The Birth Of Your Choice

Labour and birth should be managed in the way one choose. There are many decisions for you to make and you should be aware of all your options. In theory, it's possible to have exactly the kind of birth that you want, but this involves extensive reading, soul searching, and discussion with your partner. You'll also have to talk things over with your nursing and medical attendants so that any difficulties that might arise later on can be dealt with. Home birth is becoming more widely accepted and is something to which you should give serious consideration. Alternatively you can choose a hospital and a team of midwives that provide the facilities, the atmosphere, and the cooperative approach that you prefer. It is extremely useful to make a birth plan outlining the kind of birth you want and, by discussing it with your attendants, you can achieve your aims. It's up to women and their partners to take a more assertive role in the way the delivery and birth of their baby will be handled. Having access to information is crucial, but practical and moral support from a partner is just as important. If both parents attend childbirth classes, they will become better informed and, vitally, more mutually supportive.

Taking Drugs During Pregnancy

We often like to play the doctor. Many of us have cabines full of medicines of all types—aspirins, antibiotics, cough syrups, tranquilizers, tonics, homeopathic and ayurvedic medicines. Some even go so far as to keep medicines given by friends and relatives without any knowledge of their contents or any harmful effects they may have.
It is essential, whether or not you are pregnant, not to take any drug without the advice and supervision of the doctor. It is well-established that heavy smoking during pregnancy retards the growth of the baby. So does alcoholism. Taking of narcotic drugs and a heavy and regular alcohol intake by the mother can cause an "addiction" and "withdrawal" symptoms in the baby after birth with jitteriness, convulsions and even death. Many drugs have been implicated in causing congenital malformations. Several years ago, in Germany and elsewhere, expectant mothers who had taken the drug—Thalidomide during the first trimester of their pregnancy, gave birth to deformed children—some without arms, others without legs—a truly horrifying experience. There are some drugs like Tetracycline which, when taken in the second and third trimesters, can result in affecting the baby in various ways such as retardation of growth, or to a lesser extent, in staining the child's teeth.
Remind your physician about your pregnancy each time you consult him for an illness so he is careful in ordering investigations and prescribing the medicines.

Medical Care During Pregnancy

The nutrition and health care of the expectant mother cannot be over emphasised. It is essential to see your doctor early and regularly during the nine months of pregnancy. When you visit the doctor, he will probably make a thorough check-up to ascertain your state of health. He will weigh you, take your blood pressure and make a complete physical examination including the examination of your teeth and gums. It is good to see your dentist to treat tooth decay if any.

Examination and care of the breast and nipples should form an essential and important part of routine care at this time. Unfortunately, this is a neglected area of ante-natal care. Normal healthy protactile nipples will ensure successful breast-feeding successful of the newborn baby. The size and shape of the breasts are not important in determining the amount of milk that can be produced, a small breast has enough milk producing glands to make breastfeeding feasible.
The size, shape and health of the nipple is more important. The mother should be taught to pull out the nipples with her fingers, stretching them without hurting.This should be carried out regularly, especially in the last two months or so of the pregnancy. Inverted, flat and non-protactile nipples should be identified and corrected when possible. Truly inverted and non-protactile nipples are not very common. Most flat looking nipples can be pulled out and stretched and successful breastfeeding established. To avoid tetanus in the newborn it is advised to take 2 doses of tetanus toxoid about 8 weeks apart during pregnancy.
If you are seeing the doctor regularly and your pregnancy is progressing smoothly, you can lead a normal life. However, you should avoid visiting sick people (especially those with infectious diseases) or going to congested areas during the first three months of pregnancy. You should exercise regularly. Try to go for short walks in the morning and evening. A nap or rest in the afternoon will keep you relaxed and cheerful.

How do you know when you are pregnant?

If your periods are usually regular and if you have not menstruated two to three weeks after the expected date, it is likely that you are pregnant. This is the most important symptom. Sometimes a woman who is very anxious to have a baby can miss her period and be misled. Your doctor, however, would be able to confirm it after an examination or with the help of a pregnancy test. Other symptoms of prenancy are: frequency in passing urine, especially in the early stages; tenderness and a feeling of fullness in the breasts by he end of the first month (this is due to the increased flowblood to the breasts in preparation for nursing); you may feel nausea in the early months. Consult your doctor to confirm that you are pregnant. Newer immunological test done on the urine, are very sensitive and become positive three to five days after a missed period.

Your Developing Baby

There is very little as exciting as the month by month development of your baby. No other organism in the world grows with such complexity as the human baby and it will help you to establish a relationship with your growing baby if you can understand exactly how it is developing. For convenience, the- sequence of developmental stages can be roughly divided into three phases, the first, second, and third trimesters. These are so divided because certain physiological changes occur to mother and baby in each of the three stages. In the first trimester your baby's organs form, in the second these organs become complex, and in the third they grow in size. For you, the first trimester is when your body becomes primed for pregnancy: the breasts grow, your internal organs adapt, and the muscles and ligaments start to slacken in preparation for labour. High levels of pregnancy hormones bring on pregnancy sickness, the desire to go to the lavatory more often, and tenderness of the breasts. During the second trimester the body goes into a phase of consolidation. The third trimester sees your body preparing for delivery and making sure that your baby is growing healthily.

Preparing For Pregnancy

As wc find out more and more about ova and sperm and what makes them healthy, it seems sensible to prepare tor pregnancy by changing to a more healthy lifestyle. Giving up smoking and alcohol at least three months prior to conception is a good idea for everyone. A healthy and lit body is the best possible place to implant and earn a ferns to term. Not everything, of course, is straightforward: genes and chromosomes may be imperfectand ferfilization may be difficult. but many of these problems have now been identified and some of them can be successfully treated.