What Can I Do to Minimize Risks?
Educate yourself about risk, good nutrition, and what changes to expect during your pregnancy. Changing some behaviors may make a real difference in your health and your baby's.
Plan Your Pregnancy
- It is important for you to be as healthy as possible before you become pregnant. Chronic medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure can increase your risk of problems during your pregnancy if they are not well controlled.
- Before becoming pregnant it is recommended that you have a check up and talk to your health care provider about ways to get ready for a healthy pregnancy.
- Take a multivitamin every day to assure that you are getting enough folic acid which helps prevent birth defects in your future child.
Not Getting Prenatal Care Puts Your Baby At Risk
You should go to the doctor as soon as you think you are pregnant. You should have checkups often. This is the best way to avoid serious problems. You can care for your health and your baby's health this way.
Schedule an appointment for prenatal care as soon as you learn you are pregnant! If you need assistance in finding a prenatal care provider, call the Care Line at 1-800-868-0404.
Eating a Healthy Diet
- While you are pregnant, you are feeding yourself and your growing baby. Your baby depends on you to choose good food for both of you. The food you eat gives nutrients that you both need.
- Eating well helps your baby...
- Be born healthy.
- Be born on time.
- Be born a good size.
- And have a well formed body.
- Eating well helps you...
- Stay healthy.
- Look good.
- Be strong for labor and delivery.
- Have a normal weight gain.
- Handle your changing moods better.
- Get your figure back easier.
- And avoid some common problems such as constipation.
- Make better food choices!
- Eat less of foods like hamburgers, fried chicken, pizza, French fries, snack chips, soda pop, pastries and rich desserts.
- Eat more of these foods:
- Fruit Snacks like dried apples, dates, raisins, prunes, pineapple, apricots, peaches and strawberries.
- Veggies like raw carrots, celery, broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, peppers and cherry tomatoes.
- Snacks like whole grain crackers, cheese, unbuttered popcorn, unsalted pretzels, trail mix and nuts.
Folic Acid
- Taking a multivitamin every day will assure that you receive the right amount of folic acid in your diet.
- Simply put, folic acid is a "B vitamin".
- Folic acid can help protect your unborn baby from birth defects of the brain and spinal cord called neural tube defects.
- Neural tube defects can occur during the first weeks of pregnancy, even before you know you are pregnant.
- Foods with folic acid include: okra, pinto beans, navy beans, mustard greens, kale, spinach, chicken liver, beef liver, orange juice, asparagus, broccoli, avocado. green peas, cauliflower, tomato juice, peanuts, and cantaloupe.
Breastfeeding Benefits
Benefits for Baby
- Breast milk is the best food you can give your baby.
- Breast milk has all your baby needs for the first 4 to 6 months of life.
- Breast milk is clean, warm, and ready to serve.
- Breast milk is easy for the baby to digest. Babies who are breastfed are less likely to have diarrhea.
- Breast milk helps prevent allergies and infections.
- Breastfed babies are less likely to be put in the hospital with illnesses.
- Breastfed babies have fewer skin rashes.
- Breastfed babies have stronger bones and teeth.
Benefits for Mother
- Breastfeeding helps the uterus return to its normal size.
- Breastfeeding helps the mother quickly return to her normal weight.
- Breastfeeding helps protect the mother from breast and uterine cancer, and osteoporosis (brittle bones in later years).
Substance Abuse
- Everytime a pregnant woman takes a drink or a drug, her unborn baby does too.
- Drinking any type of alcohol (beer, wine, liquor) can be harmful.
- Alcohol and drugs can cause a baby to be born too small, developmentally delayed or more likely to be sick. They can harm developing organs like the brain and heart.
During your pregnancy, it is safest to avoid all alcohol and street drugs. Only take medications that your health care provider has said you may take.
If you need assistance in stopping your use of alcohol or drugs, please call the Care Line for resources available in your county.
Stop Douching to Protect Your Unborn Child from Early Delivery
Babies who are born too soon are more likely to die in the first year of life or to be ill throughout their lives. One of the most specific things you can do to protect your unborn child or future children from premature birth is to stop douching. Douching may result in infections that contribute to premature labor.
Q. Why is douching harmful?
A. Douching washes everything out of your vagina or birth canal (except sperm), including helpful bacteria whose job is to keep other, harmful bacteria from overgrowing. If there are not "helper" bacteria, then the harmful bacteria will take over. When this happens, you can get "Bacterial Vaginosis" (BV), an infection that can move from the vagina to the womb very early in pregnancy. BV puts you at risk for having a baby that is born too soon and too small.Q. What are the symptoms of Bacterial Vaginosis (BV)?
A. BV can cause your normal vaginal discharge to have a fishy or musty (stale) odor, which is often stronger after having sex. The amount of vaginal discharge may be heavier and the color may be clear or gray. Because some women have no symptoms at all, a pregnant woman should be tested for BV as soon as she knows she is pregnant. The test is simple and painless. The Vagina is wiped and the discharge is looked at under a microscope.Q. How is Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) treated?
A. If you have BV, your health care provider will prescribe medication that you will need to take for seven days. Pregnant women will take pills by mouth and non-pregnant women will take pills by mouth or use a vaginal medicine. Since BV is not sexually transmitted, male partners will not need treatment.Q. Should I douche when I am NOT pregnant?
A. No. Douching when you are not pregnant can still cause infections that may affect future pregnancies.Q. My mother and/or grandmother told me that douching is important for a woman to be clean. Isn't it "nasty" or unclean to stop douching?
A. It is normal for women to have a mucous vaginal discharge that passes naturally out of the vagina. Douching is not necessary and it upsets the natural process, encouraging the overgrowth of unhealthy bacteria. Douching may also hide symptoms of infection, such as vaginal discharge and/or odor. For good vaginal health, experts NOW recommend that you:
- Wash the outer parts of your genital (private) area with mild soap and water every day.
- Always wipe yourself from front to back.
- Wear cotton panties or panties with a cotton crotch.
- Change panty liners or pads often.
- Avoid douching or using "female hygiene products" (vaginal deodorants or sprays).
- Avoid tight jeans and clothing that traps sweat.
- See your health care provider if your normal discharge changes or if there is a bad odor, itching or irritation. Get checked yearly for female infections.
Know Signs of Early / Preterm Labor
Ask your health care worker to tell you what preterm labor feels like. Find out what to do if you notice the signs - quick action may save your baby.
Some signs and symptoms of preterm labor are:
- Low, dull back pain.
- Menstrual-like cramps that come and go or don't go away.
- Fluid or unusual vaginal discharge or bleeding.
- Feeling of pelvic pressure or fullness.
- Gastrointestinal upset (nausea, vomiting or diarrhea).
- General sense of discomfort or unease.
Poor nutrition, infections and stress can contribute to premature birth. Take care of yourself by getting regular exercise, following a balanced eating plan, visiting your doctor regularly, and having a dental check up every year.
Source: capital Area Healthy Start Coalition * Racial Disparity Task Force for Infant Health * 2110 South Adams Street, Suite B * Tallahassee, FL 32301