Motherhood is a wonderful experience, which makes a woman complete. It is also true that only a healthy woman can give birth to a healthy child. It is necessary to take note of some important points during pregnancy, which can help in maintaining the health of both mother and child.
As the child grows inside the womb, many changes take place inside the mother’s body. The woman suffers from vomiting during the first three months. She complains of giddiness and nausea, constipation, stomachache, gastric trouble, burning sensation and even loss of appetite at times. She feels very weak at times. These are the symptoms of pregnancy, and can be overcome with proper diet control. In the fourth month, there is a change in her body weight, the stomach muscles become loose and the muscles near the waist on the backside begin to stretch. The weight of a pregnant woman lies on the ankles till this time, which causes back and spinal pain. Proper posture, and practice of simple exercises to strengthen the joints and muscles can help in overcoming this problem.
The pregnant woman suffers from swelling in the body during the last three months of the pregnancy. Besides, she complains of anemia, high blood pressure, albumin protein flowing out from urine, diabetes etc. During this condition medication should be taken after careful consideration of all the factors because many medicines prove to be harmful for the fetus. For example, in many cases the child contracts goitre, hearing problem or even physical impairment.
Exercise and rest necessary for a pregnant woman – A pregnant woman should rest for one hour in the morning and nine hours at night. She should sleep turning to the left side, this prevents obstruction in blood circulation to the child. Generally, a woman has to do lot of household work, which fulfills the requirement for exercise. If a pregnant woman does not do household work by any chance then she should go for morning and evening walks. This is the best exercise for a pregnant woman.
Apart from this, a pregnant woman should also remember that the walking time and speed should be according to her physical capacity. She should not get tired or complain of palpitation. Tough exercises should not be done during pregnancy as it could have negative effect on the child growing inside the womb. However, she can practice Anulom-Vilom pranayam and light yogic exercise. She should avoid lifting heavy weights and going on travel. She should avoid long journeys especially during eighth and ninth month because many women suffer from labour pains during these months and a premature baby takes birth.
Do’s and Don’ts for a Pregnant Woman:
Do’s:
A pregnant woman should change her sitting postures frequently and also change the work in between. She should keep her head, chin and chest straight while walking.
A pregnant woman should stand with the one leg placed slightly forward from the other and change the position of her legs from time to time. This will exert equal body weight on both the legs.
A pregnant lady should keep the legs on stool at the time of sitting and not hang them down.
She should step firmly while climbing up the stairs and do not bend forwards.
She should not bend forwards while getting up as it could imbalance her.
She should lift the weight equally with both hands instead of single hand.
Don’ts:
A pregnant woman should not wear high heel shoes and sandals. She can get tired, lose balance and it could lead to abortion.
She should not eat any solid food after getting admitted into the hospital for delivery. She should prefer liquids in order to overcome constipation.
Soft drinks and junk food is strictly prohibited for a pregnant woman.
Packed food should also be avoided.
Fried, oily food like chat, pakoras should be avoided. She should not drink tea or coffee as these beverages affect the diet.
If a pregnant woman is used to smoking or alcohol then she should discontinue it during pregnancy as it could have a negative effect on the child.
Cold drinks should be avoided during pregnancy because they include certain harmful chemicals, which could adversely affect the health.
What should be the diet?
A pregnant woman requires more nutritious elements during this condition. She requires additional nutritional elements, minerals and vitamins for the child growing inside the womb. Therefore, she should select nutritious and balanced food.
Breakfast – A pregnant woman should take three to four soaked almonds, two figs and basil leaves in the morning. This will strengthen the digestion process and also provide minerals required for this process. She should take fresh and green fruits. Here it needs to be mentioned that green tea has less amount of caffeine and also a good appetizer.
She can take green vegetables with coarse meal or rice at noon along with a glass of juice.
Lunch – she should take chapatti made with wholewheat flour or gram flour along with green leafy vegetable, dal, curry and rice and curd. She can take seasonal fruits after meals.
Snacks – Soup is ideal for a pregnant lady during this hour. This will work as an appetizer and she can also take some light snacks. She can eat dry fruits and avoid fried and oily food.
Dinner – A pregnant woman can take chapatti, some curry, green vegetable and dal for dinner. She should drink glassful milk at bedtime.
She should eat vegetables in natural form as much as possible and avoid vegetables cooked on high flame.
Besides the above-mentioned points, a pregnant woman should take note of the following also Eat different kinds of fruits during the day. Use sprouts, soybean products and cottage cheese made at home.
Salad should be included in lunch and dinner. Folic acid is very necessary for the growth of child. Therefore, pregnant woman should eat beans, green leafy vegetables, dal, green peas and orange etc. She should eat whole fruits instead of juices. She should eat fat free food like milk, curd, sprouts etc.
She should take spinach, lotus stem, bathua etc. They are natural sources of iron, calcium and B complex. The deficiency of these items makes a child weak and increases the chances of falling ill. She should drink lot of water.
She should eat pulpy fruits, jaggery, green peas etc.to increase hemoglobin and oxygen. A pregnant woman gets vitamin C through pineapple, tomato, green vegetables, and guava She can get carbohydrates in abundant quantity with the consumption of sweets and sugars.
Finally, some important tips for a pregnant woman are being mentioned here, which can help her in maintaining the health of herself and her child. She should take avoid fatty food.
Generally, woman has stretch marks on her skin after delivery, she should massage rapeseed oil on stomach and body to remove these marks. She should reduce intake of salt to avoid high blood pressure. She should a little bit of Ajowan seeds to avoid backache and improve digestion.
In case of burning sensation in the chest, a pregnant woman should eat food at small intervals. Spinach is ideal to prevent abortion, vomiting and indigestion. This is also beneficial for the child growing inside the womb.
She should eat sprouts with raisins. Clarified butter added to milk reduces several labour related problems.
She should go for long walks to maintain weight and have normal delivery.
