THINGS TO AVOID DURING PREGNANCY

Pregnancy is one of the happy stages in the life of every woman. It is a period of high expectation; the whole idea of a new creature forming inside of you is enough reason to be excited. However, there are certain things that need to be avoided during this period, these things can cause harm or damage to your health and/or inhibit the adequate growth and development of your unborn baby, which can interrupt the due gestational process: leading to miscarriage, premature delivery, stillbirth or deformed baby. The joy of every woman is to carry her pregnancy to term and deliver her baby without complications. To experience this joy, the following things should be avoided during pregnancy:

CAFFEINE: Is a psychoactive substance commonly found in tea, cocoa, soft drinks, coffee, chocolates, etc. Studies have shown that excess intake of caffeine during pregnancy is harmful to the foetus, because it is easily absorbed by the placenta, which causes retardation of growth unborn babies. The result is usually low birth weight.
HIGH MERCURY FISH: Fishes such as tuna, mackerel, sword fish, shark contain high amount of mercury, mercury is not ideal in pregnancy because, it is a toxic element. It can affect the kidney, nervous system and the immune system of both the mother and the unborn baby. Fish that has high content of omega-3 fatty acids is appropriate.
ALCOHOL,DRUGS AND SMOKING: These are not good at all, especially for the unborn baby's health. Drinking of alcohol, smoking and using hard drugs can increase the risk of miscarriage, still birth and fetal alcohol syndrome (facial deformities, mental retardation, heart defects).
RAW/UNDERCOOKED MEAT: These may contain harmful bacteria and parasite which cause infections such as Toxoplasma, E.coli, Listeria or Salmonella.  These infections can affect the total wellbeing of the unborn baby just as that of the mother. Severe neurological illnesses, epilepsy, mental retardation,  blindness can manifest as a result of these infections.
PROCESSED JUNK FOODS: As much as you need to gain weight during pregnancy, unhealthy weight should not be tolerated.  Keep away from processed junk foods; they are loaded with high calories, sugar, added fats and low nutrients. Excess weight can lead to gestational diabetes or birth complications. Rather go for whole foods, fruits and vegetables.
RAW/UNDERCOOKED FISH: Fish in it's raw  form are often time than not contaminated with bacteria, if this bacteria is consumed during pregnancy, the foetus can be affected by Listeria infections, this can cause miscarriage, premature delivery, stillbirth, and other health problems.
OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICATION: There are various medicines that should not be used in pregnancy, example is ACE inhibitor ( heart medications) . They can cause great harm to the unborn baby and the mother; deformation and higher risk of miscarriage.
CERTAIN PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES: As much as exercise is good for human physical fitness and total wellbeing.  There are however  certain ones that should not be engaged in by pregnant women, some of them are; running, cycling, swimming, jogging, horse riding, heavy weight training,  volleyball, etc.

The aforementioned things should be avoided, above all; always try to keep calm and stay happy, your emotions during this period go a long way in shaping that of your unborn baby's. Researches have shown that mothers who were not happy during pregnancy gave birth to autistic children.  Keep calm, stay happy......you will have a well formed baby; all round!

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