NOT YET STARTED THINKING OF HAVING A BABY: You might be a working couple, or your lifestyle must be such that you are not thinking of having a baby, probably because this is not the right time, or there must be issues regarding health of the mother-to-be. There is no problem in it, since there are a no. of methods of contraception available and you should consult your doctor to chose the best for you. Most of them are reversible and can be easily withdrawn as soon as you start thinking of having a baby.
If you plan to be a mother soon, read on.......
1. FIRST STEP FORWARD: Planning of motherhood is something which is not given much importance in India, the reason may vary in different sections of society. A couple should be well aware of the pre-requisites and should consult their doctor/gynaecologist on a regular basis irrespective of the fact that they want a baby now, or later since there are a lot of factors affecting your healthy sexual life. Active involvement of both the partners is really important.
Planning your pregnancy will help you with wise choices since most women don’t know they are pregnant until several weeks. This initial time is the key to the health of the baby growing in you and your health and lifestyle may affect it.
Its good if you have started thinking about having a baby and the first thing you should be looking towards is the right time. This may be in terms of right days of the cycle or right status in terms of physical health.
Even if you are in perfect health you still are looking to feed “another life” with you for whole of your 9 months and for that you require “extra nutrition” and should consult your doctor regarding the pre-requisites of nutritional & health requirements.
One of the commonly ignored as well as dangerous factor that is not considered in the major section of the society while planning pregnancy includes identification of any factor or condition that may harm the foetus in the mother’s womb e.g. Thalassemia (a disease characterised by formation of abnormal haemoglobin), Smoking and drinking habit etc. No one less than a gynaecologist (your doctor) can explain it better.
So while you start thinking about being a mother from an emotional point of view, do start thinking about it from a health oriented perspective since the health of your baby is also connected to your emotions.
2. GETTING READY: it is important to learn about preparations you need to do in terms of lifestyle, diet, and various other aspects for getting ready for pregnancy also the health and habits of father-to-be.
LIFESTYLE – most common lifestyle behaviours that may create problem include Smoking drinking and drug use (abuse).
Now-a-days quite a few Indian women smoke. However, mostly are closet smokers. Family and friends are not even aware and many feel embarrassed to tell their families about this habit. If your husband or members of your joint family smoke, you will have to try twice as hard to make your home a smoke-free zone.
It's important to give up smoking now if you're pregnant or trying for a baby. But as many mums will testify, it's not always as easy as simply throwing away your last packet. If you have already planned for a baby, then smoking can be harmful (especially when you have already conceived)
Babies born to smoking mothers generally have breathing problems like congestion in lungs and difficulty in breathing etc.
Although there are cases where the babies born to such females are normal, but those are rare and lucky cases. Pre-term birth can also occur in pregnant women who smoke. After effects on the child are also observed e.g. the children of smoking mothers are shorter and not very good in studies.
DIET: Healthy diet is the primary criteria for gaining health. Following are the daily requirements of a healthy diet.
• Try to take whole grains as much as possible grains, such as brown rice, oatmeal, pasta, and whole-wheat bread. Beans (such as rajma, black and lima beans, peas, and soyabeans)
• Toned milk and high natural cheese (home cheese/paneer) is always good for health.
• If non vegetarian, take low fat meat just like milk. Fish is one of the best sources.
• Green vegetables such as spinach and turnip greens, lettuce, broccoli, and asparagus, peas, and carrot are necessary and should be taken daily.
• Extra salt and sugar are never useful.
• Take at least little amount of fruit, or if not possible take fruit juice (ideally fresh or without preservative) daily.
All women of childbearing age should take 0.4 milligrams of folic acid daily.( food or tab) . If it is your second planning and you already had one baby with skull defect then you should have around 1mg of folic acid i.e. 2.5 times higher and should start taking it 1 month prior to pregnancy. Vitamin can be found in many food sources discussed above. Other than those citrus fruit juices and organ meat such as liver are other good sources.
EXERCISE: Many women don’t do exercise or don’t get time to do it before they are pregnant, but toning up your body and strengthening your muscles will help you in carrying and delivering the baby.
1. Chose physical activities which are enjoyable, convenient and fit your lifestyle.
2. But avoid those which cause pain and e.g. a bicycle ride daily, using stairs instead of elevators, going for a walk.
3. Exercise at your own pace, increasing the intensity when YOU feel comfortable.
4. Try to follow exercises which strengthen your arms, chest and back. E.g. Baking bread is a very good exercise for arms.
5. Proper eating and sleep is as important as exercise.
6. A garden provides physical activity throughout the growing season as well as fresh fruits and veggies.
7. A lot of NGO’s are running programs which are cheaper.
8. Rediscover some favourite childhood activities.
Vary your exercise routine to keep it interesting. Don’t forget to consult your doctor before you start exercise.
4. GETTING READY THE DAD-TO-BE: Care should be the other partner since he is also an active part of planning. He should consider the issues regarding his lifestyle, diet, exercise etc.
A few tips regarding these issues are:
* Ensure your diet includes zinc(deficiency leads to infertility), folates and foods rich in antioxidants, such as vitamin C since all these help in production of normal healthy sperms examples for such are oranges, sweet lime, apple, kiwi fruit, guava, banana, and mango. It is available in Indian gooseberries (amla), broccoli, carrot, potatoes, tomatoes and spinach as well.
* But don't overdo it, high concentrations of zinc have also been associated with poor sperm motility.
* Dry fruits such as almonds, walnuts, figs, raisins, dates are also rich in zinc and other essential minerals necessary for increasing sperm count and motility. Research indicates that a handful of raw sunflower and pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts raisins, and figs taken everyday improves mail fertility significantly.
* Protein rich diet has been found to benefit many male infertility cases. E.g. Soya, Chicken etc.
The role of coffee is not very clear.
Take plenty of water.
AVOID:
Alcohol intake (more than occasional) will lead to sperm not of good quality and also affects their ability to move (motility).
Tobacco is the worst and affects fertility.
Avoid high vitamin A intake, ask your doctor about the stuff having high vitamin A.
Dehydration lowers sperm count, try to take plenty of water every day (around 12 glass). If you are not able to drink that much, Try to take lassi or milk shake as substitute.
Here's a selection of the worst offenders:
Hot areas : Best quality of sperms are produced at a temperature below 35 °C, people working in hot area or those who sit on computers for long time, and the ones who are most affected by it. Most dangerous ones are hot water beds and electric quilts.
Two wheelers: It may lead to loss of fertile power as side effect, try to use wide padded seats which will lead to spreading of heat and avoids damage to arteries and veins.
Injury: Injury to your wedding tackle could impair your ability to produce sperm or to ejaculate, especially If you do play contact sports (the ones that require clothes, anyway), wear protective gear to prevent permanent damage from an injury to your genitals.
5. THE RIGHT TIME: all your efforts will go waste if you the male and female fractions do not meet each other. To make that happen, you need to have intercourse within 24 hours of ovulation (when the ripened egg is released from the ovary, which is the most fertile period.)
“The best time to get pregnant is the period of ovulation This is the period when a mature ovum(female fraction) is released into the womb. The ovum is ripe for fertilization and stays that way for about 12 hours after which it starts to degenerate.”
Follow these to point out the right time-
1. CHART YOUR MENSTRUAL CYCLE: One of the most common misconceptions about fertility is that every woman ovulates on day 14 of her menstrual cycle, but that’s true for women with a regular 28 days cycle only. Best way to judge the right time is to look for the time of next cycle and ovulation actually occurs 14 days before the next cycle.
2. CHECK YOUR CERVICAL MUCUS Changes in your cervical mucus can help identify your fertile phase without the need for any special devices. For a few days after your period, your cervical fluid may be dry or sticky; then it starts to get wetter. "If it becomes slippery and stretchy--almost like a raw egg white--that's when you're most fertile.
6. THINGS PEOPLE COMMONLY IGNORE: Consult your doctor before you conceive for a pre pregnancy health checkup and doctor will guide you wether you are in perfect health or not or any medical problem that requires attention.
Following things must be considered
Medical history
1. Tell your doctor about following things to help him reach any conclusion
2. Any drug you are taking or you have taken in recent days.(even if any tablet for headache was taken)
3. Don’t forget to tell your doctor about any long term illness like Hypertension or diabetes if present (since both BP and blood sugar levels are increased during pregnancy).
4. Which method of contraception you were using.
5. If you ever suffered from any serious disease.
6. Genetic problems in your family. Or any miscarriage, or abortion if you had.
Examinations
Following tests are generally done by doctor and are perfectly normal, don’t hesitate and always co-operate with the doctor.
Internal examination – To check any infection or menstrual problem.
Cervical smear test – Tell your doctor about any past abnormal cervical smear test if you had.
Urinalysis – urine analysis is always helpful, since presence of urine infection can lead to abortion.
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) – You need to be 100% free of STD before you can be pregnant, also go for AIDS testing.
Vaccinations – a lot of vaccination are to be done ask your doctor about it and get yourself vaccinated for all the infections that can harm the foetus e.g. Rubella.
Are Your Immunizations Up-to-Date?
Women in their reproductive years should have immunizations as a routine part of preventive care:
• Tetanus–diphtheria booster (every 10 years)
• Measles, mumps, rubella (once if not immune)
• Varicella vaccine (once if not immune)
• Human papillomavirus (once between the ages 9 and 26 years)
• Chicken pox (once if not immune)
• Hepatitis A vaccine
• Hepatitis B vaccine
• Influenza vaccine
• Pneumococcal vaccine
Hematology - To check for the presence of any kind of abnormality in blood, anaemia etc.
Haematological investigations include:
1. Hemoglobin level.
2. Tests for infectious anaemia.
3. Disease due to altered structure and function of haemoglobin e.g. Sickle Cell Anaemia, Sickle Cell Haemoglobin, Thalassemia.
4. Test is for thrombocytopenia (a disease in which one type of cells of blood called platelets are lowered), since it may be worsened after pregnancy.
5. Genetic disorders of blood should also be identified e.g. haemophilia (disease in which clot formation is delayed after bleeding).
Genetic testing – as mentioned earlier it is important to test for the presence of any genetic disease since it could be helpful in sustaining the life of baby in the womb and will also help in taking care of yours during pregnancy.
Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV, AIDS VIRUS) can harm the baby. Testing for HIV infection is therefore essential before pregnancy.
Generally following tests are done for HIV:
• Antibody testing (also called ELISA test)
• Antigen testing
• PCR test
NUT SHELL: If you are planning for a baby then:
• Always consult your doctor.
• Always eat healthy.
• Avoid smoking, drinking and any other drug etc.
• Take multivitamin supplements.
• Since no clear cut evidence on caffeine so try to avoid it.
• Reduce stress, or learn how to effectively cope with it.
• Both partners should avoid exposure to high temperatures.
• Begin an exercise program.
PREGNANCY TESTING: Planning of motherhood is all about taking care of the health of baby and mother-to-be and this whole planning will go waste if your pregnancy is not identified at the right time, since unknowingly harm may be caused. You can judge yourself whether you are pregnant or not.
1. First sign for this is absence of menstrual period, although there are many other reasons for missing of periods but in case of pregnancy females also feel tenderness in breast and nauseating esp. In the morning.
2. Second method is urine test, many GP’s and family clinic do urine test but these tests can also be done at home by using testing kit which is available over the counter at pharmacy.
THE GOOD NEWS
Finally if you got the good news, consult your doctor regularly and follow all his advice and medications.
You are going to be a proud mother (& father) don’t forget to share this good news with family and friends and be ready for the most important and responsible job in the world.
