Why worry about what you eat during pregnancy?

Because your baby's development, how you feel during your pregnancy, how well your labor and delivery go, how well you recover, and how well breastfeeding goes all depend on the kind and amount of food you eat during your pregnancy.  The single most important thing you can do to insure a healthy baby is make the commitment to start eating right - now!

What can happen to me if I do not eat right? COMPLICATIONS!
 

1.  Your baby may not grow big enough to be healthy.  Birth weight is the most
     significant factor in predicting your child's future health and mental development.
     a bigger baby is better!

2.  Your uterus is likely to malfunction during labor, which means a longer, more
     painful labor.  If your uterus cannot contract effectively and you are having a
     hospital birth, drugs will be administered to stimulate contractions, or your baby
     will be born by C-section.  If you are having a home birth, you may have to
     transfer to the hospital.

3.  Your liver may begin to malfunction as a result of protein deficiency, and you may
     develop Metabolic Toxemia of Late Pregnancy, a dangerous condition which can kill
     mother and baby.

4.  Brain damage, hyperactivity, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, respiratory
    distress syndrome, sudden infant death syndrome, and stillbirth are all linked to
    improper nutrition during pregnancy.

5.  Breastfeeding may be difficult or impossible when the mother has not had proper
     prenatal nutrition.

6.  It is normal for women in late pregnancy to become insulin dependent, raising their
     blood sugar. This is not true diabetes and does NOT predispose one to diabetes.
     However, by ingesting large amounts of grains in the diet (wheat, corn, oats, barley,
     rice and other grains) this can cause a fungal infection which inhibits the ability of the
     pancreas to produce insulin.  Grains have fungal organisms that grown on them, and
     these fungal organisms produce mycotoxins which are the cause of the fungal infection
     which affects the pancreas.  In this country, grains are stored in large silos and there
     the fungal organisms grow and reproduce until the grains are milled into flour or meal.
     There is no way to get these mycotoxins out of the grains.  Plus, there are SO many
     products that contain high fructose corn syrup, this also greatly increases the toxin
     problem.  So not only should we abstain from grains but also any product that has
     high fructose corn syrup on the label.

In general nutritional guidelines for pregnant women are:

Women who choose to give birth unassisted and do their own prenatal care
will focus on nutrition as their first line of defense against prenatal problems.

Go on to learn about Metabolic Toxemia of Late Pregnancy, and specific nutritional
guidelines for pregnant women.

See our Protein Counter to make sure you are getting enough protein in your diet.
 
 

   Drop us a line!
 
 

For more articles about pregnancy and birth, see The Online Childbirth Class

Back to  The Unhindered Living Knowledge Collection

Copyright 2001-8 Judie C. Rall and The Center for Unhindered Living