Bursting Pregnancy Myths

Pregnancy is the most thrilling and exciting journey of entire lifetime. It is very different from the rest of the phases of life and is actually an amalgamation of all the beautiful emotions a person can experience in a lifetime. 

Tough this phase is extremely researched upon, there are still many misperceptions and confusions that pregnant woman have regarding their pregnancies. Some of these are mentioned below:

You can’t fly during your initial and last trimester. This is not true at all. You can fly if you need to travel; flight is smoother than bumpy road trips. However, some airlines won’t let you take the flight in your last trimester, but that is with regard to vertigo’s and nausea or with the fears that you’ll go into labor and force the plane to land or spoil the interiors.

You cannot pet your cat: This is another myth. However, you shouldn’t change or clean your cat’s litter box during pregnancy because of the risk of toxoplasmosis from the feces.  

You shouldn’t eat smoked salmon while pregnant. This has not been proved. Salmon is high in omega-3 fatty acids like DHA, studies show that these are good for pregnant women and the fetuses, and salmon is a fresh water fish, so the probability of mercury poisoning is less. If your pregnancy diet chart contains salmon, enjoy eating it.

Pregnant women should keep away from polished furniture. Not true at all. It is believed that while painting or polishing walls or furniture, certain harmful gasses are emitted which harm the nervous system or cause vertigos or nausea during pregnancy. However, using polished furniture may not cause any damage to health.

Dying your hair is harmful for Baby. Wrong again. It is believed that exposure to pesticides can damage the health of the baby to be born. The actual fact is unless the mother-to-be is inhaling or consuming the pesticides, they cannot reach the baby.

 You shouldn’t take daily baths while pregnant: This cannot be true. Hygiene is of utmost importance. The only idea behind this, myth can be the risk of slipping on wet floor, but you can always be careful, as daily baths are part of the essential hygiene.

 You shouldn’t drink coffee while pregnant: One cup of coffee a day may not harm you or your baby.  Excess of everything is bad, however, you can have caffeine within limits as it is said that it contains flavonoids which is good for health.         

Pregnant women should eat for two: Not exactly true. During pregnancy, one only requires 300 extra calories per day. So ideally you should be eating for about one and a fifth.

And, finally, going outside when you’re pregnant during an eclipse will not give your baby a cleft palate. But you probably already knew that.

Create simple rules for your pregnancy like – walk carefully; avoid accidents or tripping over and falling, follow diet plan for a pregnant women, don’t stress yourself etc. Living simple and verifying facts can help you stay relaxed and healthy.

Proper Nutrition during Pregnancy

Babies are the most beautiful and innocent bundles of all the sweet emotions. When they smile, our world smiles and when they cry, our world cries. But having and enjoying a baby requires loads of energy and wise-mindedness. This is primarily the reason why the mothers-to-be must take good care of pregnancy nutrition to gather all the stamina and nourishments that they can. 

It is rightly believed that the diet of a mother not only benefits them but also impacts the health of the newborn. Eating too little might result in lack to nutrition and overeating might cause certain complications. So, the diet during pregnancy must contain all the nutrients of a balanced diet. 

Whole foods are always recommended, however, if you can’t get your hands on them, you can always consume trusted brands of processed foods like juices, cheese, etc. A diet which contains fruits, pulses, vegetables, breads, water and milk may be considered a sufficient meal. This kind of diet satisfies the need of proteins, calcium, glucose, minerals, starch, fiber, potassium and other essential nutrients. 

It is also believed that pregnant woman must quit coffee, tea, smoke etc., since all this is not easy you might want to control these habits by increasing the breaks between them gradually. 

Try to eat small meals after every couple of hours. This can help you avoid nausea and heartburn. It is often observed that eating deep fried food or other foods with high fat content can lead to acidity, heartburn or nausea and even constipation. Some of the ways to help yourself fight against all this, apart from having short meals is by drinking lots of fluids, don’t put off your urge to go to washrooms, have fiber rich diet.

Even the fathers-to-be want a healthy a baby and a healthy mother. This is definitely a good concern, but at times people may overdo it by constantly advising the pregnant mother to eat and sleep. This may lead to inactive lifestyle, as opposed to the very active lifestyle that helps in proper absorption of nutrition during pregnancy.

Make Mealtime Fun by Following Some Baby Feeding Tips

When you start giving priority to solid foods instead of milk to your little one, you are actually signaled to take your baby to the dining table to make his meal time full of fun and special moments. To serve your baby with the main source of nutrition, it’s necessary to give your little one the chance to get assembled with the other family members and enjoy every other type of meal in the group. You can begin the baby feeding journey by following the below mentioned baby feeding tips.

• Make sure to make your baby sit with other family members at the dinner table. Consider to bring your baby’s high chair right up the table so that he can enjoy eating with others. Allow him to observe other eating their meals which encourage him too to eat a meal with great interest and joy.
• Try to introduce the spoon feeding etiquettes during the dinner time which children love to explore. Most babies observe the activity made by elders eating with a spoon, and they tempted to do so. Therefore, insist on feeding your child with a spoon. It will encourage him towards eating the food without any hesitation.
• Try to offer you baby with the finger foods which he or she can carry easily in his/her hands. Through this way, the baby is exposed to try new foods. Also, if he likes the same, he will ask for more which is a good sign for his interest towards his dietary habits.
• Be sure to work towards baby nutrition and serve him the most possible foods. You can try with small pieces of what you are eating. Remember, if your baby rejects the food at first instance, don’t feel annoyed. Give it a next try until you succeed in your endeavors.
• Create a happy atmosphere once you settle down with your family at dinner. This will create a joyful atmosphere for the child too in which he would love to enjoy the food served to him.

Follow the above mentioned tips and be attentive towards baby healthy diet. Remember it’s you who can make most of the efforts to make the child feed.