If there is one thing that can be said about pregnancy it would be that it may be the only time in which a woman pays extra, special attention to her health. She is, after all, carrying another life inside her. She wants baby to be strong and healthy. Unfortunately, not enough is said about those years prior to, and after, pregnancy that are equally important in terms of a woman’s health. Whether you are pregnant now or are hoping to be so soon, here is some vital information on the importance of your health before, during and after pregnancy. You just might be amazed at what you learn!
Nutrients During Those Years Prior to Pregnancy
Whether or not you are planning on getting pregnant, there are nutrients vital to a woman’s health during the years prior to a pregnancy. So many women never thought they would conceive and bear a child only to realize that they do, indeed, want a baby. Even so, a woman’s body goes through various changes as she reaches adulthood, and a great number of issues can be avoided with proper nutrition. Many of those changes are related to hormones, and whether or not you planned on getting pregnant, it is always important to keep those hormones balanced.
For just a moment, let’s leave pregnancy out of the equation. Did you know that an imbalance of hormones in your body can cause such things as:
- Mood swings
- Palpitations/irregular heartbeats
- Inability to concentrate
- Bloating
- High blood sugar levels
- Fatigue
And those are only the most prevalent issues caused by an imbalance in hormones. At this point, it is imperative to do a little research on the nutrients needed to keep hormones in balance. Some of the nutrients you’ll need are the B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, probiotics, and vitamin D-3.
Essential Prenatal Nutrients
There probably isn’t a woman alive who doesn’t recognize the need for prenatal vitamins during pregnancy. For decades, pharmaceutical companies have been manufacturing prenatal vitamins, some of which are OTC formulations and others are available only by prescription.
Recent research has indicated that prenatal nutrition goes deeper than the vitamins and minerals needed for your health and the healthy development of the child within you. Nutrition in terms of body weight is also an important factor. Not only is a healthy body weight important for fertility but being overweight during pregnancy can also be harmful to both you and the baby. It is well known that being overweight can lead to complications during pregnancy including high blood pressure and gestational diabetes. Being overweight at delivery can also lead to complications and that is not something good for you or the baby trying to make its way out into the world.
One Essential Nutrient Often Neglected
Here is where modern science is finally discovering that there is one important nutrient that has often been neglected during pregnancy. You will notice that if you look at any of the ingredients in prenatal vitamins, there is one nutrient that seems to get lost in the shuffle. This would be choline. It is neither a mineral nor a vitamin yet is often linked to the B-vitamin complex because it has a similar composition.
While prenatal vitamins do include choline, research has shown that the amount included in formulations is insufficient for the needs of mom and the baby inside her. Prenatal with choline is essential but in amounts greater than what you will find in most supplements on the market today. If you check out this guide to choline before and after pregnancy, you will gain a better understanding of just how important it is and why you need sufficient amounts before, during and after pregnancy. The information you will find on the Needed website was founded by women who understood the lack of information on pre and postnatal nutrients. The cofounders found that not only was trustworthy, scientifically proven information unavailable for nutrition during pregnancy but that a focus on the whole was imperative in terms of health and the environment. Everything you need to know about the significance of choline in a woman’s diet can be found on that website as well as sources for getting supplements in the amounts required.
Post-Delivery Nutrition
It seems that no matter what website you go to, there isn’t enough information out there on the need for adequate nutrition during those post-delivery days, weeks, and months. While fewer and fewer women are breast feeding their babies, that isn’t the only nutritional need during the time after delivery.
It is important to understand that although it’s natural to give birth to babies for the procreation of our future, it is also extremely taxing on the body. Not only is the delivery often lengthy and painful, but the body must also adjust to the many changes experienced during this time.
Whether you’ve gained a significant amount of weight or not, it will take time for your body to regain its shape prior to pregnancy. There are exercises designed to firm up those muscles while helping to reduce fatty pockets that found a home during pregnancy. If you ever hope to regain that youthful figure, it is essential that you nourish it to keep it strong and healthy.
A Word About Nutrition for Lactating Moms
Many, if not most, women are unaware of the body’s need for choline, as mentioned above. Not only is it vital to ingest sufficient amounts during pregnancy, but lactating women have higher needs as well. Remember the mention of hormonal imbalance? Imagine your body’s hormones fluctuating from pre pregnancy to pregnancy to post pregnancy. It has long been established that much of the post delivery blues is the result of hormonal imbalance and so a greater amount of choline can help offset post-partum depression.
If you look at a bottle of supplements on the market today, you will be able to see that there is nowhere near the dosage per day needed during pregnancy and lactation. While a little is better than none, sufficient amounts are best of all for you as well as for that baby you are nursing. Choline is necessary to several bodily functions and one of the reasons why both the lactating mom and the nursing baby need so much more than can be found in those OTC or prescription prenatal and/or postnatal vitamins. Aside from proper nutrition, consider postpartum belly wrapping. Belly wraps provide support for your pelvic and abdominal muscles. This helps restore your posture and support your uterus as it heals back to its normal size.
A Holistic Approach to the Health of Mom and Baby
Finally, a word should be said about why choline supplements are so very important. Yes, a holistic approach to health is vital for mom and baby but it would be virtually impossible to eat enough foods known to contain choline. These would include eggs and organ meats which are highest in choline, but to get sufficient amounts, you’d need to eat approximately half a dozen eggs to get the recommended dose of choline. However, as it has been mentioned, the recommended daily dose is not nearly enough for a pregnant or lactating woman.
Where possible, it is important to try to get nutrients from the foods we eat, but that isn’t always an option. As a result, you will almost always need to supplement your diet for optimum nutrition so be careful to take only supplements manufactured to ensure maximum safety and nutrients.
