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Main Section => Spiritual influence on Lifestyle => Topic started by: fatima on January 29, 2008, 02:53:15 AM

Title: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on January 29, 2008, 02:53:15 AM
Pregnancy can be a stressful time for women, especially for their skin. Renowned health and well-being guru Miriam Stoppard offers her tips on keeping skin looking great during pregnancy


Pregnancy hormones bring about huge changes to almost every part of a woman's body, from skin and hair right through to teeth and gums. To keep their pregnant bodies in top condition, mums-to-be need to adjust their daily skincare and pampering routine to ensure that they feel and look great, right up to their due date and beyond. Here are Miriam Stoppard's Top Tips for Pregnant Skincare:


Check the suitability of your normal beauty products
The first thing to do when you find you are pregnant is to check the products that you would normally use. You may find that some products are unsuitable for pregnant skin. If you are at all concerned then switch to products which state they are suitable for use during pregnancy

Avoid using soap
Soap removes natural oils from the skin, so try using a moisturising body wash instead. This will maintain the essential oils in pregnant skin and promote a healthy glow

Don't spend too long in the bath
Prolonged contact with water dehydrates the skin and can leave it looking dull. To avoid this use a moisturising bath soak to re-hydrate the skin

Protect your skin
Skin pigmentation can change during pregnancy and skin may tan/burn much more easily. Look for products with UV filters to help and make sure you pay special attention to your face and hands

Feed your skin
The turnover of skin cells is accelerated during pregnancy, so make sure you nourish and moisturise more than normal to keep skin looking healthy

Get to grips with your bump
Skin is under a lot of pressure during pregnancy especially in the abdominal area. Massaging your bump with a tummy massage gel will keep skin supple and elastic in areas prone to stretch marks

Don't water it down
After you wash, use a good moisturising body lotion to keep your skin in tip-top condition and to counteract the drying effect of water

Take extra care of your face
Some women find that their skin becomes oilier during pregnancy. Use a high-quality, pregnancy-safe, facial cleanser to help even things out

Maintain your balance
Try shower or bath products that contain extra moisturising properties and are pH balanced. These should help maintain a healthy glow for pregnant skin

Start from the bottom up
Feet can get tired and swollen in pregnancy. A refreshing foot gel with menthol will really pep you up at the end of a long day
Title: Re:Sleeping Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on January 29, 2008, 03:00:09 AM
Sleep is important to health of all people, but during pregnancy it is of utmost importance. During a women’s pregnancy, she needs to get plenty of extra rest. A growing fetus puts a lot of strain on a women’s body and she needs to get more sleep to re-fuel and keep going.  

Women are so tired because of the new hormones cycling through their bodies. Progesterone has a sleepy effect to it and makes women much more tired and want to sleep more or later. Each trimester has it’s own unique symptoms that can make sleep more difficult than when not pregnant.  1st Trimester

During the first trimester, a woman can go through a range of emotions from scared to ecstatic. Adding the new hormones in the loop, and she can go from happy to horrible in record time. Sleep challenges are very common due to the body’s reaction to all the hormones.

The rise in progesterone that sustains a pregnancy causes many women to feel tired continuously. The rise in HCG might also trigger the tired response too, which would explain why women tend to be more tired in the first trimester and feel much better in the second. Sore breasts and a blossoming bust line may also make getting comfortable difficult.  

If you are a tummy sleeper, you might find your breasts are getting in the way or hurt when you lay on them. Constipation and the ever-expanding uterus also make for discomforting nights. Add in frequent bathroom breaks per day and it is surprising that any pregnant woman sleeps at all.

 First TriProgesterone is just a wonder hormone, not only does it makes you sleepy; it makes you have to urinate all the time by increasing your kidney function. Nausea, also called “morning sickness”, also makes sleep a challenge. This nausea can and does strike at all hours of the day and night, especially when lying down or is triggered by smell. First mester Survival Tips  

1) Get as much rest as possible and sleep in when you can. Getting extra rest will help you stay out of the sleep debt that can cause your symptoms to worsen.

2) Stay hydrated, but drink most of your liquids during the day and avoid them later in the evening so you can cut down on nighttime bathroom visits.

3) Combat nausea with crackers or small bland snacks. Eat often and in small amounts to prevent getting sick from an empty tummy. Keep crackers at your beside for when nausea hits you in bed or in the morning.

4) Sleep on your left side as much as you can. This is the best position for good circulation. Use extra pillows between your knees or under your belly to help keep you more comfortable.

5) Have a night light in the bathroom so you don’t have to turn on the light and wake yourself fully.

6) Make sure you try to go to bed at the same time every night. This puts your body on a schedule.

7) Take naps. If you are tired then go sleep, you body is telling you to do something.

2nd Trimester

Many pregnant ladies are happy to hit that 2nd trimester mark. Not only does it mean there is a less risk of a miscarriage, but also the nausea, frequent urination, and sleepiness have pretty much gone away. Women usually feel their best and have a boost of energy during this time. They are starting to show, but aren’t too big for comfort.

There are plenty of maladies to plague sleep during this time. To make room for the enlarging uterus, the diaphragm is restricted and breathing becomes shallower. This causes the infamous heartburn. Many women only have to eat or drink anything and get it.

Many women notice their dreams become increasingly frightening as pregnancy develops. Many women have dreams that they left or lost the baby. Plus, dreams become extremely vivid.

Second Trimester Survival Tips

8) In order to avoid heartburn; try to avoid spicy, fatty, or fried foods

9) Sleep with your head and neck elevated to keep the stomach acid down

10) Eat frequent small meals throughout the day

11) Use antacids, they are effective and safe.

12) Enjoy your 2nd trimester and better sleep, but keep sleeping. Extra rest is still a good thing

13) When sleeping, lie on your side with your knees and hips bent. Place pillows between your knees, under your tummy and behind your back. This can help take pressure off your lower back.

14) To avoid nightmares try not to eat too much before bed and talk out any fears you might have with your partner or a therapist.

3rd Trimester

The third trimester is the most sleep challenged stage of pregnancy. With the frequency of urination, inability to get comfortable, extra weight, and preparing for the new baby, some women find themselves struggling to stay awake.

Rigorous fetal movements and fetal hiccups can also impede sleep. Aches and pains of many kinds can be expected at this time. The joints are loosening and preparing for birth, the body is carrying all the extra weight, and even walking can be tough.

Many women during pregnancy wake frequently during the night for no reason, which can cause her to be sleepy in the morning. Many women find that they have begun snoring. During the later stages of pregnancy, many women find that their nasal passages have swollen and have more nasal congestion. Many women complain of leg cramps during the 3rd trimester as well.

The muscles of the legs are carrying a lot of weight and tend to get stiff. Once relaxed at night they can tense up or spasm, causing great pain and keeping some women awake.

Third Trimester Survival Tips

15) Sleep on your left side. This allows for the best blood flow to the fetus, your uterus and kidneys. It also improves circulation of blood back to the heart.

16) Try using a body pillow to help you sleep better.

17) Avoid sodas and other carbonated drinks, they can cause leg cramps.

18) If you’re getting a lot of swelling and begin snoring, call you doctor

19) If you develop Restless Legs Syndrome, talk to your doctor about an iron deficiency.

20) If you can’t sleep get up and do something else. Read, watch T.V., listen to music, clean, you may get tired enough to want to go back to bed.

21) If you are getting leg cramps, straighten your leg and flex your foot upwards, this will help get the kink out. Do these several times before going to bed as a stretching routine to avoid the cramps all together.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on January 29, 2008, 03:03:52 AM
Skin Care Tips for Pregnancy !!!


Pregnancy can be nine of the most exciting months of a woman's life. But, as anyone who is or has been pregnant knows, it can also feel like you spend the better part of those months learning what you can and cannot eat, breathe, and touch! Hopefully I can at least take some of the guesswork out of the skin care realm.

Consider these do and don'ts:

• Stop using retinoids (like Retin-A, Tazorac, or Differin, for example) and over-the-counter products with retinol. They are in the same family as Accutane, which you may already have been told to avoid.

• Salicylic acid is also not suitable for pregnant women, but can be safely substituted with lactic or glycolic acid, which work similarly. Remember, salicylic acid is a common ingredient in chemical peels as well as skin care products. MD Forte Cleanser III is a good option.

• It can be easy to equate "natural" with "harmless," but remember that certain supplements and herbs may also be unsuitable for pregnant women. The safety of many of them has not been studied in pregnant women. If you're taking any, discuss them with your doctor.

• Switch to physical (a.k.a. mineral) sunscreens, which remain on the surface of your skin and aren't absorbed into your system. (Physical sunscreens typically contain titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.) I love the Blue Lizard Suncream from Australia, which is available in many major U.S. chains.

• Many pregnant women experience acne, or increased acne, during pregnancy, as fluctuating hormones cause oil production to increase. But don't worry if your skin still seems altered post-pregnancy - it can take a few months for hormones to return to their pre-pregnancy normal, especially if you're breast-feeding. Ask your doctor to recommend a safe product to treat breakouts, and avoid self-treating with products you're not sure about (as many acne treatments contain salicylic acid and retinol).

• Pregnancy is associated with a form of hyperpigmentation called melasma - it's so common, in fact, that melasma is often called "the mask of pregnancy." Over-the-counter skin-lightening products with hydroquinone are safe, but many pregnant women prefer to avoid that ingredient (and the FDA is considering a ban, which might make it unavailable anyway!). I recommend DDF Intensive Holistic Lightener as a great hydroquinone-free option.

• Concerned about stretch marks? Moisturize three to four times a day with cocoa butter, shea butter, or almond/safflower oil. (Just on the tummy, though - those ingredients are too heavy for pregnant women's acne-prone facial skin.)

Pregnant women may develop a biotin deficiency which can lead to brittle nails. Discuss taking these supplements with your doctor. The daily U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is 400 micrograms for adults, 500 micrograms for breastfeeding adult women, and 600 micrograms per day for pregnant adult women.
Wishing you great skin!

Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: mirasiv on January 29, 2008, 06:57:20 AM

Dear Fatimaji,

jai Sairam

Thanks for posting useful tips to be considered during pregnancy.

Jai Saima
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on January 30, 2008, 01:08:56 AM
Does a pregnant woman need to eat twice as much?

It has often been said that a pregnant woman should eat for two people, but this is not true.

What is true is that during pregnancy a woman has to provide good nutrition for two individuals. The growing baby gets all its nourishment from its mother through the umbilical cord, so diet is very important. If the mother is lacking in any vitamins and nutrients her baby might lack them too.

If a woman has had trouble keeping her weight up or down before the pregnancy, she should make a nutritional plan with the help of her doctor or midwife.


How much energy does a woman need during pregnancy?

A woman who is not pregnant needs approximately 2100 calories per day.


A pregnant woman needs approximately 2500 calories per day.


A breastfeeding woman needs approximately 3000 calories per day.


Calories are sometimes called Kilocalories or KCals. [/b]


What other vitamins and minerals are essential during pregnancy?

Folic acid  

During the first three months of pregnancy (and preferably before becoming pregnant) a woman needs folic acid. This is one of the B-group vitamins and is also known as vitamin B9. It is important during pregnancy for the creation of the baby's nervous system.

Folic acid can help prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida and other congenital malformations such as cleft palate or cleft lip.

Good natural sources of folic acid are barley beans, fruit, green vegetables, orange juice, lentils, peas and rice. It is recommended that all pregnant women take a daily 400 microgram supplement of folic acid a day for two months before conception and three months into their pregnancy.

The dosage of the supplement should be larger - 5mg per day - if a woman has previously given birth to a child with a neural tube defect or if she or partner has spina bifida. She should discuss this matter with her doctor.

Iron
During pregnancy, a woman's body needs more iron than usual to produce all the blood needed to supply nutrition to the placenta. Good sources of iron are green vegetables such as broccoli and spinach, strawberries, muesli and wholemeal bread.

Iron is more easily absorbed if it is taken in conjunction with vitamin C - either as a supplement or in citrus fruit or juice. Tea and coffee can interfere with the body's absorption of iron.

It is often recommended that all pregnant women take an iron supplement every day from the 20th week of pregnancy. This is not necessary if a woman has a good diet and routine blood tests show that she is not anaemic. Iron supplements may cause constipation.

[b]Zinc and calcium

The minerals zinc and calcium are also needed for the development of the embryo. However, it is usually possible to obtain enough zinc and calcium by following a varied diet.

What foods should be avoided during pregnancy?

It is important to avoid vitamin A during pregnancy because it may cause damage to the embryo. Foods containing large amounts of vitamin A include liver, and should be eaten on an occasional basis only. Unpasteurised cheeses, blue-veined cheeses and pâté are also not recommended because of the possible risk of transmission of infectious diseases such as Listeria.

How to avoid constipation [/color]

Constipation during pregnancy can be caused by hormonal changes that cause the intestines to move less. Iron supplements can also cause constipation.

To avoid constipation, eat lots of fibre-rich foods such as fruit, vegetables, wholemeal bread and cereal, prunes and prune juice. Drinking 2 to 3 litres of water each day will also help prevent constipation by keeping stools moist.

Regular exercise will also help get the intestines moving. About 20 to 30 minutes' swimming or brisk walking two to three times a week is a good level of exercise to aim for.

A pharmacist will be able to provide advice about over-the-counter preparations that are safe to use during pregnancy to relieve constipation.


[color=maroon]How much weight should a woman gain during pregnancy?[/b]


It is considered normal to gain 10 to 12kg (22 to 26lb).

For practical reasons the pregnancy is divided into three periods:


the first period runs from week 0 to 12 where it is normal to gain 1 to 2kg (2 to 4lb).


the second period runs from weeks 12 to 28 in which it is normal to gain 300 to 400g (10 to 14oz) a week.


the third period runs from weeks 28 to 40 and it is normal to gain 1 to 3kg (2 to 6lb) a month.


It is not necessary to be obsessive about your weight during pregnancy. Many obstetricians have stopped weighing women other than at their first visit because the information is of little use in detecting problems with the mother or her baby.

However, excess weight gain is probably best avoided since most women will want to return to the same dress size within a few months of delivery

[color=maroon]Where do the extra kilos come from? [/b] [/b]


A total weight increase of about 11.2kg (24lb) is normal.


A baby weighs approximately 3.5kg (7lb 11oz) before birth.


The uterus grows to approximately 900g (1lb 14oz).


The placenta weighs approximately 650g (1lb 6oz).


The amniotic fluid weighs approximately 800g (1lb 12oz).


The woman's breasts grow by approximately 400g (14oz).


The weight of the extra blood is approximately 1.25kg (2lb 12oz).


Water retained in the body tissues weighs approximately 2kg (4lb 6oz).


The layer of fat beneath the skin weighs approximately 1.7kg (3lb 11oz).  
Title: What Should not you eat during pregnancy??
Post by: fatima on January 30, 2008, 01:36:53 AM
We are far more aware of potential harmful effects of various foods than we ever have been before. It is worth remembering that the diseases that can be caught by eating 'unsafe' foods are rare, but where possible it is certainly sensible to reduce the risks as far as reasonably possible.Current recommendations are to avoid;

Pates and soft ripened cheeses such as brie, camembert and blue-veined varieties. These foods may contain Listeria, a strain of bacteria which can have harmful effects on the baby.

Eggs may contain Salmonella, which can cause diarrhoea and vomiting. During pregnancy it is wise to cook eggs until both the yolk and the white are solid. Remember that mayonnaise and mousses may contain raw eggs.

Be very careful about food preparation, especially the handling of raw meat and poultry. These products may contain Toxoplasma, a bacterium that can cause miscarriage and harm the baby.  


[Toxoplasma can also be caught from contact with cat faeces. Having a cat is not a problem, but someone other than the pregnant woman should remove the soiled litter within 24 hours. You should be careful about washing your hands when you have been handling the cat. See our factsheet on 'Pets, pregnancy and your baby'.

Other foods that are best avoided include;

Untreated milk

Shellfish such as oysters and mussels that may be contaminated with harmful bacteria and viruses.

Any food that has passed it's 'use by' date.

Peanuts are best avoided in pregnancy, as there is now some suggestion that in susceptible women, eating peanuts while pregnant may be linked to peanut allergy in children, and also to an increased risk of asthma and eczema.

Liver and liver products should be avoided as they contain high levels of vitamin A, which is now thought to have harmful effects on the baby.Although this list probably seems long, most foods are perfectly safe in pregnancy.

Try to eat a balanced diet with a variety of bread, cereals, fruit vegetables, dairy foods, meat, fish, eggs, and pulses. [/b]  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 01, 2008, 01:46:56 AM
Travel Tips for Pregnant Women: Wearing Comfortable Shoes and Other Advice

Traveling is almost always safe during pregnancy. Unless you are having unique complications, most doctors allow their patients to travel and fly until they are 34-36 weeks pregnant, at which point the risk of premature labor becomes a common concern. While traveling during pregnancy is generally a great way to relax and relieve some of the stress of preparing for a new addition, it's always a good idea to discuss your travel plans with your doctor or midwife ahead of time. If he or she approves your plan, you're in for a real treat. Traveling while pregnant can be a lot of fun and can be relatively easy - if you make the right choices and go the right places.

Travel tip 1# Plan the pregant card

Many women are nervous about being labeled as pregnant women who can't "do anything," but while flying, making a big deal out of your pregnancy has its perks. By letting the attendants know that you are pregnant and by speaking with them before boarding, you can make sure that you have an aisle seat ("I have to go to the bathroom a lot"), and you also have the option of pre-boarding the flight. Pre-boarding is a great advantage because it gives you time to sit down and get settling in without having to stand for long periods of time waiting to get on the plane.

Travel Tip #2: Wear good shoes.

Even if you have your entire trip planned out, wearing good shoes is a "must" for all pregnant travelers. Whether you're 6 weeks along or 36, good shoes will give your feet and back the support that they need to keep you energized and alert. Chances are, you're probably easily exhausted, so the extra energy your body gains from good support is necessary in ensuring you have a great vacation.


Travel Tip #3: Don't overdo it.


Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 01, 2008, 01:55:25 AM
What Happens in Each Stage of Pregnancy?

1st Trimester (Week1 to the end of Week 12)

Congratulations! Your journey to motherhood is underway. Check out the changes in your body and how your baby grows during the first three months.

2nd Trimester (Week13 to the end of Week 26)

You're adjusting to the precious life inside you. Learn what to expect in the second trimester

3nd Trimester (Week 27 to the end of pregnacy)

You're in the home stretch! Start thinking about breastfeeding, learn to spot the signs of labor and get the facts on cesarean sections
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 02, 2008, 05:57:39 AM
Back Pain Relief Tips For Pregnant Women

Back pain is one of the banes that generally go with pregnancy. It is a common complaint. More than 50 % of the pregnant woman population suffers from it.

Back pain during the pregnancy is mainly due to change in the contours of the body of the woman, as baby grows within and puts on additional weight, month after month to the mother. This extra weight causes a change in the center of gravity of the woman's body. Major hormonal changes are also noticed in the early stages of the pregnancy, which is an additional cause of the back pain.

The center of gravity of women's body shifts forward with the growth of the uterus. Her postures and movement style change and this put additional strain on her back, resulting in backache.

In certain cases, urinary infections which are also common during the pregnancy can be the cause of back pain. If the woman has acute back pain during the early stages of pregnancy, the same requires immediate attention of the doctor. Back pain during the pregnancy can be due to a multiplicity of factors which demands immediate attention.

Medication for the sake of medication should be avoided during pregnancy. You are responsible for two lives, so any medication will only be by the advice of the doctor. Exercising is the sure remedy for a pregnant woman. Simple walking is the best exercise. But do not do aggressive walking.

Avoid slouching. Maintain an appropriate posture by using a lumber cushion or pillow. Cultivate by experience good body mechanics. Muscular exercises are a deterrent to back pain.

A pregnant woman is not expected to stand for long periods, say while traveling and for any other reasons. Do not change your sitting position too often. In the early stages of pregnancy proper rest and adequate sleep is necessary. Avoid high-heeled shoes at all costs. The practice is dangerous as it will put lots of strain on the back. Use a low flat stool for sitting. Avoid kitchen work for longer durations.

Your clothing should also be imaginative. Avoid tight clothing. Even if you are tired, avoid slumping forward. Slumping pushes the rib cage forward and down to the stomach. You can well imagine the resultant problems. While standing, be comfortable and keep your knees soft.

Many of your experienced friends and relatives can give you the correct tips for your backache problem. Such tips at times are more useful than the medical advice you get from your family doctor.

 
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 02, 2008, 06:06:21 AM
Prenatal Training - exercise tips for pregnant women

Exercise tips for each trimester of pregnancy
Although pregnancy is a wonderful experience for women, it can also be a concerning time for those who lead active lifestyles. These women often feel restrained because they worry about not being able to continue their exercise regimens. In order to assist women dealing with these issues, the following exercise tips are recommended for each trimester of pregnancy.

Trimester I
If your pregnancy is going smoothly, you are not physically limited--unless you participate in a strenuous sport like fencing, kickboxing or a contact sport, such as soccer. If this is the case, consult your doctor before continuing the sport.
* Any workout activities, like running and weightlifting, are fine.
* Be extra careful when stretching! During pregnancy, there's an increase in the hormone relaxin, which results in looser joints throughout pregnancy and for several months after giving birth. Since pregnant women may feel more limber, they often over-stretch and injure themselves.

Trimester II
The second trimester is the ideal time to shift from aerobic workouts to mind and body exercise, as it will help prepare your mental flow and focus for your soon-to-arrive baby.

* A prenatal yoga class.

* Alter your sit-ups! Sit-ups are okay if done on a 45-degree incline with knees bent.

* Weights are still okay, as long as they are not too strenuous.

* The exercise bike is great because it is a non-weight bearing and aerobic exercise
* It is important not to overheat your body. To prevent overheating, pace yourself and rest as needed during your workout. Make sure to drink plenty of extra water; remember, you're drinking for two now!

Trimester III
In the third trimester, your activities should be limited to your level of comfort.

* Daily walks.

* Swimming is the best exercise for the third trimester because it is aerobic and safe to do everyday. Also, floating gives you a "weightless" sensation, which can be a welcome relief from the constraints of your growing belly.

* Here again, prenatal yoga is a wonderful way to prepare your body, mind and spirit for your soon- to-arrive baby.

These exercises are designed for physically active women. For women who are not physically active, a loose regimen of daily walks, stretching or prenatal yoga is recommended.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 12, 2008, 01:48:58 AM
Diabetes and Pregnancy

Most major organ systems are formed in the growing fetus during the first seven weeks after conception. This phase -- when some women do not know that they are pregnant -- is widely considered the most critical time of development in the entire human lifespan. The early weeks of pregnancy are especially critical for women with diabetes.
The extra precautions described here mainly apply to women with diabetes who become pregnant, rather than women who develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy. During pregnancy, gestational diabetes does not carry the same risk of maternal complications as type 1 or type 2 diabetes.  

How Should Women With Diabetes Prepare for Pregnancy?


Women with diabetes should have a complete physical examination before becoming pregnant. As part of the examination, they should provide their doctors with a complete medical history, including duration and type of diabetes, medications and supplements taken, and any history of diabetic complications, such as neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy and cardiac problems.
It is also important for women with diabetes to plan ahead and maintain excellent blood sugar control before conceiving, as high blood sugar levels during the first trimester can lead to miscarriage or congenital anomalies, which are abnormal changes during fetal development in the uterus.

Before becoming pregnant, women with diabetes should also have their kidney function tested.
Although pregnancy does not worsen diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease), pregnant women with advanced kidney disease are more prone to high blood pressure, which can affect nearly all body systems and ultimately endanger the fetus.  

Why Is Managing Blood Sugar Especially Important for Pregnant Women With Diabetes?

In a 1989 study, women with a prepregnancy A1C value (a blood test that measures glucose levels) that was greater than 9.3% had the highest risk of miscarriages and birth to babies born with congenital anomalies. Studies have indicated that A1C values of up to 6% (with 5% being considered normal) carry the same risk of miscarriage and fetal anomalies as a nondiabetic pregnancy.
Women with higher than normal blood sugar levels, whether they have gestational, type 1 or type 2 diabetes, also tend to have larger babies. This leads to a greater risk of injuries of the shoulder and brachial plexus (the nerves connecting the spine with the arm and shoulder) to the infant during childbirth.

Poorly controlled diabetes is also associated with pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure) and premature delivery.

There is very little information about the effect of hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) on long-term development of the fetus.

Are There Diabetes Medications That Should be Avoided During Pregnancy?

Women with type 2 diabetes who take oral medications for blood sugar control should switch to using insulin before becoming pregnant and throughout pregnancy. While some oral antidiabetic medications have been studied and were found to be safe in pregnancy, insulin is the best and safest method for controlling blood sugar throughout pregnancy.
Many blood pressure medications can be dangerous for the fetus; therefore, usually these medications should be stopped before pregnancy if blood pressure can be maintained below 130/80 mmHg with dietary salt control alone. If blood pressure medications are absolutely necessary, women may have to be switched to a new medication prior to pregnancy. In particular, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers are excellent for blood pressure control in nonpregnant women with diabetes; however, these are not safe when used by a woman who is diabetic and pregnant.
Similarly, cholesterol-lowering medications should also be stopped during pregnancy.  

How are Diet and Exercise Managed for Pregnant Women With Diabetes?


Nutrition is vitally important for pregnant women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In general, pregnant and nursing women with diabetes should ingest 15 to 17 calories per pound of body weight daily, although this may vary from person to person and should be discussed with the diabetes care team before, during, and after pregnancy and nursing.
Important nutritional concerns in type 1 diabetes include consistent day-to-day food intake and consumption of a bedtime snack, and adjusting insulin according to activity and food content to prevent high or low blood sugar levels to carefully treat hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, respectively.

Nutrition is the most important means of blood glucose control in type 2 diabetes. Pregnant women with type 2 diabetes should talk with their diabetes care providers, and ideally a diabetes nutritionist, to determine their goals for daily calories, carbohydrates, nutritional balance in foods, and timing of eating throughout the day.

Exercise is beneficial for pregnant women with type 2 diabetes, as it helps improve the body’s response to insulin. Women with type 1 diabetes who exercised prior to pregnancy can probably continue to exercise during pregnancy. However, women with type 1 diabetes who are not accustomed to exercise are more prone to hypoglycemia with exercise during pregnancy; for this reason, these women are not advised to begin an exercise regimen when pregnant.  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 14, 2008, 04:00:47 AM
Here are a few other general health tips and advice. Of course, it's important to discuss all questions and concerns with your health care provider.

Some medications (prescription and over-the-counter) that are generally safe could harm your growing baby. Talk to your health care provider about medications you're currently taking. If you get sick, check to make sure any drugs you take are safe for pregnant women.

Eat right.  To help your baby grow strong and healthy, eat lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, and calcium-rich foods. Avoid saturated fats and limit your caffeine intake. Remember: you're eating for two now, make sure you both get the best!

Take your vitamins! Making sure you and your baby get all the necessary nutrients is extremely important, especially at the start of your pregnancy. Buy prenatal vitamins with folic acid at your local drugstore and remember to take one everyday.

Think ahead about what you'll need once the baby's born, and take note of helpful resources in your community

Quit your bad habits. If you smoke, drink, or use other drugs, please talk to care provider about quitting. Don't hesitate to ask for help, as these habits are extremely dangerous to your baby n your health.

Unless your doctor tells you not to, try to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day. You will feel better throughout your pregnancy, and labor might even be easier if you're in better shape.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 15, 2008, 04:34:40 AM
Techniques for coping with stress during pregancy!

Gaining control of your life:

1. Take a close look at your lifestyle. Make yourself do this on paper. Look at your work activities, home and family responsibilities, other obligations (church, community activities, clubs and organizations to which you belong). Then look to see how "doable" it is. Make sure you include in your calculations time for yourself for such activities as exercise, down time, and socializing Once you have done this, be honest with yourself as you ask the following: Is this schedule achievable? Sustainable? Satisfying? If not, accept the reality that you have to change the schedule.

2. Accept the fact that even if you currently can thrive on your busy and demanding lifestyle, you likely will not be able to sustain it as pregnancy progresses and makes more physical demands on you. Therefore prepare yourself to cut back on what you're doing and to allow yourself more time for rest and relaxation. You will need to sleep more. You will need to change the time you a lot for meals to make sure that you are able to eat a balanced diet. You will feel better if you allow time to engage in a reasonable exercise program. Finally you will need to allow yourself some "mental growth" time. This is time for reading, thinking, and planning for the new, incredibly important role of mother you will soon assume.

3. Be prepared to give up some control over the life-style you have worked so hard to attain. Many things about pregnancy are not in your control. You may experience severe morning sickness. You may have overwhelming fatigue. You may develop a pregnancy complication requiring hospitalization or home bed rest. For many women, especially those who have demanding jobs, the thought that biology might interfere with their responsibilities borders on the intolerable. But it happens. Be prepared to accept this.  

4. Make up your mind that you, and not your husband or your mother or your boss or your friends, are going to determine how you feel about your pregnancy and how you cope with it. Other than your medical care providers, you are the best person to determine what your needs are, how hard you should work, how much you should rest, what you should eat, and all other aspects of your behavior during pregnancy. Certainly listen to the advice of both medical professionals and friends and family members that you trust. But don't allow yourself to be made to feel bad by the well-intentioned but often incorrect comments and claims of others.
5. Keep lines of communication open with those you love, especially your spouse. Your spouse, parents, and friends--unless they are currently pregnant themselves--will not know exactly what you are experiencing and cannot anticipate what your wants and needs will be. Let them know. Tell them how you are feeling and how they can help. At the same time you must also be sensitive to the concerns and anxieties your spouse might have, especially if this is your first pregnancy.

6. Don't be a hero. This is especially important if your work environment is in a traditionally "macho" field. Such professions as law, medicine, and corporate life often make demands that are simply impossible for a pregnant woman to fulfill if they are to remain in good health and reasonably sane. Discuss with your spouse and your boss what you can and cannot reasonably do and make adjustments accordingly. Your employer certainly wants you to work as long as you can into your pregnancy. By adjusting your work environment in minor ways you often will be able to contribute much more to your organization than by following your former rigid schedule.

7. Do your homework. Learn as much about pregnancy as you can. Read, talk to friends, attend classes, and talk to your doctor or midwife to learn as much as possible not only about the biology of pregnancy but about its emotional implications as well. In this way if you do begin to experience new and disturbing emotions you'll at least not be surprised by them.

8. Give yourself permission to relax. This means making time specifically for relaxation and not doing so only when the odd spare moment occurs. Take time to do whatever makes you feel good. Read a book, see a movie, have a massage, sleep in late when you can. Each of us has his or her own means of personal "profit-taking". Make sure you do some, do your best to enjoy it, and by no means allow yourself to feel guilty about it.  

9. Teach yourself--or get taught--relaxation techniques. It has been shown by many researchers, notably Herbert Benson, M.D. and Alice Domar, PhD., that by learning to elicit a state of deep physical rest on command, both your body and your mind return to a calm, relaxed state. Heart rate, blood pressure, stress hormone levels, and muscle tension will drop. The mind experiences a marked diminution in tension and the perception of stress. This is called the Relaxation Response. Techniques for eliciting the response can be learned from health care providers or by reading the excellent description of it in Dr. Alice Domar, Self Nurture.
10. Talk to yourself--and write it down. The process of specifically identifying thoughts and feelings and putting them into written form is an excellent way both to come to grips with what you are experiencing and to help resolve any of these feelings that are troublesome. Doing so will give you better insight into yourself and will often relieve the pain of previously disturbing thoughts or feelings.

11. Test the origins of your emotions for validity. This process is called "cognitive restructuring". All of us get feedback and messages from those with whom we deal in the world. Often we make negative assumptions about ourselves based on this feedback and thus feel badly about interactions we have had and about ourselves. This process of negative thinking occurs spontaneously and can often be overwhelming. But if you can begin to identify these repetitive negative thoughts and write them down to make sure you have a clear understanding of them, you can then begin the process of seeing what triggers them and determine whether your thought or the emotion it evokes is reasonable. Whenever you get one of these thoughts look to see what caused it. Ask yourself if what happened-a comment, a cool look, etc-- deserves the negative response you have given it. By so doing you can start to break the cycle of automatic negative feelings sparked by common events in your life.

12. Finally, and not at all the least important, consider the possibility of obtaining professional help. The field of psychopharmacology has advanced so much over the last 15 years that seeing a therapist no longer automatically involves years of once a week visits to talk about your feelings. Although such "talk therapy" can be helpful, there are now many medications that are safe for pregnant women to take. These medicines have very few side effects yet can transform how you feel. Depressed moods are often caused by changes in the biochemistry of the brain. There are medicines that can safely adjust the levels of brain chemicals. These medicines, just like the insulin the diabetic takes, can correct abnormal biochemistry and make you feel better and happier. If you and your health are provider decide that such medications would be useful for you, by all means try them. They will not cause a miscarriage or harm your baby.  

Conclusion:

Life is complex and often hard. Stress will not be going away anytime soon. There are, however, ways that you as a pregnant woman can go about evaluating the stress you are under and make changes in your life to better be able to deal with it. By so doing, you'll have a healthier pregnancy and be a happier person.  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 15, 2008, 04:38:52 AM
Morning Sickness  

Morning sickness can be an unpleasant period during pregnancy. Many pregnant women (about 70 to 85%) experience a period of nausea and vomiting. Others will experience some of the nauseating symptoms of morning sickness. While the likelihood of getting ill may be due to genetics and hormones for some, morning sickness can be related to liver toxicity, low blood sugar or insufficient B vitamins, such as B6 and folic acid. The good news about this is that over 50% of sufferers will feel better by the 12th week of pregnancy, and over 90% have stopped vomiting by the end of the fourth month.   

Here are some ways to curb it:  

Supplement your diet with nutritional whole grains, wheat germ and spirulina can help. Drinking ginger tea or a glass of water with a squeeze of fresh lemon can take the edge off nausea.
 

As well, here are some suggestions that many women have found to help:

try snacking or "grazing" throughout the day instead of eating large meals
avoid rich and fatty foods - try plain carbohydrates like potatoes and rice
try soups, jelly, colas and other sodas, and sugared herbal teas
carry salted crackers or some similar food around - it's important not to let the stomach get completely empty, as this can increase nausea
try to avoid things that trigger nausea, like certain food smells
if taking prenatal vitamins containing iron, try switching brands to see if symptoms grow milder
avoid prenatal vitamins and take folic acid only
avoid cooking
avoid acidic foods
avoid fried foods  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 16, 2008, 04:02:10 AM
Strategies to Ease Heartburn Symptoms during Pregnancy


 Pregnant women can treat and relieve their heartburn symptoms through lifestyle and dietary changes. The following tips can help reduce heartburn discomfort:

1.Avoid eating late at night or before retiring to bed. Common heartburn triggers include greasy or spicy food, chocolate, peppermint, tomato sauces, caffeine, carbonated drinks, and citrus fruits.
Wear loose-fitting clothes. Clothes that fit tightly around your waist put pressure on your abdomen and the lower esophageal sphincter.

2.Eat smaller meals. Overfilling the stomach can result in acid reflux and heartburn.
Don’t lie down after eating. Wait at least 3 hours after eating before going to bed. When you lie down, it’s easier for stomach contents (including acid) to back up into the esophagus, particularly when you go to bed with a full stomach.

3.Raise the head of the bed 4 to 6 inches. This can help reduce acid reflux by decreasing the amount of gastric contents that reach the lower esophagus.
Avoid tobacco and alcohol. Abstinence from alcohol and smoking can help reduce reflux symptoms and avoid fetal exposure to potentially harmful substances
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 17, 2008, 02:13:17 AM
Driving Safety Tips for Pregnant Women

On a three-point safety belt, always position the lap belt portion as low on the abdomen as possible. The shoulder belt should be routed over the sternum.
Leave the air bag operational.

Drive a vehicle that allows the most clearance between the steering wheel and abdomen.
Remove or adjust coats to make sure they do not interfere with low placement of the lap belt.
Minimize driving in hazardous conditions, such as in bad weather or on icy roads.
Position the steering wheel to maximize abdomen-to-wheel clearance, while aiming it more toward the chest than the head.

When possible, ride as a passenger rather than drive to avoid potential contact with the steering wheel.
 
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 17, 2008, 02:18:02 AM
Top Tips for Increasing Breast Milk Supply  


If your milk supply seems to be dwindling, there are positive steps you can take to increase production. Consult this list of top tips for increasing your milk supply.  

The amount of milk your breasts produce is subject to a number of factors, but they all relate to two factors: your health and well being and nursing frequency. Try any or all of the following steps to increase your milk supply.  

Take care of yourself to increase milk supplyWhen baby naps, take a nap yourself, if you need to. Resting is a necessity, not a luxury, especially when you’re the source of your baby’s nutrition. Even if you can’t sleep, you can rest … and you should

Fuel the machine]Make a point of eating well and drinking plenty of fluids. (“Plenty” means drink as much as you need to but not so much that you feel uncomfortable). You may find that eating six small meals each day will help keep your energy level up better than three large ones.  

Practice saying, “Yes, thank you”—When friends or family members offer their help, accept it gratefully. Would you rather be running errands, cleaning your house, and washing a few loads of clothes or resting and caring for your baby? Be sure to tell your helpers specifically what they can do to help.  

Nurse frequentlyBreast milk production is a demand/supply function. The more your baby nurses, the more milk you will produce. Shorter, more frequent nursing sessions are more effective at building and maintaining your milk supply than longer feeding sessions that occur less frequently.  

Perfect position]Offer both breasts at each nursing, alternating sides at each session. “Switch nursing” can also be effective in increasing your supply. When your baby’s active sucking at the first breast slows and there are long pauses between each suck, take him off the breast, burp him, and offer your other breast. Switch nursing triggers more letdowns in a feeding and keeps the milk flowing faster. This may interest your baby in nursing longer at each session. Keep everything calm and low key; small infants can become overtired and frustrated, so be alert for signs of stress

Avoid using breast replacementsYour breasts produce milk in response to the stimulation of your baby’s sucking, so when you need to increase your milk supply, ban (at least temporarily) pacifiers and bottles until your breast milk has become more plentiful. Also, don’t use nipple shields, because they can lead to under-stimulation of the breast, which will reduce your supply.  

Nurse first]For older babies who are getting additional nutrition, nurse them before you offer solid foods or giving them water, juice, or formula.  

Any of these techniques can help you to increase your milk supply. However, illness, different medications, caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine can all decrease your milk supply. If you have any questions or concerns, consult with your pediatrician, a lactation consultant, or a local breastfeeding support group.  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 18, 2008, 02:39:06 AM

Pregnancy Quotes!



If pregnancy were a book they would cut the last two chapters. ~Nora Ephron


Life is tough enough without having someone kick you from the inside. ~Rita Rudner


Think of stretch marks as pregnancy service stripes. ~Joyce Armor


There are three reasons for breast-feeding: the milk is always at the right temperature; it comes in attractive containers; and the cat can't get it. ~Irena Chalmers


You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment. ~Dave Barry, Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn


People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. ~Leo J. Burke


One of the most obvious results of having a baby around the house is to turn two good people into complete idiots who probably wouldn't have been much worse than mere imbeciles without it. ~Georges Courteline, La Philosophie de Georges Courteline


You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back. ~William D. Tammeus


The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh


When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty


It is much easier to become a father than to be one. ~Kent Nerburn, Letters to My Son: Reflections on Becoming a Man


There are three stages of a man's life: He believes in Santa Claus, he doesn't believe in Santa Claus, he is Santa Claus. ~Author Unknown
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 18, 2008, 02:45:04 AM
Early Pregnancy Symptoms

An early pregnancy symptom is a signal which indicates to the mother, early on, that she is brewing a baby in her belly. There are many different early pregnancy symptoms, and here are some of the more common or oft-cited ones.

Menstrual Cycle Changes

Perhaps the most common early pregnancy symptom is the alteration in some way to a woman’s menstrual cycle.  This can manifest in many ways: the pregnant woman may find that she has missed her period altogether.  This can be a false sign for a non-pregnant woman, but it is definitely a strong early pregnancy symptom for a lot of women who keep track of such things.

Instead of the complete absence of one’s period, a pregnant woman might learn as such when the flow level of her period suddenly changes.  She may find that he period’s flow is much heavier than usual.  Or, in other cases, she might find that her flow has seriously lessened.  Either way, she may take this type of change to be an early pregnancy symptom.

Body Changes

Through the pregnancy, a woman will likely find some weight gain associated.  But, in the beginning, weight gain that just suddenly occurs without any change to diet or exercise habit can be a reliable early pregnancy symptom.  Breast tenderness is also a fairly accurate sign of pregnancy and is something many women take a cue from and buy a home pregnancy test.

Additionally, a pregnant woman may take as an early pregnancy symptom the strange bouts of nausea she finds herself afflicted with.  Commonly called morning sickness, this seemingly incontrollable state of sickness can be very intrusive but, at least, is a strong early pregnancy symptom on which many women rely.

Eating Habits

Many pregnant women note that their eating habits, on reflection, had changed due to their food desires and aversions that accompanied their early pregnancy.  Some women may crave the stereotypical pregnant woman’s meal - pickles and ice cream.  Other women may desire more meat or maybe more fruit or perhaps a donut - or twelve!

Still others cite as an early pregnancy symptom their need to avoid certain foods or food types.   A pregnant woman may find that she completely cannot stand the idea of looking at a particular type of food.  Another may find that she thought she could eat a type of food, but later realized that it only seemed to cause a wave of nausea later on
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 19, 2008, 03:19:07 AM
What is false labor?]

As you approach your due date, the painless and infrequent Braxton Hicks contractions that you may have been feeling since mid-pregnancy might sometimes become more rhythmic, relatively close together, and even painful, at times fooling you into thinking you are in labor. But unlike true labor, this so-called "false labor" doesn't cause significant progressive dilation of your cervix, and the contractions don't grow consistently longer, stronger, and closer together.

Note: Not every woman experiences bouts of false labor. And in some cases, the strong, regular contractions of true labor come on with little or no warning.
How can I tell if I'm in false labor or true labor?
Sometimes it's very hard to tell false labor from the early stages of true labor. If you're 37 weeks or more, here are some things that might help you sort it out:
•  False labor contractions are unpredictable. They come at irregular intervals and vary in length and intensity. Although true labor contractions may be irregular at first, over time they start coming at regular and shorter intervals, become increasingly more intense, and last longer.

•  With false labor, the pain from the contractions is more likely to be centered in your lower abdomen. With true labor, you may feel the pain start in your lower back and wrap around to your abdomen.

•  False labor contractions may subside on their own, or when you start or stop an activity or change position. True labor contractions will persist and progress regardless of what you do.  

What should I do if I feel contractions?

If you're not yet 37 weeks, don't waste precious time trying to figure out what's going on. If you notice any signs of labor, call your doctor or midwife right away in order to rule out preterm labor. After 37 weeks, you can sit out the contractions (whether false or from true early labor) at home and see what develops, unless your practitioner has advised you otherwise.

False labor contractions can be a real drag, interfering with your sleep and making you tired and cranky. Taking warm baths and drinking lots of liquids can sometimes help. You might also feel anxious, wondering when true labor will start. And if you have an older child, you might be constantly wondering if it's time to call the babysitter. (When in doubt, call the babysitter — there's no harm done even if you don't end up needing to go in, and you may be able to rest more easily knowing that help is at hand.)

Keep a stopwatch nearby to time your contractions for a while until you get a sense of what's going on. And don't hesitate to call your doctor or midwife to check in if you're concerned, confused, or just need a little encouragement.  

What are Braxton Hicks contractions?
Braxton Hicks are sporadic uterine contractions that actually start at about 6 weeks, although you won't be able to feel them that early. You probably won't start to notice them until sometime after midpregnancy, if you notice them at all (some women don't). They get their name from John Braxton Hicks, an English doctor who first described them in 1872.

As your pregnancy progresses, Braxton Hicks contractions tend to come somewhat more often, but until you get to your last few weeks, they should remain infrequent, irregular, and essentially painless. Sometimes, though, Braxton Hicks are hard to distinguish from early signs of preterm labor.

Play it safe and don't try to make the diagnosis yourself. If you haven't hit 37 weeks yet and you're having four or more contractions in an hour, or have any other signs of preterm labor, call your caregiver immediately.

By the time you're within a couple of weeks of your due date, these contractions may get more intense and more frequent, and cause some discomfort. Unlike the earlier painless and sporadic Braxton Hicks contractions that caused no obvious cervical change, these may help your cervix "ripen": gradually soften and efface, and maybe even begin to dilate a bit. This period is sometimes referred to as "pre-labor."

Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 20, 2008, 01:51:39 AM
10 Tips for Breastfeeding  

Here are some helpful tips for making breastfeeding go more smoothly:

1. Meet with a lactation specialist through your hospital before giving birth to prepare you for breastfeeding and to help ease the transition once the baby arrives. You can also request to have a lactation specialist on-hand postpartum to help with the first breastfeeding sessions.

2. Take a breastfeeding class with your partner to help him understand the process and to encourage him to be more involved and supportive, both physically and emotionally.

3. Nurse within the first hour of birth, if possible.

4. Expect engorged breasts. Full, tender and painful breasts are normal until you get into the rhythm of breastfeeding your baby, and until the breasts adjust their milk production to the baby’s appetite. Regular breastfeeding reduces engorgement.

5. It’s not uncommon for nursing moms to experience significant nipple tenderness or pain. Using lanolin oil can help soothe chapped and cracked nipples, making nursing less painful.

6. Experiment with breastfeeding positions. Nursing pillows can also make your experience more comfortable and relaxing.

7. Get dad involved early on. He can do nighttime bottle feedings using expressed (pumped) milk so you can get more sleep. If you don’t want to pump, he can help by bringing the baby to you for night feedings and then carrying the baby back to the crib.

8. Speak with your employer ahead of time if you’re going to be pumping at work. Explain to him or her that you’ll need privacy, whether it means closing your office door or finding a private room that you can pump in.

9. Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration. And don’t forget that much of what you put in your mouth ends up in breast milk, including food, fluids, medications, and alcohol. Talk to your doctor if you’re concerned about any medications you are prescribed.

10. Don’t be afraid to talk to your doctors if you have questions or problems, no matter how long after you’ve given birth. They’re there to help, and can recommend easy and practical solutions to your nursing needs.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 20, 2008, 01:58:03 AM
Baby Blues
What are they?

The baby blues are a period of mild depression which can occur about three or four days after your baby is born. About 50% - 80% of all mothers go through a patch of baby blues which lasts for a few hours, or, at most, for a few days and then it disappears.

What causes baby blues?

The blues may have several causes, some biological and some emotional.
When a baby is born, there are very sudden changes in the mother's hormone levels. Some, required during pregnancy, drop rapidly, while others like those which start the production of milk, rise. These rapid changes may act to trigger the blues.

Many mothers are unprepared for the extreme weariness which often follows a birth. The weariness is usually due to a combination of factors. In many cases the mother will have been anticipating the birth with some apprehension. This, as well as the physical exertion of the birth itself, can make mothers feel exhausted. To add to this discomfort could be sore stitches, sore breasts and muscular ache.

Rest and quiet are most important after a birth. Few mothers get either, as they are busy responding to the needs of the baby, or, when they might be able to rest, they are disturbed by hospital or home routines or by visitors who may stay too long.

Sometimes the baby may have a slight health problem such as jaundice or feeding difficulties in the early days. These problems are very common with new babies, but they cause mothers great anxiety. The problems do settle down as the baby gets older and mothers should try to talk to medical staff and allow themselves to be reassured that the baby will thrive.

A new mother may feel that she will be unable to cope when at home alone with the baby. This is especially the case with first time mothers. Often the promise of practical help from family and friends can ease the situation, and as the mother learns how to cope at home her feelings of depression lift.

If the mother is worrying about her ability to support the baby financially she can get advice from the social worker in hospital or from her health visitor when she returns home from the hospital. Many mothers are unaware of the range of benefits to which they are entitled once they have had a baby.

Another reason could include the feeling of anti-climax after the birth of the baby.


Symptoms of baby blues


 mild depression
 being very emotional and upset
 tearfulness for no apparent reason
 being tense and anxious
 difficulty sleeping
 constant worry about minor problems
 some mothers have pains for which there is no medical cause
 being unwell generally with no apparent cause and symptoms
 impossible to cheer up
 most mothers who have the blues feel very tired and lethargic most of the time

How long do the blues last?

In most cases the blues last for only a few days and then the feelings fade. If the blues do continue and seem to be getting worse then the mother should see her doctor and discuss the problem.

What to do?

Mothers who have the blues should be allowed to cry if they want to and allowed to express their fluctuating emotions. If they feel miserable they should not be told to pull themselves together. It can be a great help to a mother if someone listens to her and reassures her that her worries and misery will not last and she will soon feel better.

A mother who has the blues must have as much rest as possible. It may also help the mother is she is told that the blues are very common and that they usually pass quickly.

Affected mothers are often over-sensitive about what is said to them by relatives and medical staff. So tact and empathy from the staff can be very beneficial at this time.

Make sure that people around the mother know that she is going through a bad patch. A sympathetic ear, a reassuring hug is all it takes to snap out of the baby blues. The community midwife may also be able to provide useful advice.

Generally baby blues fade away in a couple of days and soon the mother will start enjoying her baby.

In some cases, however, baby blues may worsen and develop into post-natal depression.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 21, 2008, 02:17:06 AM
Tips for bottle feeding

Rinse all the bottles and teats thoroughly in washing up liquid and water to remove all traces of milk.
 
Remember to sterilise all bottles and teats as long as your baby has milk in them.

Teats should have the right holes. Too small and too large holes can be frustrating for your baby.
 
It is a good idea to store spare sterile teats in a jar, so that you can use them in an emergency.

You can sterilise a needle and widen a hole in a teat to increase the milk flow.

Heat milk be standing the bottle in warm water. Microwave can cause hot spots and your baby's sensitive mouth may burn.
 
Prepare feeds in advance for the whole day and store in the fridge upto 24 hours.
 
Store bottles in the fridge but not in the fridge door. This is because the temperature is not easily maintained in the fridge door if the fridge is opened and closed often.
 
Always wash your hands before touching sterile equipment.
Drain sterile equipment on kitchen paper. Never use a kitchen towel or draining board for this purpose.

 An untouched milk bottle taken out of the fridge can be kept at room temperature for upto 3 hours. 

 Once your baby has started drinking from the bottle, discard the milk and don't offer it to your baby after one hour as your baby's saliva contaminates it.

 Prepare formula milk when the boiled water becomes hand-hot.

 Don't use repeatedly boiled water for feeds.

Never use mineral water for preparing feeds.

When travelling out, use ready-made formula milk available in cartons.

Bottles taken out of the fridge can be kept with ice cubes in an insulated box upto 8 hours.

Never carry a warm feed as it is a breeding ground for bacteria. You may want to carry a thermos filled with boiling water instead for warming the milk, when required.  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 21, 2008, 02:26:10 AM

Early Essentials of Baby Care - A Few Tips

As any health professional will tell you, and most parents know instinctively, the time in the womb and the first twelve months of a baby's life are the most critical in a child's upbringing. Mistakes and problems at that stage can have long term, sometimes permanent, effects.

The foetus and the baby after birth depend entirely on the parents, especially the mother. You are the baby's life, and it is your responsibility to ensure the baby is properly cared for. Baby care is not just about feeding; it is about everything you allow the baby to eat, drink, see, touch and hear. You are the source of its learning, the source of its health, and the source of its love

Baby care is a 24 hour job, and it involves every aspect of your own life and theirs. However, there are some basic essentials you need to apply, and here are a few tips for early baby care.  

1. Be Adamant About Breast Feeding  

There is absolutely no doubt that breast feeding is better for babies, and not just when they are babies. Studies have shown that breast fed babies are not only likely to be more happy and healthy as babies and infants, but right through childhood into their teenage years. Breast fed children tend to do better in school, adjust better to changes in their life, and have better attitudes to authority.

Breast milk is vitally important for a baby's immune system, and this is critical to fighting off infections and viruses. In tropical and poor countries this can be a life saver, as tropical and water borne diseases can be a threat to infants. Breast milk should be the exclusive food for at least six months, and then as long as the mother and child want afterwards. Solid foods can be slowly introduced after that first half year.  

2. Ensure Baby's First Solid Foods Are Healthy  

After about 6 months a baby will take an interest in what older people, especially Mom and Dad, are eating. With their teeth now developing, they will want to try. This is another crucial stage. To look after your baby properly, you must ensure good quality and nutritious healthy food. Do not feed them junk food such as fries and hot dogs, canned food, or other garbage such as donuts. they would set your baby on the road to ruin. Fresh fruits and vegetables should be the mainstay of the diet, with a mixture of fish and meats.

There is no agreement amongst professionals as to the need to puree food. In the case of our daughter, now 3 and a half , she wanted solids to be just that, solid. She wanted to eat what we had, which was mostly fish, vegetables, rice and fruit. Some advocate pureed food, but consider that babies in earlier centuries did not purify food, then it is worth trying small pieces of solid food. You can always mash or puree if the baby struggles; but our daughter insisted on what we had, and quite rightly too.  

3. Always Remember Just How Important You Are to the Baby

 When a baby is born, the parents and the siblings are the center of its life. A new baby is depending on the mother, and others who are close and frequently present. From its first moments, a new born baby will be picking up signals and learning from its immediate surroundings, which for much of the time involves the mother.

It is important to be aware of this, and to ensure the baby is brought up in a peaceful, warm and secure environment. If parents must argue, then it should be out of earshot of the baby. Concentrate instead on the bonding with the baby, through talking, touching, carrying, and assuring. It is up to the parents to exude happiness, so the baby too is happy. Always be conscious of the baby in all of your nearby actions, so that the influence will be a positive one, not something that will cause fear or confusion in the infant.  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: tana on February 22, 2008, 12:57:44 AM
Om Sai Ram~~~

Home Remedies for Foot Swelling During Pregnancy~~~   


Swelling, or edema, is common during pregnancy. It's estimated that about 75% of women will experience swelling around the legs and ankles at some point during pregnancy. It occurs due to excessive accumulation of the fluids.
 
At the end of the day after standing for a long time, or when the weather is warm, some swelling of the feet occurs. You may notice that your feet feel tight, your shoes don't fit, or just a general puffiness. Most women report that swelling subsides after a good night's rest, or several hours lying down.
 
When swelling is found all over the body it appears very serious. One should report this type of swelling to your midwife or doctor immediately. You should also report swelling that does not go away after many hours of rest. The swelling late in pregnancy is usually mild and limited to the ankles and legs.
 
The amount of blood in body increases about 40 percent during pregnancy. Body holds water naturally. Your heart needs to work harder to circulate this extra fluid. For about one out of three women, swelling of the hands and feet occurs during the last three months of pregnancy and is often greater during hot weather. Some swelling or puffiness is not unusual or serious, but it can be uncomfortable.

 
In the second and third trimesters, swelling in your legs and feet is a normal part of pregnancy. Fluids get "stuck" in these areas because more weight is pressing on them while at the same time your blood circulation has slowed down. Swelling usually appears in the second trimester, and can be lessened if you keep your legs raised for part of each day. You cannot avoid swelling by drinking less fluid or taking less salt.


Home Remedies for Foot Swelling During Pregnancy~~~

Boil some corn silk in a few cups of water and drink.
Boil a few tablespoons of coriander seed in two cups of water. Reduce to a cup and drink twice a day for three days. This is very useful home remedy for foot swelling.
Boil two cups of water with a teaspoon palm sugar and two teaspoons fennel seed. Reduce to a cup and drink thrice daily.
Don't wear elastic topped socks or knee-hi pantyhose.
Wear comfortable shoes. Slip on types work best.
Put your feet up when possible.
If you stand at work, try to move around slightly or get a stool to prop a foot up.
Eat foods high in protein, such as beans, cheese, fish, meat, poultry and tofu.
Do not stand for long time.
Prepare a drink by adding the fresh juice of a lemon in a cup of warm water and drink to help decrease fluid retention. This is also very useful home remedy for foot swelling.

Rest two or three times a day with your legs elevated higher than your heart. Lie down with pillows under your calves and feet or on your left side.

Avoid wearing tight clothing such as pants, leotards and knee-high stockings. Varicose veins may be associated with swelling.

Exercise is very important for reducing swelling. Exercise regularly by walking or swimming helps to remove the swelling.

Avoid sitting with your legs crossed. Use a footstool when sitting and perform ankle circles whenever possible.
Your fingers, feet, and ankles may swell later in pregnancy. Lying down 2 or 3 times a day and raising your legs above your heart for 10 or 15 minutes will reduce the swelling.
Lie on your left side while sleeping. In this position the blood flow is better from your legs back to your heart; and this helps prevent swelling.
Reduce salt in the diet. This also helps to prevent swelling of the feet Even though you are retaining water, continue to drink plenty of liquids.
You may want to wear elastic support stockings. They will help your legs feel better.

Jai sai Ram~~~
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 22, 2008, 01:45:43 AM
Quick Tips for Losing Postpartum Weight

It is not a secret that losing weight after you have a baby is incredibly difficult for many women. Gaining weight in the childbearing years is almost a given for many women, though it need not be.

Recent evidence shows us that there is a very simply method to preventing the pounds from packing on after you give birth:

Walk every day.
Walking 30 minutes a day also reduced the risk of keeping pounds and adding new ones for new moms.

Limit your television viewing.
By limiting your viewing of television shows by watching fewer than two hours a day, you can help lose weight postpartum.

Eat fewer trans fats.
Now with better labeling this should become easier to track.
Keeping these three simple rules provides women with a 77% reduced risk of retaining that weight.

Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 22, 2008, 01:53:06 AM
When To Start Teaching Your Baby

When is it that I should start teaching my baby? That is a question that may come to mind for many first time parents; other parents may never consider the question at all, and just leave things to evolve naturally.

In a way, that is an unnecessary question as, whether you like it or not and whether you mean to or not, you begin teaching your baby while it is still in the womb, and then continue through its early years, teenage years, and even into adulthood. So, perhaps it is better to rephrase that question slightly to "when should I consciously start teaching my baby?"

Even with the rephrased question, the answer is the same: while the baby is in the womb. How can that be?

While the baby is in the womb it starts to learn about its environment after about six months of pregnancy, when it is capable of hearing external sounds. Of course, it is aware of its internal environment earlier than that, but there is little you can do to enhance that. But when it comes to the external environment, you are in a position to have some influence even from that early stage of development

What Can You Teach Your Baby In The Womb?

With the baby in the womb there is clearly a very limited scope for teaching as such. However, you can provide additional stimulation that will form an important part of their learning at that stage. You can provide many hints as to what the outside environment is like, in a way that sets a good foundation for their feeling of love and security.

The main external awareness of a baby in the womb is sound. If you can make the external sounds comforting and welcoming then that will help the baby more than you may think. Music is a proven stimulation to babies, especially classical music; a daily dose of Mozart will stimulate the baby's brain and senses. With any luck, they will become a musical talent, but that is not an issue at this stage of their development.

You do not, of course, have to restrict her to classical music. Whatever music you like, just turn the volume up a bit more than usual to ensure she hears it. The sound will be muffled, but by the time baby is born, she will be used to your musical tastes.

Your aim should be to make the outside environment familiar to the baby. Most of that will happen naturally, and she will become used to the daily sounds, such as vacuum cleaner, liquidizer, lawnmower and other domestic noises that are penetrating.

Our baby daughter was born in the Philippines, where our usual form of transport is a tricycle. I do not think it a coincidence that, once she was born, she was contented with the noise of a tricycle; and they are noisy here, I assure you, especially outside the womb! However noisy the tricycle, she would always be asleep within a minute or two, and even now at 20 months is particularly relaxed on a deafening tricycle.

If you want to insist on having a most important sound in the womb, then it must be the voices of the parents. Getting to know the voice of mum and dad will come naturally, but dad especially can get up close and talk to the baby in the womb. It will not talk back of course, but you can rest assured, if she is awake, she will be intrigued by your up close and personal voice. It is something I did every evening with Saffron. That also had the effect of keeping her awake as long as possible during the evening, so she was less restless at night. That can be very helpful for mum to get a good night's sleep.

Another external stimulation which I never learnt about for my now grown up children, and that is light. This can be even more useful for keeping baby awake in the evening. If you take a powerful flashlight, switch it on, and hold it close to mum's tummy, the baby in the womb will respond to it. I must say I thought it a silly idea, until the then unborn Saffron started moving every time the light was switched on. So, the flashlight became another tool in the "keep baby awake in the evening" campaign to stop mum being kicked so much during the night.

Maybe Saffron did not appreciate my "keep her awake" tactics; no doubt she will tell you that in her Blog. She was probably wondering "who is this guy keeping me awake all the time; doesn't he realise I want to get some sleep?"

Prenatal Stimulation For A Smart Baby

Most parents think that parenting only starts after baby is born, but current research is proving otherwise. From the moment you learn that you are pregnant, you can start to stimulate and communicate with your baby.

Think of the womb as your child’s first world, so whatever he experiences in the womb will shape his expectations of life after birth. This means that the prenatal period (time between conception and birth) is the critical time to establish the basic architecture of the brain and build the foundations for its future potential.

Also, research in the field of prenatal stimulation found that external stimulation such as stroking the unborn baby through the belly, playing soft and melodious music, as well as light and vibrations are pleasurable to the baby.

Baby learns life’s first lesson in the womb.

When a mother actively engages her unborn baby in prenatal communication and stimulation, she is actually creating a conducive womb environment that will create a positive influence on her baby’s future life.

According to Dr Thomas R. Verny – the world’s leading expert on the effects of prenatal and early postnatal environment on personality development – prenatal stimulation bodes well for healthy fetal development.

"Every minute, there are new brain cells being formed in the unborn child. And as the new brain cells are being formed, pathways or circuits are being formed along the lines that help assist communication for whatever the child the needs. For example, the child will obviously need to breathe, the child will need to move when he is born, the eyelids will need to open and close; so all these organs and all the nervous tissue that supply these organs has to start developing long before birth.

It’s the same thing with the brain circuits. The more you stimulate a child’s skin, or the more you stimulate its auditory nerves (hearing) the more those pathways will develop and become stronger so that when the child is born, he or she is better prepared for the world."

5 prenatal tips to shape your child’s future today

Here are some suggestions on what you can do today to stimulate and communicate with your unborn baby:

Converse with your unborn baby One of the simplest ways for you to do that is to start communicating with your baby as if he or she is already present with you. Treat your baby as a conscious being. Begin talking, singing or even humming to your baby. This will help them get used to your voice and begin to recognize language formations.

Think about your baby. Although your baby is not physically present with you at this moment, you can still think about him now and about the time when you would meet soon. Your baby will be able to sense your loving thoughts and this will provide him with a sense of comfort, love and stability.

Use daily experiences to prepare your baby for life after birth The prenatal experience is all about preparing your baby for life after birth. So it is only fitting that you use normal, everyday experiences to share with your baby. It is all about showing your baby your lifestyle and the world that he will be born into. Make an experience out of the little activities in your daily life. Talk about your experiences to your baby no matter how mundane or ordinary it may seem to you. Remember, what seems ordinary to you is certainly not ordinary for your baby!

Reach out touch your baby. You may have noticed that you frequently rub, pat or touch your tummy throughout the day. Perhaps it is because we unconsciously know that this is one way of physically reaching out and communicating with the unborn baby. You can touch your belly in different ways and explain the difference of each touch to your baby as you do that i.e. patting, stroking, rubbing and so on. You can make tummy-rubbing a frequent daily exercise as you shower, while you are using an anti-stretch mark cream on your tummy and even patting your tummy in time to the music you are listening to!

Keep stress at bay or under control. Maternal stress has a direct and negative impact on the formation of your baby’s personality even as early as in the womb. You see, your baby is totally dependant on you for all of his or her needs, including physical, psychological and emotional content. You have to remember that your baby is still at an extremely fragile and fertile state of development, so you have to be careful about the kind of environment and influences that you are creating for him or her.

While it may take some time for you to get the hang of communicating with your unborn baby, rest assured that it will get easier as you continue to practice some of the suggestions above.

After a while, it will become as natural as your performing your other normal, everyday routine. And the best part is, studies have shown that parents who engage in prenatal stimulation report having a closer and strong bond with their children. So take the time to stimulate and communicate with your baby during your pregnancy!
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 23, 2008, 01:46:35 AM
Decorating Your Baby's Room - Getting the Nursery Ready For the New Baby[/color]

Preparing for a baby's arrival can be one of the most exciting periods of a couple's relationship, and getting the baby's room ready, choosing the color theme, furniture and furnishings is an important part of that excitement and anticipation

The priorities for a baby room, or nursery, are that it is warm, clean, and comfortable for the baby. It is also important for the baby's development and teaching baby about objects, animals and so on. Fresh out of the womb and for the following months, it is imporant for the baby to have plenty of visual stimulation around them. Such stimulation can come frombaby room decor such as mobiles on the crib or ceiling, pictures and patterns on the baby's bedding, and pictures on the wall.

Most parents will put some pictures on the wall to attract the baby's interest as it grows. Often, those pictures are in the form of cheap posters. However, if you are intent on keeping the the baby room decor at a high quality level, then more sophisticated wall hangings may be more to your taste. Although the baby will not appreciate the difference, you probably wil

Choosing a Baby Nursery Theme For Decorating Baby's Room]

For those people who decide on a new nursery for a newborn baby, there are early decisions to be made on decorating and fitting out the baby's room. Most of us want the nursery ready for the baby the day she is born, so that there are no last minute panics after the birth and when it is time to take the new arrival home. So we need to get to work some months before the due date, bearing in mind she may well arrive one or two months early. One of the major decisions is "do we decorate the nursery in a particular theme" or not? And if so, what theme should we choose?

Ideas For Baby Nursery Themes  

The choice of theme for decorating a baby's room will be influenced by a number of things. Firstly, striking a balance between visual aesthetics for the parents and the initial needs of a baby to be stimulated. Secondly, after the parents agree on a subject for the basis of the room design, is there sufficient decor available, in the way of bedding, rugs, wall hangings and so on, to carry that theme through successfully? Thirdly, the ever present budgetary factors.

Unless one of the parents has an arts and crafts talent, in most cases the nursery theme chosen will be one of the more common ones. Here are some of the more widely used topics around which a nursery design may be developed, and because they are quite common, they are the easy ones to fulfil, as various products will be readily available to fit the overall design:


Using a Color Theme  

However you choose to decorate the nursery, it will have a color scheme of some sort, good, bad or indifferent. But those who take their interior design seriously often want to use color coordination as a main feature of their room decor. Walls, whether painted or covered with wallpaper, carpets and rugs, baby bedding, and even picture frames, all smoothly blending into one.

Such a design will no doubt look aesthetically pleasing if well done. But in the case of a baby room, is that really the best approach? For example, you may see many pictures of nurseries with pastel color themes, and these can look absolutely gorgeous, especially when the room's centerpiece, the crib, is elegant and of vintage design.

With baby room decor, there is a need to consider the stimulation of the baby as she grows. She will probably spend a lot of time in the crib, and later on the floor, of her room. Her eyes will roam to those objects near her, and attracted to those that most stand out, the brighter colors and most distinct shapes.

During this phase, bolder colors may be beneficial, rather than 100% pastel shades, however nice they may look. You will probably have seen some pictures of an infant's room that is all bright and bold colors, and using just about every color under the sun. That is certainly an option, though many of us would baulk at the idea of a clash of all primary and secondary colors fighting for space and attention in any room.

In the end, it is likely that compromise of some sort will be the best answer. The parents have to live with the color theme, and the baby will not care one little bit. What is important is that you integrate some ways of providing future stimulation for the baby, through such items as mobiles, pictures and crib toys.

Animal Baby Room Theme  

It is very easy to get babies looking at animal pictures as the months pass, and they grow from the newborn to infant stage. Using an animal theme as the basis for a nursery's decor is probably one of the best, and most popular choices. With such a variety of interesting shapes and colors, and with all their very different faces, animals can be a great stimulant to an infant, and great fun for the parents to show, and use as a teaching aid. The stores have a good supply of animal bedding, pictures and other wall hangings, and even rugs and cribs with animal pictures.

There are, of course, many other possible themes you can choose for decorating your baby's room. Even a popular adult style such as Western can be used effectively. After all, a few cows and horses around the room will be well received by the baby later on. It is all a matter of what you as parents are happy with, balanced with the needs of the baby. Anyway, there is no need to have a theme at all; I am sure the baby will never complain. You may get everything looking perfect, and visitors gasping when they see the finely decorated nursery. But one thing is certain, the baby's first sentence will not be: "Oh, Mom and Dad thanks so much for the wonderful bedroom decor you did for me before I was born." However, you will get lots of fun later out of showing her the pictures on the wall and elsewhere, and in return she will give you lots of smiles and giggles

Disney Character Nursery Theme ]

With the effective merchandising of most of the famous Disney characters, you should never have any trouble with finding Disney related decor. Walt Disney had a genius for creating distinctive characters that children soon learn to love, so the old originals, such as Dumbo, Cinderella, Jungle Book, Lady and the Tramp, and many others, are rich in potential as a basis for a nursery decor theme. An advantage of choosing a Disney theme is that it can evolve over the years as the baby grows. Our daughter, now nearly 3 as I write this, is an avid Disney movie fan, watching Jungle Book, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella frequently. The more modern Disney movies provide a rich vein of possibilities too, and are sure to attract the baby's interest as she grows.  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 26, 2008, 03:15:27 AM
Baby Care

When it comes to having their first baby, many couples probably have no idea what to expect, nor much about how to care for the baby when it arrives. Their level of knowledge will depend on their exposure to other babies, and the part they may have played in their upbringing; plus what they have read and asked about in preparation for the baby's birth. For most Western couples, that really can mean they do not know what to expect from the arrival of their Bouncing New Baby.

Things are really quite different from my home country, England, here in the Philippines. People generally are crazy about babies here, and a new baby's older siblings will usually be keen to play a part in baby care. If there is no older sibling, there will by a cousin nearby anxious to carry and look after the offspring. With this tradition, most new parents have a good idea of what baby care is all about, at least from the Filipino viewpoint; and when the baby is born, the parents know there will be a lot of people around to help.

Such enthusiasm to help, and such pre-knowledge and experience, with a new baby is less likely in Western countries, so it is down to the parents to learn all they can before the baby is born, and then as they go along.

The Elements of Baby Care
There is a great deal to bringing up a child, but for a new born baby you are able to concentrate on a few basic baby care skills. Much of it will come naturally, for mother and father, and the most important thing of all is not really a skill. That is, love, the most natural baby care all.

As a new parent, never forget that the baby loves you both totally. The need for love in return is imperative to its feeling of security, happiness and well being. So, although their is no skill in feeling love for the baby, there is some skill in making sure the baby is aware of it, always. Modern living can make us self centred. Having a baby is a wonderful opportunity to step back and view love in it's most natural and innocent form.

The baby adores you both. If you can maintain that over the coming months, and then years, you will all be richer for it. Watch a baby learn to play as they get mobile, as they learn to chase and be chased, to bounce a ball, to play peek-a-boo. There is true happiness, and despite their age, it is a happiness you can learn from, simply by indulging yourself selflessly.

The other elements of baby care are of a practical nature, and they are explored more fully in other parts of the website, if not now, then in the near future. These elements revolve around health, feeding, cleanliness, hygiene, warmth (or coolness in a tropical country), safety, security and learning.

All of these elements, though, need to be wrapped in love; your love as parents. That will bring enduring happiness to all 3 of you.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 27, 2008, 02:03:28 AM
Baby Clothes

Going into a store that sells baby clothes nowadays can leave you "umming" and "aaahhing" for hours as you browse around. The choice of new baby clothes is extensive to say the least. From Disney to department store own label baby clothes, you will find a seemingly endless choice if you live in a large town or city. Then, of course, there are the quality seconds stores, and the second hand stores, charity shops and garage sales.

Maybe you will end up with a large variety of baby clothes, but whether you go for designer baby wear or a wardrobe of second hand outfits, there are a few things to bear in mind when making those choices. The article below offers a few thoughts on what you need to consider when choosing baby clothes.  


Choosing Baby Clothes


Appearance Is Not Everything With Baby's Clothing

When you are expecting your first baby, choosing clothes for your new baby is not so easy as you may think at first. To begin with, during pregnancy you will probably not know the gender of the baby, but really that is a minor point for the newborn.

Looking after a baby is very much a practical affair, so when it comes to baby clothes, you will find you do need to be practical in your choice. However, with your first baby, you may not even know what "practical" is. After all, you have not had to feed and change a baby in the middle of the night before, bleary eyed and wishing you were tucked up in your own bed and fast asleep.

As you prepare for the birth of your baby, put together your layette, or advise friends and relatives what you need as baby gifts, be sure to keep practicality in mind. Think about it from your own point of view, but also ask friends who have recently had babies, they may have a few tips for you. To help you, though, here are a few things to bear in mind when buying baby clothes.

Than AppearancFor Baby Clothes, Comfort Is More Important than appearance

Often parents set aside practicality and other things when when shopping for baby clothes. Some baby clothes look so cute and attractive, and so adult like, that they want to adorn their newborn baby with designer wear that will head the baby fashion parades. When the baby is tiny, there are far more important things to consider when buying clothes.

First of all, bear in mind that the skin of your new born is very tender, and quite sensitive. While the outfit you admire may be the ultimate in cuteness, it could cause discomfort if it is made of the wrong materials, does not breathe easily, or is too restrictive. Clothes for a newborn baby should be soft, absorbent, and made of natural fibres. Pure cotton is your best bet when it comes to baby clothes. You and your offspring will no doubt have lots of disagreements later over dress, so for the time being, choose clothes that put the comfort of your baby first.

Baby Clothes' Accessibility

baby clothes After all, the baby will need to be changed frequently. If you choose baby clothes with too many buttons, straps, Parents, especially first time parents, have a tendency to forget how important accessibility is going to be with and fasteners, you will soon find them troublesome. There will be times when you are in a hurry, or in an inconvenient place, and having to spend minutes trying to get through the layers of baby clothes to the diaper for changing will soon force you to discard those cute and expensive designer wear.

Always remember that babies are messy, and that you and your partner are the ones who will be cleaning up after them. Why not make it easy on yourselves by choosing baby clothes with quick and easy access, and easy to put on and take off.

Easy Care Baby Clothes
A very important consideration in choosing baby clothes is their ease of care. Always look at the care labels while you are still in the store, and ensure that the item is machine washable, without any special restrictions regarding detergents, bleaches, or fabric softeners. It is unlikely you will come across any baby clothes which require dry cleaning, but you always want to be sure.

Cotton is, without doubt, the fabric of choice for baby clothing for the reasons mentioned above. However, cotton does have a bad tendency to shrink when washed in hot water. Your baby will outgrow her clothes quickly enough, so items that contain a blend of cotton and other, non-shrinking, fibres may be acceptable. It is best to keep the cotton as the predominant fabric though.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 28, 2008, 03:38:14 AM
What To Start Teaching Your Baby After Birth

With you or without you, your baby will be learning from the moment she is born and starts to take in her new surroundings. Every sight and sound will be a part of her learning process; she will observe everything you do and listen to every word you say. And as the months pass, she will eventually start to copy.

Fully conscious teaching, with books and other articles of learning, will come much later on; but of course, it is entirely up to you. With our baby daughter, Saffron, I started reading her a bed time story at about six months old. She could not understand fully, but it gave her exposure to books, and the comfort of a bed time routine, with my voice and sounds, and the pictures in the book. It did not matter that every evening it was Goldilocks and the Three Bears, or one of the other old favourites in the book. Here in the Philippines there are not many books of children's stories in the stores.

Repetition does not matter, in fact it is part of the comfort for the baby. That routine helped to ensure that she slept contented every night, and has only woken once since. That was recently when she seems to have had a bad dream. A quick cuddle, and she was back to sleep again.

One thing to always bear in mind is that your baby, whatever age, will know and understand far more than you think. All the while, when she is not talking, she will be picking up words and their meanings. Those words will eventually come out verbally, even if they don't sound quite right to begin with.

Personally, I think it is important to speak to a baby in a normal, adult like way and never limit your speech to what you think she knows. A bright child especially will take in just about everything you say when they are past 6 months, and remember it longer than you would expect. One day they will surprise you, and follow your instruction over something you had no idea they could understand.

From a very early age, it is best to "explain while you talk while you do". If you are feeding her potato, tell her it is potato; if you are preparing a bottle of milk, tell her you are making her milk. Every time you do something in front of her, it is an opportunity to teach her about what is happening around her. By doing so you will speed her knowledge and understanding, expose her more to language, and also help to build your relationship with her. By conversing with her all the time, you are showing her respect as an individual, and that will help her confidence and feeling of belonging. If you treat her as dumb, she will be dumb.

There is no need to force a baby to learn anything. To be effective and useful, it needs to be done in a natural and relaxed way. Saffron is now 20 months, and for many months now she has been the one to decide what she wants to do at bedtime: a story, nursery rhymes, her new teaching cards. Respect her choice, and you help her mature as a child; but let it be known it is her bed time. If her demand is to get up and play again, then you need to be firm, or you will stack up problems for later. You should be the boss, but she should be able to make a reasonable choice.

All learning should be pressure free, and fun for the baby. If she wants to learn alone, let her. If she wants your help, help her. Teaching your baby can be a wonderfully rewarding experience. You will probably find she will, in a way, teach you what she wants to learn about. If you stimulate her mind, and she is observant, she will be pointing out things from a very young age. It is important for you to participate with her. If she points at the moon and gets excited, explain to her what it is; if she points to a bird, do the same.

Babies learn an enormous amount in a short time. By conversing with them in a normal way, they will understand simple instructions before you know it. But they do make simple associations and follow those instructions literally. At about 15 months, Saffron often left a bit of her food at meal times and I would finish it for her. After this went on a few weeks, I remarked that I was her garbage bin. A few weeks more passed, and she had finished eating an apple one day, and offered her mum the core. Her mum said: "Put it in the garbage." Saffron went toddling off, not to the garbage bin, but to me. I was the garbage bin to her, because that is what I had "taught" her a few weeks earlier.

That brought lots of laughs, but when she was corrected the revised knowledge stuck, and now in the same situation she wanders off to find the real garbage bin.

Teaching your baby is a daily and ongoing activity, but one that can just be melded in with your normal activities. It's a fun time for both of you, so enjoy it while you can.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 28, 2008, 03:42:25 AM
Raising Twins

A daunting task  

When a couple is told that they are expecting twins, it is not surprising if they feel a little ambivalent. Everyone knows that looking after one baby is a full time job, but two at the same time can be truly daunting. 

What if the twins don't feel hungry or sleepy at the same time? What if every time one of them starts to cry, it sets the other one off? But as every parent will tell you, it's all worth it in the end. Twins may be double the trouble, but they are also double the joy.   

Telling them apart  

After the delivery, mothers are bemused when they are confronted with two babies that they have to give their attention to. If they are identical, there is the added problem of trying to distinguish between them. People will tell you that mothers "just know" which is which, but in reality parents of twins will tell you that they sometimes get confused even after the twins have grown up. It may take more time than usual for a mother to 'bond' with her twins, but it will happen. If you have identical twins and you're finding it difficult to 'spot the difference', try to dress them in different colours or paint one of their toenails or even sew on name tags on their clothes to identify them. As they grow older, physical differences will appear that will help you tell them apart.  

The early days  

When you take the twins home from the hospital, mentally prepare yourself that it is going to be hard. You will need to make a list of priorities. The babies' needs should head the list, including feeding, bathing, sleeping, and cuddling. 

Resting whenever you get the opportunity is also imperative. Force yourself to sleep or rest when your babies fall asleep, because this is probably the only time you're going to get. This is not the time to catch up on your backlog of chores. You should even consider putting the phone off the hook. 

Be clear about one thing. You are going to need help. This is not something you can do alone. Get your mother or mother-in-law to stay with you and help out with the baby till you find your feet. Hire help if you can afford it. It goes without saying that husbands will have to pitch in too, otherwise it's going to be very difficult to cope. Don't be diffident about asking for help. You don't need to ask people to change dirty diapers or feed the baby. Even if they bring food over from time to time it will be a relief because you probably won't have the time to do anything more than the most rudimentary cooking. 

Fatigue and depression are common in the first few months. Lack of sleep is a common complaint and as a result tempers are short. If the twins are your first-borns, you can expect some rough patches as you and your spouse attempt to adjust to your new roles as parents. It can be tough on a marriage so both you and your spouse have to try to spend some time alone together. 

Mothers often find that it is easier to breastfeed than bottlefeed twins. The advantage of breast milk is that it increases the babies' immunity to infection and it is more convenient as it comes 'premixed' and in its own container! It will be hard at first, but once you get the hang of it, you can probably even feed them simultaneously. Some mothers can even breastfeed in their sleep. This is something that would just not be possible if you were bottlefeeding. Mothers who are worried that they will not produce enough milk should ensure that they drink enough fluids and eat a proper diet. As long as your doctor feels that the babies' weight gain is adequate, it means that you're on the right track.   

Encouraging individuality]

Just because your babies are born at the same time or look alike, does not mean that they are not individuals in their own right. It may be amusing to dress them up alike and that people cannot tell one from the other, but remember that they are two separate beings and treat them as such from day one. Avoid referring to them as "the twins" and use their given names. Be sure to take photographs of each child separately because at some point he or she will ask for a photograph of "me." Write the child's name on the back of his/her picture so that there is no confusion in later years.

It is important to encourage individuality. As the children become older, try choosing different toys and encourage sharing. Build a special one-to-one relationship with each child. Look for special talents and praise them often. Twins usually have a special bond between them. Try to rear them as individuals without destroying their special bond. 

Each twin should be encouraged to have his or her own friend's circle and to do separate activities with his or her own friends. Some people feel that it is a good idea to put twins in different classes when they go to school to prevent them from becoming too clingy and to foster independence. But this cannot be applied as a general rule. Parents of twins will have to take this decision based on the personalities and wishes of their set of twins.  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 29, 2008, 03:48:16 AM
Baby’s Headgear - Protecting Baby's Dome With Hats, Bonnets and Caps

As an adult, almost bald caucasian now living in the tropics, I can assure you that having a sun burnt scalp is not a pleasant experience. For a baby, I am sure it would be worse, so if you live in a warm climate, or are preparing for summer in a cooler climate, your baby's headgear is very important for her protection. Remember, a baby's skin is more sensitive than a grown child or adult.

Choosing head gear for babies can be quite fun, especially as they get a little bit older. There are quite a few styles of baby's hats, caps, and bonnets from which parents can make their choice. From the simple cotton cap that the baby wears while in the hospital, to the most stylish bonnet or quaint little ball cap, which is a popular item with parents, especially fathers, all over the US As with any other item of baby clothing, infant headwear can be found anywhere that baby clothing is sold. Hats, caps, and bonnets for babies may be purchased by themselves, but also they often come with matching outfits, and these can look especially cute. You will find them for boys, girls, plus in unisex, or gender indifferent, styles

Caps For Babies

Babies’ caps can look much better on babies than the equivalent do on grown men and women. Styles of these range from simple knit or cotton pull-down caps (similar to snow caps or ski caps) to caps designed like baseball caps, but with a far smaller bill, and there are also sailor’s caps available. These are found in styles for both boys and girls, plus unisex designs. However, they are often favoured by parents of baby boys.

Baby Bonnets

The bonnet has been associated with babies for as long as most of us can remember. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who has not been an infant wearing a bonnet of some kind. Baby bonnets cover the entire head, so do offer maximum protection, and they are usually tied underneath the chin, or are held on with an elastic band. While the protection the bonnets offer is good, the fastening device can make them uncomfortable for the baby.

Some of the newer bonnets are held in place with elastic that encircles the front of the bonnet, and these seem like they may be more comfortable. Like caps, bonnets are designed for both sexes and in unisex styles, but due to the generally effeminate appearance of the bonnet itself, they are generally favoured by parents of girls.


Baby Hats

Baby hats come in nearly as many styles as the hats for adults. Usually worn for show as part of an outfit rather than for practicality, they can be designed like top hats, cowboy hats, and even captain’s hats, along with any other style imaginable. They are designed for boys and girls, but there aren’t many styles that can be considered to be unisex. These are far less common than the other types of designs in infant headwear.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on February 29, 2008, 03:52:07 AM
Exercise for Weight Loss After a Twin Pregnancy

Having twins means double the joy and happiness, double the love, and unfortunately in many cases, double the weight. The statistics are there, women who were pregnant with multiples do in fact gain more weight, but this doesn't mean you have to be miserable until the twins are off to kindergarten, blaming the pregnancy for the excess weight years later.

For successful weight loss after a twin pregnancy, not only do you have the task of losing the pounds, but also trying to get your muscles and skin toned and back into shape. While eating the right foods is extremely important for getting rid of that extra pregnancy weight, so is exercise as it's possible to lose weight, but still have a lack of muscle tone, which usually gives the appearance of extra pounds.

Easy Exercises for Weight Loss After a Twin Pregnancy

Before beginning any type of exercise or weight loss program, particularly after a physically stressful event such as giving birth to twins, it's always a good idea to consult with your doctor first. This is especially true because in the months following pregnancy, muscles and joints may be more prone to injury than normal due to the increase of the hormone relaxin. The influx of this hormone remains in the blood for several weeks to as long as two months following childbirth, leaving women susceptible to injuring their joints.

Also, with any type of exercise, be watchful of signs and symptoms such as excessive bleeding, fatigue, shortness of breath, and painful muscle aches that don't feel any better within a day or two.

In addition to doing side lunges, or lunges while walking, crunches can be helpful for tightening the abdominal muscles, if you didn't have a caesarean section, of course. Lying on your back with your knees bent and feet completely flat on the floor, place just your fingertips behind the head, without touching the hands together, and keep your elbows wide and open. Contract your abdominal muscles, causing the center of your back to touch the floor, while lifting your head and neck as well as the shoulder blades off the floor, as your chest reaches toward your hip area.

Lower back to the floor, and repeat the process 10 times, increasing the number of repetitions as your strength and endurance grow.

Strength training and cardio workouts can involve many different exercises, including abdominal crunches, lunges, and working out with dumbbells and ankle weights. Add yoga, tai chi, or Pilates to the mix and you'll not only keep yourself from getting bored, but also be sure you're working different muscle groups as well as increasing your lung function and improving your heart rate at the same time.

While exercising, breathe in deeply through the nose, and exhale through the mouth. Remember to stay well hydrated throughout the day, not only while you're working out, to avoid becoming dehydrated, which, of course, is imperative if you're breastfeeding. Also, always warm up first before exercising, doing stretches for about 10 to 15 minutes, and then complete your workout with a "cool down" period, also stretching the muscles to protect them from injury.

Since you now have not one, but two beautiful babies to look after, exercising regularly will help to keep both your energy level and your mental capacity where they'll need to be, on high alert.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on March 01, 2008, 01:45:57 AM
Reasons For Making Your Own Baby Food

Most of the foods that we buy today are processed. When buying foods that are processed then you are missing out on important nutrients that your body needs. In order to ensure that your baby doesn't miss out on these essential nutrients, you may want to consider creating your own baby food when your baby is ready to start eating solid food.

When creating baby food that is homemade the ingredients are fresh. The fresh vegetables and fruits that use in your homemade baby food will contain the natural sugars without any preservatives. If you have the skill to grow things and have the time then this can be even more fun and healthy for your baby. With the use of a food mill or food processor you can puree the ingredients to the right texture for your baby's eating stage. Preparing your own baby food at home helps to ensure that the ingredients that you use are fresh and healthy for your baby.

Sugar and asalt re additives used in traditional baby food to help preserve the shelf life of the item. By making these baby foods at home you are not allowing these additives to enter into your baby's body. When making baby food from home you want to freeze the food to avoid any food from spoiling. Making enough baby food to last for two weeks at a time can be a good amount of food to prepare at one time.

Cost is another reason to create your own baby food at home. It is cheaper to make your own baby food. By the time you pay for all of those cheap jars of baby food, you can double the amount of food for less money by buying the ingredients and preparing the food yourself.

At first buying a food processor may seem costly, but will pay for itself in the long run by saving the money that you would have spent on the jars of baby food. The food processor can also be used for other family recipes as well, which makes it a good part of your kitchen arsenal.

The variety of homemade baby food has wider range than jarred baby food. You can create baby food out of almost anything that you can puree. This allow you to introduce new foods and creations for your baby. You can try different fruits and vegetables. Something that you don't like might be something that your baby does, so try experimenting. By starting your baby on foods that you know are healthy for them will allow them to enter into a healthy lifestyle as a young child that will carry over into later years.

Creating homemade baby food may sound hard, but is actually quite easy and is less costly than traditional jars of baby food. In creating your own baby food you can store it in single serving container for several months at a time. If you are conscious about what nutrients or additive go into your child's body, then you should consider making baby food from home. It may just be the best thing you ever do for your child.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on March 01, 2008, 01:52:23 AM


Unsafe exercise during pregancy

Pregnancy changes your body in many ways. Some of these changes can affect the way you exercise.  

Throughout pregnancy, the hormone progesterone causes many of your ligaments and joints to soften and loosen in preparation for labour. Joint injuries and ligament damage may therefore result from exercise that involves jerking actions and sudden movement, for example tennis, squash and jogging. The risk of back injuries associated with weight training or rowing is also increased.

During the later months, your belly gets bigger and your balance may not be so good, so falls become more likely when you do any exercise that requires balance.

Most experts think that the following activities should be avoided during pregnancy because of the high risk of falls or direct damage to you or your baby:

Mountaineering, rock climbing
High diving, scuba diving
Downhill skiing, water skiing, water slides
Trampolining, gymnastics
Anaerobic exercise such as sprinting
Contact sports, competitive team sports

The use of saunas, steam baths and hot tubs may also cause over-heating. There is some evidence that over-heating during pregnancy may cause damage to the baby's developing nervous system. ("Overheating" does not mean simply getting a bit hot and bothered in the summer; or enjoying a warm bath in the winter; it means getting so hot that your core temperature rises and even the amniotic fluid in which your baby floats starts heating up. This is only likely to happen if you exercise for long periods in the hot sun without rest breaks and extra fluids – or if your body cannot lose heat by sweating effectively, as in a sauna or hot tub.) Read more about exercising during pregnancy:  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on May 24, 2008, 04:11:01 AM
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Women who are stressed about money, relationships and other problems during pregnancy may give birth to babies who are predisposed to allergies and asthma, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.

The findings, presented at a meeting of the American Thoracic Society in Toronto, suggest a mother's stress during pregnancy may have lasting consequences for her child.

"This research adds to a growing body of evidence that links maternal stress such as that precipitated by financial problems or relationship issues to changes in children's developing immune systems, even during pregnancy," Dr. Rosalind Wright of Harvard Medical School in Boston said in a statement.

Wright and colleagues found mothers who were the most distressed during pregnancy were most likely to give birth to infants with higher levels of immunoglobulin E or IgE -- an immune system compound -- even though their mothers had only mild exposure to allergens during pregnancy.

Studies in animals have found that a mother's stress amplifies the effects of allergen exposure on the immune system of the developing offspring. The Harvard team set out to see if they could find the same in humans.

They measured levels of IgE from the umbilical cord blood of 387 newborns in Boston.

Babies whose mothers were the most stressed out -- but who had low exposure to dust mites in the home -- still had high levels of IgE in their cord blood, a finding that suggests that stress increased the immune response to dust exposure.

This was true irrespective of the mother's race, class, education or smoking history.

STRESS AS 'SOCIAL POLLUTANT'

"This further supports the notion that stress can be thought of as a social pollutant that, when 'breathed' into the body, may influence the body's immune response," Wright said in a statement.

The study patterns recent findings in children who have undergone stress by Dr. Andrea Danese of the University of London. Researchers there followed 1,000 people in New Zealand from birth to the age of 32.

They found children who had undergone maltreatment -- such as maternal rejection, harsh discipline and sexual abuse -- had twice the levels of inflammation in their blood even 20 years later.

High levels of inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein, fibrinogen and immune cells increase a person's risk of heart disease and diabetes.

"Stress in childhood may modify developmental trajectories and have a long-term effect on disease risk," said Danese, who presented his findings last week at a conference in Chicago on how early influences affect health and well-being.

Danese said maltreatment in childhood may impair the ability of glucocorticoids -- hormones that inhibit inflammation -- to respond to stress later in life, which could lead to depression and other psychiatric ills.

He said children who have survived maltreatment should get an early start on preventive care for common adult diseases.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: fatima on May 28, 2008, 08:02:49 AM
Tips for pregnant mothers

As your tummy grows, the centre of gravity shifts within you. Losing balance is very common. Don't try climbing chairs and ladders. If it is absolutely necessary, get someone to do it for you.

Avoid high-heeled flimsy footwear. Opt for comfortable low-heeled sandals.

Make sure your home is well lit. Bad lighting can cause you to stumble and fall.

Good nutrition is imperative for a healthy baby. Ensure you take your daily quota of proteins, vitamins, minerals, calcium and folic acid.

Stress can ruin your pregnancy and affect your baby adversely. Remain positive and upbeat.

If something is worrying you, talk about it and settle the issue. Don't brood on it.

Lack of sleep could make you testy. Nine hours sleep a day should keep you healthy.

Exercise is important to keep healthy. However, it is not advisable to workout in the gym or play strenuous games. Walking is the best form of exercise during this time of your life.

Increase your intake of fluids significantly. Consume at least two quarts of fluids a day. Milk, fruits, juices, soups, etc., are all good sources of vital fluids.

Take care of your back. Don't strain it or hurt it in anyway. Back problems tend to linger for a long time.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women(Are you having a tough time conceiving
Post by: fatima on May 28, 2008, 08:04:29 AM
As you reach the wrong side of 30, your chances of conceiving for the first time could be a problem. However, it may not be just your problem. It could be with your husband, too. Generally, though men usually remain fertile well beyond the 40s, it would be better for both of you to seek the help of a genealogist. In all probability the doctor would recommend a semen analysis to check if your husband's sperms are healthy. As nearly 40 percent of all cases of infertility arise from male factors, you should check it out with this easy semen test. All it involves is collecting an ejaculate after refraining from intercourse for two days and then taking the ejaculate to a lab.

Then the next step would be to check your own fertility status. Your doctor would recommend a blood test to measure your follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) level on the third day of your period. If the FSH level is lower than 20, then probably you have a reasonable number of eggs left in the ovaries.

An ovulation is the most common reason for the inability to conceive in women who are in their 40s. There are safe medications available to help women ovulate better. The only major drawback of these ovulation enhancers is the risk of multiple gestations (the vast majority of which are twins), which occur 6 percent of the time when using a drug.

Even if the ovarian reserve is poor and it appears that the ovary cannot respond well to ovulation stimulants, there is always the possibility of using donor eggs. Healthy women in their 40s could obtain a donor egg from a younger woman, use sperm from their own husbands and then carry the pregnancy. But you may not be comfortable making that decision.

Therefore, it would be better to make an appointment with a gynaecologist who will take care of the infertility problems. But it should be done soon, rather than just waiting several more years, because, in this case, time is very important.  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women---------Asthma during pregnancy
Post by: fatima on June 03, 2008, 04:17:39 AM
Asthma is a fairly common health problem for pregnant women, including some women who have never had it before. During pregnancy, asthma not only affects you, but it can also cut back on the oxygen your fetus gets from you. But this does not mean that having asthma will make your pregnancy more difficult or dangerous to you or your fetus. Pregnant women with asthma that is properly controlled generally have a normal pregnancy with little or no increased risk to themselves or their fetus.


Related Articles
Asthma in Teens and Adults
Inhaled corticosteroids for long-term control of asthma
» More causes Articles

Most asthma treatments are safe to use when you are pregnant. After years of research, experts now say that it is far safer to manage your asthma with medication than it is to leave asthma untreated during pregnancy. Talk to your health professional about the safest treatment for you.

Risks of uncontrolled asthma to pregnant women
If you have not previously had asthma, you may not think that shortness of breath or wheezing during your pregnancy is asthma. If you know you have asthma, you may not consider it a concern if you only have mild symptoms. But asthma can affect you and your fetus, and you should act accordingly.

If your asthma is not controlled, risks to your health include:1

High blood pressure during the pregnancy.
Preeclampsia, a condition that causes high blood pressure and can affect the placenta, kidneys, liver, and brain.
More than normal vomiting early in pregnancy (hyperemesis gravidarum).
Labor that does not occur naturally (your health professional starts it) and may be complicated.
Risks to the fetus include:1

Death immediately before or after birth (perinatal mortality).
Abnormally slow growth of the fetus (intrauterine growth retardation). When born, the baby appears small.
Birth before the 37th week of pregnancy (preterm birth).
Low birth weight.
The more control you have over your asthma, the less risk there is.

Asthma treatment and pregnancy
Pregnant women manage asthma the same way nonpregnant women do. Like all people with asthma, pregnant women should have treatment and action plans to control inflammation and prevent and control asthma attacks. Part of a pregnant woman's action plan should also include recording fetal movements. You can do this by noting whether fetal kicks decrease over time. If you notice less fetal activity during an asthma attack, contact your health professional or emergency help immediately to receive instructions.

Considerations for treatment of asthma in pregnant women include the following:

If more than one health professional is involved in the pregnancy and asthma care, they must communicate with each other about treatment. The obstetrician must be involved with asthma care.2
Monitor lung function carefully throughout your pregnancy to ensure that your growing fetus gets enough oxygen. Because asthma severity changes for about two-thirds of women during pregnancy, you should have monthly checkups with your health professional to monitor your symptoms and lung function.2 Your health professional will use either spirometry or a peak flow meter to measure your lung function.
Monitor fetal movements daily after 28 weeks.
Consider ultrasounds after 32 weeks to monitor fetal growth if your asthma is not well controlled or if you have moderate or severe asthma.2 Ultrasound exams can also help your health professional check on the fetus after an asthma attack.
Try to do more to avoid and control asthma triggers (such as tobacco smoke or dust mites), so that you can take less medication if possible. Many women have nasal symptoms, and there may be a link between increased nasal symptoms and asthma attacks. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which is common in pregnancy, may also cause symptoms.
It is important that you have extra protection against influenza. Be sure to get the influenza vaccine before the flu season starts—sometime from October to mid-November—whether you are in your first, second, or third trimester at the time.3 The flu vaccine is effective for one season. The flu vaccine is safe in pregnancy and is recommended for all pregnant women.
Asthma and allergies
Many women also have allergies, such as allergic rhinitis, along with asthma. Treating allergies is an important part of asthma management.

Inhaled corticosteroids at recommended doses are effective and can be used by pregnant women.
The antihistamines loratadine or cetirizine are recommended.
If you are already taking allergy shots, you may continue getting them, but starting allergy shots during pregnancy is not recommended.
Talk to your health professional about using decongestants you take by mouth (oral decongestants). There may be better treatment options.
Asthma medications and pregnancy
A review of the animal and human studies on the effects of asthma medications taken during pregnancy found few risks to the woman or her fetus. It is safer for a pregnant woman with asthma to be treated with asthma medications than for her to have asthma symptoms and asthma attacks.2 Poor control of asthma is a greater risk to the fetus than asthma medications are.2 Budesonide is labeled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the safest inhaled corticosteroid to use during pregnancy. One study found that low-dose inhaled budesonide in pregnant women seemed to be safe for the mother and the fetus.4

The following are recommendations from the U.S. National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) for using asthma medications during pregnancy.2

Recommendations for using asthma medicine during pregnancy  Severity Daily medicines needed to maintain long-term control
Severe persistent
 Preferred:

High-dose inhaled corticosteroid, preferably budesonide AND
Long-acting inhaled beta2-agonist (such as salmeterol or formoterol) OR
A combination medication that contains both a high-dose corticosteroid and a long acting beta2-agonist (such as Advair Diskus) AND IF NEEDED
Corticosteroid tablets or syrup long-term (2 mg/kg/day, generally do not exceed 60 mg/day). (Make repeated attempts to reduce tablets or syrup, and maintain control with high-dose inhaled corticosteroids.) Treatment by a specialist is recommended if you are using oral corticosteroids long-term.
Alternative:

High-dose inhaled corticosteroids, preferably budesonide AND
Sustained-release theophylline to a serum concentration of 5 to 12 mcg/mL
 
Moderate persistent
 Preferred:

EITHER low-dose inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting inhaled beta2-agonists OR
Medium-dose inhaled corticosteroid
IF NEEDED in women with recurring severe attacks, medium-dose inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting inhaled beta2-agonist
Alternative:

Low-dose inhaled corticosteroid and either a leukotriene modifier (also called leukotriene receptor antagonist) or theophylline (a methylxanthine)
Medium-dose inhaled corticosteroid and either a leukotriene modifier or theophylline, if needed
 
Mild persistent
 Preferred:

Low-dose inhaled corticosteroid, preferably budesonide
Alternative:

Cromolyn (mast cell stabilizer) or a leukotriene modifier OR
Sustained-release theophylline to a serum concentration of 5 to 12 mcg/mL
 
Mild intermittent
 No daily medication needed
Short-acting bronchodilator for relief of symptoms that come and go: 2 to 4 puffs short-acting inhaled beta2-agonists as needed for symptoms. Albuterol is the preferred medication. If you are using albuterol more than 2 days in each week, see your health professional for treatment of mild persistent asthma.
Severe episodes may occur, separated by long periods of normal lung function and no symptoms. A course of corticosteroid tablets, syrup, or injection is recommended for severe episodes.
 
Quick relief: All patients
 Short-acting bronchodilator: 2 to 4 puffs short-acting inhaled beta2-agonist as needed for symptoms. Albuterol is the preferred medication.
Intensity of treatment will depend on severity of attack; up to 3 treatments at 20-minute intervals or a single nebulizer treatment as needed. Course of corticosteroid tablets, syrup, or injection may be needed.
Use of short-acting beta2-agonists more than 2 times a week (except for exercise) or more than 1 canister in 3 months may indicate the need to start (or increase) long-term control therapy.
 

Never stop taking or reduce your medications without talking to your health professional. You might have to wait until your pregnancy is over to make changes in your medication.

Drugs or drug classes with potential risk to the fetus include brompheniramine, epinephrine, and alpha-adrenergic compounds (other than pseudoephedrine), decongestants (other than pseudoephedrine), antibiotics (tetracycline, sulfonamides, ciprofloxacin), live virus vaccines, immunotherapy (initiation or increase in doses), and iodides. Always talk to your health professional before using any medication when you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: duddu on June 20, 2008, 02:46:14 AM
thank youuuuuu
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women------------------Pregnancy&Soft Skin
Post by: fatima on June 27, 2008, 03:29:18 AM

Most women dread the idea of getting pregnant only because they fear it would wreak havoc on their skin. All those stretch marks they keep hearing about from friends – they feel it is enough to forget about having babies! But things are not so bleak if you take good care of yourself from the time you discover that you are pregnant.

Make skin care a part of your daily routine, more so when you are pregnant. Remember that stretch marks affect most women – the skin that is stretched when you are pregnant tends to leave scars after the baby comes out. So begin your skin care regimen from day one – and reap the benefits.

There are plenty of products flooding the market for pregnant women. Cocoa butter is one such lotion that is said to help skin to retain its natural elasticity and moisture. Massage this regularly on your stomach and other stretch areas for maximum benefit.

Never forget your daily moisturizer. It helps in keeping the skin in good shape and hydrates the skin. Apply one immediately after getting out of the shower for increased absorption and hydration.

If you have just delivered your baby, what you will need in addition is a skin firming lotion. Most of these lotions now widely available under different brand names, contain in addition to cocoa butter, collagen elastin ginseng and vitamin E. Massage this cream/lotion slowly on specific areas prone to sagging that need a special lift. This will help restore a taut and supple skin.

Proper application is however needed or best benefits. Always make circular strokes on your thighs, upper arms and midriff when applying a skin firming lotion

Your bustline needs extra care especially when you are feeding the baby. Bust firming creams are now available. Invest in one and start applying it as soon as you feel that your breasts are tender and enlarged.

This will also prevent ugly stretch marks under your bustline after the baby is born as this area is ultra sensitive.

Use a body lotion every day. This will help to ensure that your skin has a youthful glow even while it improves the skin’s elasticity.

In addition, using a daily all-over moisturizer to improve skin's appearance and elasticity can help ensure a youthful glow. Use it both after a shower and before bedtime if you want to look after your skin.

Follow these essential tips for skin care when pregnant, and when your baby is born, it will have tough competition from the mother where a soft, radiant skin is concerned!



Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women--A-Z Guide On Discomforts In Pregancy
Post by: fatima on June 27, 2008, 03:32:10 AM

Blood pressure: This will be measured at each visit and is slightly lower during pregnancy, which is about 120/70. An elevation of over 140/90 may warn of pre-eclampsia or toxaemia, which is a serious complication. You may have to be treated or just rest in bed.

Blood Tests: A number of tests will be made from just a single sample. Your blood group will be typed and it will be determined if you have had a hepatitis infection or syphillis, or are HIV + and if you are immune to German measles. Your haemoglobin level will be assessed to see if you need extra iron and folic acid.

Backache: This is quite common especially in the later stages. Learn to walk straight and tall. Wear flat shoes or chappals and sleep on a good firm mattress A massage with hot water towels on the back (but never on the stomach) may bring relief.

Breathlessness: Late in pregnancy, you may find yourself huffing 'n' puffing because your womb presses harder on the lungs.
Sit on a high, straight-backed chair. Prop yourself with pillows while you sleep. If you cannot climb a flight of stairs without gasping, mention it to your doctor.

Constipation: It is a consequence of a sluggish bowel. It is aggravated if you're taking iron tablets and is usually relieved by mid pregnancy, but may return in the final months when your baby's head presses at the bowels. Eat plenty of high fibre food and drink lots of fluid. Two glasses of water before breakfast stimulate bowel action.

R H Factor: If you are RH -ve and your husband is not, chances are that you'll have an RH +ve baby, whose blood is not compatible with yours. Now although both your bloodstreams are separate, some foetal blood may cross the placental barrier into your body, which treats the foetus as an invader and produces antibodies to destroy it. This defensive process is particularly strong at the time of delivery and can threaten the baby and, should you conceive again, will once again cross into the foetal bloodstream, ravaging the baby's blood cells.

A Coombs test determines whether you have developed antibodies. If yes, you can be immunised with an injection which attacks and destroys RH +ve cells before they turn on your own production. The RH -ve immune globulin antibodies are then absorbed so that none are present in the next pregnancy.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women-Some More Discomforts During Pregnancy
Post by: fatima on June 28, 2008, 06:32:27 AM

Skin changes: Skin changes include patches on the face, darkening of the nipples and the development of a dark vertical line slicing your tummy - which may never completely vanish.Silvery stretch lines invade your breasts, stomach and thighs, because of your burgeoning body. The more weight you gain, the more the marks, which cannot be prevented. Expensive creamy concoctions are of little use. However, plain coconut oil can prevent the surrounding skin from drying out.Tiny red 'spiders' also radiate on the face, neck, upper chest and arms and are caused by a high concentration of hormones. These, with the facial patches, will disappear after delivery.

Sleeplessness: In late pregnancy, your bump, the incessant kicking from within, the urgency to visit the toilet and vague worries may keep you awake. Take a short walk, a warm shower, and a glass of warm milk before going to bed. Lie on your side. Place pillows between your legs and another one behind your back. Try yoga.

Tingling and numbness: This may attack your hands and feet when you wake up, because there is pressure on the nerves and tendons due to lots of accumulated fluid.

Varicose veins: You may feel a dull ache in your legs after which the veins stand out. This is because your growing womb presses hard on the arteries and veins in the lower half of the body. Circulation slows, the blood pools, the veins must work harder to return the blood to the heart. Sit rather than stand. Prop your feet on another chair. Don't cross your legs. Sleep with your feet on a cushion. Gently massage upwards to empty the swollen veins. Lie on your back, feet in the air, and circle your legs as if you were riding a bicycle. Or write imaginary alphabets with your toes.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women------------Nutrition During Pregnancy
Post by: fatima on July 01, 2008, 05:04:52 AM


There is a need for proper nutrition during pregnancy, as the mother's nutritional status will affect the development of the baby. It is during the time of pregnancy, when various changes take place in the expectant mother's body, which are not just anatomical, but also physiological in nature. It is a very crucial time and it becomes all the more necessary for the mother to take care of herself and there arises a need for consuming healthy pregnancy nutrition. Read further to explore information about nutrition during pregnancy…

Some of the changes that take place in the expectant mother and demand the need to make nutritional adjustments are:
Fat And Energy: it is during the time of pregnancy, when fat deposits take place in the mother's body and it is this fats storage that is later utilized by the body, during lactation, for the formation of milk. Owing to this fact, the calorie requirement generally increases by 300 calories. But it also depends from person to person. An underweight mother needs to consume more calories than an overweight mother. Well, it is preferable to consult your doctor, as far as your calorie intake is concerned.
Protein: protein is the most vital nutrient required by the body. It happens during the early and mid pregnancy stages, that protein starts getting stored in the body. And it is during the later stages of pregnancy, when the foetus is rapidly developing, that the body utilizes its protein reserves.
Minerals: as far as the minerals are concerned, it is the calcium and phosphorus that occupy a supreme position. Calcium is vital for healthy bone and teeth formation and it is during pregnancy that the calcium needs are especially high for the healthy bone formation of the foetus.
Iron: during pregnancy, the need for iron intake increases, as this mineral is essential for the body's development.
Vitamin A: vitamin A is essential for carrying out several bodily functions. It helps in improving vision and maintaining the nervous equilibrium. Well, as far as the intake of vitamin A is concerned, there is a need to ensure that you've had your recommended daily vitamin intake.  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women---Dos and Don'ts for a first-time pregnancy
Post by: fatima on July 02, 2008, 03:21:35 AM
So you are planning your first baby – it is important to see that you are in total control right from day one – the conception stage. This way you will face less problems and be able to adjust better to the new addition when it happens.
There are a few basic things you have to be aware of even when you start planning.

Begin with pre-pregnancy check ups. These will tell you if your insides are healthy and will be able to house the baby for 9 months.

Folic acid is of extreme importance to sustain a healthy pregnancy. With your doctor’s guidance, start taking adequate amounts (0.4mg is the recommended dose).

Have you got your vaccinations done? Especially for German Measles which when contracted can lead to miscarriage or a deformed pregnancy.

Ask your gynae about taking sufficient prenatal vitamins. Remember, your baby needs those vitamins too!

Are you having adequate protein intake? This is very important for the baby’s brain to develop and also to help you have a healthy full term.

Eat plenty of nutritious food and exercise with caution and proper guidance. Keep your weight under control.
Do not avoid fat or cholesterol in your diet. Fat is important for elastic skin and for the development of baby’s brain. Include just enough fat (2 tblsps a day) to ensure this.

Strengthen your pelvic muscles by doing Kegel’s exercises regularly. Ask your doctor or trainer for advice on this.

Fill your house with indoor plants – it is the best way to combat the chemicals and pollution in the air.

If you have to travel, take good care when you are pregnant and keep all your medicines handy along with the prescriptions.  
And the don’ts…

No drinking – not even the small social sips if you want to have a healthy baby. Birth defects, mental retardation, congenital defects, facial deformity and system malfunctions are some of the ill effects of drinking.

Of course, no smoking – either active or passive. Ignore this warning and the results can be disastrous like spontaneous abortion, premature births, low weight babies with attendant problems, and fetal deaths.

Drugs are totally taboo. Especially the illegal variety. Again it is the fetus that gets affected and suffers various dysfunctions and malformations if there is any drug intake.

Avoid popping over the counter pills like aspirin for common ailments as they can cause unbelievable damage to the unborn child. You have to be careful especially during the first 8 weeks of pregnancy as this is when all the important organs are formed. Always consult the doctor before taking any medicine.

Caffeine is another big no-no. Too many cups of coffee or tea consumed during pregnancy is said to cause increased risk of diabetes in the child.

If you have pets at home see that they are free of ticks and fleas. Tick bites can expose you to Lyme’s disease which can kill the fetus.

Stop eating fish when you are pregnant. The methylmercury content in fish is supposed to affect the baby’s brain.

Avoid all temptation to eat junk food. They are empty calories that are far from the nutrition your baby needs.
This is but a small list of the more important Don’ts that you have to be careful about if you are pregnant

Have you discussed all family medical problems with your doctor? If you haven’t, do it before you actually conceive so that you can take all precautions needed for anything that could be hereditary.
L
astly, always think positive. Avoid all negative thought and action as it can definitely harm your unborn baby. Try to be stress-free and begin to bond with your baby from day one.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women----Ideal Weight & Ideal Pregnancy
Post by: fatima on July 16, 2008, 06:47:30 AM

While we all know that obesity is a no-no during pregnancy, did you know that being underweight (before or during pregnancy) can also cause problems during pregnancy? Kilos should be a matter of concern not only during your pregnancy, but also before conception.

Underweight women

May miscarry in the first trimester
Research shows 72% of underweight women, are more liable to miscarry in the first three months of pregnancy.
Underweight is classified as those having a BMI of under 18.5
They may deliver before completion of full term

Obesity
Can increase the risk of miscarriage
It doubles a woman’s chances of developing Gestational Diabetes
It can lead to pre-eclampsia, which can be life-threatening for the mother and the foetus
Can induce increased blood loss and risk for infections at time of delivery
It doubles the baby’s chances of neural tube defect ( spina bifida)
Increases the risk of undergoing a Caesarian delivery
Dieting during pregnancy is absolutely forbidden, for it can do irreparable harm to the baby.

Ideal Weight
“Eating for two” is a myth.

Eating fruits, vegetables and even chocolate can help reduce the risk of miscarriage

Avoid foods with “empty” calories eg. junk food, soft drinks, fatty foods etc.

Eat more nutrient-dense foods and those with high fibre content

Exercise is a must. An hour of walking can work wonders.

Underweight women should put on 11 to 16 kg during pregnancy

Obese women should put on only 7 to 11 kg during pregnancy

Rule of thumb: If you feel healthy, look healthy and the doctor confirms that the baby is growing well, you
won’t need to worry about the weight. However it is important that you eat right, maintain the ideal weight and stay healthy for a trouble-free delivery as well as a healthy baby!


Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women--------Pregnancy & Work Life
Post by: fatima on August 18, 2008, 08:05:12 AM

So you are pregnant for the first time and there is palpable excitement all round in the family. Well meaning phone calls and emails from the near and dear ones flood you. Your mom wants to know when you will be coming home for the much needed rest and recuperation. The general tone points toward an early sabbatical that is emphasized as most essential in order to have a safe pregnancy. And of course you are in a fix. While you don’t want to jeopardize your pregnancy, you do want to work for some more time. So how do you go about it?

To begin with, learn all you have to learn about being pregnant, all the precautions you will have to take, the things you have to give up – even sacrifice, and most essential, how to cope with your job in your condition.
Your body will tell you most of what you want to know. It is the body which first begins to adapt to the new condition and begins to work harder to support the pregnancy.

At your work place, try to rest as much as possible – by taking short breaks. Move around whenever possible – don’t be chained to your seat. This will prevent the fluid retention in your feet.
Learn to reschedule your day according to your fitness levels. Finish your heavier jobs in the morning if you are a morning person able to tackle demanding tasks. If not, schedule them for the afternoon when you are better charged. Time management is essential if you want to maintain good health throughout the difficult months.
Ask for a comfortable ergonomic chair in the office. Company management these days is very understanding of employees requirements and will go out of their way to pamper a good employee. As your pregnancy progresses, you will find it difficult to do even the simplest of things like sitting or standing for a stretch of time. Have support back cushions and a footrest for added comfort.
If your job involves long standing hours, remember to wear comfortable shoes that will support your back. Sit down whenever possible.
If you do have to take out heavy files and no help is available, remember to bend at your knees when lifting up something heavy. Lift with the pressure on your legs and not on your back. You don’t want to land up with a bad back that may turn chronic.
Do not take up too many outside activities that might drain you of all your energy. Hire people to do the menial jobs that involve physical strain at home. This will give you a little more energy at work.
Never forget your exercise regimen. Even if you don’t have time in the morning, go for it in the evening instead of thinking up ways of avoiding exercise. It will help to recharge your tired batteries especially if you have been sedentary at work. At least take a brisk walk to rejuvenate yourself.
Make it a point to sleep early and no watching those late night horror movies you are addicted to.
Always make a To-do list to make sure you don’t get stressed out. Once your list is ready, learn to prioritise for the day. Try and delegate as much as possible. Be clear about what you can and cannot do.
Never spend time with depressing people who will give out negative energy that can stress you out.
Never bottle up emotions. At work confide in a friend about your frustrations – this way, it is out of your system. At home, who better than a supportive husband with whom you can discuss your problems
Learn to let go if you can do nothing about it. There is no point in mulling it over and over in your mind when you know you are helpless. This way you save up on energy.
Meditation is a great way of relaxing anywhere. Simply close your eyes and imagine you are in a beautifully relaxing place. You will be amazed at the difference those few minutes make to your psyche.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women----Looking Good During Pregnancy
Post by: fatima on August 22, 2008, 02:57:20 AM

Pregnancy is a beautiful state for most women but the rapid hormonal ups and downs can stimulate some less desirable changes in your looks. There are many changes that your body undergoes when you are pregnant. Your skin is the first thing to take the brunt of all this. Some of the common problems include very dry, itchy skin, dark patches, acne, stretchmarks etc. Do not despair, these can be treated during and after pregnancy to leave you with a flawless complexion. Do remember that it is better to take preventive measure to avoid these problems:

From your second trimester you might having very dry, taut skin that is sand papery to the touch. Especially around your stomach, hands and legs. This condition vanishes after your delivery. But till then be sure to keep your skin extra moisturised with a creamy body lotion. Almond oil or cocoa butter based creams tend to work wonders in soothing the skin during this period. Apply twice a day at least after bath on a slightly damp skin.

The hormonal changes combined with exposure to the sun can cause pigmentation problem around the eyes, on the cheeks and sometimes above the lip. So a sunscreen all the time is a must during this phase. This pigmentation vanishes post delivery naturally, but if you want, you can try AHA or retinoid based creams post pregnancy. But consult a dermatologist first. Avoid laser therapy though during pregnancy.

During your pregnancy you will find your skin glowing due to the xtra flow of blood. But some of you might experience a bad case of breakouts or acne. Try not to treat this with any prescription cream or drugs during pregnancy and when nursing. To keep under control, use an oil control face wash with salicylic acid. You can try tea-tree oil based products to minimise the problem.

Stretchmarks are the biggest problem that almost all pregnant women worry about. This happens when the skin loses its elasticity due to stretching of the upper and lower layers of the skin. They generally appear as red marks, which slowly fade to form white strip like marks across your stomach. It is really tough to fight stretch marks but with timely treatment you can lighten the marks. You can use an emollient with vitamin E oil. Take zinc supplements to strengthen the skin from within. Avoid scratching the area. Laser also works but it is best to wait until after your pregnancy to try the treatment.  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women-----Great Skin During Pregnancy
Post by: fatima on September 05, 2008, 03:26:44 AM

Pregnancy is a beautiful state for most women but the rapid hormonal ups and downs can stimulate some less desirable changes in your looks. There are many changes that your body undergoes when you are pregnant. Your skin is the first thing to take the brunt of all this. Some of the common problems include very dry, itchy skin, dark patches, acne, stretchmarks etc. Do not despair, these can be treated during and after pregnancy to leave you with a flawless complexion. Do remember that it is better to take preventive measure to avoid these problems:

From your second trimester you might having very dry, taut skin that is sand papery to the touch. Especially around your stomach, hands and legs. This condition vanishes after your delivery. But till then be sure to keep your skin extra moisturised with a creamy body lotion. Almond oil or cocoa butter based creams tend to work wonders in soothing the skin during this period. Apply twice a day at least after bath on a slightly damp skin.

The hormonal changes combined with exposure to the sun can cause pigmentation problem around the eyes, on the cheeks and sometimes above the lip. So a sunscreen all the time is a must during this phase. This pigmentation vanishes post delivery naturally, but if you want, you can try AHA or retinoid based creams post pregnancy. But consult a dermatologist first. Avoid laser therapy though during pregnancy.

During your pregnancy you will find your skin glowing due to the xtra flow of blood. But some of you might experience a bad case of breakouts or acne. Try not to treat this with any prescription cream or drugs during pregnancy and when nursing. To keep under control, use an oil control face wash with salicylic acid. You can try tea-tree oil based products to minimise the problem.

Stretchmarks are the biggest problem that almost all pregnant women worry about. This happens when the skin loses its elasticity due to stretching of the upper and lower layers of the skin. They generally appear as red marks, which slowly fade to form white strip like marks across your stomach. It is really tough to fight stretch marks but with timely treatment you can lighten the marks. You can use an emollient with vitamin E oil. Take zinc supplements to strengthen the skin from within. Avoid scratching the area. Laser also works but it is best to wait until after your pregnancy to try the treatment.  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women-----------Pregnant & Travelling?
Post by: fatima on September 05, 2008, 03:29:31 AM

 Today, women are travelling more than ever before. It could be for business or for pleasure, but the fact remains, everyone is on the move. So, are there things you should know about travelling if you are pregnant or planning to get pregnant? It is a comforting thought to know that most pregnant women can travel safely. 
But there are things one should know…

Exotic holidays can be fun, but avoid bungee jumping, diving, trekking or any other activity that can be taxing to your body.
Discuss your travel plans with your doctor even before you make them.
Check with your travel agent whether you require a medical certificate before you travel.
Most airlines allow pregnant women to fly with them, up to the 36th week of pregnancy
Of course the above rule applies only to the straight forward pregnancies, not the complicated ones.
Check with the airline before booking your holiday.
If you are traveling in the seventh month of pregnancy, you could face the risk of not being allowed to board the return flight, if in the eighth / ninth month at the time of your return journey.

 
 Long hours of flying can be uncomfortable when you are pregnant. Watch out for…

Avoid traveling alone.
Wear comfortable clothing and footwear.
Get yourself an aisle seat.
Avoid carrying heavy luggage.
Long flights can induce swollen ankles and impaired circulation
Try to put your feet on the foot rest if possible.
Walk down the aisle every 20 minutes, if you can, to increase circulation
Wearing the seat belt is an absolute must. Wear it at a comfortable level.
Humidity in the aircraft is low, so pregnant women need to drink lots of water
You run the risk of developing blood clots in veins due to immobility
It is advisable not to travel to countries where Malaria is rampant.
Carry all your prescribed medicines / Vitamins with you.
Should you suffer from travel sickness, carry the required medicines for that too.

 
Be vigilant, and watch out for any unusual symptoms:

Vomiting
Persistent headaches
Oedema ( or swelling)
Spotting or bleeding
Watery vaginal discharge
Have a safe flight!

 
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women----Care For Stretch Marks
Post by: fatima on October 01, 2008, 02:41:07 AM

What’s the modern woman’s worst cosmetic nightmare today? It’s not dry flaky skin, or the little mole on the lip. It is nothing but stretch marks or as medically known as Straie that appear as fine white lines across the skin’s surface.

So what causes stretch marks? It happens when the skin gets stretched and becomes less elastic and the connecting tissues break. Though visible on the epidermis, stretch marks are really scarring of the middle layer of our skin. Though dermis is a very elastic and resilient layer, but even elastics can be stretched too taut that they break. This is what happens to our skin. During phases like excessive weight gain, pregnancy and even early teens when hormones run amok, the skin gets stretched beyond its limit and get scarred easily.

How They Look

Depending on your natural skin tone, the stretch marks appear as raised pink, reddish brown or dark brown lines. Gradually these marks flatten and fade to a colour few shades lighter than your skin colour. In most Indian skin they appear as pale white marks. They do become less noticeable over time, however they never vanish.

Fading Them Away

Let’s face it stretch marks don’t go away. Only thing you can do is to try and reduce the appearance. The earlier you start treating stretch marks, the more successful you’ll be. Stretch marks are easier to treat when they appear rather than when they begin fading.


Avoid letting you skin get dry and itchy.

Always moisturise areas where you feel the skin stretching or have the potential to stretch. Slather on any emollient or a heavy moisturiser in the area on a daily basis preferably after bath to keep the skin supple.
One of the best ways to prevent this is to regularly buffing your body. Gently massage your skin with a massage brush or glove to increase circulation in the area.

A note of warning especially for pregnant women, avoid scratching the area.

Eat healthy to fortify your skin from inside go for nuts, fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamin C, E, zinc and silica.

Try laser treatments as early as possible to get maximum benefit. It fades the area.

Most dermatologists prefer to treat stretch marks with creams containing Tretinoin, or Retin-A. These are vitamin A derivatives that work by loosening the keratin or outer layer of the skin to remove dead skin cells.

Tretinoin thins the outer layer of skin in order to penetrate it. It is most effective when used in the early stages.  
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: shaunmedrik on December 16, 2010, 05:08:30 AM
Many type of care are required to the pregnant woman like food,health.You may be off your regular eating and exercise routine and find yourself eating more.  During the early months, you may find that you have aversions to particular foods and maybe the idea of food makes you nauseous, especially specific foods.You should be consuming around 300 additional calories per day.
Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: hamburg113 on July 08, 2011, 08:20:28 AM
Hi,

Thanks very much for this comment. It help me to think about my ideals.

Tks again and pls keep posting.

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Best regards.

Title: Re: Tips for Pregnant Women
Post by: ShAivI on July 10, 2011, 10:19:42 AM
Following are some more tips posted by our sai brother anupam ji in another link.

For the benefit of all mothers to be, i m giving the link [http://forum.spiritualindia.org/confession-t31661.135.html] which also has few more tips by our sai brotehrs anupam ji and saib ji.

Be Blessed!
Love & Light!
Om Sai Ram!

Re: Confession « Reply #139 on: October 05, 2009, 03:15:56 AM » Anupam:

<<< Anul ji, if you do believe in subtle worlds which exist around us, it is said by all Revered Saints that only 20% of miscarriages are the result of some physical reasons. 80% of these are due to reasons in etherial and astral dimensions. It IS a FACT that the Black Magic and Wiccan (Witch craft spells) (Which is most used by the SO CALLED SOPHISTICATED SOCIETY WOMEN IRONICALLY) is the main reason for miscarriages.

That's why it is ALWAYS TOLD BY ELDERS that the pregnant women shud avoid going out much, if they can, avoid the 4 ways and 3 ways streets, where people do all sort of stuff and a embryo is most susceptible and helpless. Avoid listening to All types of Harsh westernised music, and husband and wife shud avoid the physical relation atleast after 6 months of pregnancy.

Few Do's an Don'ts which our revered Saints have said about protecting the child from evil subtle entities.

1. The would be mother shud Read Vishnu Sahasranam  (or part daily) it is the best protection for the inborn as it creates the protection of Sudarshan Chakra for the baby. It can be SAI SATCHARITRA which has the same effect, but please has to be done regularly, If the would be mother is unable to do so, the Father shud read the same and the Mother listen to it

2. Continuously do the Jaap of Guru Mantra, Sai Mantra, or just utter the SAI'S or Guru's Name whatever you do, wherever u go. This creates a shield of positive spiritual energy and the disturbing dark vibrations are unable to attack the child

3. Atleast once a week please light the Desi Cow dung cake with some Guggal, Loban, Chandan Powder, and raw sugar and spread the smoke in the entire house, before keeping the upla outside. This removes all the negative vibrations in the house.

4. Try reading atleast some Shlokas of Bhagwat Geeta or Ramayana everyday, or doing 108 rounds of Gayatri Mantra. Gayatri Mantra and Mahamritunjay mantra(and Bhagwat Geeta and Ramayana) in fact not only protect the child and mother BUT ALSO burn THE PAST KARMAS OF THE UNBORN CHILD AND MAKES HIS LIFE MUCH successful. If nothing else the Jaap of Hari Om, Om Sai Ram, har har har WILL also help.

5 The would be mother and father should also do annadaan, feed cows and dogs regularly till the child is  born and even after that for a year. This would not only protect the child but also a good, lucky child would be born. Feeding dogs with milk removes negative vibrations, feeding cows increases the positive vibrations manifold and feeding the poor and saintly people increases the positive effects of planets. This will minimize the negetive effects of planets on the child and increase their positive effect, by modifying his karmas.

6. Try to Keep the old people (like the child's grandparents) near you when pregnant. Till Grandparents are there in the house the effects of women practicing witchcraft and black magicians cannot effect the child.

These are few tips. Thanks a lot to our Great Revered Saints and Param Pujya Gurudevji. Following these would benifit most mothers and fathers and help them beget New Shivaji's, Rana Prataps etc >>>