If you drink, smoke or do any illicit drugs, now is the time to stop. All of these activities are dangerous to your unborn baby, and can also decrease your chances of conceiving successfully. It’s not easy to quit bad habits, so it’s best to struggle with the challenge before you’re pregnant, rather than after, when you’ll be busy adapting to many other changes in your body, too.

Caffeine
The research on the effects of caffeine during pregnancy seems to change more often than a new mom changes diapers. But the most recent reports state that drinking coffee during the first trimester of pregnancy can increase your chances of miscarriage. Since cutting caffeine out of your diet cold turkey may result in exhaustion and withdrawal headaches, it’s better to stop now than when you find out you’re pregnant and are already battling extreme fatigue and morning sickness, and you’d rather not take anything for that throbbing headache. (Tylenol is safe during pregnancy, but you’re still better off not relying on pain medications if you don’t have to.) Additionally, doctors in the Netherlands discovered that caffeine can reduce your chances of conceiving by about 26 percent; it has the same effect on TTC as drinking alcohol more than three times a week.

A study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology showed that women who consumed more than 200 mg. of caffeine a day (the amount in just two cups of coffee) in the first trimester doubled their chances of a miscarriage. Other studies have shown that moderate caffeine intake, especially after the first trimester, is not necessarily bad. Still, it’s better to kick the habit now and make decaf coffee (or better yet, just drink water!) part of your new, healthier lifestyle.

Smoking
If cutting your caffeine intake seems challenging, kicking the nicotine habit, for smokers, may seem impossible. But smoking during pregnancy can lead to premature birth, low birth weight and pregnancy complications.

Don’t despair, however. There are many programs on the market today that can help you along the way. For many women, just thinking about the health of their unborn baby, and the dangerous effects of smoking on a fetus, may be enough to throw away those “cancer sticks.”

If sheer will power isn’t working, talk to your doctor about the best way for you to quit smoking. Drug-free techniques may include the Patch, nicotine gum, E-Cigs, hypnosis, or laser therapy. Most importantly, rely on your family and friends as a support network to help you.

Once you’ve quit, there are many good reasons not to start up again when your baby is born. Recent studies have shown that not only is second-hand smoke bad for babies (and everyone else) but third-hand smoke—those smoke particles and that odor that clings to your clothes after you’ve had a cigarette—is also linked to diseases such as cancer, heart disease and asthma.

Alcohol
While one glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage per night has been shown to have health benefits, this isn’t the case for pregnant women. Even the smallest amount of alcohol may cause some level of birth defects linked to fetal alcohol syndrome. In spite of the old wives tale to the contrary, beer is not a “health food” for pregnant women.

If you’re trying to conceive, the “magic number” that will decrease your odds of conception by 26 percent is more than three drinks per week. If you’re trying to conceive, a glass of wine once a week with dinner won’t hurt you, but if you have a feeling that you may have trouble quitting altogether once you conceive, start trying to quit now!

If you find that you can’t go without a drink, there are programs that can help you. Look for a local AA chapter in your community, or talk to your doctor about support groups and help to quit drinking.

Having said all this, what if you get pregnant and weren’t trying to conceive? Will that night of frozen margaritas within the first two weeks of pregnancy hurt that unborn baby you didn’t even know you were carrying?

The use of any drugs, alcohol, nicotine or even prescription or over-the-counter medicines within the first trimester carries a slight risk, but, according to the authors of What to Expect When You’re Expecting, the best thing to do is to put it behind you and focus on being as healthy as you can for the rest of your pregnancy.

Author: Dawn Allcot

Heartburn can pop its ugly head up at anytime during pregnancy. It is more common later in pregnancy, but many women feel it in the first trimester as well. What causes it? What can be done to help relieve it?.

When a woman gets pregnant, her placenta starts producing more of the hormone progesterone than what she normally has in her body. The progesterone coats the lining of her uterus, helping the muscles in the uterus relax in order to carry the baby. It also however, relaxes the valve between the stomach and esophagus that is intended to keep food and stomach acids down in the stomach. When this spincter muscle is relaxed, it allows the acid from the stomach to travel back up the esophagus, causing heartburn. This can also be called acid reflux.

Later during pregnancy, as your baby gets bigger and he starts pushing more on your organs, his position is likely to make the heartburn even worse! There are several things you can do to help ease the reoccurrence and discomfort of heartburn.

1. Try to stay away from foods that cause problems in the first place. These foods can include caffeine, chocolate, carbonated beverages like soda, citrus fruits such as oranges, and highly seasoned or fatty/fried foods.

    

2. Try not to eat large meals only once or twice a day. Your body needs time to digest little amounts of food in order to help keep the heartburn from starting. Eat small amounts several times a day.

    

3. Try not to eat and then go straight to bed. Take your last meal several hours before bedtime so that your food has time to digest while you are sitting up. This will lessen the chance of the acid travelling back up your esophagus when you lay down.

    

4. Don’t wear tight clothing that presses down on your belly. Keep it comfortable and loose so that you don’t have the extra pressure on the baby which can put extra pressure on your stomach and contribute to heartburn.

    

5. You should not be drinking alcohol and smoking during pregnancy anyway, but if you are, stop! Alcohol and smoking can cause heartburn on their own.

    

6. There are over the counter antacids that you might be able to take, but be sure to ask your doctor or midwife before you take them, to make sure they are safe for you in your pregnancy.

Remember, every pregnancy is different. Some women may never experience heartburn; others may find that they have terrible heartburn caused by foods they are eating that are not in this list. If you are unable to find relief, be sure to check with your health care provider as they may have a suggestion for you that will relieve your heartburn once and for all.

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.

Besides doing the deed with your partner, there are several things you should do before you decide to get pregnant both for your health, your babies health and an increased easiness in conceiving.

___ Family history for both mother and father
___ Blood types of both mother and father
___ Rubella, 5th’s Disease and Chicken Pox immunity
___ Prenatal vitamins
___ Prescription medicines
___ Weight control
___ Foreign substances (smoking, alcohol, drugs)

Family History
During your first prenatal appointment your doctor or her nurse will probably just draw blood and ask a bunch of questions regarding your health and the history of health problems in both yours and the father’s family. Questions regarding birth defects, cancer, Downs Syndrome, and other general health questions. If you know these answers ahead of time it will make that first visit go much faster.

Blood Types
The blood type is very important for both you and the baby’s father when you decide to get pregnant. There are rare occasions where the mother and father’s blood type will not be compatible. In this case the baby’s blood type may not be compatible with the mothers. This can cause rejection of the fetus by the mother’s body, or lead to serious problems after the baby is born. Knowing the blood types before getting pregnant can easily solve any problems before they occur.

Immunities
Diseases such as Rubella, Chicken Pox and 5th’s Disease can be very dangerous to a pregnant women and her baby. There are blood tests that can be done before a woman gets pregnant that tests her immunity to these diseases. If a woman finds that she is not immune to one or more of these diseases she might be able to take the vaccines prior to getting pregnant to assure that she doesn’t get the disease while pregnant.

Prenatal Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins are very important for a woman once she gets pregnant. They help provide enough folic acid and iron as well as other essential nutrients that the woman will need to help sustain a healthy pregnancy. However, if you are thinking of getting pregnant, it is never too soon to begin taking the vitamins as an attempt to help maximize your health.

Prescription Medications
Be sure to review any prescription medications that you are currently taking with your doctor before trying to get pregnant. There are several medications that are not safe for you to take while pregnant and could cause harm to the fetus. In most cases there are alternate medications that you can take that are safe during pregnancy.

Weight Control
Before you get pregnant it is a good idea to be at the best weight you can be. A woman who is in the right span of weight for her height will have an easier time getting pregnant and staying pregnant. Women who are over or under weight may have a harder time getting pregnant as their body is not working to its’ full capacity.

Smoking, Alcohol, and Drugs
If you use any foreign substances you should stop. Smoking while pregnant can lead to fetal death, underweight babies and cause later health problems such as asthma in your child. Alcohol can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome which can damage parts of the brain. The same is true for recreational drug use. If you are addicted to a drug then your baby can also be born addicted to that drug causing him more long term problems in the future.

Question
“I’d like to have a baby. Should I aim for a particular time of the month for intercourse — a particular few days in my menstrual cycle?”

Answer:
It seems funny — or sad — that one couple makes a baby the very first time they have sex (whether they want a baby or not) while another couple can try and try for months without getting the child they want so badly.

People trying to have a baby have often been advised to aim for the woman’s fertile time midway between her periods. They are told to have intercourse on the day the woman ovulates, or a couple of days before or afterward. Our Institute scientists, taking precise data on more than 200 healthy women trying to have a baby, have determined that you’re actually most likely to get pregnant if you have sex the day you ovulate or the five days before.

It seems that a man’s sperm may be longer-lasting than some people previously believed, while a woman’s ovum, or human egg, disappears more quickly.

Three days after intercourse, there might still be active sperm swimming around that can impregnate and fertilize a newly released egg. But if the sperm is not introduced until after the day of ovulation, a two- or three-day-old egg would be unlikely to still be in good enough shape to be fertilized, even by the freshest of sperm.

You will have a problem, however, knowing when you’re five days away from ovulation. There is no test to pinpoint that. A further problem: Your ovulation and fertile “window” – the time when you’re likely to get pregnant – can wander around. It’s like a moving target.

Older guidelines for getting pregnant assumed that the average woman is fertile between days 10 and 17 of her menstrual cycle. But that’s a very rough approximation — an “average” that may not mean much for you as an individual woman.

Seventeen percent of the women were fertile by day seven of their cycle. Two percent of women were fertile by day four!

Our study also showed very late ovulations occur, even in women who said their cycles were usually regular. Because of these late ovulations, 4 to 6 percent of the women were potentially fertile more than 28 days after the start of their cycle.

In fact, even women who regarded their cycles as “regular” had a 1 to 6 percent probability of being fertile on the day their next period was expected.

Question:
If ovulation times vary widely – and you can’t accurately predict them five days ahead of time — what should a healthy young woman do? How, in other words, should you go about trying to get pregnant?

Answer:
Well, the director of our NIEHS study, Allen Wilcox, M.D., Ph.D., suggests many couples are best off forgetting about getting the timing “right.”

Dr. Wilcox says, “If the average healthy couple wants to get pregnant, they are just as well off to relax and forget “fertile windows” and simply engage in unprotected intercourse at least two or three times over the course of each week.”

That’s easy-to-follow advice. And you’re likely to hit “right” two or more times within the fertile days occurring in each of your cycles.

If you don’t conceive the baby you want in a year or so of regular intercourse, talk to your doctor. You may be the one couple in six that has a fertility problem. Simple tests can often pinpoint and help overcome it. The problem can reside in your man about as often as in you, so he will need to be tested too.

At some point, you may be referred to a fertility clinic or specialist. You may be prescribed a drug to trigger ovulation, and your mate’s best sperm will be introduced by the doctor at that time. There are other technologies, too – some of them very expensive. There is also some risk of triggering two or more eggs and having a bigger family than you expected.

Question:
“Will my baby and I be healthier if I see a doctor as soon as I get pregnant?”

Answer:
Certainly, your doctor can increase your chances for a healthy outcome if you see him or her as soon as you’re pregnant. But to get the very best odds for yourself and your baby, you should try to see your doctor well before you get pregnant.

Your doctor will have diet and life-style suggestions that should make for a healthier baby, and a healthier you as well. You shouldn’t wait until you know you’re pregnant to eat well and take vitamins. You should check out what drugs you need to stop to prevent harm to your baby – before you even know you’re pregnant. Also, as mentioned, seeing that you are having trouble getting pregnant, your doctor can help with tests and suggestions that fit your situation.

Even with the best of care, there are hazards ahead.

In an NIEHS study of healthy women who wanted a baby, about one in five fertilized eggs failed to survive six weeks. That would be before you and/or your doctor even would know you are pregnant. It may be Nature’s way of sparing a mother the burden of carrying an embryo that cannot survive. Further along in pregnancy, a much smaller number of additional fetuses are lost in spontaneous miscarriages. That’s always sad, but 95 percent of the women losing a fetus in the study got pregnant within two years afterward.

Most women’s miscarriages, like most birth defects, have no clear cause. But genetic defects have been seen in some lost fetuses. Surely, the environment also plays a role, just as it does in the birth of preemies – early, underweight infants. (The newborns of smokers, for example, are more likely to be born prematurely than the newborns of non-smokers.)

Question:
“How do the things I eat and do affect my child?”

Answer:
What you eat, drink and do during pregnancy and just before pregnancy is vital to your child because, for nine months, your body is your child’s environment. Your circulatory system feeds nutrients to your unborn child’s system through an organ, called the placenta. Your circulatory system also removes waste materials from your child via this organ, which is attached to the wall of your uterus and to the bellybutton of your baby.

We used to think that the placenta kept poisons from reaching the unborn child. That popular idea was dealt a death blow in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, when many women took a sedative called thalidomide which caused hundreds of children to be born with flipper-like limbs where their arms and legs should be.

Then in 1971, after it was prescribed for more than 20 years to try to prevent miscarriages, diethylstilbestrol, or DES, was found to have produced rare cancers and reproductive abnormalities in “DES daughters,” the daughters born to the women being treated. (At NIEHS, we did some of the research that showed DES’ adverse effects. Later, in test animals, NIEHS scientist Retha R. Newbold also found that harm may extend to “DES granddaughters” and to “DES grandsons.”)

Illegal or “recreational” drugs are risky, too. Cocaine’s use during pregnancy has been shown to increase malformations of the urinary tract five-fold. There are also risks of low birth weight, miscarriage, brain damage and fetal death.

Because the dangers have been publicized, many women who get pregnant know to stay away from illegal drugs, and from many nonprescription and prescription drugs as well.

If you’ve ever taken Accutane (isotretinoin) for very severe acne, you know this drug is an extremely strong cause of gross birth defects. Before taking this drug you must have a test to show you are not pregnant. Then you must take birth control measures beginning a month before you start the acne drug, throughout the treatment period and, because of its persistent effect, for a month after you stop.

Drugs to treat cancer, such as methotrexate, also cause birth defects – and pregnancy should likewise be avoided when getting such treatment.

Even aspirin carries a risk of bleeding complications for mother and child, but it may be prescribed by a doctor under certain conditions.

Thus, the best advice to pregnant women (or women who may become pregnant) is: Ask your physician before taking any prescription or non-prescription drug, including herbal medicines and other “natural” therapies.

But don’t panic unnecessarily. Some drugs have been used in pregnant women for a long time without doctors observing any problems.

If you need a drug to control high blood pressure, asthma, lupus or other chronic problems, don’t stop the moment you find you’re pregnant. Talk the situation over with your doctor first. Talking it over with your doctor before you become pregnant is even better, since the fetus may be particularly susceptible to injury at its early stages, before you even know you’re pregnant.

Epileptic? A pregnant woman’s seizures can cause damage to the unborn baby’s brain. Thus, women with epilepsy and their doctors usually decide that continuing the medication that controls the seizure is the path of less risk.

There’s a similar trade-off for women who must take insulin daily to control their diabetes. They are several times as likely to have a baby with a major defect. However, if a woman stops her insulin, neither she nor her unborn infant may survive. That’s another reason to see a doctor before conceiving a baby — yet only about one woman in four does so.

Increasingly, we are seeing that our unborn babies can also be hurt by what we eat (or don’t eat), what substances we handle at work, at home and in the farm or garden, as well as many other environmental factors. Some of these substances can subtly influence the IQ, health, development and motor skills of children still to be born – still, in some case, to be conceived.

For example, lead may be passed along. It can accumulate in the bones of a young girl exposed to it and be released, years later, exposing her unborn child. The lead can lower the child’s IQ. One study shows lead may even contribute to a child’s chances of getting into trouble with the law.

A mother’s exposure to mercury can delay her child’s development. That may also be true of PCBs, still another NIEHS study suggests. There are undoubtedly other chemicals, metals and other exposures that also produce such effects.

Harm can also result from deficiencies — from substances a pregnant woman fails to get. If you have been eating a diet without sufficient folate or folic acid, a B vitamin found in green leafy vegetables, when you become pregnant there is a greater risk of deformities called neural tube defects of the brain and nervous systems. In these defects, the infant may fail to develop a brain or, more commonly, the spinal column may fail to close around and protect the spinal cord. Without this protection, the baby’s spinal cord may be injured during the upheaval of birth so that the baby may be partially, but permanently, paralyzed.

The Food and Drug Administration now requires that rice and flour products be fortified with folate. It is difficult to get enough from an ordinary diet otherwise. Even with the fortification, government experts and others advise all women of child-bearing age – that is, girls and women from puberty through menopause – to take an ordinary, folate-containing multiple vitamin pill each day. Taking folate after pregnancy starts is not as effective.

In other ways, too, good nutrition when you make your baby may be more important than we generally think. Studies of women giving birth during World War II showed that women who conceived when near starvation were more likely to have babies with malformations than women at near-starvation when they delivered.

The idea that a pregnant woman is eating for two is true. In some cases, Nature may favor the child. The mother’s bones and general health suffer. In other situations, the baby or both mother and child are affected. Talk to your doctor or nurse-midwife about a good pregnancy diet. “Eating for two” does not mean eating twice as much but getting the appropriate amount of nutrition for both you and your unborn child.

Question:
“Will my man make a good father of healthy children – and will I be as good a mother as my Mom was?”

Answer:
You can both be fine parents of fine children — especially if you make sure your environment is free of harmful exposures.

Remarkably, each tiny, one-celled egg or ovum that you produce every month or so has actually been within your body since you yourself were born! As a result, some scientists speculate that environmental influences might impact on those ova at any time over the years they are being carried — in other words, at any time over your lifetime.

Though sperm are produced “fresh,” fathers-to-be aren’t off the hook either. Whereas women used to be more likely to be blamed, the causes of childlessness are now broken down more evenly – about 50/50.

Environmental influences, such as vitamin status, radiation, drugs, diseases, and occupational exposures, can influence the quantity and quality of a man’s sperm. Such exposures can also prevent a man from getting or maintaining an erection. So it isn’t “unmanly” for industrial, medical and agricultural workers to take advantage of lead shields, protective masks and clothing, and after-work showers. Quite the reverse.

Infections, such as mumps, are well-known causes of male infertility, but pesticides and other chemicals can present a risk of infertility and birth defects. These defects may occur if a damaged sperm fertilizes an egg and the egg does not develop properly. The result may be a miscarriage or a potential health problem in the baby later on.

Men and women may track in lead dust from building sites where old, lead-painted buildings have been knocked down, contaminating their homes and exposing their families.

Farm workers risk problems for themselves and their families if they needlessly go into recently sprayed fields and/or don’t wear long-sleeved shirts and other clothing that covers their skin. Family exposures can be minimized if workers strip off contaminated clothes at work or as soon as they return home, and the clothes are promptly washed – separately from other clothes. The exposed workers themselves should also shower promptly.

We all also have habits, good and band. You may also be interested in some NIEHS work that suggests that the old habit of female douching reduces fertility — as may too much coffee.

Alcohol can be harmful. It is regarded by the March of Dimes as the leading cause of preventable mental retardation, as well as the most common known cause of fetal damage. Major physical and mental problems occur in the children of drinking women, especially those who use alcohol a lot. Many doctors recommend you avoid all alcoholic drinks during pregnancy.

Women born with a birth defect themselves often worry that their children will be similarly affected. Working with Norwegian scientists, we studied this risk among a half-million Norwegian women (born with defects between 1967 and 1982) and their offspring. Less than 4 percent of the offspring turned out to have birth defects – and generally only at the same level of risk as other women’s children. The only significant increase in risk was for having the same defect as the mother’s. (In a follow-up study, the offspring of men who had been born with birth defects proved to have an increased risk of the same defect, compared to other men’s children, plus an increase in other birth defects as well.)

Tips

You wouldn’t expect this discussion to end without some do’s and don’ts, would you? So here (at the risk of a little repetition) are some environmental tips if you are of child-bearing age — from your teen years to menopause:

• You should not eat swordfish, shark, king mackerel or tilefish while you are pregnant or can become pregnant. These large, long-lived ocean fish accumulate mercury pollution as they eat smaller fish. If you then eat these fish, the mercury can accumulate in you and hurt the development of nervous system of your unborn child. The Food and Drug Administration also advises you not to eat these big fish when you’re nursing a baby – and not to fee these fish to small children.
• Eat plenty of green, leafy vegetables AND swallow a multi-vitamin containing folate, or folic acid, (a B vitamin) every day, before and during pregnancy.
• Avoid soft cheeses. Those delicious brie and Roquefort cheeses, particularly those famous unpasteurized products, are easily contaminated by a tough bacteria called Listeria. Ordinarily, people are not much affected by Listeria, but in pregnant women the bacteria then can cause violent vomiting, flu-like symptoms and loss of your unborn child. This loss can occur even before you know you’re pregnant.

  Mexican-style soft cheeses such as queso blanco, queso fresco, queso de hoja, queso de crema and asadero are susceptible, as are such other soft cheeses as feta, or goat cheese, brie, Camembert and blue-veined cheeses such as Roquefort. The Food and Drug Administration recommends that pregnant or potentially pregnant women should instead eat hard cheeses made from pasteurized milk or marked as aged for 60 days or longer.

• Take care with all foods. To reduce food poisoning risks, FDA also recommends 1) thoroughly heating meats purchased at deli counters, whether cured (like salami) or not, before you eat them; 2) washing fruits and vegetables with water, 3) keeping your refrigerator, counter top and utensils clean; 4) washing your hands and utensils with warm soapy water after contact with raw foods, especially raw meats, and 5) cooking meat, poultry and seafood thoroughly. Follow “use by” dates and other instructions for refrigerating foods.

  To err on the side of caution, some environmental health experts suggest that pregnant women – despite those infamous cravings we are supposed to get – avoid overdoing any single food or beverage in the diet. Varying your diet guards you against getting a massive dose of a problem substance, if there should be an accident that unexpectedly contaminates a particular food.

• Beware raw meat – and your cat. They may harbor a parasite that causes toxoplasmosis. If you get it while pregnant, your unborn child has about a 40 percent chance of contracting it too. In early pregnancy, this can cause the child to be blind, deaf and mentally retarded.

  The parasite can be found in cat feces, soil and infected meats that have not been thoroughly cooked. Cats get it from eating infected birds, mice and rats. So keep your family cat indoors to reduce its chances of getting the parasite – and have someone else clean its litter box, so that you don’t get it.

• Protect yourself from pesticides and other chemical exposures. We don’t know enough about the safety of home and occupational pesticides and chemicals in pregnancy. So it is a good idea to be cautious. Ask your employer to give you copies of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) for any hazardous materials in your work, as required. A few substances of concern are lead, carbaryl (Sevin), bromine vapor, carbon disulfide, ethylene dibromide, mercury vapor and styrene and acetone used in plastic production.
• Use farm and industrial materials with caution, following all the precautions on the label
  You can be exposed to chemicals in the air you breath, through your eyes, or in your food and water. So store chemicals in sealed containers when not in use, follow recommendations for ventilation. A major route of contamination is through your skin, so wear protective clothing and gloves. Wash off any spilled materials immediately. Wash your hands before eating, drinking or smoking.

  If you are a farm worker, factory worker or scientist, or you have one as a husband, partner or family member, you and/or that other worker should shower at work at closing time or as soon as you/they get home. Clothes contaminated by pesticides, chemicals or metals should be washed at work, if possible. If they must be washed at home, they should be washed separately from other clothes, and as soon as possible.

  If you are a dentist, dental assistant or hygienist or work with the anesthetic nitrous oxide (N2O) in human or veterinary medicine, you should know be cautious because this gas has been shown to cause defects in the offspring of exposed lab animals. Adequate ventilation, tests for leaks and other guidelines should be followed to limit your exposure. Women working as potters, with solder, or as home remodelers may encounter lead, which has been associated with miscarriages, stillbirths and infertility for more than 100 years. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health also warns of reproductive problems among women viscose rayon workers exposed to carbon disulfide (CS2) and among electronic and semi-conductor workers exposed to ethylene glycol ethers such as 2EE and 2ME.

  And if you’re planning to decorate a room as a nursery, why not ask a pro or a partner to do the painting (while you go elsewhere and avoid the fumes.)

• Avoid smoke, as well as smoking. Smoking increases the risks of an underweight baby and of stillbirth, the birth of a dead fetus. Smoking and also passive smoke exposure may double the risk of a rare but devastating condition called persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. In this condition, infants starve for oxygen because blood is not pumped through the lungs to the body but continues to flow as it did before birth and the activation of the lungs. Without successful surgery to correct the flow, the infant may die. Babies born to women who smoked during pregnancy are also more likely to have asthma and other respiratory problems. They also are more likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome – SIDS. SIDS reduction campaigns emphasize positioning infants on their backs for sleeping as well as keeping cigarette, cigar and pipe smoke away.
• Avoid x-rays, hot tubs and saunas. They pose environmental risks for pregnant women. If x-rays are needed for medical reasons, your doctor will shield your abdomen (and thereby your fetus) from the rays. The March of Dimes also suggests pregnant women try to avoid infections. Rubella (German measles) during pregnancy can cause ear, eye and heart abnormalities. You can be tested to see if you’ve been exposed and are immune. If not, you can get vaccinated – but then should wait three months before getting pregnant. For avoiding many infections, frequent hand-washing can help.
• Stay faithful to one, uninfected and equally faithful partner to prevent the tragic consequences of a new-born with HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. Discuss your own and your mate’s sexual history (and any injected drug use) with your physician – and get tested for HIV or other infections, as appropriate. Even if you have HIV, for example, proper drug treatment can often prevent your child from becoming infected.
• Exercise moderately. Walk, swim, ride a stationary bike and/or join in a special prenatal aerobics class three or more times a week. Even a vigorous workout is ok for most women and may help you carry your baby to full term. Not so advisable: bouncing or jerking movements, toe touches, knee bends and sit-ups. Doctors generally counsel against any vigorous exercise that has you lying on your back after the first three months of pregnancy. Injury-risking sports – skiing, rock-climbing, horseback riding – aren’t good bets. But regular, safe exercise can make labor easier and prepare you to get back in shape afterwards.
• Relax, too. You don’t need a lot of stress during pregnancy, or before pregnancy either! Summing up, you just need a good clean, healthy and uninfected man; a doctor; a good diet; a vitamin pill, and a work and home environment where you won’t be needlessly exposed to tobacco smoke, pesticides, alcohol and other potentially harmful chemicals, drugs, mercury, soft cheese, undercooked meats and kitty litter.

About this Article
Provided by the National Institite of Environmental Health Services.

By Barbara Hodal, DC

Wanting to raise a healthy baby is a primary desire for parents. An expectant mother will get her check ups, follow the advise of her doctor or mid wife in the myriad of things she can do to contribute to the health of her unborn child.

The usual list of things to do and not to do can include, but certainly not limited to, are eating habits, exercise, rest and stress release while avoiding smoking, alcohol and drugs.

Every person is different, without getting into “lists” of what vitamins and minerals to take or the amounts, we will just touch on some of the basics. Sensible eating and lifestyle habits are at the forefront.

Starting with healthy eating, look to a well-balanced, nutritious diet of lots of fresh greens, fruits and whole grains, organic if possible, to avoid consumption of pesticides and herbicides. These chemicals are detrimental to you and your baby. At the very least, if organic is not an option, avoid foods that contain additives and artificial ingredients.

It has been estimated that Americans consume about 5 lbs of additives/year. If you include sugar, the most used additive, the number jumps to an astounding 135 lbs /year. To learn more about the staggering number of food additives now being used, you can consult Michael Jacobson’s Safe Food: Eating Wisely in a Risky World or Unsafe at Any Meal: How to Avoid Hidden Toxins in Your Food.

Additionally, avoiding junk foods, highly seasoned or fried foods will help with energy levels as well as keeping low the intake of liver clogging hydrogenated fats. When choosing healthy proteins, cooking practices should be considered to be very important. Steer clear of undercooked or rare meats, poultry and fish which can cause food poisoning.

Considering we are approximately 70-75% water, being well hydrated, especially during pregnancy is imperative. The body’s water supply is involved in and responsible for nearly every bodily process, including digestion, absorption, circulation, excretion and the transport of nutrients. It is essential to drink about half your body weight in ounces/day (eg. 130 lbs = 65 oz).

Consuming a high quality water is of the utmost importance, investing in a reputable water purifier or purchasing purified or spring water is the way to go. Distilled water is fine in moderation, too much or drinking solely distilled actually robs your body of vital minerals.

Avoiding high sugar or chemically laden drinks, such as sodas, soft drinks, fruity drinks, etc will keep the additives down as well as the empty calories. (If you drink 100% juices, diluting with pure water will make it easier on the system to handle and keep your insulin from spiking) Other than the obvious reasons to pass on alcohol, it is a depressant, dehydrates and robs you of vital nutrients, including Vitamin C.

After touching on food and water, smoking not only affects the lungs, hence oxygenation of every single cell, but smoking causes serious depletion of vitamin C which is an antioxidant required for collagen formation, tissue growth and repair, adrenal gland function, immune function, healthy gums and an endless list of additional tissues and functions requiring this vitamin.

Moderate exercise (always check with your doctor or midwife) can not be over emphasized, it helps to alleviate many of the common problems of pregnancy. Improving circulation, helping to prevent hemorrhoids, constipation and varicose veins, to name a few, can be reason enough for many women to hit the walking path.

Strengthening the circulatory system gives more endurance, improves your physical condition and some studies suggest it can actually result in shorter labor and help the mother to bounce back quicker.

The previous items are some very basic considerations in your child’s health before it arrives. OK, the sweet little bundle has arrived, now the parents will do what they can in feeding and caring for the new addition. From the right crib to covering edges, outlet guards, breast feeding or formula, bathing, there is an endless list of things to consider……. the point is of the long list of things to get or have or change or do for the health of your baby, some very important considerations may be overlooked if the parents aren’t aware.

At the top of list is the bedding and clothing that babies live in. Racking up almost 60% of their time in bed, the sheets your baby is in are just as important as the construction of that oh so fabulous crib. Have you thought of organic? Did you know they produced organic bedding and clothing? Were you aware they manufactured baby organic bedding and clothing? Most people really have no idea, it is just something they hadn’t thought of as well as the fact it is not quite yet the main stream.

Organic means growing fibers in fields without synthetic chemicals, for at least three years. Third-party certification organizations verify that organic producers use only methods and materials allowed in organic production. Pure, natural, chemical free.

Conventional clothing and bedding embedded with chemical toxins from growing to processing to finishing are now unacceptable to many. In the child and baby arena, it is getting even more so. As concerned parents start to research or happen by an article with vital information on poison exposure, they are finding that children and infants are uniquely at risk from pesticides because of physiological susceptibility and greater relative exposure. Three major factors are particularly important:

Some drugs can be taken by a nursing mother if she stops breast-feeding for a few days or weeks. She can pump her milk and discard it during this time to keep up her supply, while the baby drinks previously frozen milk or formula. Radioactive drugs used for some diagnostic tests like Gallium-69, Iodine-125, Iodine-131, or Technetium-99m can be taken if the woman stops nursing temporarily.

Drugs that should never be taken while breast-feeding include:

Bromocriptine (Parlodel): A drug for Parkinson’s disease, it also decreases a woman’s milk supply.

Most Chemotherapy Drugs for Cancer: Since they kill cells in the mother’s body, they may harm the baby as well.

Ergotamine (for migraine headaches): Causes vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions in infants.

Lithium (for manic-depressive illness): Excreted in human milk.

Methotrexate (for arthritis): Can suppress the baby’s immune system.

Drugs of Abuse: Some drugs, such as cocaine and PCP, can intoxicate the baby. Others, such as amphetamines, heroin and marijuana, can cause a variety of symptoms, including irritability, poor sleeping patterns, tremors, and vomiting. Babies become addicted to these drugs.

Tobacco Smoke: Nursing mothers should avoid smoking. Nicotine can cause vomiting, diarrhea and restlessness for the baby, as well as decreased milk production for the mother. Maternal smoking or passive smoke may increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome and may increase respiratory and ear infections.

About this Article:
Provided by FDA

By Barbara Hodal, DC

Wanting to raise a healthy baby is a primary desire for parents. An expectant mother will get her check ups, follow the advise of her doctor or mid wife in the myriad of things she can do to contribute to the health of her unborn child.

The usual list of things to do and not to do can include, but certainly not limited to, are eating habits, exercise, rest and stress release while avoiding smoking, alcohol and drugs.

Every person is different, without getting into “lists” of what vitamins and minerals to take or the amounts, we will just touch on some of the basics. Sensible eating and lifestyle habits are at the forefront.

Starting with healthy eating, look to a well-balanced, nutritious diet of lots of fresh greens, fruits and whole grains, organic if possible, to avoid consumption of pesticides and herbicides. These chemicals are detrimental to you and your baby. At the very least, if organic is not an option, avoid foods that contain additives and artificial ingredients.

It has been estimated that Americans consume about 5 lbs of additives/year. If you include sugar, the most used additive, the number jumps to an astounding 135 lbs /year. To learn more about the staggering number of food additives now being used, you can consult Michael Jacobson’s Safe Food: Eating Wisely in a Risky World or Unsafe at Any Meal: How to Avoid Hidden Toxins in Your Food.

Additionally, avoiding junk foods, highly seasoned or fried foods will help with energy levels as well as keeping low the intake of liver clogging hydrogenated fats. When choosing healthy proteins, cooking practices should be considered to be very important. Steer clear of undercooked or rare meats, poultry and fish which can cause food poisoning.

Considering we are approximately 70-75% water, being well hydrated, especially during pregnancy is imperative. The body’s water supply is involved in and responsible for nearly every bodily process, including digestion, absorption, circulation, excretion and the transport of nutrients. It is essential to drink about half your body weight in ounces/day (eg. 130 lbs = 65 oz).

Consuming a high quality water is of the utmost importance, investing in a reputable water purifier or purchasing purified or spring water is the way to go. Distilled water is fine in moderation, too much or drinking solely distilled actually robs your body of vital minerals.

Avoiding high sugar or chemically laden drinks, such as sodas, soft drinks, fruity drinks, etc will keep the additives down as well as the empty calories. (If you drink 100% juices, diluting with pure water will make it easier on the system to handle and keep your insulin from spiking) Other than the obvious reasons to pass on alcohol, it is a depressant, dehydrates and robs you of vital nutrients, including Vitamin C.

After touching on food and water, smoking not only affects the lungs, hence oxygenation of every single cell, but smoking causes serious depletion of vitamin C which is an antioxidant required for collagen formation, tissue growth and repair, adrenal gland function, immune function, healthy gums and an endless list of additional tissues and functions requiring this vitamin.

Moderate exercise (always check with your doctor or midwife) can not be over emphasized, it helps to alleviate many of the common problems of pregnancy. Improving circulation, helping to prevent hemorrhoids, constipation and varicose veins, to name a few, can be reason enough for many women to hit the walking path.

Strengthening the circulatory system gives more endurance, improves your physical condition and some studies suggest it can actually result in shorter labor and help the mother to bounce back quicker.

The previous items are some very basic considerations in your child’s health before it arrives. OK, the sweet little bundle has arrived, now the parents will do what they can in feeding and caring for the new addition. From the right crib to covering edges, outlet guards, breast feeding or formula, bathing, there is an endless list of things to consider……. the point is of the long list of things to get or have or change or do for the health of your baby, some very important considerations may be overlooked if the parents aren’t aware.

At the top of list is the bedding and clothing that babies live in. Racking up almost 60% of their time in bed, the sheets your baby is in are just as important as the construction of that oh so fabulous crib. Have you thought of organic? Did you know they produced organic bedding and clothing? Were you aware they manufactured baby organic bedding and clothing? Most people really have no idea, it is just something they hadn’t thought of as well as the fact it is not quite yet the main stream.

Organic means growing fibers in fields without synthetic chemicals, for at least three years. Third-party certification organizations verify that organic producers use only methods and materials allowed in organic production. Pure, natural, chemical free.

Conventional clothing and bedding embedded with chemical toxins from growing to processing to finishing are now unacceptable to many. In the child and baby arena, it is getting even more so. As concerned parents start to research or happen by an article with vital information on poison exposure, they are finding that children and infants are uniquely at risk from pesticides because of physiological susceptibility and greater relative exposure. Three major factors are particularly important: