Healthy Weight Gain During Pregnancy and its Benefits
Written on February 9, 2009 by steven
Healthy weight gain during pregnancy is beneficial in nourishing a growing baby. For a woman of normal weight before pregnancy, the acceptable weight gain during pregnancy ranges from 25-35 pounds; a woman carrying twins needs to gain about 35-45 pounds. Usually the mother can expect to gain about 10 pounds during the first 20 weeks and about 1 pound per week during the rest of the pregnancy.
Of the total number of pounds gained during pregnancy, about 6-8 are the baby’s weight. The baby’s birth weight is important, since low weight can mean health problems during labor and the baby’s first few months. Eating right and gaining enough weight helps reduce the chances of having a low-birththweight baby. If a woman gains an appropriate amount weight while pregnant, chances are that her baby will gain weight properly, too. Pregnancy is not a time to think about losing weight-doing so may endanger the baby.
As in all other stages of life, exercise is an important factor in weight control during pregnancy as well as in overall maternal health. A balanced 45-minute exercise session three days per week has been associated in one study with heavierbirthweight babies, fewer surgical births, and shorter hospital stays after birth. Pregnant women should consult with their physicians before starting any exercise program.
Teratogenic Causing birth defects; may refer to drugs, environmental chemicals, X-rays, or diseases.
Fetal alcohol syndrome(FAS) A collection of symptoms, including mental retardation, that can appear in infants of women who drink too much alcohol during pregnancy.
- Other Factors A pregnant woman should avoid exposure to toxic chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides, gases, and other hazardous compounds. She should not clean cat-litter boxes because cat feces can contain organisms that cause a disease called toxoplasmosis. If a pregnant woman contracts this disease, her baby may be stillborn or suffer mental retardation or other birth defects.
Before becoming pregnant, a woman should be tested to determine if she has had rubella(German measles). If she has not had the disease, she should get an immunization for it and wait the recommended length of time before becoming pregnant. A rubella infection can kill the fetus or cause blindness or hearing disorders in the infant. If the woman has ever had genital herpes, she should inform her physician. The physician may want to deliver the baby by cesarean section, especially if the woman has active lesions. Contact with an active herpes infection during birth can be fatal to the infant.
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