Siobhan Dolan - Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby (A March of Dimes Book): The Ultimate Pregnancy Guide

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The Ultimate Pregnancy Guide

Siobhan Dolan, M.D., M.P.H.,
and Alice Lesch Kelly

To Eilis, Niamh, and Liam, because I love you so much.
SMD

To Steven and Scott, who will always be my babies.
ALK

A Month-by-Month Look at How Your Baby Develops and How Your Body Changes During Pregnancy

Protecting Yourself and Your Baby from Common Bacterial, Viral, and Yeast Infections

Getting Ready for Baby: A Checklist for Labor, Delivery, and Beyond

This book is about you.

You have the power to make smart choices that can have a major impact on your pregnancy and your babys health. But in order to make the best choices, you need the most accurate, up-to-date pregnancy health information available. Thats what youll find in Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby.

This practical, easy-to-use book tells you exactly what you can do to have the healthiest pregnancy possible. Clear explanations, research-based recommendations, and sensible advice are here to inform and support you during every part of your journey to parenthood.

The following pages contain the information you need to make the healthiest choices before, during, and after pregnancy. When you face several optionsfor example, what kind of prenatal-care provider to see and whether to plan on using pain relief during deliverywe explain them in a way that helps you pick whats best for you. And when there is a single recommendation, we tell you what it is and why its advised.

Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby also provides the information and support parents need if complications develop during pregnancy. Of course, most pregnancies turn out just fine. But in a small number of them, problems happen. For those women and their families we provide clear, current medical information and advice about how to achieve the best possible outcome for mom and baby.

We also tell you about the latest advances in pregnancy testing that can help you learn about your babys health before birth. Genetic technology is developing rapidly. With the information in this book, you have the facts you need to make the best use of it.

Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby is for all women at any stage of pregnancy.

Ideally youre reading it before you get pregnant, when your lifestyle choices and medical decisions can have the greatest impact on your pregnancy and your babys health.

But half of all pregnancies are unplanned, so theres a good chance that when you picked up this book you were already several weeks or months into your pregnancy.

Thats okay. Learning about pregnancy health and taking steps to care for yourself and your baby can make a difference at any point in your pregnancy. Even if youre just a few weeks from giving birth, the choices you make from today on can increase your odds of having a safe birth and a healthy baby.

Dont waste energy feeling upset with yourself if you missed opportunities before and during pregnancy to take care of your health. Focus on what you can do now. Start where you are, and commit to making healthy choices for the rest of your pregnancy.

Starting where you are includes your personal health. Sure, its great to be in fantastic shape before you get pregnanttrim, fit, and perfectly healthy. But few of us begin pregnancy that way. You may be overweight or underweight. You may not eat many nutritious foods. You may smoke or have a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Perhaps you havent seen a health-care provider in years and have a medical condition thats not under control. Whatever you do, dont throw up your hands and give up. Start where you are and get right down to taking care of yourself as best you can from now on.

No matter what the situation, you can take meaningful, effective steps to improve your chances of having a comfortable pregnancy and a healthy, full-term baby.

No matter what the situation, you can take meaningful, effective steps to improve your chances of having a comfortable pregnancy and a healthy, full-term baby. Women who smoke can quit. Overweight women can improve their diet and start to exercise. Women with diabetes can get help with their blood sugar. Women who dont take prenatal multivitamins can start.

The focus is on what you can do, not what you cant do. And theres a lot you can do.

No book can guarantee a perfect pregnancy. Despite your very best efforts, complications can happen. But if they do, you still have power. The information and resources in Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby can help you get the best outcome possible and receive the support you need.

You have the power to take care of yourself and your baby. Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby shows you the way. The more you know, the healthier youand your babywill be.

All of this information comes from a source you can trust. In the years since its founding in 1938, the March of Dimes has devoted $4 billion to supporting scientific research and educational initiatives that have improved the lives of moms and babies in the United States and throughout the world.

March of Dimes scientists helped eliminate polio, a disabling disease that had paralyzed countless children before the polio vaccine was introduced in the 1950s. They also promoted the use of a system called the Apgar score for evaluating a babys health at birth. The score was created by Dr. Virginia Apgar, who worked tirelessly with the March of Dimes to advance the cause of prenatal health. Since its inception, the Apgar score has been used to assess the health of billions of babies worldwide.

The March of Dimes has devoted $4 billion to supporting scientific research and educational initiatives that have improved the lives of moms and babies in the United States and throughout the world.

The March of Dimes has led the effort to spread the word about the importance of folic acid supplements for women of childbearing age and helped bring about folic acid fortification of the grain and cereal supply. Since folic acid fortification began, the United States has seen a 26 percent decrease in defects of the neural tube, which eventually develops into a babys brain and spine.

Scientists funded by the March of Dimes are also hard at work in the fields of genetics, high-risk pregnancy, and advanced care of critically ill newborns.

Most recently, the March of Dimes has committed millions of dollars to researching the causes of preterm birth and educating women and health-care providers on how to prevent it. Since the start of this initiative, preterm birth rates in the United States have gone down by 5 percent. Research is under way to find ways to lower preterm birth rates even more.

The March of Dimes is working toward a future when all children are born healthy. Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby helps bring us all closer to reaching that goal.

Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby is packed with information. But we dont want you to feel overwhelmedyou have enough on your mind without having to wade through a medical encyclopedia. Thats why weve organized this book in a way that makes it clear and easy to use.