Pregnancy Risks

The risks with pregnancy are unfortunately not little. Your family history as well as your baby's father's history all comes into play when you choose to have a baby. Birth defects are more common than not. The way that you treat your pregnancy also contributes to those risks. Some pregnancies happen and are risky with no explanation at all and you as the mom did nothing wrong. The best thing that you can do is take care of yourself so that your baby's overall health is not compromised.

We all know that the use of alcohol and drugs during a pregnancy can harm your unborn child. For this reason you should not drink while pregnant. It can cause fetal alcohol syndrome. Cigarettes can cause low birth weight. Illegal drugs like cocaine can cause mental retardation and infant addiction. These all have been linked to infant death as well as miscarriage. It is just not worth seeing your child hooked up to tubes or worse having to bury your baby because of something that could have been controlled.

Nutrition is a big risk for pregnant moms. If a well balanced diet is not followed your unborn child does suffer. Eating junk food all of the time or trying to diet during your pregnancy can cause a child to not develop properly, a miscarriage, or low birth weight. Some foods have to be avoided during pregnancy like unprocessed cheeses, meat that is not cooked properly, and sushi because of the high mercury content. Prenatal vitamins must be taken so that your baby grows properly and is not malnourished.

The health of the mom to be can actually affect her unborn baby. If she has diabetes they can be passed on to the child and this must be monitored. In addition, high blood pressure and heart problems can be a factor during pregnancy. Along with kidney problems, these have to be closely watched for the sake of mom and her baby's health. Sometimes a c-section is performed because the baby is under distress of a life threatening situation arises. Most things are preventable such as a miscarriage even though some of those occur without reason.

It is just a good idea to keep your body in as good as shape as possible while you are pregnant. Do not put anything into your body that would harm you or your unborn child. You are responsible to provide nourishment for your child. Get the proper prenatal care. It does make a difference in your little ones health.