Useful Tips for Pregnant Mom

It's always wiser for you moms to take some precautionary steps during pregnancy to avoid birth defects, abnormalities or any unexpected incidences that might have contributed to the deformed babies. (Note: If after doing these steps, you have given birth to the deformed baby, it might be the God's will to teach you to be more benevolence and compassionate to the others. That means you're undergoing the testing of the God. Specifically, some events may have just happened beyond the human control.) Moms, remember, you can make a DIFFERENCE! Here are some of my suggestions:

You should avoid using any appliances that release radiation (such as computer, microwave, electric blanket and etc.) that may retard or harmful to a developing fetus. As water bed does give off the similar electric fields as those released in electric blanket, and therefore you should avoid using it for the same reason.

You should take good care of your mental health by controlling your anger, rage, panic, stress and etc.

You should avoid X-Ray exposure as minimal as possible to avoid any abnormalities that might have occurred.

You should never get your eyes contact with weird, scary and wild animals, objects or shapes (either in the tangible or intangible condition) as this will affect the developing of fetus. Believe it or not, there has been recorded that a pregnant mom who used to have her eyes contacted with snakes gave birth to a half human and half snake baby. Well, this was not scientifically explained but it did happen. Meanwhile, try to avoid contacting with reptiles (such as turtles, snakes, iguanas, and etc.) for fear that the salmonella bacteria might be transferred via their feces which can undoubtedly affect your pregnancy. The appropriate way is to take a precautionary step before the unexpected tragedy disturbs your life.

You should have yourself regularly monitored and examined by a registered medical professional. This is important to avoid any complications during pregnancy.

You should take good care of your personal hygiene to avoid any pathogenic infections that might increase the risk of birth defects, abnormalities and miscarriage. Similarly, you should avoid drinking tap water for the similar concern.

If you're a family of diabetes, epilepsy, high blood pressure, STDs, Herpes, heart failure problem and etc. or you've any abnormal complications arising from the chronic disease or any pre-conditions and symptoms, please take an initiative to inform your doctor regarding this health issue so that they can prompt you for any appropriate medical diagnosis or treatment.

You should furnish your body with appropriate amount of Folic Acid. The shortage of Folic Acid has raised the baby's risk for spinal bifida. (Note: The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is at 0.4 mg of Folic Acid daily). It's always better to discuss with your doctor with regards to the amount of Folic Acid you should take.

To protect against preeclampsia during pregnancy, you're advised to take appropriate amount of protein. (Note: The RDA of protein for you is at 100g). Baby needs protein for a healthy growth, particularly for a fully developed of their brain cells.

You should avoid taking caffeine during your pregnancy. Many clinical reports have linked that the intake of caffeine might have contributed to high risk of stillbirth and miscarriage. Taking 200mg of caffeine for example, has showed to delay the fetal growth while it may have affect the baby's breathing and heart rate.

It's recommended to avoid taking any herbal tea, unless you're advised to do so by your doctor. Large amounts of red raspberry leaf, has been documented to cause contractions.

You should avoid yourself from any bites or stings that might be dreadful to your developing fetus.

Until now, there's been no report so far to prove that pregnant moms are safe to take alcohol during pregnancy. Moms who drink alcohol during pregnancy may have high risk of stillbirth and miscarriage. Excessive drinking of alcohol may result in facial deformity, fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), mental retardation, low birth weight, heart and breathing problems, and other negative effects and abnormalities to your baby. The moderate alcohol consumption can even disrupt the baby's brain development.

You should avoid consuming any dairy products that contain unpasteurized milk as this will cause food-borne illness.

While you're in pregnancy, stop using ACE inhibitors (can cause injury and death to the developing fetus; may increase the risk of congenital malformation; may cause fetal and neonatal injury [such as hypotension, anuria, neonatal skull hypoplasia and etc.]), ZESTORETIC, Lisinopril (can cause fetal and neonatal morbidity and death), Hydrochlorothiazide (may cause birth defects, birth abnormalities in the baby), and other over-the-counter (OTC) drugs (such as antibiotics, Aspirin) can lead to devastating effects to a fetus and birth defects. Additionally, you're prohibited to take illegal drugs as they may impair or delay neurobehavioral development due to central nervous system damage, and they may even cause physical malformations (such as heart murmurs, cleft palate, eye defects, facial deformity, and other abnormalities on the other organ systems). You mustn't use these drugs unless the doctor permits you to do so.

You're strictly not allowed to use abortion drugs. Misoprostol for example, is linked closely to birth defects. People from developing countries (such as Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, Philippines, Brazil, Argentina and etc.) and even in the United States use this drug to end their pregnancy as it's the cheapest method of abortion. Nevertheless, they never know that the severe abnormalities and birth defects these drugs will have caused. 

You're discouraged to raise your body temperature by walking/working under the hot sun, doing outdoor activities, having high fever , bathing in the hot tub/ taking hot bath or even using a sauna as this will lead to a potential danger to the developing fetus.

You should avoid eating raw meat or sea food as this will increase the risk of birth defects/ birth abnormalities due to a chemical substance called toxoplasmosis that is present in the uncooked meat. Furthermore, the Time Magazine has warned not to eat fish (might have contaminated with concentrate methylmercury) during pregnancy as it may affect the developing of baby's brain. Besides fish, shellfish, oysters, scallop, clams and other sea foods are also found to have polluted with chemical substances that might be harmful to a developing fetus. To avoid digesting harmful viruses and bacteria, and food-borne illness as well, you're advised to reduce animal-based foods. 

You shouldn't smoke or be around people who're smoking. Smoking or second hand smoking has known to cause detrimental effects on the fetus. That is to say, the exposure to smoke can cause fetal and infant death, pre-term birth, spontaneous abortion, low-weight full-term baby and even other abnormalities.

Don't expose yourself to any chemical substances, including pesticides (such as fungicide, insecticides, herbicides and etc.), paint, household cleaning products, paint thinner and any chemical substances in any forms (appear in solid, liquid or gaseous), as it'll impact on the developing fetus that might have led to deformation, birth defects or birth abnormalities

You should avoid taking any Vitamin A supplementations as high-dose of Vitamin A can cause birth defects and other complicated consequences. Well, natural sources of Vitamin A are Ok, but it's always advisable to discuss with your doctor regarding the amount of the vitamin A intake, and this also includes the discussion on the intake of other vitamins (such as Vitamin C, D, E, K and etc.).

You should get plenty of rest and eat a healthy balanced diet.

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