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Gynaecologist.

In the race of getting to work on time, finishing files and completing all the tasks on your to-do list, eating is sometimes given the last priority. You may think that skipping a meal does no harm, but in fact it can have quite a detrimental effect on your physical and mental health.

Here are a few things that may happen when you skip a meal

You lose muscle weight: While skipping a meal may make you lose weight, this is not healthy weight loss. Skipping a meal makes the body lose muscle weight not fat. Losing muscle weight can, in turn, lead to a loss of energy and make you tire easily.

1. You will crave junk food: When you skip a meal, your body craves for fillers and snacks. Thus, you are more likely to binge on chips and other such unhealthy snacks. In the long run, this can make you put on weight. It can also make you eat more for your next meal.
2. You may be less productive: Skipping a meal can make you slowdown in terms of time taken to make decisions. It can also make you physically unsteady and leave you feeling lethargic thus, making you less productive. Not eating at regular times can also make you moody and affect your ability to concentrate on tasks.
3. Your metabolism is affected: Skipping a meal may put your body into starvation mode so as to store energy. Not only does this slow down your rate of metabolism and leave you with less energy, it can also lead to weight gain as the calories are stored as fat instead of being burnt as energy.
4. It can increase your risk of lifestyle diseases: Skipping a meal can make your blood sugar levels drop. Not having breakfast or lunch can also make you eat a heavier dinner that elevates your sugar levels. This type of fluctuation can affect your body’s insulin response time and lead to diabetes in the long run. Skipping meals can also lead to high blood pressure and hypertension.

It can cause indigestion: Stomach upsets like gas, bloating, acidity, pain etc are very often caused by skipping a meal. This is because when you skip a meal, the stomach is left empty for a long time leading to a build-up of gastric acids in the stomach. This acid then attacks the lining of the stomach causing ulcers and abdominal pain.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!