Food For The Soul

BOITSHEPO GIYOSE | Monday February 27, 2012 00:00

Yippee! You can catch up on all those haunting deadlines. If you happen to be starting the year with a little bundle on the way, then congratulations are in order.

Those who know, directly or by some osmosis, can confirm that nothing compares with the miracle and magic of pregnancy. It's a couple's chance to be involved in life's creative process.

Planning ahead for this experience can improve your chances of doing well yourself and of a having a healthy baby. Remember that your lifestyle directly affects your baby's health.

Therefore being diligent about what you eat, drink, inhale, smoke, get in contact with or exposed to and your exercise routine is extremely important.

Having said that it's true that by the time most women discover that they're pregnant, they're already one to two months into their pregnancy, and by the time they see their doctor, they're two to three months along. Oops!

With this delay in knowing that one is pregnant can pose untold risks for the baby because the mother may continue doing all the wrong things like drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes or exposing themselves to harmful chemicals and radioactive substances including X-Rays, CT scans or MRIs.

The first 12 weeks of pregnancy are extremely important because this is when the baby forms its major organ systems; the brain and spinal cord, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and the intestines.

So, since many of the important formative and development happens here, the first trimester of pregnancy is the make-or-break stage and will determine the health and even brain and therefore intellectual development of the child.

Getting in shape for pregnancy and maintaining a balanced nutrition and exercise means both a physical and mental preparation.

By the way pregnancy is a condition, not an illness; a pregnant woman is not sick. Granted she may experience certain discomforts due to changes in her body during the various stages of the journey, e.g. nausea, tiredness, and mood swings. But rest assured she is still very normal if not better.

Before you fall pregnant - hopefully this is something that you plan - there are important tests to undergo and these include; a physical exam, a Pap smear, a breast exam (including a mammogramme if you are over 35 years of age to detect breast cancer), rubella titres, blood type and the Rh-factor, HIV (if you have been exposed to risk factors), hepatitis, cystic fibrosis screening. I know it sounds like a too much battery of tests, but they are all a necessary evil if you can call it that.

Like I said earlier, before becoming pregnant, examine your lifestyle, diet, physical activity and any chronic medical problems you have, such as high blood pressure, or diabetes.

Some nutrition related conditions before and during pregnancy may include anaemia mainly due to iron or folic acid deficiency.

Anaemia means you do not have enough haemoglobin (in the red blood cells) to carry oxygen to your body's cells.

Symptoms of anaemia include weakness, fatigue, shortness of breath and pale skin. Even if your iron level could rival that of a healthy young man before you fell pregnant, you may find yourself very anaemic during pregnancy.

This is because while you are pregnant, the baby makes great demands on your body for iron and iron stores.

Iron and folate supplements are recommended. In addition, a diet with high content is the way to go. Iron rich foods include red meat (in moderation), liver, poultry, eggs, spinach and other green leafy vegetables, beans, and a variety of nuts are great to provide an all-round nutrition packed snack.

Other medical problems that can be aggravated by pregnancy include diabetes, bladder infections or kidney stones, cancer, heart disease, hypertension, migraine headaches and thyroid problems, and some auto-immune diseases like lupus.

Diabetes is a medical condition that can have serious effects on the mother and baby. Historically, women with diabetes have had problems conceiving and having a healthy pregnancy.

For instance if diabetes is NOT under control when one falls pregnant, the risk of having a child with birth defects increases by up to five times.

Now that is huge! Diabetes increases the chance of miscarriage, stillbirth, and low birth weight. Let me pause here and continue next week with more per demand.