It might shock you to realize that at least fifteen percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage. This number may well be higher because a lot of these losses are unreported; in some cases, when they occur very early on, the mother might not even know.
Most of the time, a miscarriage will happen due to chromosomal issues with the baby, meaning they are essentially too sick to be born. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do everything you can to have a healthy pregnancy and lower your chances of a miscarriage that could occur for other reasons. If you want to increase your chances of having a healthy pregnancy, carry on reading – there are several things you can do to give you and your baby better odds.
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Have Support & Don’t Blame Yourself
Before going into the list of factors that can increase your chances of a healthy pregnancy, it’s vital to take this first section into account.
The last thing that anyone is suggesting here is that a miscarriage is someone’s fault for not doing something or doing ‘the wrong thing.’ If you have been through a miscarriage, you’ll know that it can come out of the blue – even when you’ve taken all the necessary steps and precautions to ensure your pregnancy goes well.
Unfortunately, life and biology can be cruel for seemingly no reason, and it’s certainly not your fault if you suffer a miscarriage. If you do happen to suffer a miscarriage, it’s vital that you have support. Hopefully, your friends and family will be there to help you, perhaps even giving you a bereavement gift from Laurelbox and helping out around the house. No matter what level of support you have, you must not blame yourself; this is crucial in order to fully recover from your loss. Something like a miscarriage can happen no matter what you do or don’t do, so you must not punish yourself.
Wash Your Hands
No matter what nature may have in store, healthy pregnancy for you and your baby is something you have partial control over – and washing your hands is a good way to begin. This will reduce the chance of infection, which can hurt the baby and make you sick along the way.
Eat A Healthy Diet
When you’re pregnant, your baby eats what you eat – in a manner of speaking. Your baby will receive the vitamins and minerals from the food you consume through the placenta. Therefore, eating a healthy diet when you’re pregnant (and when you’re not, come to that) is important if you want your baby to be as healthy as possible.
Eating healthily will also ensure you can keep your weight in check, which is essential during pregnancy as it’s easy to gain or lose weight without realizing it. In particular, when you put on excess weight, this can cause problems such as diabetes and various heart conditions, all of which can be dangerous to both you and your unborn child.
Make Use Of Prenatal Care
You might think there is no real need to see a doctor or specialist OB/GYM when you’re pregnant. After all, women have gone through pregnancy and given birth by themselves for centuries, so why not you? The truth is that although women have certainly done this throughout history before modern medical care, it was a dangerous thing to do, and it resulted in serious problems in many cases.
Therefore, it’s important to attend your prenatal appointments. You’ll not only get a check-up (and so will your baby), but you’ll be given plenty of useful advice to help you stay healthy and happy during the 40 weeks or so that you’ll be pregnant.
Don’t Drink Alcohol
There are a number of unhealthy habits that you should give up when you’re pregnant, including smoking and not getting enough sleep – but one of the most important is alcohol. Drinking when you’re pregnant can lead to a serious condition called fetal alcohol syndrome, which can be very bad indeed, even causing brain damage.
Of course, the above issue is something that those who regularly drink to excess will risk over those who have the occasional glass of wine. However, it pays to be wary, and it’s best not to drink at all when you’re pregnant to be safe.
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