Posts Tagged acid folic
Your Perfect Pregnancy Diet
Posted by in Pregnancy on October 25th, 2009
Eating the right food during pregnancy is very important. When you are pregnant, you have to take care of two people – you and your baby. You have to eat for two. It doesn’t mean that you just have to eat double the quantity you actually eat. It actually means that you have to be more careful about your eating habits because your baby is involved here. Your pregnancy diet will determine how healthy your baby is going to be. If you eat nutritional diet, it will result in healthier babies. On the other hand, unhealthy eating habits may result in babies with various mental and physical issues – you definitely don’t like that. So, educate yourself now about the right eating habit during pregnancy.
Nutritional Diet
You have to practice a nutritional diet. It is very important for you to understand that your baby is going to take nutrients from the food you are eating. The baby does it through the umbilical cord. Some of the nutrients that are essential for you at this stage include calcium, zink, iron, and folic acid. However, it does not mean that other nutrients are not necessary – it’s just that the mentioned ones are more important. When you are in the first trimester, your pregnancy diet must include vitamin B9 and folic acid. Folic acid plays a very important role in development of the baby, especially its nervous system. So, you must have at least 400 microgram supplement of folic acid everyday. Besides that, you should also focus on foods that are rich in folic acid, such as fruit juices, beans, and green vegetables. Eat a lot of these foods on a daily basis. Such nutritional diet will ensure that no congenital malfunction occur during the baby’s development.
Foods Rich In Iron
When it comes to pregnancy diet, foods rich in iron are also important. It makes the process of blood production in the baby’s body easier. This way, when you eat foods rich in iron, you actually help in making your baby healthier. However, in order to absorb iron quickly in your body, you may also need to take a vitamin C supplement or the help of an ascorbic acid. Some iron-rich foods include strawberries, green vegetables, and whole meal bread.
Zinc And Calcium
The perfect pregnancy diet should also include a steady intake of calcium and zinc. These nutrients make the development procedure of the fetus much smoother. Milk can be a great source for zinc and calcium. In fact, milk is also a great source for iron. So, you are strongly recommended to drink milk regularly while you are pregnant.
You will have to make sure that you are eating any one thing too much. The basic idea is to practice a well-balanced diet. You have to eat balanced portions from different food groups, including dairy products, fats, carbohydrates, meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, and fruits. Most importantly, when it comes to following a perfect pregnancy diet, you must follow your doctor’s advice strictly.
Eating balanced food is very important to ensure healthy and safe pregnancy. Learn more about pregnancy nutrition at Pregnancy Diet
Article Source: Your Perfect Pregnancy Diet
Is it Safe to Take Antibiotics during Pregnancy?
Posted by in Pregnancy on September 21st, 2009
How safe are antibiotics when taken during pregnancy? The answer you will probably get from most experts is: it depends. Since there is such a large variety of antibiotics available, and much depends on dosage and length of use, it is very difficult to generalize as to their safety. Using antibiotics during pregnancy is sometimes unavoidable, since pregnant women are as susceptible to illness and infection as anyone else, and sometimes even more.
Some antibiotics are perfectly safe, some are known to pose risks to a fetus, and many more fall somewhere in between. There are a great many antibiotics where it is simply not known what risks they pose to a pregnant woman because those risks simply haven’t been studied in enough detail. In the case of these, you will need to weigh the risks of taking the antibiotics during pregnancy versus the potential risks your illness poses to your unborn baby. Another thing to consider is how high the dosage will be and how long you will be taking it.
Taking antibiotics during pregnancy can be quite safe if they are in the penicillin family, cephalosporins, and erythromycin. The drug metronidazole used to treat some vaginal infections used to be suspected of causing birth defects, but the research has not substantiated that claim, and it is now considered generally safe for pregnant women to use. Many pregnant women suffer from urinary tract infections, and the drug nitrofurantoin can be taken up to the 36th week of pregnancy. If you continue after that point, there is a small chance it could destroy some of the baby’s red blood cells if taken up to a few days before delivery.
If you must take antibiotics during pregnancy for a urinary tract infection, you may wish to avoid Bactrin and Septra, because they contain trimethoprim, and this compound blocks the production of folic acid. Folic acid is critical to your baby’s development because it reduces the risk of certain birth defects. If for some reason you must take antibiotics during pregnancy that do contain trimethoprim, be sure to take a daily folic acid supplement of at least 400 mgs. Check to see if your prenatal vitamin contains this- many will have twice this amount. A few other antibiotics to avoid during pregnancy are streptomycin and tetracycline. The first can cause hearing loss in the baby, and the latter can cause discoloration of the baby’s teeth.
If you are still wondering how safe are antibiotics when taken during pregnancy, be sure to talk to your doctor. Those that are safe are generally well-known, as well as those that are less so. If you must take antibiotics during pregnancy, keep in mind that even those whose safety isn’t proven will probably have very few adverse effects if taken in the minimum effective dosage for a limited period of time. Also realize that your doctor is aware of the risks, and will only prescribe antibiotics if she feels that your illness is potentially riskier to your baby than the antibiotics themselves.
You can find helpful information about antibiotics during pregnancy and everything you need to know about how safe are antibiotics at Aha! Baby.
Article Source: Is it Safe to Take Antibiotics during Pregnancy?
