Well, you’re expecting a baby. Which principles should you observe and how to behave yourself? You know, you’ve already have a baby, he reminds about himself already, and you should be ready to meet him

Well, you’re expecting a baby. Which principles should you observe and how to behave yourself? You know, you’ve already have a baby, he reminds about himself already, and you should be ready to meet him. You still have time, you need to try to do everything for correct development of fetus and his preparation for the first critical period in his life - birth, and then his optimal adaptation to new living conditions.

IF YOU ARE EXPECTING A BABY…

Health of parents.

Before marrying and planning of pregnancy you should visit a family planning center, medical-genetic consultation. And you should ask yourself a question: do you know genealogy of your and your husband’s family? Pay special attention to all cases of ascertainments of heritable diseases in your families, and also cases of stillbirth, early death of babies, inborn anomalies of development, mental backwardness. You know, many heritable diseases appear in children, whose parents are asymptomatic carriers. For example, mucoviscidosis, which is characterized by early serious diseases of lungs or bowels, or phenylketonuria, which appears during first months of life as mental backwardness, which increases with age. This diseases requires an obligatory switch of a baby to feeding with special formulas. There’re series of heritable diseases, which require to reveal of a level of genetic risk for a baby and decide whether a woman should have pregnancy, and most optimal term of conception.

During pregnancy it’s important that your work won’t be connected with harmful influences on your organism. These influences can be chemical (work on a plant, in laboratories with poisonous substances, especially volatile matters), physical (work, connected with vibration, strong noises, radiations), biological (work at night). Study your rights about a switch to lighter and, the main fact, harmless work for pregnant women, about dismissal from business trips and night work, optimal terms of vacation and etc.

Studies

Experience shows that student families are included in a certain risk group as for giving birth to babies with peculiarities of physical, nervous-psychical development, with various diseases. May be, it’s better to sligthly postpone creation of a family and childbirth? Or to stop out? It will definitely be reworded with stronger health of your baby.

Smoking

It’s categorically prohibited to smoke during pregnancy and baby nursing!!! Recent years researches discovered, that female organism is more sensible to nicotine influence, than male. And this sensitivity increases a lot during pregnancy. When a woman smokes, tobacco exhaust penetrate through placenta into fetus blood, having a toxic effect on all his organs. But placenta also has an ability to accumulate nicotine, that’s why it continues coming to fetus even after a woman finished smoking. Erythrocytes contain up to 90% of so called fetal hemoglobin. It can combine with carbonic oxide easier. That’s why pregnant woman’s smoking brings enormous harm to fetus: almost all haemoglobin is tightly connected with carbonic oxide, what leads to anoxaemia of fetus and changes of nervous system.

Alcohol

Remember: not a gulp, not a drop of alcohol drinks!!! French doctors, who have been observing alcoholic families during many years, confirmed information about toxic influence of alcohol on fetus’s brain. Of 57 children, who were born in these families, 25 died in the age under 1 year, 5 suffer from fits - epilepsy, 5 - hydrocephalus, 12 are mentally retarded and only 10 of them are healthy. Have you made a conclusion?

Usage of medicines

As one researcher formulated figuratively, nature thought we were more intelligent, and didn’t foresee protection of fetus in case, if a mother drinks alcohol or smokes. But placenta cannot protect fetus also against some chemicals, in particular medicines. So self-treatment, which is always risky, is especially risky during pregnancy: fetus can suffer from it. Before taking any, it would seem, most usual and harmless medicine you should definitely consult a doctor. Antibiotics and sulfanilamides, anticancer drugs, sex hormones, soporific, sedatives, preparations, lowering arterial pressure and others are dangerous during first three months of pregnancy.

Infections

It’s very important to avoid contacts with carriers of various bugs, including flu, and especially roseola, as roseola virus affect fetus seriously. Those women, who had this disease in childhood, shouldn’t be afraid of anything. And what to do, if a pregnant woman became infected with this disease? Such question should be discussed with a doctor.

Nutrition of pregnant woman

During pregnancy female organism is re-forming, what allows providing growing organism of fetus with nutritive materials and energy. Irrational nutrition can lead to delay of pre-natal development of fetus, incorrect formation of its tissues, anemia of a newborn. In general, you shouldn’t keep to any special diet. But you shouldn’t forget about two things. Firstly, if a woman suffers from food allergy, then she should avoid products-allergens in every way. Secondly, during first months of pregnancy toxicosis appears often: sickness, vomiting, giddiness, weakness. Some women suffer from lack of appetite, others refrain from eating, being afraid of vomiting and sickness. In such cases you shouldn’t use medicines. Best of all is to drink dilute juices: apple, pomegranate, lemon - or fruit drinks of cranberry, cowberry and compotes of dried fruits. It’s good to eat many fruits: apples, plums, grapefruits, oranges - depending of the season. If you suffer from toxicosis, it’s better to eat lying, with small portions. It’s recommended to cool food. During these days you should refrain from meat and milky products, and if it’s difficult for you to refuse from milky food, then it’s better to eat sour milk products - they are assimilated easier.

Food allowance of pregnant woman should definitely include porridges, vegetables, freshly cooked juices and fruits. Why porridges? Well, because now cereals are probably the only food with very low content of herbicides. Thence, it’s better to use forest berries, not garden.

Some women think they should eat a lot during pregnancy, espesially protein food, for example, meat. Otherwise, acoording to their opinion, weak and low birth-weight babies can be born. This is not truth. Full-value animal proteins are contained in milk, cotton cheese, eggs, cheese. Food of pregnant woman should be simple and natural. It’s good to use products, containing vegetable protein: legumes, nuts, soy, cereals and wheat brans. Different ratio of animal and vegetable proteins should be included in your food allowance. You can eat boiled meat, fish, eggs, cotton cheese. However, it’s better to avoid beef tea, smoked products, sausages, plump pies and cakes. It’s good to arrange fasting days 1-2 times per week: fruits (in winter - dried fruits), juices, compotes, you can add any porridges, better without milk.

Pregnant woman should receive no more than 1,5-2 liters of liquid per day. 8,5 liters of water are accumulated in organism during pregnancy, and 6 liters are meant for growing fetus, increased organs of mother, increased quantity of blood. The rest 2,5 liters are in tissues. Quite often women feel thirst by the end of pregnancy and drink too much. It is dangerous, because increase of sweat and release of mineral substances from organism, complication of heart work, vessels, kidneys, sweat-glands. In connection with this during second part of pregnancy it’s necessary to restrict yourself from various pickles: mushrooms, cucumbers, cabbage. Light-salted diet is recommended during second part of pregnancy. It is important to prevent edemas and provide normal passing of delivery. During the last month of pregnancy quantity of salt should not exceed 6-8 g per day.

Sleep

Pregnant woman should sleep at least 8 hours per day, including 1,5-2 hours afternoon sleep.

Medical observation

Pregnant woman should be under constant medical observation. First of all, you should register in your antenatal clinic. Regular medical observation is necessary to observe rates of fetus’s growth, accuracy of functional reconstructions of your organism in connection with developing pregnancy. Nowadays complex of observation includes informative and safe methods: ultrasound examination of fetus (it will help to assure in its correct development, weight gain, and your baby’s sex), cardiography - registration of fetus’s heart tones, rheography - it will help to determine whether blood circulation in placenta is correct, and others. It is also important for choice of optimal terms of childbirth. Moreover, majority of pregnant women attend a special course of psychoprophylactic training for childbirth there, which helps to remove unfounded fears, arms with knowledge, necessary for correct behavior during delivery.

Father’s duties

Future fathers! It can be difficult for a doctor to make a future mother calm and confident in successful result of pregnancy, if at home she constantly experienced anxieties, came through conflict situations and felt lack of necessary attention. Rememeber, most of all your wife needs your care now. She should go to a maternity hospital being calm, confident that childbrith will make both of you happy, that her husband is thinking and worrying about her. By the way, now in many clinics of the world childbirth with father is welcomed. They give a newborn to a father right after birth. Of course, paternal instinct is awaken in such father, after he senses a touch of a helpless, naked little creature with his own skin. This moment of the first meeting is very important both for baby and father, and for the whole family.