As soon as you suspect you're pregnant, schedule an appointment with your pregnancy health care provider, such as an obstetrician/gynecologist. Even if you've confirmed your suspicion with a home pregnancy test, it's still wise to follow-up with an appointment. This will ensure that you and your baby get off to a good start.
Why Is Prenatal Care Important?Regular appointments with your health care provider throughout your pregnancy are important to ensure the health of you and your baby. In addition to medical care, prenatal care includes education on pregnancy and childbirth, plus counseling and support.Frequent visits with your healthcare provider allow you to follow the progress of your baby's development. Visits also give you the opportunity to ask questions. Also, most healthcare providers welcome your partner at each visit, as well as interested family members.
What Happens at My First Medical Visit for Prenatal Care?
The first visit is designed to confirm your pregnancy and to determine your general health. In addition, the visit will give your healthcare provider clues to any risk factors that may affect your pregnancy. It will typically be longer than future visits. The purpose of the prenatal visit is to:Determine your due date.Find out your health history.Explore the medical history of family members.Determine if you have any pregnancy risk factors based on your age, health and/or personal and family history.You will be asked about previous pregnancies and surgeries, medical conditions and exposure to any contagious diseases. Also, notify your healthcare provider about any medications (prescription or over-the-counter) you have taken or are currently takingDo not hesitate to ask your provider any question you may have. Most likely, those are the questions your provider hears most often!
Here are some questions you may want to ask. Print or write them down, add to them, and take them to your appointment.
What is my due date?
Do I need prenatal vitamins?
Are the symptoms I'm experiencing normal?
Is it normal not to experience certain symptoms?
Is there anything I can take for morning sickness?
What are the specific recommendations regarding weight gain, exercise and nutrition?
What activities, foods, substances (for example, medicine, caffeine and alternative sweeteners like Equal) should I avoid?
Can I have sex while I am pregnant?
For what symptoms should I call you?
What is the definition of a high-risk pregnancy? Am I considered to be high risk?
(NaturalNews) Phthalates, bisphenol-A (BPA), and other environmental toxins are now widely known to disrupt proper hormone function in humans, but a new study has revealed that common painkillers like aspirin and ibuprofen are far worse. According to scientists from Denmark, Finland, and France, pregnant women who take painkiller drugs have a significantly higher risk of bearing baby boys with reproductive problems than pregnant women who do not.Published in the journal Human Reproduction, the study draws urgent attention to the serious dangers associated with painkiller drugs.
Pregnant women who take any painkiller drugs during their second trimester double their risk of having a baby boy with cryptorchidism, a condition in which the boy's testicles do not properly descend due to inadequate testosterone production. And taking more than one painkiller drug during the second trimester raises that risk by a whopping 1,600 percent."A single paracetamol tablet [500mg] contains more endocrine disruptor potency than the combined exposure to the 10 most prevalent of the currently known environmental endocrine disruptors during the whole pregnancy," explained Dr. Henrik Leffers, senior scientist at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen and author of the study."In fact, a single tablet will, for most women, be at least a doubling of the exposure to the known endocrine disruptors during the pregnancy and that dose comes on a single day, not spread out over nine months as with the environmental endocrine disruptors.
Thus, for women using mild analgesics during the pregnancy, the mild analgesics will be by far the largest exposure to endocrine disruptors."Taking painkiller drugs is largely considered to have no significant risks associated with it, so millions of people pop them every time they have an ache or pain. And use of such painkillers is quite common among pregnant women as well, with more than 57 percent of Danish mothers admitting in a telephone survey they used them.The modern world seems to be a minefield of assault against the male reproductive system. Even laptop computers are a threat, heating up male genitalia to temperatures so high that reproductive function becomes impaired (http://www.naturalnews.com/030326_l...). So it is important to be cautious and aware of the things you eat and exposure yourself to.
