New mothers who want to slim down need to concentrate on eating healthy foods and exercising regularly.   During pregnancy, mothers’ diets may have changed in order to provide proper nutrition for their growing babies. After the birth, it is time to develop a diet that centers around fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, and lean proteins such as skinless poultry, fish, beans, you may have changed your eating habits to support your baby’s growth and development. Or lean red meats.  These types of protein contain important nutrients such as Vitamin-B, iron or zinc

Mothers can also lose weight and eat more healthfully if they have smaller portions at meals and eat only when they feel hungry.   It is not necessary to skip meals, but rather to eat more fruits, vegetables and grains, and to avoid higher calorie foods.  Small and frequent meals may be a better option than the traditional schedule of breakfast, lunch and dinner.   Sometimes new mothers eat more if they feel anxious, nervous or lonely, or simply because it seems like time for a meal.  In these cases, it makes more sense to take the new baby for a walk, or arrange a date with a friend.

Exercising is almost always a good idea.  Mothers who had vaginal births and exercised during pregnancy can safely start moving again, even days after the birth. If the birth was by C-section, or had any complications, Mom can consult with her health care provider to develop a sensible exercise plan.

The plan should be workable and pleasant; otherwise the new mother is unlikely to stick with it.  Baby can breastfeed or drink from the bottle just before Mom begins her workout, then Mother can hold Baby while she dances or does aerobics.   Baby can come along for the ride in a stroller or baby carrier.   The activity can be slow and gentle at first — swimming, walking, using an exercise bike.  It doesn’t have to be a vigorous one-hour boot camp either — several 10 to 20 minute sessions per day are a good way to get started, because after a few days Mother will develop more stamina and energy and feel ready for longer and more strenuous workouts.   While working out, Mom should be sure to drink lots of water.  If they start to feel dizzy, or their vision blurs, or they have a hard time breathing, or if they experience vaginal bleeding, they should stop exercising and rest.

Burning fat takes a long term commitment to a low-calorie diet and aerobic exercise, and for some women who want to see more immediate results, it can make more sense to convert the excess fat into muscle through resistance training.  Kegel exercises that tighten and release the pelvis and crunches and sit-ups that strengthen the abdomen can help Mother tone up her muscles and become both stronger and more confident about her body. Kegels are easy to do while mothers are breastfeeding their babies, lying down, standing or sitting.

Dieting, unlike exercise, is best avoided immediately after the birth new mothers who are getting enough exercise will do fine if they concentrate on healthy eating instead, because the bodies need to recover.  Only after menstruation returns is it safe to follow a weight-loss plan.   At that point, if the mother gained within recommended 22- 30 pounds when she was pregnant, she will be able to return to her pre-pregnancy weight within eight months while remaining healthy.

One of the most sensible strategies for losing weight and keeping the baby healthy is to breastfeed for a year after birth. Research by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has shown that the hormones released during breastfeeding help a woman’s uterus return to the shape it had during pregnancy.   However, in many cases the bulk of the weight is not lost during breastfeeding itself, but in the period right after weaning.  Moreover, breastfeeding is not enough Even for nursing mothers, it’s still important to get exercise and to follow a healthy diet that never drops below about 1800 calories per day as long as baby is still drinking breast milk.

*This article is based on the information at http://www.mayoclinic.com, http://www.annecollins.com, http://www.pregnancy-info.net and http://www.breastfeeding.com/for_moms/weight_loss_after.html

In other words, pregnant mothers do not need to eat for two.  An increase of 100 to 300 calories per day is essential, but it is also generally enough.  On the one hand, women who don’t gain enough weight can hurt their fetuses.  On the other hand, women who gain too much can also hurt themselves and their babies.

Mothers-to-be who have a tendency to be overweight can benefit from a combination of healthy diet and regular exercise during their pregnancy.  If their efforts succeed at maintaining weight gain within the recommended range, they can rest assured that their babies are growing well and getting all the necessary nutrients.

In the first three months, during the purgatory of fatigue and morning sickness, an expecting mother only needs to gain about 4 pounds, by consuming only about 150 to 200 extra calories a day — the equivalent of one small low-fat yogurt.   Beginning with the second trimester, the pace of weight gain picks up, and the mother can expect to gain at least 3 to 4 pounds a month, or about a pound a week.  300 extra calories a day is enough to gain this much weight.  The mother’s diet should reflect this priority.  Rather than eat high-calorie foods with few nutrients, she can increase her consumption of whole grain breads and pastas, green salads and black beans, or sliced fruit and vegetables.  If she maintains her prenatal appointments, her physicians and other providers can help her monitor her diet and her weight.

Women who were underweight before getting pregnant should gain 28-40 pounds, which is somewhat more than the recommended range. Overweight women, on the other hand, may need to gain only 15-25 pounds during pregnancy. A good rule of thumb is to gain about 2 to 4 pounds in the first trimester, and 1 pound a week during the second and third. Mothers who are expecting twins may gain 35 to 45 pounds during pregnancy.

Generally, an expecting mother’s weight gain breaks is distributed in the following proportions.  The baby itself weighs about 8 pounds at birth.  The placenta, amniotic fluid, and new breast tissue each weigh between 2 and 3 pounds.   Blood supply increases by 4 pounds, body fat for delivery and breastfeeding is between 8 and 9 pounds, and the uterus gains between 2 and 5 pounds.

For women who need to gain weight during pregnancy, the best options are to eat small, frequent meals about five times a day, and to focus mostly on healthy snacks such as nuts, raisins, fruit, yoghurt, cheese and crackers.  Protein-rich peanut butter can be spread on toast and crackers or fruits and vegetables, and nonfat milk powder can enrich the calorie count of mashed potatoes, cereal or potatoes.  Butter, margarine, cream cheese, sour cream, gravy and cheese can also make the meal more nutritious.

Some pregnant mothers gain weight quickly and go beyond the recommended weight gain.  They should NOT try to lose weight, because it is not safe for the baby, but they can slow their gain by eating a variety of nutritious foods, choosing low-fat items on the menu — such as chicken breasts with tomato and lettuce –and going for boiled or baked snacks rather than fried.  Whole milk products can be replaced with foods that contain low-fat or non-fat milk.  They can also stop drinking sweet and sugary drinks such as fruit juice, ice tea, lemonade or sugar sodas, opting to drink water when thirsty and get their calories through nutritious food instead.  Salt should be avoided, because it causes the body to retain water.  Finally, mothers can put away sweet, high-calorie snacks such as cookies, candies, honey or potato chips, and replace them with more nutritious foods that are equally sweet or savory, such as low-fat yoghurt, strawberry shortcake or pretzels.

It is almost always a good idea to exercise.  Walking and swimming are safe and effective for pregnant women, and they help burn extra calories.  However, before beginning an exercise program, expecting mothers should speak with their physicians.

Pregnancy weight gain is inevitable, and the growth and development of the baby depend on it. Nonetheless, expecting mothers who are “eating for two” — themselves and their babies — do not need to double the amount of food they consume.   A healthy lifestyle allows mothers to control how much weight they gain in pregnancy, support the health of their babies, and make it easier to lose weight after delivery.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to pregnancy weight gain. How much weight mothers need to gain depends on their pre-pregnancy weight and body mass index (BMI). The health of the mother and baby also play a role.

*This article is based on the information at http://en.wikipedia.org,http://www.webmd.com,http://www.mayoclinic.com and http://www.babycenter.com

The mother’s body, however, continues to change in other ways, and this second trimester, too, has its annoyances.   The expecting mother will need a supportive bra, because she is likely to develop larger breasts as her pregnancy hormones– estrogen and progesterone — stimulate the growth of milk-producing glands. The breasts also begin to accumulate fat, and the nipples continue to be somewhat sore.

As the uterus grows, so does the belly. The mother begins to gain serious weight — usually about 4 pounds a month until the end of her pregnancy.

The uterus also begins to prepare itself for the birth.  Second-trimester pregnant women may experience Braxton Hicks contractions, in which the uterus goes through weak, unpredictable and irregular muscle spasms to build up its strength for the real labor that will come in a few months.

Because the mother’s body is still saturated with pregnancy hormones, the skin on her abdomen and face may have darkened somewhat; it will return to normal color after the birth.  About half of pregnant women develop permanent stretch marks halfway through the second trimester, because their skin has stretched to accommodate the growing baby, but the marks will fade after birth, becoming barely noticeable.  There are ways to minimize stretch marks during pregnancy — keeping weight gain under control, eating a healthy skin-friendly diet, and drinking lots of water.   Stretch mark prevention creams can also help limit the damage, which in any case will always be hard to see.

The pregnant mother’s skin may suffer a third indignity in addition to darkening and stretching.    Hormones cause the skin to secrete oil, which in turn causes breakouts of acne.  This, too, can be controlled, if Mother sticks to a healthy diet, drinks plenty of water, and washes her face with oil-free moisturizer, and this, too, shall pass.

Some aches and pains also come with the territory.  As the uterus and abdomen expand, an expecting mother can feel pain in her abdomen, groin or thighs. Her increased weight may also cause backaches, and the pressure from baby’s head may cause aches in her pelvic bone.  If the ligaments are stretching to support her uterus, she may have aches in the lower abdomen.  A support girdle can help relieve back pain, but perhaps the best option is to take the time to lie down, rest, and apply heat to the sore parts of the body.

As the uterus grows, it begins to invade the territory formerly occupied exclusively by other organs, and everywhere it goes, it leaves its mark.   Tissues swell in the wrists, making fingers feel tingling or numb; toes ache from the accumulation of fluid in the feet.  Stretchy skin can make the abdomen itch constantly.    Pressure against the bladder increases the mother’s need to urinate.  High levels of estrogen and progesterone can increase blood flows to the mouth and nose, which irritates the mucous membranes in the nose and gums.  Some of the side effects of the irritation can include softness, tenderness and swelling, nasal congestion, sinus congestions and post-nasal drips, nosebleeds, or bleeding and spongy gums.   The vagina discharges a white substance, called leucorrhea.

Pregnant second trimester mothers have trouble sleeping, too, because their bodies are changing shape and so many of their organs are aching from the pressure of the uterus or the side effects of hormones.   Sleep may also come more easily with regular exercise, which will not hurt the baby or the mother.

It is not all aches and pains though.   Sometime around the end of the fifth month, usually between the 18th and 22nd weeks, comes that magic time in the pregnancy known as quickening, when the mother first feels the baby’s movements inside her uterus. Women who have been pregnant before are likely to experience this earlier, possibly because their uterine muscles are more relaxed than those of first-time mothers.  Around this time, the mother has her first 3D ultrasound, which gives her, and the world, a good view of the growing baby and usually reveals its gender.  Between the 5th and 7th months, the stomach flutterings and baby-butterflies of quickening gradually evolve into actual kicking.

Medical appointments during this time are organized around the baby’s growth.  The practitioner will confirm the due date and check regularly for any health problems in the mother and fetus.   She will check Mother’s weight and blood pressure and measure the distance between the top of the uterus and the pubic bone.  The most exciting part of the prenatal visits is likely to be a session with the Doppler that measures Baby’s heartbeat.

*This article is based on the information at http://www.pregnancy-info.net, http://www.webmd.com, http://www.mayoclinic.com, http://parenting.ivillage.com and http://www.babyzone.com

Many women are familiar with the first signs of pregnancy — period is late, breasts are swelling, one feels more tired than usual and somewhat nauseous, and there’s the issue of having to go to the bathroom every few minutes. There are other signs too: the constipation that results from progesterone’s effect on the intestines, cravings for new foods, hormone-related mood swings.

After the pregnancy test has come in positive at least twice, it’s time to contact the doctor for an appointment.   A general physical exam will include

• A medical history,
• Arrangements for blood tests.

These will help the doctor determine the baby’s blood type and the mother’s blood count, test for immunity to syphilis and rubella, evaluate the risk of genetic diseases, test for STDs, and overall, confirm that the new mother is healthy and can handle carrying a baby to term.  A provider may also schedule a sonogram, particularly if Mother doesn’t know the date of her last period, or if she is over 35.  A perinatal consultation is also worth considering if there’s a history of family genetic disorders or risky pregnancies.  The doctor may recommend C-section births for women who’ve had them in the past.

After the first physical and blood work, the mother is likely to come in for monthly checkups until the 3rd trimester, and perhaps more frequently after that until the baby is born.  In the meantime, it’s a good idea for the mother to start taking prenatal vitamins.  If they intensify the mother’s morning sickness, it is possible to get the nutrients naturally by consuming the foods and beverages that contain them.

As the pregnancy progresses, the expecting mother should not be surprised if she feels nauseous, tired, dizzy, and sore.  Breasts can become tender and swollen.  She begins to gain a bit of weight, too, although most of the extra pounds will come in the second and third trimesters.  The abdomen begins to distend, and by the fourth month it will be time to wear maternity clothes.  It is now, in the first few weeks, that she should establish new diet and exercise habits that will keep her healthy, trim and strong throughout her pregnancy.

Miscarriages occur in about 10 to 20 percent of first trimester pregnancies, and one of the symptoms is profuse bleeding.  For this reason, any kind of bleeding during the first weeks is reason enough to see the doctor immediately. However, it is possible for pregnant women to experience “spotting,” or mild vaginal bleeding, in the first trimester for reasons that have nothing to do with the health of their growing babies.

The culprit may be cervicitis, an inflammation of the cervix in response to a yeast infection, and is easily tamed with over-the-counter or prescription creams.    Cervicitis usually causes bleeding as a result of the back-and-forth motions of sexual intercourse, a change in the acids inside the vagina, or the side effects of infections within the fragile cells of the cervix.

Bacterial vaginosis is another harmless infection, easily caught with a microscope, which may cause spotting and can be treated effectively with antibiotic pills or gels.   Although it is no cause for worry, treatment is important, because some research suggests that the disease is associated with a higher risk of preterm labor.

A third cause of bleeding is cervical polyps; overgrown cervical cells that grow into the vagina because they have been stimulated by the presence of estrogen.   These polyps can bleed from intercourse or even walking, and can be removed easily in a doctor’s office or even by the pressure of the emerging baby during delivery.

A final cause of harmless bleeding is the disintegration of a loose piece of menstrual tissue that may have grown inside the vagina in response to pregnancy hormones; some mothers confuse this with a miscarriage, but this kind of bleeding has absolutely no health consequences for either the mother or the baby.

On the other hand, if the mother is losing actual fetal or placental tissue, she may at risk of a miscarriage.  Outbreaks of STDs like Chlamydia, trichomonas or gonorrhea can also cause bleeding, and they are dangerous.

When miscarriages do occur, they can be difficult to identify because the cramping feelings they cause are similar to those produced by a growing uterus.   The most effective way to test for the likelihood of miscarriage in early pregnancy is to measure the amount of progesterone in the mother’s blood. Low progesterone suggests that a miscarriage is either about to occur, or has already taken place.

If the blood tests are normal, and the mother-to-be is still worried about the health of her baby, an ultrasound is the way to go.  It can demonstrate that the baby is growing in the right place, and has a healthy heart rate.

*This article is based on the information at http://www.pregnancy-period.com,http://www.babyzone.com and http://www.pregnancy-info.net

Babies born before full term (anytime before week 37) are known as premature, because their organs, particularly their lungs, are not developed enough to survive in a natural environment.   “Premies” must be kept in hospital conditions that are as similar to the womb as possible until their lungs are strong enough to breathe air.  Due to advances in modern medicine, particularly the technology of intensive care, premature babies have steadily increased their chances of survival to the point where the outer boundary of viability is now about 28 weeks.

In other words, babies born anytime during the third trimester have a good chance of survival.   Nonetheless, premature birth continues to be a serious threat, because even if the baby survives outside the womb, it may have fragile organs that cause poor health in later life.   For this reason, doctors do everything they can to help babies stay inside their mother’s wombs until week 37.

Even if the longest possible pregnancy is the best option for Baby, it is not always easy for Mom.  Expecting mothers gain the most weight in the last trimester, largely because the fetus enters its most rapid stage of growth and gains up to 28g per day.   In the last few weeks their bellies flop around and drop very low as Baby moves its head downward into the pelvic cavity, the ideal position for birth.

The most common symptoms during third trimester include fatigue, constipation, hemorrhoids, heartburn, swollen feet and ankles, frequent urination, insomnia and discomfort during sleep, hand pain and numbness, shortness of breath because the uterus is pressed up against the lungs, aches and pains in the back, the pelvis and the hip, and Braxton Hicks contractions, which do not lead to labor, but exercise the uterus without opening the cervix.

In the last trimester, an expecting mother often feels constantly fatigued by the combination of sleeplessness and the weight of a large fetus inside the body.  She may also develop hemorrhoids — swollen veins in the intestine and the anus — because of the pressure her enlarged uterus puts pressure on her inferior vena cava, the vein that drains the large intestine.   Another common problem is constipation, infrequent and difficult bowel movements, caused both by a slow-moving digestive system and possibly by the iron supplements a doctor has prescribed to ensure the good health of the baby.

As the due date approaches, and it is almost time to go into labor, the fetus will settle into mother’s pelvis in what is called lightening or dropping.  The cervix begins to thin out (effacement) and open up  (dilation).  Braxton Hicks contractions become stronger, more frequent, and sometimes more painful.  There is cramping in the lower back, the rectum and the groin.

The mother’s water breaks about the same time that labor starts, perhaps just before or after.  The membranes of the cervix rip open and water spills out from the mother’s body.  This means that it’s time to go to the hospital, because baby is coming.

Once the mother’s water has broken, labor progresses through three stages with increasing speed, and each stage is more painful than the one before.   The process begins with increasingly frequent contractions, many minutes apart at first, and then only 3 or 4 minutes apart.   In response to the contractions, the cervix gradually thins and opens, wider and wider until it is fully dilated and there is an open space at least 10 centimeters wide where the baby’s head can come out.   Contractions are gentle, short, and infrequent at first, during the “latent” or early phase of labor, but become long, strong and frequent during active labor.

Once the expecting mother is fully dilated, the second stage of labor begins and the mother begins to push, using all of her muscles to propel baby’s body out of the uterus, through the cervix, and into the open air.   This is the moment of birth.    The third and final stage begins right after birth.  While the baby begins getting used to life outside the womb, sometimes lying on mother and breastfeeding, or getting its vital signs checked by the doctor, other members of the birthing team remove the placenta from Mother’s body and cut the umbilical cord that connects baby to the placenta.

The average length of labor for first time mothers at full term is between 10 and 20 hours, but it can last much longer for some women.  For others, particularly those who’ve given birth before, it may be over in less than an hour.

Just as some births are premature, others may be a few days late.  Labor does not always begin on its own, even when the baby is ready for the outside world.   In these cases, practitioners use medication and other techniques to induce contractions, or in the case of labor that starts but stalls, they can also speed up labor.   Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control suggest that more than one in five births in the United States are induced. In situations where labor has not begun and induction would not be safe, practitioners go on to perform C-sections.

*This article is based on the information at http://www.webmd.com,http://www.pregnancy.com,http://pregnancy.about.com and http://en.wikipedia.org

Some medications are considered healthy during pregnancy, as long as the mother takes them after the first ten weeks with a physician’s approval.  Among the medicines that are considered safe are 3 for colds and hay fevers:

1. Chlor-Trimeton, an antihistamine
2. Sudafed, a decongestant
3. Actifed, a combination antihistamine and decongestant

1 for Cough Symptoms

• Robitussin or Robitussin DM

3 for Constipation

• Docusate (Colace): no more than 100 mg in the morning and evening
• Metamucil: up to 1 or 2 teaspoons with 8 ounces of liquid  — water or juice
• Milk of Magnesia -  up to 1 or 2 Tablespoons every evening

Mineral oil is not safe.   Ibuprofen should only be taken with the explicit approval of the mother’s physician.

If the expecting mother has headaches or body aches, the safe option is to take Tylenol or any other similar acetaminophen,  but no more than 2 tablets or 650 mg every 4 hours.  Aspirin is NOT safe to take without a physician’s prescription because it can prevent the mother’s blood from clotting and make labor and delivery more dangerous.

Mother’s bodies also transfer aspirin to their breast milk; a nursing baby can receive between 4 and 8% of the mother’s dose.  Since aspirin can build up in a baby’s body, it can be harmful to them to receive frequent doses, even if they are low.  Aspirin can also contribute to the baby’s development of a rare disease known as Reye’s syndrome, which can damage the brain and the liver.   For these reasons, it is unsafe for nursing mothers to take aspirin.

Tylenol (known generically as Acetaminophen) can ease the pain of a baby with a headache, fever, toothache or muscle injury, allowing it to get a good night’s sleep. However, Tylenol is also a powerful toxin that can damage the liver if it is taken in amounts beyond what the baby’s liver can handle.  Hence, Tylenol should also be avoided unless it is in tiny amounts, and prescribed by a physician.

Three medications are safe for Heartburn:

• Amphogel
• Gelusil
• Maalox

Baking soda or Pepto bismol are not safe.

When an expecting mothers catches a fever and her temperature is higher than 100.5, it is time to call her health provider.   Once her temperature falls below 100.5, she may safely take 650 mg of Tylenol every 4 hours, but if her fever more than two days and nights she should get in touch with her provider.

Some mothers may have taken Prozac before they became pregnant in order to combat depression.  Since Prozac is a “Class B” medication, taking it is officially discouraged during pregnancy unless a physician believes it is medically necessary.  A pregnant women on Prozac has miscarriages at the same rate as every other expecting mother.  Her fetus has no more abnormalities than average,   and once born, her children have no more trouble than usual with neurological development.

However,  pregnancy can be more risky for her during the third trimester because Prozac appears to slightly increase the chances of premature birth.   On the other hand, many mothers fall into postpartum depression after their babies are born, which is dangerous.  Depressed mothers interact less with their newborn infants than happy mothers do,  and the weaker bond hurts the infant’s cognitive, language, and behavioral development.

Mothers with chronic depression may decide to split the difference, swearing off Prozac while they are pregnant but resuming their medications after the birth.  However, there is a price to pay for this decision, because most doctors recommend against taking Prozac while breastfeeding.  Thus, mothers who decide to breastfeed run the risk of succumbing to postpartum depression, which they could avoid if they took the drug.

While it may seem noble for the pregnant mother to act on her strong impulses to do everything she can to have a healthy baby, she does this at the risk of ignoring her own health, and if she has a predisposition towards depression, this may make the choices even more complicated.  She may not be aware of the extent to which post-partum or chronic depression is coloring her decisions.   For this reason, it is important, again, to keep in touch with the doctor, friends and family and ask for help in monitoring the signs of depression.  Mom can only take good care of her baby if she takes care of herself first.

**This article is based on the information at http://pregnancy.about.com, http://www.safefetus.com/, http://www.webmd.com and http://www.pregnancy-info.net

These risk factors include:

• Age:  mothers younger than 19 and older than 40 are more likely to have high-risk pregnancies than women in their 20s and 30s
• Weight:   underweight and overweight mothers also tend to have more than their share of problems with pregnancies
• High-risk history:  Women who’ve had high-risk pregnancies in the past are more likely than others to have them again
• Pre-existing health conditions: High blood pressure, diabetes, and HIV can all be dangerous for pregnancy.  In particular, women with HIV  –which attacks the immune system– can infect their babies during pregnancy, while giving birth, or through breastfeeding. However, there are effective ways to prevent transmission of the disease.

The pregnancies of healthy women can also become high-risk.  For example, pre-eclampsia is a disease that develops only during pregnancy, and its symptoms include high blood pressure, as well as changes in the levels of (1) proteins in urine and (2) liver enzymes in the blood.   Pre-eclampsia is easily treated, and with treatment mothers can have healthy babies.  Untreated pre-eclampsia, however, can hurt the kidneys, liver and brain, and cause long-term damage to both the mother and the baby, especially if it evolves into Eclampsia, whose symptoms include seizures and coma.  Untreated preclampsia can even be fatal.

Healthy expecting mothers may also develop gestational diabetes, which is discussed in a separate article.   With appropriate treatment, gestational diabetes will not prevent mothers from having healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.

Some pregnancies are thrown off course by preterm labor.  The mother begins to have severe contractions before her pregnancy has reached its 37th week.  Although her body is already preparing to give birth, the baby is not yet fully grown, and may have trouble surviving outside the womb.  In cases of preterm labor, health care providers may go to extraordinary lengths to stop the labor, prescribing medication or extended bed rest.

It is impossible to predict which mothers will have preterm labor, but some factors such as a history of infections, a small or shortened cervix, or a history of pre-term births, do appear to increase the mother’s risk.

Iron deficiency anemia is another potentially severe health problem that can emerge during pregnancy, in addition to pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, and pre-term labor. Iron is an essential building block for red blood cells, the vehicles that carry oxygen to every part of the mother’s body, including her growing baby.  If the mother is short on iron, her body cannot deliver enough oxygen where it is needed.  According to a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, iron-deficiency anemia in the first or second trimester of pregnancy can double or even triple the mother’s risk of having a premature delivery or a low birth weight baby.  It also increases the chances that her baby will be born anemic.

A slight iron deficiency may cause no symptoms in the mother, but as the supplies of iron fall, she is likely to feel tired, weak, and irritable, and have a hard time concentrating on her work.  Other symptoms include low body temperature,  Pale skin, shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, cold or numb hands and feet, and a apid or irregular heartbeat.  If some of these symptoms are present, a health care provider needs to give the mother a simple blood test to determine if there is iron deficiency anemia.  The test can be repeated at every pre-natal visit.

According to research from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, pregnant women need at least 27 milligrams of elemental iron every day, which they can obtain in part through iron-rich foods such as red meat, leafy greens, eggs, poultry, dried fruits, and iron-fortified cereal.  However, diet alone is not likely to supply enough iron.

Therefore, many doctors and leading health institutions — including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services– urge pregnant women to take daily doses of over-the-counter iron pills or prenatal vitamins that contain iron.   The side effects of pure iron supplements — upset stomachs, nausea, and constipation — can themselves become a problem, but doctors are often able to share with expectant mothers some other strategies for getting enough iron.

Mothers can take many other measures to prevent health problems during pregnancy; these include proper immunizations, regular exercise, the maintenance of a health weight and diet, and the avoidance of tobacco, alcohol and other mind-altering substances including caffeine.  The most important take home message, however, is that good and frequent prenatal care is essential — indeed, the most important step, that expecting mothers can take to ensure healthy pregnancies.

*This article is based on the information at http://www.advancedfertility.com, http://www.ahealthyme.com,http://www.nlm.nih.gov and http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/high_risk_pregnancy.cfm

Postpartum depression is difficult to diagnose, because some of its symptoms are indistinguishable from the side effects of the new mother’s chronic need for sleep.   These include sadness, fatigue, insomnia, appetite changes, diminished sex drive, crying episodes, anxiety, and irritability.  Newborn babies must eat every hour or so, and they often nap during the day and wake up at night.  Whether it is fed by breast or bottle, the baby needs attention frequently and at unpredictable times, which forces its caregivers to wake up repeatedly during the night.

New mothers with the most severe cases of PPD are more easily identified. Their symptoms can be dramatic, and may include despair, a feeling of emptiness and futility, exhaustion, lethargy, a sense of inadequacy in caring for the new baby, a tendency to withdraw from any social contact and to get easily frustrated, moments of rage, incoherent speech and writing, panic attacks and severe anxiety.   If any of these symptoms are present in a new mother, healthcare providers can administer a diagnostic test known as the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.  Mothers who score higher than 13 on this test are likely to have the disease.

Postpartum depression is not uncommon, yet it is much rarer than morning sickness.   It may occur in anywhere from 5% to 25% of new mothers in the first few months after the baby is born.   Evidence some recent medical research suggests that the condition is a side effect of changes in the mother’s hormone levels at the end of pregnancy.  However, this explanation is somewhat controversial, because of the lack of evidence that hormonal treatment has helped postpartum depression victims.

In addition to hormone imbalances, some researchers have identified other health conditions that are more common than average among mothers with PPD.  These include the choice to feed by formula rather than the breast — which can contribute to a weaker bond between mother and child — as well as a tendency toward depression in the mother before pregnancy, cigarette smoking, poor self-image, stress deriving from problems finding childcare, depression and anxiety during pregnancy, life stress, single parenthood, the lack of support from family and friends, a difficult relationship with the father of the child, the temperament of the child — colicky babies can increase the mother’s frustration — and the mother’s feelings about the pregnancy itself.   Unplanned and unwanted pregnancies may increase the likelihood of postpartum depression.

These findings should be taken with a grain of salt.  Scientists have conducted studies of postpartum depression in many different ways and with different size samples of women, so the results of any one study are difficult to compare with the results of any other.    In reality   nobody really knows why a substantial minority of women with newborn babies get severely depressed.

Perhaps because of the difficulties with diagnosis, one in five of mothers with postpartum depression actually seek professional help. And yet, it is abundantly clear that many new mothers recover from depression after participating in a support group or in counseling.

Even though the causes of PPD are still unknown, it is clearly a dangerous disease. Most mothers with PPD are emotionally paralyzed by their depression, and probably get inadequate social support as a result.  Their mothering suffers, and their babies don’t get the love and care they need.   PPD mothers focus more on the negative events of childcare than the positive, and cannot cope with their negative feelings.  As a result, they can be inconsistent with childcare, for example, by ignoring the baby’s crying.

When post-partum depression is left untreated, and causes a new mother to reject her baby, the long-term result can be an insecure attachment between mother and child and later, lifetime problems with the child’s ability to form emotional attachments with any one at all. According to research by child psychologists such as Edhborg, an infant that feels rejected by its mother may become so subdued that it will not interact with the mother or any other adult, and the lack of connection with others in its first few months of life will, in turn, deprive the baby of the stimulation it needs for its brain to grow, and lead to a lifetime of difficulties with attachment.  A seriously depressed mother, therefore,  cannot be expected to support her baby’s healthy development on her own. She will need help from a team of professionals from different fields — therapists, doctors, nurses,  and other experts who work with families and children.

A mother with the baby blues needs to stay in touch with her doctor. If her depression is identified early, and she gets treatment either with counseling or with anti-depressants or both, her long term prognosis and that of her child will both be the better for it.

*This article is based on the information at http://www.nlm.nih.gov,http://en.wikipedia.org, http://www.nmha.org and http://familydoctor.org

Since more than half of all expecting mothers experience morning sickness in the early months of their pregnancies, a health care provider usually offers guidance to the mother about nutritious foods that will be easy on her stomach.  Even if she craves certain foods or does not feel like eating in the early months, it is still important to try eating a variety of foods each day so she gets all her important nutrients.

Among the healthy foods that providers usually recommend for expecting mothers are grains such as bread, cereal or pasta, raw vegetables and fruits, small amounts of meats, beans, seeds and nuts, and dairy products such as milk, yogurt, or cheese.  A diet with lots of small healthy snacks may be the best way to go, because large meals are hard to digest, and can worsen nausea and heartburn.

Some specific nutrients are also essential for a healthy pregnancybecause they contribute to the strength of both baby and mother.   Most of them can be found in ordinary foods.

• The calcium in milk, cheese, yogurt and sardines, for example, helps the baby develop strong teeth and bones.   Some forms of salmon, spinach and fortified orange juice also contain calcium.
• Lean red meat (beef, pork and so on), as well as dried beans and peas, iron-fortified cereals, and prune juice, are all good sources of iron, which prevents fatigue and helps the body create red blood cells that deliver oxygen to the baby.
• Baby’s skin, eyes, and bones all need Vitamin A, which is available in carrots, sweet potatoes, and dark leafy greens.   Other essential nutrients include
• Vitamin C, which can be found in strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli, and citrus fruits, and strengthens the baby’s gums, teeth and bones;
• Vitamin B-8, which the body uses to make blood cells and process fat, protein and carbohydrates, and is present in beef, pork, ham, liver, bananas, and whole-grain cereals
• Vitamin B12, a crucial element in the maintenance of the nervous system and the production of red blood cells, which is easily obtained from animal foods such as liver, meat, fish, poultry and milk
• Folate, an ingredient in green leafy vegetables, liver, orange juice, legumes and nuts that the body needs in order to produce blood, protein and fully functional enzymes.

For expecting mothers who do not eat some of the foods listed above, prenatal supplement pills are available that can provide them with the extra iron, folic acid, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D they need for a healthy pregnancy and birth.   In the month preceding pregnancy, and the first 3 months of pregnancy, a regimen of 400 micrograms of folic acid every day can help prevent neural tube defects in the baby.   Mothers whose first child was born with neural tube defects are especially likely to give birth to another baby with similar defects, so they in particular must take large doses of folic acid– as much as 4 milligrams (ten times as much as those without a history of the disease) before and after the baby’s birth.

The best sources of calcium are dairy products, but since many expecting mothers are lactose-intolerant, doctors sometimes prescribe calcium supplements.

There are also substances that pregnant women should avoid at all costs, because they could harm t he baby rather than help it grow.  For example, it is important to avoid alcohol of any kind, as well as marijuana, tobacco, cocaine or any other drug that isn’t prescribed by a doctor — because these can all be extremely harmful to the baby.  Fetal alcohol syndrome, a disease in which the mother’s placenta has absorbed so much alcohol that it has prevented sufficient oxygen from reaching baby’s brain, is responsible for one of the most common forms of mental retardation among American children.

Caffeine may also be a problem.  There is some evidence that pregnant women who drink more than two daily cups of coffee are more likely than non-coffee drinkers to have miscarriages.  However, nobody knows if it is the coffee itself that causes the loss of the baby or if some other unidentified health condition drives some women both to drink lots of coffee and to lose their babies.

The planning of meals in advance has proven to be one successful method for incorporating all these do’s and don’ts into the daily diet of the expecting mother, and many tools are available for this.

The USDA (US Department of Agriculture) publishes a food pyramid which can help mothers put together a personalized healthy diet. (www.mypyramid.gov) Revised in the last five years,  the pyramid helps the mother  calculate the appropriate number of servings in each food group; grains, vegetables, fruits, oils, milk, and meat and beans — based on her age, gender, and level of daily exercise.

Another useful tool is the RDA—recommended daily allowance—on food labels, which show the levels of nutrients a mother needs every day. During pregnancy, the RDAs are higher for most nutrients.

*This article is based on the information at http://www.acog.org, http://kidshealth.org,http://www.webmd.com and http://www.womenshealthchannel.com

Indeed, estrogen levels in the blood of expectant mothers can be up to one hundred times higher than normal.  Other causes of morning sickness may include:

• Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) because the placenta drains energy from the mother,
• An increase in the hormone progesterone, which relaxes the muscles in the uterus and prevents early childbirth, but may also relax the stomach and intestines, leading to excess stomach acids and gastroesophageal reflux disease.
• An increase in human chorionic gonadotropin, and
• An increase in sensitivity to odors, which over-stimulates normal nausea triggers.

More than half of all pregnant women experience morning sickness, and despite the discomfort it can cause, many health care providers view it as sign that the placenta is developing well and the baby will be healthy.

Morning sickness may not feel healthy, but it has evolutionary advantages.   For example, it can protect the fetus against poisonous foods that the mother might eat accidentally. Many plants contain chemical toxins that when eaten or smelled, could make a pregnant mother feel especially sick.  The livers and other organs of adult humans, like those of other animals, manufacture enzymes that destroy plant toxins, but a fetus is not so lucky; its defenses are not yet fully developed, and even small doses of plant toxins that have negligible effects on the adult can kill or hurt an embryo.

Pregnancy sickness causes women to experience nausea when exposed to the smell or taste of foods that are likely to contain toxins injurious to the fetus, even though they may not be poisonous for her.  Some evidence for this argument includes the following:

• Morning sickness is common among pregnant women, which suggests that it is an evolutionary adaptation;
• Fetuses are most easily poisoned when they reach 3 months; this is also the time of peak susceptibility to morning sickness.
• Foods with the most toxins tend also to be those whose taste and odor cause the most disgust in women with morning sickness; and finally;
• Women without morning sickness are more likely than mothers who do feel nausea to miscarry or to bear children with birth defects.

In addition to protecting the fetus, morning sickness may also protect the mother. Pregnant women have weakened immune systems, probably to reduce the chances of rejecting tissues of their own offspring.   Because of this, animal products containing parasites and harmful bacteria can be especially dangerous to pregnant women. There is evidence that animal products, both meat and fish, often trigger morning sickness.

Since morning sickness is a defense mechanism against the ingestion of toxins, doctors who prescribe anti-nausea medication to pregnant women may unwittingly increase the chances of birth defects or miscarriages because the mothers might then eat foods that are harmful to the baby.  On the other hand, agronomists have grown many domestic vegetables purposely to lower the levels of toxins that existed in their ancestral plants, so the embryo is probably not as vulnerable today as it was when the defense mechanism first evolved.

Every woman and every pregnancy are unique, so it is impossible to predict with 100% certainty when morning sickness will come and go.    However, in general morning sickness is very common in the first trimester of pregnancy and tends to disappear by the 13th week –or fourth month. Morning sickness is rarely more than an annoyance for the mother.

Doctors can treat the mild cases with dietary measures, rest and antacids.  Severe cases do occur, however, and they often require a stay in the hospital so the mother can receive fluid and nutrition intravenously. In these extreme cases, known as hyperemesis gravidarum, the mother’s body rejects any foods or fluids as a result of the nausea, and she loses more than two pounds.

Vomiting may be severe enough to cause dehydration, weight loss, alkalosis and hypokalemia.  Hyperemesis gravidarum occurs in about 1% of all pregnancies, and it can cause severe health problems for both the baby and the mother, such as malnutrition and electrolyte imbalances.  Therefore, the condition requires treatment by a practitioner; the mother should avoid taking medications if a doctor has not specifically recommended them.

The expecting mother should also see a doctor if she vomits black or bright red blood, or throws up more than four times in a day, or vomits up all the fluids she drinks for a day or more.
Some of the following strategies can help a pregnant mother tolerate morning sickness:

• Small meals throughout the day that stave off feelings of hunger and fullness;
• Avoidance of foods that are rich, spicy, greasy or fatty, or have smells that make the mother nauseous;
• Drinking fluids 1/2 hour before or after a meal, but not with meals
• Drinking small amounts of fluids during the day to avoid dehydration
• A diet of bland foods and carbohydrates — saltine crackers, gelatin desserts such as Jell-O, popsicles, chicken broths, ginger ale and pretzels, plain baked potato, white rice or dry toast;
• For some women, the avoidance of prenatal vitamins with iron. Morning sickness may be a side effect of taking iron.
• “Acupressure” wristbands, used by some boat passengers to prevent seasickness, can be useful to hold morning sickness at bay.  They are available at some pharmacies.
• Asking someone else to cook meals; opening windows and turning on fans if odors are bothersome;
• Getting plenty of rest and napping during the day;
• Avoiding warm places, because heat contributes to nausea;
• Sniffing lemons or ginger, drinking lemonade, or eating watermelon;
• Eating salty potato chips, which settle stomachs enough to tolerate a meal
• Exercising
• Avoiding naps or lying down immediately after eating
• Eating regularly

Expecting mothers should consult practitioners immediately:

1. In cases of excessive nausea and vomiting that prevents the from keeping any food down,
2. If vomiting is accompanied by pain or fever
3. If nausea and vomiting persists well into the second trimester (after 13th week)

*This article is based on the information at http://familydoctor.org, http://www.americanpregnancy.org, http://en.wikipedia.org and http://www.nlm.nih.gov