What are the essential dietary restrictions, hormonal markers, and physical recovery strategies for a healthy pregnancy and postpartum transition?
When you're pregnant, you naturally want to do everything you can to protect your unborn child and ensure the healthiest pregnancy possible. You might not think that enjoying an occasional piece of licorice could be harmful. Unfortunately, licorice contains a chemical that can hurt your unborn baby.
Read more →
Pregnancy requires the elimination of many foods and drinks because they might harm your or your baby's health and compromise your pregnancy. Hibiscus is one herb you should use with caution if you are pregnant because evidence indicates the potential for harmful effects during pregnancy.
Read more →
Rhubarb is a vegetable, despite its typical use in sweet desserts such as strawberry-rhubarb pie. This perennial plant consists of an edible, celery-like stalk that is usually red in color and it has inedible leaves. Pregnant women may safely consume rhubarb stalks; this vegetable provides many benefits.
Read more →
At seven weeks into your pregnancy, the bloating you experience is just getting started. Bloating is common throughout your pregnancy, especially when your growing uterus starts pressing on your stomach. There are several steps you can take to ease bloating caused by gas and constipation during your pregnancy.
Read more →
Pregnancy is a time of exciting changes to your body. As the new life grows inside of you, your body begins to behave in ways you didn't know possible. Some of these changes may surprise and delight you, such as thicker hair and fingernails. Other changes may alarm you.
Read more →
Women routinely are advised to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet during pregnancy. According to childbirth educator Amy Haas, writing in "Midwifery" magazine, pregnant women should eat at least three servings of vegetables daily -- two servings of green and one of yellow vegetables.
Read more →
Light-headedness, or dizziness, is a very common symptom during pregnancy. Your body is going through some massive changes – weight gain, hormonal shifts, an increase in blood volume and fluctuating blood pressure – that affect your blood flow and can make you feel dizzy.
Read more →
One of the less common, but more worrisome, symptoms of teething is bleeding. A few spots of blood can sometimes be seen during teething, along with other symptoms like sucking, biting on solid objects, pain, slight decrease in appetite and irritability.
Read more →
Exercise is generally safe during your entire pregnancy. However, do not start exercising until your doctor gives you permission after your first prenatal appointment.
Read more →
Pregnancy symptoms don't appear until hormone levels produced by the growing placenta rise. While the occasional woman misses the signs of pregnancy until she's in labor, others know they're pregnant almost immediately.
Read more →
Nausea is a common pregnancy symptom during the first trimester, but as you enter the fourth month of your pregnancy and the second trimester, you probably hope to say goodbye to nausea. However, that is not always the case.
Read more →
Bacteria intestinal infections can cause serious complications in pregnancy. Raw eggs can spread salmonella bacteria as well as listeria or Toxoplasma gondii, the bacteria that causes toxoplasmosis.
Read more →
During pregnancy your skin changes at a rapid rate. Hormones, stretching skin and the sun all have an effect on your skin, leaving you scrambling for various home remedies that often promise to prevent common pregnancy skin ailments.
Read more →
You just found out you are pregnant, but now you're experiencing symptoms that leave you concerned, such as backache and cramping. You might fear that these common PMS symptoms might signal a problem with your pregnancy and the early stages of a miscarriage.
Read more →
When you hear the word sushi, what often comes to mind first is raw fish. Unfortunately, organizations like the American Pregnancy Association do not recommend that pregnant women consume raw fish.
Read more →
Pregnancy is a highly emotional time in the lives of most women. Some women find themselves feeling angry despite believing that pregnancy should be a happy, blissful time.
Read more →
Pain and cramping during pregnancy often causes expectant mothers to worry, although healthy pregnancies may include some abdominal pain and cramping. Previous abdominal surgeries, including C-sections, as well as your stage of pregnancy, can increase your likelihood of experiencing pelvic pain and cramping.
Read more →
A dry mouth during pregnancy is very common and may extend to a dry throat, as well. Fluctuations in hormones may cause other changes in your mouth and throat, such as excessive saliva, puffy or bleeding gums or a metallic taste. These symptoms are normal and more of a nuisance than a cause for alarm.
Read more →
While some people scar minimally, with nothing more than a thin line, others develop visible scar tissue that can take months or even years to settle down.
Read more →
Are you or aren't you? When you're trying to conceive, waiting for signs of pregnancy can be agonizing. Pregnancy tests can detect pregnancy before a missed period, but listening to and carefully monitoring your body can also give you an answer.
Read more →