Pregnancy – this is a time of excitement and anxiety. For pregnant women, the reality is that their actions can affect their baby. So they need to know what they should and shouldn't do. Pregnant women are bombarded with advice. At best, this leads to confusion and, at worst, to disinformation regarding almost every aspect of life – eating, drinking, sleeping, working, traveling, exercising, and having sex. While in the past, all advice came from doctors, now, in the age of the Internet, advice is given by everyone around. Where to understand what is true and what is false?
In this article on estet-portal.com we reviewed popular recommendations for pregnant women and figured out which ones you really need to follow and which ones are just empty chatter.
- should pregnant women take vitamins
- alcohol and cigarettes – total ban
- ordinary activities: do's and don'ts
- interview with obstetrician-gynecologist Yulia Malova
Do pregnant women need to take vitamins
Prenatal Vitamins are designed to meet the daily mineral and vitamin (micronutrient) needs of most pregnant women. However, with the exception of folic acid, vitamin D and iron, it is not known whether vitamins affect pregnancy.
- is associated with fetal neural tube defects; therefore, women who do not consume at least 400-800 micrograms of folic acid per day should be advised to take folic acid supplements. Iron supplementation
- is recommended due to the risk of maternal anemia at birth. However, if there is adequate iron in the diet (30 mg/day) and the pregnant woman is not anemic at the time of screening, there is no evidence of additional benefit from iron supplementation. Vitamin D deficiency
- is associated with preterm birth and preeclampsia, but it is currently unknown if supplementation improves the prognosis for pregnant women. However, doctors still recommend 600 international units of vitamin D daily, with no routine screening for vitamin D deficiency, nor is it recommended to take higher than standard doses of vitamin D. The recommended Daily Value of calcium
- for women aged 19-50 is 1000 mg/day, including during pregnancy. For women with low calcium intakes, calcium supplementation has been shown to reduce the incidence of hypertensive pregnancy disorders.
Pregnant women should be advised to eat a
healthy, balanced dietand generally increase their caloric intake by small amounts (350-450 calories per day).
Subscribe to our page onFacebook! Women with a higher BMI do not need to gain as much weight before pregnancy as women with a normal or
low BMI. Alcohol and cigarettes – total ban?
While current evidence suggests that consumption of
small amounts of alcoholduring pregnancy does not appear to be harmful to the fetus, the exact threshold between safe and unsafe, if any, is unknown. High alcohol consumption during pregnancy has been associated with fetal malformations and developmental delays, including fetal alcohol syndrome. Therefore, alcohol should be avoided during pregnancy.
Smoking negatively affectsthe fetus and placenta, so it is not recommended to smoke during pregnancy. If it is impossible to completely quit a bad habit, you should reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke as much as possible.
Ordinary activities: do's and don'tsPregnant women should exercise regularly
in sports
, withyoga and swimming being considered the most beneficial sports. Although data is limited, pregnant women should avoid using hot tubs, hot tubs and saunas.
Read also:
Hormonal Causes of Weight Gain During Pregnancy during pregnancy because its systemic absorption is minimal.Pregnant women without bleeding, placenta previa beyond 20 weeks of gestation, or ruptured membranes should not restrict themselves in sex.
Pregnant women should be informed about what they should and should not do during pregnancy. It is often difficult to know exactly what advice is based on hard evidence. Ultimately, most of the recommendations are general and should be adapted to each individual patient, depending on the situation.Interview with obstetrician-gynecologist Yulia Malova
Saturday, May 23, on
Malova Yulia Alexandrovna – obstetrician-gynecologist, gynecologist-endocrinologist, doctor of the highest category, head of the department of the Medical Center "Mother and Child".
Is it necessary to follow a diet during pregnancy
Yu.A. –
“You definitely don’t need to follow a diet, you need to exclude dangerous foods from the diet, namely those that do not undergo heat treatment, foods that are sold outside the supermarket (uncontrolled by anyone). I recommend eating vegetables and fruits according to the season, the nutrition of a pregnant woman should be balanced, rational, complete, proteins, fats, carbohydrates should be present. How do I tell my pregnant women: I already have a baby and what would you like to feed him? In order to make it clear and balanced, it’s easier for me to explain to pregnant women like this: you go to the supermarket and start going to each department:We buy vegetables and fruits according to the traffic light principle: yellow, red, green. As a rule, each fruit and vegetable of these colors contains more of certain vitamins and minerals. For example: banana, red apple, green cucumber, but be sure to remember that everything is in season;
- meat selection should be varied: beef, chicken, turkey, lean pork. You can alternate and combine everything with each other, turn it into all possible culinary masterpieces, the main thing is that meat is present every day, because it is protein. Beef, in particular, is the replenishment of iron, and this is the prevention of anemia (this is important for pregnant women). The only thing is that we do not recommend some types of meat, namely processed foods: sausages, smoked meats, as well as store cooking. It is better to cook everything yourself, in understandable seasonings, spices, etc.;
- In no case should you give up bread, we give preference to wholemeal bread. Now there is a huge choice: with nuts, with various seeds, seeds, ciabatta - all this is possible and necessary, because fiber must be present in the body. But from varieties of coarse grinding, you can alternate different types of cereals: rye bread, wheat, corn, even rice is, as well as bread. To prevent problems with stools, I recommend various bran: fill them with your favorite yogurt at night and in the morning you will have a delicious and healthy breakfast. Of course, you should not lean on rich buns;
- the choice of fish is quite large. Fish is a source of omega acids, a great option for pregnant women. Both river and sea species of fish are allowed, of course, we are not talking about dried, semi-salted fish, etc. Source of iodine - seaweed;
- as for desserts, a little bit is possible, marshmallow for example;
- Coffee is allowed in limited quantities and must not be strong.»
- What advice would you give to women who are afraid of giving birth? How to physically and psychologically prepare for childbirth
Yu.A. –
“There are different schools for pregnant women and, of course, you need to trust a professional. All pregnant women, as a rule, are registered. And during pregnancy, the patient can understand which doctor and how he treats her. Usually, at any antenatal clinic and at any private clinic, there are courses: there can be group classes, as well as individual classes. It's not just like that, in all classes any questions are discussed, general and those that are of direct interest to the pregnant woman. There are also partner births that somehow give support to the pregnant woman. If you are afraid of something, I advise you to learn more about the object of your fear and it turns out, perhaps, that this is not so scary. As soon as you understand the whole essence of the issue and experts will tell you in detail, all questions will disappear.YouTube channel:
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