I’m pregnant. What should I do — or not do — to take care of myself and my unborn baby?
Follow these dos and don’ts to take care of yourself and the precious life growing inside you.
Health Care Dos and Don’ts
* Get early and regular prenatal care. Whether this is your [...]
You should start taking care of yourself before you start trying to get pregnant. This is called preconception health. It means knowing how health conditions and risk factors could affect you or your unborn baby if you become pregnant. For example, some foods, habits, and medicines can harm your baby — even before [...]
With a positive or healthy body image, a woman has a real perception of her size and shape. She also feels comfortable with her body. With a negative body image, a woman has a distorted perception of her shape and size, compares her body to others, and feels shame and anxiety about her body.
Being [...]
Acupressure may help relieve or shorten the duration of your morning sickness symptoms. Acupressure is based on Eastern medicine practices used to open up blocked energy pathways in the body. Instead of using acupuncture needles, you or a practitioner presses on a small area of the body to treat a given ailment.
Constant pressure on [...]
Pregnancy is a very important milestone in a woman’s life where she undergoes various physiological and psychological changes. Since pregnancy can be stressful to a woman’s body, the health of the woman significantly affects the health of the fetus. Homeopathic medicines will help improve the health of the mother as well as the fetus thereby [...]
A recent British study found that around three per cent of new fathers are prone to PND, particularly if their partner or wife is depressed.
In families where one of the parents already has a child or children from a previous relationship, the rate of PND in fathers rises to around seven per cent.
Other risk [...]
People expect that having a baby is going to be a source of happiness, and of course it is, and should be. But, as a new mother, you may be very far from feeling this straight away, and this can bring with it huge anxiety.
You may well go through a short period of feeling [...]
In the first trimester of pregnancy as many as 15% of women may suffer mental and emotional problems, although only a third of these will have had any previous psychiatric history. During the second and third trimester the number drops to 5%. The risk of mental illness is known to increase again significantly [...]
Although postnatal depression (PND) commonly follows on from the blues it can also start some time later, usually within the first postnatal year. A period of intense elation can sometimes come before the onset of PND.
Causes
It is not known for certain what causes PND, but it seems likely that in some cases it [...]
A woman infected with HIV can pass HIV to her child during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding. Antiretroviral preventive measures (prophylaxis) given to the mother during pregnancy and labor can reduce the chances that the baby will be infected while developing in the uterus or during delivery.
Antiretroviral therapy for the mother, if she needs it for [...]