Weight Debate

1. Nausea and Vomiting

For some women nausea and vomiting, often called hyperemesis or morning sickness, may occur in the early months of their pregnancy. It is a result of their body adjusting to the higher hormone levels of pregnancy. For women who experience this discomfort, there are some things they can try: read more »

All women need to gain weight during their pregnancy.

Women should gain between 25 and 35 pounds during their pregnancy, but that’s if their weight is in the healthy range before they become pregnant.

During pregnancy, women should gain weight gradually, with most of the weight gained in the last 3 months. Many doctors suggest women gain weight at the following rate:

First 3 months – first trimester – 1 to 4 pounds.
4th to 9th months – second and third trimesters – 2 to 4 pounds per month.

A baby gains most of their weight and has rapid brain growth during the last weeks of pregnancy. read more »

There are certain foods and beverages that can harm your baby if you eat or drink them while you are pregnant. Here is a general list of foods and beverages that you should avoid while you are pregnant:

• Alcohol - Instead of drinking beer, wine, or a mixed drink, enjoy apple cider, tomato juice, sparkling water, or other nonalcoholic beverages.
• Fish that may have high levels of methyl-mercury - a substance that can build up in fish and harm an unborn baby. Don’t eat more than 12 ounces of any fish per week – that equals to four 3 ounce servings, each about the size of a deck of cards. During pregnancy, do not eat:
  • Shark
  • Swordfish
  • King mackerel
  • Tilefish
• Soft cheeses such as feta, Brie, and goat cheese and ready-to-eat meats including lunch meats, hot dogs, and deli meats. These foods may contain bacteria called listeria that are harmful to unborn babies. Cooking lunch meats, hot dogs, and deli meats until steaming hot can kill the bacteria and make these meats safe to eat.
• Raw or undercooked meat, fish, and poultry. Avoid raw fish dishes, such as sashimi and some types of sushi and ceviche. When raw or undercooked, these foods may contain harmful bacteria. Cook fish, meat, and poultry thoroughly before you eat them.
• Large amounts of caffeine in beverages. If you are a heavy coffee, tea, or soda drinker, talk to your doctor about whether you should cut back on caffeine. You can try a decaffeinated version of your favorite beverage, a mug of warm low fat or fat free milk, or sparkling mineral water.
• Anything that is not food. Some pregnant women may crave something that is not food, such as laundry starch or clay. Talk to your doctor if you crave something that is not food.

Ask your doctor for a complete list of foods and beverages that you should avoid while you are pregnant.

Source: www.win.niddk.nih.gov

If you are a healthy woman who is pregnant and you are not already highly active or doing vigorous intensity activity, you should get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity a week during your pregnancy and the postpartum period. It is best to spread this activity throughout the week.

If you are pregnant and you engage in vigorous intensity aerobic activity or if you are highly active, you can continue physical activity during your pregnancy and the postpartum period, provided that you remain healthy and discuss with your doctor how and when activity should be adjusted over time.

Almost all women can and should be physically active during pregnancy, but talk to your doctor first, particularly if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, anemia, bleeding, or other disorders, or if you are obese or underweight.

Regular, moderate intensity physical activity during pregnancy may:

• Help you and your baby to gain the proper amounts of weight.
• Reduce the discomforts of pregnancy, such as backaches, leg cramps, constipation, bloating, and swelling.
• Reduce your risk for gestational diabetes – diabetes found for the first time when a woman is pregnant.
• Improve your mood and energy level.
• Improve your sleep.
• Help you have an easier, shorter labor.
• Help you to recover from delivery and return to a healthy weight faster.

Listeriosis is a serious infection caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium called Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria monocytogenes can be found in soil and water, and in a variety of raw foods.

• Raw unpasteurized and pasteurized milk, high fat and other dairy products like butter and cream.
• Cheeses – particularly soft ripened and unripened varieties – examples: feta, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined cheeses, queso blanco fresco, cottage and ricotta cheese.
• Ice cream
• Raw fruits and vegetables
• Fermented raw-meat sausages
• Raw and cooked poultry
• Raw meats (all types)
• Raw and smoked fish and seafood – examples: smoked finfish and mollusks.
• Cooked crustaceans – examples: shrimp and crab

Listeria is killed by pasteurization and cooking, but, in certain ready-to-eat foods, such as hot dogs and deli meats, contamination may occur after cooking by the manufacture but before packaging.

Important!! Listeria monocytogenes can survive at refrigerated temperatures.

Anyone can get listeriosis, but it is especially harmful to pregnant women, their fetuses, newborns, older adults, and adults with weakened immune systems.

Listeriosis can be passed to an unborn baby through the placenta even if the mother is not showing signs of illness. This can lead to:

• Premature delivery
• Miscarriage
• Spontaneous abortion
• Stillbirth
• Serious health problems for the newborn, even death

Reduce Your Risk

• Avoid raw (unpasteurized) milk and raw milk products.
• Eat precooked and ready-to-eat foods as soon as you can, and don’t eat hot dogs, luncheon meats, deli meats, or leftovers unless they are reheated to steaming hot.
• Don’t get fluid from hot dog packages on other foods, utensils, and food preparation surfaces.
• Wash hands after handling hot dogs, luncheon meats, deli meats, and uncooked foods.
• Don’t eat refrigerated pâté or meat spreads. It is safe to eat canned or shelf-stable pâté and meat spreads
• Wash fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Avoid meat and seafood cooked rare.
• Do not eat refrigerated smoked seafood unless it is an ingredient in a cooked dish such as a casserole. Examples: salmon, trout, whitefish, cod, tuna, and mackerel which are most often labeled as “nova-style,” “lox,” “kippered,” “smoked,” or “jerky.” It is safe to eat canned fish such as salmon and tuna or shelf-stable smoked seafood.

Symptoms of Listeriosis

• Fever
• Chills
• Muscle aches
• Diarrhea
• Upset stomach

If infection spreads to the nervous system, symptoms may include:

• Headache
• Stiff neck
• Confusion
• Loss of balance
• Convulsions

Also, more severe complications can occur. Check with your doctor if you have these symptoms. A blood test will show if you have listeriosis.

Treatment
Antibiotics are given to treat listeriosis.

Overweight and obesity raise the risk of pregnancy complications for both mother and baby.

Pregnant women who are overweight or obese may have an increased risk for:

• Gestational diabetes – high blood sugar during pregnancy
• Pre-eclampsia – high blood pressure during pregnancy that can cause severe problems for both mother and baby if left untreated
• Cesarean delivery or complications with cesarean delivery

Babies of overweight or obese mothers have an increased risk of:

• Neural tube defects (defects of the brain and spinal cord)
• Stillbirth
• Prematurity
• Being large for gestational age

Being Overweight
Pregnant women who are overweight are more likely to develop:

• Insulin resistance – Insulin resistance is when cells do not respond properly to the hormone insulin, which carries blood sugar to cells for energy. It may result in high levels of blood sugar.
• High blood sugar.
• High blood pressure.

Overweight also increases the risks associated with surgery and anesthesia, and severe obesity increases operative time and blood loss.

Some studies have shown that gaining excess weight during pregnancy – even without becoming obese – may increase risks. It is important to consult with your obstetrician or other health care provider about how much weight to gain during pregnancy.

Weight Loss
Women who are overweight or obese and want to become pregnant should speak with their doctor about losing weight before becoming pregnant, and being physically active during pregnancy. Pre-pregnancy weight loss significantly reduces pregnancy complications.

Losing excess weight after delivery may help women reduce their health risks. If a woman developed gestational diabetes, losing weight will lower her risk of developing diabetes later in life.

Also called: Folacin, Folate, Pteroylglutamic acid, and Vitamin B9.

Folic acid and folate mean the same thing. Folic acid is a manmade form of folate.

We all need the B vitamin folic acid everyday. Our bodies use it to make healthy new cells daily for hair, nails, skin, and other parts of our body, and it also helps keep our blood healthy.

Some Food Sources of Folate

• Cooked dry beans and peas
• Deep green leaves like spinach and mustard greens
• Oranges and orange juice
• Whole grains
• Some cereals have 100 percent of the daily value of folic acid in each serving

Especially Important!!
Most women don’t get all of the folic acid they need through food alone. It is very important for women who can get pregnant to make sure they get 400 micrograms (400 mcg) of folic acid every day, starting at least one month before getting pregnant. If a woman has enough folic acid in her body before and during pregnancy, it can help prevent major birth defects of the baby’s brain and spine – anencephaly and spina bifida – by 50 to 70 percent.

Two easy ways to get enough folic acid each day are:

• Take a multivitamin everyday that contains 400 micrograms (400 mcg) of folic acid. Or you can take a small pill (supplement) that has only folic acid in it each day.

OR

• Eat a bowl of breakfast cereal that has 100% of the daily value of folic acid every day. Not every cereal has this amount. Check the label on the side of the box, and look for one that has “100%” next to folic acid.

Anencephaly Pronounced an-en-SEF-uh-lee
Anencephaly happens when most or all of the brain does not develop. Babies with this problem die before or shortly after birth.

Spina Bifida Pronounced spy·nuh bif-i-duh
Spina bifida is the most common birth defect in the United States. It is a type of neural tube defect (NTD). The neural tube is a narrow channel that folds and closes during the third and fourth weeks of pregnancy to form the brain and spinal cord. Spina bifida happens if the portion of the neural tube that forms the spinal cord does not close completely during the first month of pregnancy. As a result, the nerves that control leg movements and other functions don’t work. Children with spina bifida often have lifelong disabilities, and they may need many surgeries.

Remember:
For folic acid to help prevent major birth defects, a woman needs to start taking folic acid at least one month before she becomes pregnant and while she is pregnant.

For your health and safety, and for the health of your baby, you should not do certain physical activities while you are pregnant. Talk to your doctor about all physical activities that you should avoid during your pregnancy. Some physical activities to avoid are: (incomplete list)

• Avoid being active outside during hot weather.
• Avoid steam rooms, hot tubs, and saunas.
• Avoid physical activities, such as certain yoga poses, that call for you to lie flat on your back after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
• Avoid contact sports and activities that may cause injury, such as football and boxing, and horseback riding.
• Avoid activities that make you jump or change directions quickly, such as tennis or basketball. During pregnancy, your joints loosen and you are more likely to hurt yourself when doing these activities.
• Avoid activities that can result in a fall, such as in-line skating or downhill skiing.

Your pelvic floor muscles support the rectum, vagina, and urethra in the pelvis. Toning these muscles with Kegel exercises will help you push during delivery and recover from birth. It also will help control bladder leakage and lower your chance of getting hemorrhoids.

Important
Pelvic muscles are the same ones used to stop the flow of urine. It can be hard to find the right muscles to squeeze. It is best to see a doctor, nurse, or physical therapist to learn how to do Kegel exercises correctly. Kegel exercises are most effective when you have received proper instruction from a doctor. Here are some tips to be sure you are exercising the right muscles:

• 1. Try to stop the flow of urine when you are sitting on the toilet. If you can do it, you are using the right muscles.
• 2. Imagine that you are trying to stop passing gas. Squeeze the muscles you would use. If you sense a “pulling” feeling, those are the right muscles for pelvic exercises.

Kegel Exercises
It is best to start doing your Kegel exercises lying down. This is the easiest position. When your muscles get stronger, you can do Kegel exercises sitting or standing anywhere you like.

• 1. Tighten the pelvic floor muscles for a count of 3, then relax for a count of 3.
• 2. Repeat 10 to 15 times, 3 times a day.