What are the essential dietary restrictions, hormonal markers, and physical recovery strategies for a healthy pregnancy and postpartum transition?
Physical symptoms of pregnancy can vary in intensity and frequency. While some women never experience morning sickness, others feel ill for months. Certain symptoms may disappear as your pregnancy progresses, and others can last up to the time of birth.
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You may want to think twice before diving into a pepperoni pizza during your pregnancy. There are several negative effects that pepperoni consumption can have on you, and it also poses a risk to your unborn baby. This is because of the composition of the pepperoni and the preservatives used.
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Your digestive tract experiences some significant changes during pregnancy. Perhaps the most dramatic occur late in pregnancy when your developing baby compresses your stomach and intestine. Your first trimester, however, isn't without its own share of digestive changes.
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As your abdomen grows ever larger during pregnancy, aches and pains are common. Round ligament pain is one common pain that plagues many pregnant mothers. Round ligament pain could feel sharp or aching, originating on either side of the abdomen, states the Marshfield Clinic.
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Nausea during pregnancy, sometimes termed “morning sickness,” can happen any time during the day and can make expectant women feel very reluctant to exercise. When you feel nauseous, you generally don’t want to exert yourself; it often feels better to rest.
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When you are pregnant, your vitamin and mineral needs increase to meet both your needs and the needs of your growing fetus. It is important to follow a healthy, balanced diet to make sure you meet those needs.
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If you’re not already aware of it, you need to add one more food to avoid to your pregnancy list -- smoked meat, which includes bacon, hot dogs and ham. Smoked meat may contain bacteria and other organisms that can make you and your baby sick.
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Between 26 and 28 weeks of pregnancy, you will have a glucose screening test to check your blood sugar levels. If the screening test results are high, your doctor will perform a glucose tolerance test in order to diagnose gestational diabetes.
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During pregnancy, women have increased needs for certain nutrients like iron, calcium and docosahexaenoic acid, a type of omega-3 fatty acid. Anchovies are a great source of these and other nutrients. Unlike larger fish, they are low in mercury, a neurotoxin that pregnant women have to be particularly careful about.
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You've undoubtedly heard that you need to avoid all alcohol during pregnancy, because there's a risk of harm to your developing baby. As such, you may wonder whether ginger beer is safe to drink. Nonalcoholic ginger beers, which are similar to ginger ale, are perfectly safe. Alcoholic ginger beers, however, are not.
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You're approaching the home stretch now, and at 31 weeks, your unborn baby continues to grow at an astonishing speed. Not all babies gain weight at the same pace, and your obstetrician may have told you that your baby is smaller than average.
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At six weeks' gestation, the only visual sign a woman has of her pregnancy is the pink indicator that revealed her pregnancy test to be positive. At this early stage in your baby's development -- you can't see him -- but he is already forming lungs, a nose, a jaw and a palate.
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It's quite common to feel nauseated relatively frequently in the early months of pregnancy. While many women feel queasiness when they get hungry, others may feel most nauseated shortly after eating. There are a few things you can do to try to reduce and prevent food-related nausea in your early pregnancy.
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Green tea is a non-herbal tea made from unfermented leaves. Green tea may have more health benefits than the more popular -- in the United States -- black tea.
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Women must gain weight during their pregnancy to support their developing baby, but weight gain recommendations vary based on a woman’s size prior to pregnancy. Women who are overweight may be advised to gain less than their slimmer counterparts.
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Your baby grows and changes each day throughout your pregnancy. Brain development is one of the most important ways your baby grows, and you can encourage a healthy brain by eating certain foods. Jonny Bowden and Allison Tannis, in their book, "The 100 Healthiest Foods to Eat During Pregnancy,"
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During your pregnancy, you're likely to feel tired much of the time -- though this fatigue may be particularly noticeable after you eat, particularly in the first and third trimester of pregnancy. If you experience tiredness after eating, there are a few things you can do to try to avoid or manage your symptoms.
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Malnutrition and starvation during pregnancy will affect more than the growing baby. The mother’s health will decline as the body strives to support the fetus in the absence of nutrients required to do so.
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Caffeine is a stimulant molecule found in coffee, tea, and many sodas. While it's popular as a pick-me-up and increases attention and alertness, it may also have a negative effect upon your ability to become pregnant or in developing a healthy baby.
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Celexa is a drug used to treat depression. It is a class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, also called SSRIs. This drug's action is to increase the amount of serotonin in the brain. This natural chemical normally contributes to a feeling of well-being.
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