Counseling before pregnancy

During pregnancy almost all women take care of their food, but they are not aware of the fact that pre-pregnancy care is very important for the healthy birth of a child. If you are planning to expand your family these things should be kept in mind :

• Three months before the  month in which you want to conceive you should be cautious about your food habits. Increase the amount of  calcium, iron and protein in your daily diet. Drink enough fruit drinks, milk products and green leafy vegetable soups.
• For Pre-Pregnancy counseling husband and wife both should definitely consult a gynecologist. The doctor collects full knowledge of some facts regarding the childhood vaccines has been taken by them or not.Women is provided with a vaccine known as rubella before conceiving. But after taking the vaccine it is suggested to conceive atleast after three months.
•  Diabetes  test before pregnancy for women is very important because if the mother is having this problem then the  child is likely to get diabetes. Moreover, it can effect the eyesight of the child.
• If a woman is taking birth control pills then it should be stopped at least three months prior to conceiving .
•  At-least three months prior to conceiving start taking folic acid as per doctor’s advice as the child’s brain and spinal cord begin to build and folic acid play a key role in making it. It is an essential element for the growth of the child as lack of folic acid can create problems related to nervous system.
• Most Indian women faces the lack of anemia and hemoglobin which can be dangerous to both mother as well as child. For this reason Full Blood Count test for woman before pregnancy is very important.
• Before conception both husband and wife  should have Thalassemia checkup. It is a genetic disease. If parents have minor Thalassemia then the child is at risk of getting a major Thalassemia problem which is a serious disease and the patient at regular intervals of every three months requires tansfusion of blood.
• Husband and wife both should go for a HIV test because if the mother is HIV positive, the child may be a victim of it.
• Hepatitis B is a sexually transmitted disease. So the parents should go for a checkup and get themselves vaccinated.
• Before conceiving syphilis screening is also important for a woman as during delivery time it may cause various problems.
• While planning for the baby parents should avoid alcohol and stay away from cigarettes. Women should especially be cautious in this case, because the baby is born physically and mentally distorted or there is a possibility of miscarriage.
• If you have any health problem and taking regular medications your doctor must know about it.
• Every pregnant woman should pay attention to their weight. Weight should be balanced perfectly by BMS. Overweight or excessive thinness, the two situations are considered harmful to the pregnancy.

Once you are satisfied with the pre-pregnancy counselling then only start thinking about your family planning.

“The information present here is for general purpose please consult your doctor before taking any medication/therapy”