Managing your pregnancy is crucial in ensuring your baby is healthy. While less than 10% of all pregnancies are high risk, you should still be careful during this phase of your life. The choices you make, from the diet you eat to the lifestyle you adopt, will impact fetal growth. Every pregnancy is different. Some mothers easily look after themselves with minimal complications, while others may have a complex experience resulting in a troubled birth.
Therefore, you have to be smart about the factors you can control and ensure you’re reducing all possible threats to your child. For your little one’s safety, here are some ways you can reduce risking their health:
1. Show Up To All Your Appointments
Maintaining a prenatal visit schedule helps you have a healthy pregnancy. A specialist can walk you through your baby’s development while addressing areas of concern. A doctor will inform you about the weight you need to maintain, the diet you need, and if you’re borderline for a severe condition like gestational diabetes.
You can also learn about delivery methods and identify possible birth injuries that your child can have. For example, cerebral palsy can happen while you’re pregnant if your fetus has a low weight and your blood is not oxygen rich enough, which may stunt the baby’s development. Still, this condition can also occur if the doctor pulls your baby hard. In the former case, your healthcare provider will guide you on regaining your health and instructing you in proper fetal growth, but in the latter case, the fault lies in the medical team handling your delivery.
Suppose your baby gets injured at birth and receives an ailment like cerebral palsy. In such circumstances, feel free to contact cerebral palsy lawyers and launch a case against the offending parties for endangering your child. This is your legal right, and you should exercise it without qualms.
It would be best if you listened to your doctor, made the necessary changes, and continued attending all your prenatal checkups to stay on top of progress. Your healthcare specialist will provide a timetable, but most commonly, pregnant mothers must visit once every two weeks during the first 28 weeks; after the 36th week, the visitation schedule will indicate once every week.
2. Get On Top Of Pre Existing Conditions
If you have certain health conditions you were dealing with before your pregnancy, you must get them under control. Your body will dramatically change from an influx of hormones to a sudden increase in calorie intake, which can tip the scales of these health complications to a dangerous level. For instance, you may be dealing with high blood pressure, diabetes, or an autoimmune disease like lupus. In all these cases, a doctor will need your medical history to determine if you may end up passing these conditions.
Additionally, a doctor will administer safe doses and medications depending on your well-being and monitor your ailments as your pregnancy progresses. An example best illustrates this: if you have diabetes, your healthcare practitioner will advise you to take vitamins and folic acids in a more considerable amount. You may need to stop by for insulin injections and get an insulin pump when you go into labor. Your healthcare provider will increase or decrease the dose depending on your circumstance, and you cannot tamper with the medication on your own.
3. Have an Exercise Plan
You can continue to exercise after you get pregnant, but your regime has to fit your health profile. Some mothers who were active runners may get advised to stop jogging when they get pregnant since it can be dangerous for them. Similarly, if you had a high-intensity workout session, you may need to put certain activities on hold.
While one size doesn’t fit all, and you need your doctor’s approval; generally, most women can do at least 100 minutes of moderate-intensity workout. Aerobics has a good routine you can follow, allowing you to move your body rhythmically. Pregnancy can make you breathless fast, cause you to get unbalanced frequently, and impact your joints. If you stay idle in one position, it causes severe water retention and blood to pool in your feet. So make sure you continue to work out without going overboard.
You can try walking, swimming, and certain types of yoga but avoid all contact supports such as boxing and soccer or thrill-seeking adventures like skydiving.
Follow a Good Diet
A balanced diet can keep your baby safe and you in good shape after your pregnancy. But you cannot arbitrarily increase food groups without consulting a nutritionist first. For example, there is no need to take vitamin D supplements unless you have a genetic deficiency that impacts your body’s amount of Vitamin D.
Your healthcare provider may tell you to take more iodine to reduce hypothyroidism and the risk of damaging your baby’s nervous system. In comparison, folic acid reduces spinal injuries to the baby. Your diet may need more fruits and vegetables at least four times daily. Your healthcare specialist may chart down more fiber-rich cereals along with selective grains.
You will have to cut back on sugar and caffeine, but alcohol has to go from your meal plan. If you’re lactose intolerant, try to drink skim milk or lactose-free dairy to get the minerals you need.
Final Thoughts
Becoming a mother is exciting, but pregnancy can be challenging, especially when there is too much at stake. Your willingness to learn, having a doctor by your side, and monitoring your life choices is fundamental to keeping your baby safe.
So ask questions during your appointment and never miss a checkup. It would be best if you also modified your diet according to the prescribed guidelines, which helps your child develop appropriately. Additionally, don’t ignore health complications you may have previously been fostering since they can have an adverse effect during birth. Finally, as much as you want to stay fit, don’t go overboard. Stick to the regimes you can do that don’t threaten your baby. But immediately seek your doctor whenever you feel sick, dizzy, or stumble in your steps.
