- Good prenatal care

- Avoiding drugs, tobacco, and alcohol substances

- Knowing about your body's nutritional needs

- Being aware of genetic disorders

 

Good prenatal care includes having regular visits with your Obstetrician or a certified nurse midwife, getting a complete physical, and being imformed about how important nutrition and exercise are. Obstetrician is from the Latin obstare which means "to stand by." Basically they are docters whom specialize with the care of women and their offspring during their pregnancy, childbirth, and the period after birth. When a pregnant mother goes to the docter to get a physical examination they can expect to get a collection of their medical history, their blood pressure taken along with their hight and weight measured, a pelvic examination, the morther's blood and urine tests, and a talk with your docter about the importance of good prenatal care.

 

Avoiding any harmful substances is one if the most important things that you can do during pregnancy. When a pregnant mother takes prescription and over-the-counter medicines it can harm the baby, but when illegal drugs are taken they can make the baby become physically dependant on the substance. Certain drugs can be harmful anough to where they can cause the baby to be born with serious birth defects, including mental retardation. When alcohol is consumed during pregnancy the mother is risking the health of their baby, because when you drink Fetal Alcolhol Syndrome (FAS) and other neurodevelopmental effects can occur. Some effects of FAS can be mental retardation, slow growth, and a wide range of physical defects. When Tobacco is used during pregnancy it may cause the baby to be born prematurely with low birth weights. Smoking can also affect the growth, mental development, and the behavior of a child till the age of at least 11.

 

Some nutritional things that a docter may tell a pregnant woman would be:

- The need to increase her amount of calories that are needed by 300 a day

- The gaining of about 20 to 30lbs from the average baby's weight, extra stored protein, fat, and other nutrients, extra blood, other extra body fluids, breast enlargement, enlargement of your uterus, amniotic fluid surrounding your baby, and the placenta.

- The need to increase protein requirement to 70 or 75 grams a day

- All patients are advised to take vitamins to help with the new amount of nutritional requirements

 

Being aware of genetic disorders is very important. Most genetic disorders are caused by two defective genes, one from each parent. Some common disorders include:

- Sickle cell anemia- when red blood cells clump together

- Phenylketonuria- the interference with the development of brain cells

- Tay-Sachs disease- causes the destruction of the nervous system, blindness, paralysis, and early death

- Cystic fibrosis- makes breathing and digestion difficult, caused by two abnormal genes

- Down syndrome- Primarily caused by chromosomal abnormality known as trisomy-21

These gentic disorders can be identified by three different ways.

1. Amniocentesis- a procedure in which a syringe is inserted through the pregnant female's abdominal wall into the amniotic fluid surrounding the development of the fetus.

2. Ultrasound- a test in which sound waves are used to project light images on a screen.

3. Chorionic vili sampling- is a test in which a small piece of membrane is removed from the chorion, a layer of tissue that develops into the placenta.