Concerns During Pregnancy Period
You may be concerned about certain issues related to pregnancies even before you conceive. These apprehensions are based on your own experiences in the previous pregnancies or from what you have heard or read. Voicing them out and discussing with your doctor keeps you better prepared.
Many women are taken by surprise when they find themselves pregnant within 3 to 6 months of the previous delivery. Though this is rare in breast-feeding mothers, it can happen. You must:
- consult your doctor at the earliest.
- wean the first baby from breast feeds
- you will require more rest and more nutritious food.
- you should gain adequate weight. Do only simple work, exercises and do not stress and strain too much.
- Anaemia (lack of blood) can be a problem.
All supplements and advice given by your doctor must be taken properly.
” I became pregnant again just ten weeks after I delivered my first child. I’m worried about what effect this might have on my health and on the baby I’m now carrying.”
Conceiving again before you have fully recovered from a recent pregnancy and delivery puts an extra strain. Though conception in the first three postpartum months is rare, it has been seen in some cases and most of them have delivered normal, healthy infants at such short intervals.
It is essential to be aware of the toll that frequent and consecutive pregnancies can take and one should do everything possible to compensate. Conception within three months of delivery puts the new pregnancy in a high risk category, which in this case is not as ominous as it sounds, particularly with proper care and precautions.
- The best antenatal care should start as soon as you think you’re pregnant. As with any high-risk pregnancy, you should be scrupulous about following the doctor’s orders and not missing antenatal appointments.
- You may need to overcompensate nutritionally to be sure both you and your baby will not be deprived. Pay particular attention to protein and iron intake.
- Adequate weight gain is important. There may not be a chance to lose the weight gained during the previous pregnancy.
- Be certain too, that you do not let lack of time or energy keeps you from eating enough. Feeding and caring for the ‘child you already have’, should not keep you from feeding and caring for your ‘child to be’. Watch your weight gain carefully, and if you are not progressing, monitor your calorie intake more closely and follow the suggestions for aiding weight gain.
- Weaning your older baby immediately if you are nursing is suggested. He or she has already reaped many of the benefits of breast feeding, and weaning at this stage should be neither difficult nor traumatic for your baby. Some women do continue nursing, but trying to tally the nutritional requirements for both nursing and pregnancy can be a losing battle for all concerned.
- Rest – more than what is ‘new-motherly’ possible. This will require not only your own determination but help from your husband and possibly others as well. Set priorities: let less important chores or work go undone, and force yourself to lie down when your baby is napping. Have your husband take tasks that involve a lot of heavy lifting or carrying.
- Exercise – just enough to keep you in shape and to relax you, but not too much to overtax your system. If you can not find the time for a regular pregnancy exercise routine, build physical activity into your day with your baby. Take him or her for a brisk walk in the pushchair or in a baby carrier. Avoid jogging or other strenuous exercises.
- Eliminate or minimize all other pregnancy risk factors, such as smoking and drinking. Your body and your baby should not be subjected to any additional stress.
” I’m pregnant for the sixth time. Does this pose any additional risk to my baby or to me? “
It has long been believed in medical practice that women who have five or more children are putting both themselves and their babies at risk with each additional pregnancy. This may have been true before the advances in modern obstetrical care and it is probably true today for women who receive inadequate care – but the fact is that women getting good antenatal care have an excellent chance of having healthy, normal babies even in their fifth or later pregnancies. In a recent study the only increased risk discovered for fifth and subsequent pregnancies was a small increase in the incidence of multiple births (twins or triplets) and in babies born with trisomy 21, a chromosomal disorder.
- Consider additional testing (like amniocentesis) if you are 30 or older, since the incidence of offspring with chromosomal problems appears to increase earlier in women with many pregnancies.
- Be sure to get all the help you can solicit or pay for. And drop nonessential chores for the duration. Teach your older children to be more self-sufficient (even toddlers can dress themselves, put away toys). Exhaustion is not good for any pregnant woman, particularly not one with a large family to look after.
- It is not uncommon for women who have had several pregnancies to put on a few extra pounds with each baby. If that has been the case with you, be particularly careful and eat healthy food.
