Before your baby arrives, a great deal of care needs to be maintained to preserve the your best health. Although pregnancy is a normal physiologic event, many physicians treat it as a disease, and attempt to control too closely the behavior of the mother. Most women, however, can be taught the basics of hygiene during pregnancy. That means taking take responsibility for your own health.
During the monthly visits a pregnant lady makes to her midwife or physician, she will have a urine test for protein and sugar. Sugar in the urine raises a suspicion of diabetes. The diabetic mother is at increased risk during pregnancy, and has a greater likelihood of difficult labor, due to the predictably excessive size of her baby. Blood incompatibilities and hemorrhagic problems are more severe in a baby born to a diabetic mother. In addition, the stability of a mother’s diabetes is greatly influenced by her pregnancy. It could even trigger the death of a baby in utero, or a miscarriage, if care is not taken to control the diabetes with appropriate levels of insulin. Still, one can perform the simple test for urine sugar right in the home with commonly available strips of Tes Tape or Clinitest tablets, available at any pharmacy.
Toxemia in pregnancy has several facets. With the mother’s excessive accumulation of body tissue, fluid overload becomes generalized edema. Her weight may go up several pounds within a few days, creating puffiness not only in the ankles, but the hands, eyes, and occasionally her entire body. Along with this dilemma, the kidneys show signs of damage, losing large amounts of protein. A simple dip—stick urine test for protein may show 2+, 3+, or 4+ protein, implying heavy losses of this important substance. Third, the blood pressure rises, frequently producing symptoms of headache, painful pressure behind the eyes, or outright nosebleed. When these three manifestations of toxemia (hypertension, proteinuria, edema) occur late in pregnancy, it is crucial to evaluate the reflexes. Tap gently, for example, with the doctor’s little hammer on the tendon just below your knee. Then, for preventive treatment, secure a calm, quiet environment, strictly limit your salt intake, and eat adequate protein to replace the heavy losses. Prolonged bed rest in a darkened room is occasionally prudent to prevent external stimuli that could trigger seizures. Convulsions are the most frequent cause of death (for mother and child) when toxemia develops. This grave complication should be prevented, whenever possible. Modern management with I.V. administration of magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts) prevents most serious and life-threatening convulsions that could occur without warning.
For many timely reasons, during every pregnancy I recommend the routine measurement of weight and blood pressure on a monthly basis. Mothers, be sure to limit weight gain during pregnancy to approximately twenty five to thirty pounds. Extreme austerity in diet is not necessary, but neither is overindulgence and its resulting obesity a boon. Mothers who later breast feed their infants, find their weight returning to normal much sooner.
Nursing helps because it utilizes significant numbers of stored calories to manufacture milk. As a general rule, very little weight gain is advisable during the first three months of pregnancy, about two pounds per month in the second trimester, and one pound or more per week during the final three months. This adequacy of weight gain provides for a mother’s and child’s needs with plenty of nutrients that will build bone and blood, muscle and connective tissue. Even more importantly, good nutrition promotes health to the nervous system and brain of each developing fetus. Proper diet for every pregnant mother is vital. You should strictly avoid all use of alcoholic beverages, because of their toxic effect on your baby. Moreover, beverage alcohol sabotages your brain and will power. Tobacco should also be eliminated, for numerous reasons mentioned above. Coffee and tea are unnecessary, as every pregnant mother needs a calm environment without stimulants or any chemical that would weaken the nervous system.
Recent research shows caffeine definitely harmful to the unborn child, capable of transmitting a legacy of irritability to the high—risk offspring.
During the monthly visits a pregnant lady makes to her midwife or physician, she will have a urine test for protein and sugar. Sugar in the urine raises a suspicion of diabetes. The diabetic mother is at increased risk during pregnancy, and has a greater likelihood of difficult labor, due to the predictably excessive size of her baby. Blood incompatibilities and hemorrhagic problems are more severe in a baby born to a diabetic mother. In addition, the stability of a mother’s diabetes is greatly influenced by her pregnancy. It could even trigger the death of a baby in utero, or a miscarriage, if care is not taken to control the diabetes with appropriate levels of insulin. Still, one can perform the simple test for urine sugar right in the home with commonly available strips of Tes Tape or Clinitest tablets, available at any pharmacy.
Toxemia in pregnancy has several facets. With the mother’s excessive accumulation of body tissue, fluid overload becomes generalized edema. Her weight may go up several pounds within a few days, creating puffiness not only in the ankles, but the hands, eyes, and occasionally her entire body. Along with this dilemma, the kidneys show signs of damage, losing large amounts of protein. A simple dip—stick urine test for protein may show 2+, 3+, or 4+ protein, implying heavy losses of this important substance. Third, the blood pressure rises, frequently producing symptoms of headache, painful pressure behind the eyes, or outright nosebleed. When these three manifestations of toxemia (hypertension, proteinuria, edema) occur late in pregnancy, it is crucial to evaluate the reflexes. Tap gently, for example, with the doctor’s little hammer on the tendon just below your knee. Then, for preventive treatment, secure a calm, quiet environment, strictly limit your salt intake, and eat adequate protein to replace the heavy losses. Prolonged bed rest in a darkened room is occasionally prudent to prevent external stimuli that could trigger seizures. Convulsions are the most frequent cause of death (for mother and child) when toxemia develops. This grave complication should be prevented, whenever possible. Modern management with I.V. administration of magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts) prevents most serious and life-threatening convulsions that could occur without warning.
For many timely reasons, during every pregnancy I recommend the routine measurement of weight and blood pressure on a monthly basis. Mothers, be sure to limit weight gain during pregnancy to approximately twenty five to thirty pounds. Extreme austerity in diet is not necessary, but neither is overindulgence and its resulting obesity a boon. Mothers who later breast feed their infants, find their weight returning to normal much sooner.
Nursing helps because it utilizes significant numbers of stored calories to manufacture milk. As a general rule, very little weight gain is advisable during the first three months of pregnancy, about two pounds per month in the second trimester, and one pound or more per week during the final three months. This adequacy of weight gain provides for a mother’s and child’s needs with plenty of nutrients that will build bone and blood, muscle and connective tissue. Even more importantly, good nutrition promotes health to the nervous system and brain of each developing fetus. Proper diet for every pregnant mother is vital. You should strictly avoid all use of alcoholic beverages, because of their toxic effect on your baby. Moreover, beverage alcohol sabotages your brain and will power. Tobacco should also be eliminated, for numerous reasons mentioned above. Coffee and tea are unnecessary, as every pregnant mother needs a calm environment without stimulants or any chemical that would weaken the nervous system.
Recent research shows caffeine definitely harmful to the unborn child, capable of transmitting a legacy of irritability to the high—risk offspring.
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