Pregnancy Nutrition - A Healthy Diet will Ensure a Healthy Baby - Essay Example

? Pregnancy Nutrition - A Healthy Diet Will Ensure a Healthy Baby This paper demonstrates the needs of pregnancy nutrition for women to ensure a healthy delivery. As was discussed in this paper, the nutritional facts that are required during pregnancy to have a comfortable delivery with minimum medical complications and have a healthy baby, requires continuous medical observation and expert consultation. Also, the detail regarding the development of the baby that depends on the food intake of the mother, the benefits of the balanced diet and exercise has been found to be of great significance in the delivery of a health child. Pregnancy Nutrition - A Healthy Diet Will Ensure a Healthy Baby Pregnancy is a very important phase in the life of every woman. This is the time when women take more care of their health, nutrition and lifestyle to ensure a healthy baby. The healthy habit acquired during this phase of life is beneficial for not only the mother but also her baby to preserve a healthy body throughout their lives. Scientific explanations to this concept also revealed that the food habits and the good lifestyle adopted during the prenatal phase by the expecting mothers have long term significance on the life of both the mother and her child. A healthy diet with nutritional value as per the body requirements of the mother ensures that the baby gets a healthy beginning during its infancy. Conceptually, proper nutritional diet for proper growth of the baby, regular physical activity and proper sleep are few suggestive measures that help in ensuring the health of both (Alberta, 2012). Discussion Healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle are the major prerequisite for pregnant women. During the pregnancy phase, women body undergoes many biological changes and hence requires special care and attention. Hence, to stay healthy and safe become the major priorities during pregnancy as this would help to have a comfortable nine months of prenatal phase (Ludwig & Currie, 2010). During pregnancy, women need to eat food from various sources to make sure that all the necessary minerals, vitamins and nutrients are consumed in adequate quantity to have a proper development of baby. It is worth mentioning in this context that underweight and/or overweight might cause severe impacts on the healthy growth of the baby and can even hinder the certainty of a normal delivery process; thus, causing immense effects on the mother’s health too. In a recent report by Boston Children's Hospital (2013) revealed that while underweightedness of mother in the prenatal phase may cause the birth of a child suffering malnutrition, overweightedness of the mother can similarly act as a major and unpreventable cause for childhood obesity. Therefore, to maintain a proper weight a proper diet is to be maintained along with performing proper physical activity (Ludwig & Currie, 2010). The nutrients that are particularly important during pregnancy are the folic acid, iron and vitamins, calcium, omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids (Safe Food, 2008). Stating precisely, consumption of folic acid is important to ensure a healthy pregnancy. This acid intake helps to avoid conditions such as “spina bifida” or other neural deficiencies, which can affect the spine of the baby and its healthy growth. During the early pregnancy, formation of the baby spine takes place, which requires a proper intake of folic acid. In this context, recent researches such as Sure?n, Roth, Bresnahan, Haugen, Hornig, Hirtz, … Stoltenberg (2013) and University of Granada (2013) depicted empirical results showing a strong dependency of mothers’ consumption of folic acid as regular dietary supplement and the psychological development of the child. Experimental research conducted in Sure?n, Roth, Bresnahan, Haugen, Hornig, Hirtz, … Stoltenberg (2013) further elaborated the fact that folic acid consumption can reduce autism risks within the child. Additionally, eating food rich in folates helps in proper nourishment of the fetus. Few good sources of folates are green vegetables, such as spinach, sprouts and broccoli. Beans, peas, fruits like oranges and yeast are also considered as good sources of folic acid and help to maintain a proper balanced diet for pregnant women (Safe Food, 2008). Iron and vitamins are also very important, as it helps in creating extra blood required during pregnancy and thus making the process physically less challenging for both the mother and the infant. The best source of iron and vitamins are red meat, chicken, fish, pulses, beans, peas and dried fruit such as prunes and apricots. Women who are anemic require high intake of iron and vitamin C to keep them healthy and help in proper development of the fetus during the nine months of pregnancy (NSW Food Authority, 2005). Intake of proper amount of calcium and vitamin D is also very useful for the development of healthy bones and teeth of the fetus and correspondingly the infant. The body of every woman requires high calcium as the bones of the women are week and undergo continuous changes during pregnancy. To meet the body requirements for calcium, food items such as milk, cheese and yogurt should be consumed in proper proportionate to have a healthy body. However, it should be noted that anything in extra will not be useful but will be harmful for both the mother and her unborn child, which makes it essential to obtain the consultation of medical experts (NSW Food Authority, 2005). Furthermore, consumption of oily fish, vegetable oils such as walnut and rapeseed used for cooking can be a good source of omega3 and 6 fatty acids, another vital component for having a healthy baby. For instance, fatty acid is important for the growth of the brain and eyes of the baby. It is thus suggestible to consume 3oz of fatty acid a week to maintain a balanced diet, which would help in the healthy growth of the baby, during the pregnancy phase and also during the child’s infancy when the baby has to completely depend on mother’s milk (Safe Food, 2008). Conversely, during pregnancy, due to physical changes, the immune system of the mother can also become weak and thus face greater risk from food- borne illnesses. This might even lead to complications in normal delivery causing dehydration to miscarriage as well. Thus, to be safe, during pregnancy, a few food items should be avoided for the proper health of the baby. Eggs, which are not totally cooked, may be contaminated with salmonella, a kind of bacteria, which might cause fever, vomiting or nausea. Hence, it is essential to consume only completely cooked egg that can be beneficial for the health. Foods made of raw fish or meat and Unpasteurized Juices should be avoided because of the methyl-mercury, a pollutant that can hamper the nervous system of the baby (Kuzemchak, 2013). Nonetheless, during pregnancy, constipation is common owing to the hormonal changes and so to avoid it plenty of fruit juices, vegetables should be consumed on a daily basis (Kuzemchak, 2013). For a healthy pregnancy, it is advisable to avoid cigarettes and alcohol as it might harm the health of the women and the baby by obstructing the placenta and thereby, leading to hindered physical, mental and growth of the baby. Moreover, to avoid vomiting tendency as well as heartburn, women should intake regular small meals that will help to ensure the health of the baby and the women (Queensland Government, 2013). To ensure a safe and healthy pregnancy, along with good food, mothers are also advised to do some physical activities as it reduces the chances of having medical complications during delivery. Physical activity has a lot of benefit on the pregnant women and the baby as it provides strength to the mother’s body to improve the blood circulation, and also helps in the proper movement of the baby. It also helps in controlling mood swings and reduces the chances of depression and anxiety and hence, ensures the heath of both the mother and the baby. Proper sleep too helps in nurturing the baby and the women; as it helps in proper digestion of food and hence benefits in maintaining the balance diet. Additionally, regular exercises and adequate sleep helps to increase the metabolism of the body and hence the healthy food consumed provides a better result (Alberta, 2012). Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be concluded that a proper disciplined life with good food habits, regular exercise and adequate sleep can altogether ensure a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. However, it is worth mentioning that nutritional requirements of every woman during pregnancy differs to a certain extent, where the food habits found fruitful in the case of one pregnant woman may result otherwise for another pregnant woman and increase her risk of giving birth to an unhealthy baby. Thus, to understand the body requirements accurately during pregnancy, regular medical consultations and routine check-ups are mandatory for every pregnant woman. References Alberta. (2012). Healthy Eating and Active Living for Pregnancy. Secured Pregnancy, 1-28. Boston Children's Hospital (2013, October 1). Mom's weight gain during pregnancy tied to childhood obesity. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2013/10/131001192015.htm Kuzemchak, S. (2013). A Food Guide for Pregnant Women. Retried from http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-body/nutrition/a-food-guide-for-pregnant-women/ Ludwig, D. S. & Currie, J. (2010). The Relationship between Pregnancy Weight Gain and Birth Weight: A within Family Comparison. NIH, 376(9745), pp. 984-990. NSW Food Authority. (2005). Food Safety during Pregnancy. NSW Health for Pregnancy, 2-11. Safe Food. (2008). Healthy Eating for Pregnancy. Documents on Healthy Living, 1-29. Sure?n, P., Roth, C., Bresnahan, M., Haugen, M., Hornig, M., Hirtz, D., … Stoltenberg, C., (2013). Association between Maternal Use of Folic Acid Supplements and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children. JAMA, 309(6), pp. 570-577. Queensland Government. (2013). Healthy eating during pregnancy. Retried from http://www.health.qld.gov.au/nutrition/resources/antenatal_ngpl.pdf University of Granada (2013). Diet during pregnancy and early life may affect children's behavior and intelligence. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2013/09/130913101815.htm Read More