Pregnancy Nutrition, Labor Induction, and Postpartum Recovery

What are the essential dietary restrictions, hormonal markers, and physical recovery strategies for a healthy pregnancy and postpartum transition?

Is Plum Juice Safe to Drink While Pregnant?

Plum juice contains essential vitamins, nutrients and dietary fiber that you and your baby need. Although there are similarities between the two juices, plum and prune juice have distinctly different tastes.

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Can You Drink Carbonated Drinks During a Pregnancy?

The most common carbonated beverage is soda, but drinking too much during pregnancy may not be healthy. Most obstetricians recommend limiting your soda intake for your health and the health of your developing infant.

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Healthy and delicious lavender tea

Lavender Tea & Pregnancy

During pregnancy, the body can become unusually sensitive to herbs, supplements, medicines and other compounds that might ordinarily be safe. Several medicinal herbs may increase the risk of miscarriage, birth defects, stillbirth and other serious pregnancy-related complications.

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Stew cabbage on rustic table

Eating Sauerkraut While Pregnant

The dietary decisions you make during pregnancy have a direct impact on how healthy you are while expecting, as well as influencing your baby's growth and development. Although certain foods aren't safe to eat during pregnancy, sauerkraut isn't one of them.

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Young Woman Holding a Cheeseburger

Is It Normal to Crave Junk Food in the First Trimester?

Sweet or salty -- junk food can offer you a feeling of comfort or satisfaction. This may be the reason most women crave junk food during the first trimester of pregnancy. While junk food may be okay in moderation during pregnancy, it is not the best food for a pregnant woman to eat.

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Pregnant woman with doctor

Progesterone Injections to Maintain Pregnancy

When you're pregnant, the hormone progesterone plays an essential role in helping your baby grow. Most women have adequate progesterone levels without taking progesterone supplements.

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Pregnant woman having a glass of orange juice

The Best Food & Drinks During the Time of Pregnancy

A growing fetus depends on its mother's diet for all its nutritional needs. Having the best foods and drinks during pregnancy will reduce the risk of certain birth defects and increase the overall health of the baby. In general, pregnant women need about 300 extra calories per day.

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Close-up of young woman eating papaya

Should You Avoid Papaya While Pregnant?

Pregnancy and nutrition go hand-in-hand. Not only do the foods that you eat affect you, they also affect your unborn baby. Whole grains, lean proteins, vegetables and fruits are the makings of a healthy diet for mommy and baby.

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Sizzling bacon in a pan on the stove being stirred

Can Pregnant Women Eat Nitrites?

When you’re pregnant, you’re eating for two in a very real sense. Substances you ingest -- both good and bad -- can pass through the placenta to your baby.

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Can You Eat Steak While Pregnant?

Pregnant women need to watch their dietary intake more carefully than they might have before getting pregnant. Anything you ingest has the potential to affect your baby. Steak, which is a good source of iron and protein, is perfectly safe to eat during pregnancy as long as you cook it properly.

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Pregnant woman

Dry Fruits During Pregnancy

It's smart to wonder about the safety of dry fruits now that you're expecting a baby, because what you eat and what you don't eat can affect your unborn child. Dry fruits, however, are not a food you need to be concerned about.

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Chinese pregnant woman,China

Can Pregnant Women Eat Cottage Cheese?

Although pregnant women should avoid certain foods that contain environmental toxins or pose a risk for foodborne illness, cottage cheese is generally safe to eat during pregnancy. In fact, cottage cheese is packed with nutrients that are essential for a healthy pregnancy.

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Pregnant woman eating vegetables

Is It Okay to Eat Hot Chips During Pregnancy?

While hot potato chips aren’t the healthiest snack you could select during pregnancy, eating them is unlikely to cause any harm to you or your unborn baby. If you are eating an otherwise healthy and well-balanced diet, indulging in this snack occasionally is perfectly acceptable.

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Herbs to Avoid With Hypothyroidism

Over the last two decades, herbal supplements have been the target of both praise and harsh criticism by the medical industry. Herbs have been heralded for centuries for their medicinal properties and natural--rather than synthetic--approach to treating many minor conditions.

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Can I Eat Mackerel When Pregnant?

Fish is tricky to navigate while you are pregnant. Safe fish provides you with a lean source of protein that's also rich in iron, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins. Certain deep sea fish and any kind of raw or undercooked seafood offer more risks than benefits for pregnant women. Mackerel is no exception.

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oatmeal with caramelized peaches in a bowl and yogurt

How Is Glycogen Used During Exercise?

Physical activity, including formal exercise, requires fuel for energy. Your body stores energy in the form of glycogen, a readily available fuel. The amount of glycogen in your body plays a major role in determining your level of endurance.

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How to Lose Belly Fat After H. Pylori

MayoClinic.com reports that an H. pylori infection occurs when the bacterium Helicobacter pylori infects the stomach. The infection causes bloating, burning in the abdomen or even sores in the intestines that make exercise for weight loss uncomfortable or impossible.

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