by Criss WhiteMany factors affect the development of a fetus into a healthy child, some which are beyond your control and others that are within your control. Here are ten of the most common pregnancy risk factors that can be controlled or influenced:

1. Smoking – Smoking is not only bad for you, but bad for your baby as well. Smoking during pregnancy reduces the amount of oxygen that the baby receives and increases the risk of miscarriage, bleeding, and morning sickness. Chemicals inhaled while smoking may lead to other health problems with the baby. Reduced birth weight, premature birth, increased risk of SIDS, and stillbirth are other possible consequences. Pregnant women should also avoid second hand smoke.
2. Alcohol - Drinking can cause fetal alcohol syndrome, including symptoms like low birth weight, medical problems, and behavior abnormalities. As soon as you know you are pregnant, stop drinking. For more detailed information on problems that can be caused by alcohol, visit www.nofas.org.
3. Caffeine – There are many conflicting studies about caffeine and pregnancy and some believe that caffeine is not as harmful as it was once thought to be. Nevertheless, the FDA warns against caffeine consumption during pregnancy and suggests quitting or reducing consumption at the very least. Caffeine has been shown to affect fetal heart rates and awake time (fetuses grow when sleeping). Decaffeinated coffee can also be harmful since producers often add additional chemicals to remove the caffeine. Caffeine can also increase risk of stretch marks. Suddenly quitting coffee intake can cause headaches; so most experts recommend gradually reducing the amount consumed.
4. Drugs and Herbal Remedies – Always be careful about drugs or herbal remedies that are not prescribed by a doctor. These substances may affect the development of your unborn child.
5. Nutrition – Good nutrition is crucial to a developing child, particularly getting enough folic acid. Lack of folic acid can cause birth defects. At least 400-1000 micrograms of this B vitamin is suggested (about ten times more if you’ve already had a child with neural tube birth defects) starting one month before pregnant and throughout the entire pregnancy. Leafy vegetables, orange juice, and beans are some natural sources of folic acid. Many stores sell vitamins with folic aci! d.
6. Exercise – Moderate exercise is helpful as it improves the mother’s mental state and can increase oxygen flow to the fetus. However, over-exertion can be dangerous. Most experts recommend reducing your exercise intensity during pregnancy. Activities like walking, swimming, and yoga are popular for pregnant women.
7. Prenatal Care – Regular doctor visits are important to your baby’s development. The body undergoes many changes during pregnancy. Some side effects may be completely normal, whereas other may not. Regular monitoring by a professional will help ensure that your baby will be born healthy.
8. Multiple sex partners – Multiple sex partners can increase risk of STD’s, which in turn may lead to birth and pregnancy complications, like low birth weight or premature birth.
9. Exposure to chemicals – During pregnancy, reduce exposure to unnatural chemicals, particularly pesticides in food. Many people now eat organic produce, which is grown without chemicals. The simplest precaution to take before consuming vegetables or fruits is to wash them thoroughly. Also, removing the outer surface of vegetables can be helpful since most pesticides will rest on the outside of the vegetable or fruit.
10. Other factors – Many other factors can affect fetal development, including heart disease, the mother’s age (before 15 years and after 35 years is riskier), asthma, excessive stress or depression, diseases, and bleeding. ! Consult your physician if you are affected by any of these conditions.

About the Author
Criss White is a professional web writer on baby and new mother topics for baby and pregnancy websites. For more articles on baby showers, check out our Baby Shower Ideas and more baby articles at Baby Lullaby.

With obesity on the rise in America, including higher numbers of childhood obesity, one way to lower the risk of it in babies is found at home.

Breastfeeding, has long been considered the healthiest option for babies, and has been recently found to reduce the odds of children growing up obese.

While chubby babies are cute a fat baby is not necessarily a healthy baby, there are limits.

One possible explanation of the link between bottle-fed babies and obesity is that parents may tend to keep feeding a baby until a bottle is empty. Babies on the bottle may be developing larger appetites. Bottles are an easy solution when attempting to quiet restless babies, when hunger might not be the problem.

Breastfed babies also have greater control over the amount of milk they consume, choosing whether or not to nurse, which may lead to better appetite control in the future. Another guess is that breast milk could contain ingredients that program the baby’s metabolic rate.

Normal amounts of weight gain in a newborn baby, after the mother’s supply of milk has increased, is anywhere from one-half to one ounce per day until the baby reaches three months of life, after which weight increases should gradually taper off.

Parents should follow clues such as restlessness and sucking on fingers to let them know when a baby is hungry, rather than feeding them too much from a bottle. A good guideline for breastfeeding newborns is once every two to three hours, for a total of 8 to 12 feedings in 24 hours.

Breastfeeding should be used exclusively for the first six months of life and should continue for at least one year, slowly introducing juice and solid food. Up to your baby’s first birthday breast milk should make up 80% of your baby’s diet.

Breast milk protects against a number of other illnesses in babies besides obesity, including type-1 diabetes, ear infections, lymphoma and diarrhea. In order to inform and teach people about the benefits of breastfeeding, the American Academy of Pediatrics designates each August as National Breastfeeding Month.