Guide to a healthy pregnancy

What you set in your body before falling pregnant, during your pregnancy and after the birth can affect your baby. Things like eating the proper foods, knowing what food and drink to avoid, which vitamins are safe and also quitting smoking and alcohol are all important belongings you can do to extend your chances of a healthy pregnancy.

Having a healthy pregnancy

What you set in your body before falling pregnant, during your pregnancy and after the birth can affect your baby. Eating the right foods, knowing what food and drink to avoid, regular exercise and quitting smoking and alcohol are all important if you are to increase your chances of a healthy pregnancy.

Healthy eating

You don’t got to ‘eat for two’ while you’re pregnant. You just got to have more of the nutrients your baby needs for his or her healthy development, and fewer foods that are high in salt, sugar and fat. These can be harmful both for you and your baby.

It’s recommended that you eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables of different types and colours every day. You can also refill on wholegrains – 8 to eight ½ serves each day when you’re pregnant is ok . It’s important to eat foods that are high in iron, like red meat and tofu, and to eat plenty of dairy food, such as reduced fat milk, yoghurt or cheese for calcium. Eating fruits, vegetables and legumes and drinking plenty of water will help with any constipation.

Healthy weight gain

Being overweight or obese when you’re pregnant is linked to a variety of health problems which will affect both you and your baby, including stillbirth or preterm birth, birth defects, high blood pressure, gestational diabetes and depression. Being significantly overweight can affect the birth and your ability to breastfeed. Overweight women will need extra care during pregnancy and at the birth.

Being underweight is also a problem in pregnancy. It can lead to greater risk of preterm birth or a small baby.

Your doctor will tell you ways much weight it's recommended that you simply gain during the pregnancy. This will depend upon what proportion weigh at the start . Even if you're a traditional weight before you fall pregnant, gaining an excessive amount of weight too quickly is bad for you and your baby.

If your doctor thinks you are gaining weight above or below the recommended level, you can see a dietitian to advise you what to eat.

Healthy diet during pregnancy

A healthy diet is a crucial a part of a healthy lifestyle at any time, but especially vital if you’re pregnant or planning a pregnancy. Healthy eating keeps you feeling good and gives your baby the essential nutrients they need in the womb.

Overall, aim for a diet , with an appropriate blend of all the 5 food groups:

1)     vegetables and legumes

2)     breads and cereals

3)     milk, yoghurt and cheese

4)     meat, poultry, fish and alternatives

5)     Fruit

Foods containing protein help the baby grow. Meat, fish, chicken, eggs, milk, cheeses, nuts, beans and legumes are all good sources of protein.

Aim to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water every day — most town water contains fluoride, which helps your growing baby’s teeth develop strong enamel. Some water supplies, such as tank water, do not have fluoride.

Foods to avoid when pregnant

There are some foods you should not eat when you’re pregnant because they might make you ill or harm your baby. Make sure you recognize the important facts about which foods you ought to avoid or take extra care with when you’re pregnant. The best foods to eat are freshly cooked or freshly prepared food.

Some types of cheese

Don’t eat mould-ripened soft cheese, like brie, camembert and chevre (a sort of goat’s cheese) et al. with an identical rind. You should also avoid soft blue-veined cheeses like Danish blue or gorgonzola. These are made with mould and they can contain listeria, a type of bacteria that can harm your unborn baby.

Although infection with listeria (listeriosis) is rare, it's important to require special precautions in pregnancy because even a light sort of the illness during a pregnant woman can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth or severe illness during a neonate .

You can eat hard cheeses like cheddar, parmesan and stilton, albeit they’re made with unpasteurised milk. Hard cheeses don’t contain as much water as soft cheeses so bacteria are less likely to grow in them. Many other types of cheese are okay to eat, but make sure they’re made from pasteurised milk. They include cottage cheese, mozzarella, cream cheese, paneer, haloumi, goat’s cheese and processed cheeses such as cheese spreads.

Food cravings during pregnancy

Food cravings are sudden urges to eat a specific sort of food. They are a true phenomenon and affect many ladies during pregnancy.

Sometimes cravings are for common foods like cake or apples, and sometimes there's an urge to eat unusual food combinations or a kind of food that you simply normally don’t like.

Common food cravings include frozen dessert , chocolate and other sweet foods, fish, dairy products and fruit.

Why do cravings develop?

No one really knows why food cravings develop. It seems logical that cravings could be thanks to something lacking within the diet, or an increased need surely vitamins and minerals. However, there is no evidence of a link between cravings and nutrient deficiency.

In addition to food cravings, many pregnant women also develop a sudden dislike or aversion for certain strong-tasting foods.

Food cravings and sudden food aversions may have something to with the consequences of pregnancy hormones, which may change the way some foods taste and smell.

Notice: Please consult your doctor before following any instruction of www.myonlinedoctor.co.in