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Antenatal
Care
By Dr. Malpani
Take care to be born well.
- George Bernard Shaw
We are all familiar with the adage:
'Be good to your baby before it is born'. This aphorism serves to emphasize
the importance of medical care during pregnancy (known as antenatal care).
However, in reality, the best time to start taking care of your unborn
baby is even before you conceive! Such care is called pre-pregnancy or
pre-conception care.
Why is this care so important? Remember,
that the foetal organs are actively developing during the first 12 weeks
of pregnancy (this crucial period is called 'organogenesis'.) The embryo
is highly susceptible to external insults during this time, so that any
damage can lead to crippling birth defects.
The beauty about pre-pregnancy care
is that it is so simple. All that is involved is visiting your doctor before
you are planning to get pregnant, rather than after you've missed your
menstrual period! The doctor normally undertakes the following procedures:
(1) takes a medical history; (2) carries out a physical examination; and
(3) performs some simple laboratory tests. These procedures are inexpensive
and easy to conduct and signify examples of preventive medicine at its
best!
Nipping problems
in the bud
Pre-pregnancy care also leads to
other benefits. For instance, it allows the doctor (duly assisted by you)
to identify problems and rectify them. If, on the other hand, these problems
were to be spotted only after you became pregnant, detailed testing can
become very difficult, because the very presence of the delicate embryo
can impede testing. The harsh reality is that not all problems are preventable,
but you can, nevertheless, increase your chances of having a healthy baby
by identifying the risks you face and trying to eliminate them, if possible.
After all, most doctors go in for a battery of tests before performing
major surgery, to make sure that the patient is healthy enough to withstand
the stress generated by the operation and the anesthesia. Pregnancy can
also stress the body, and it is important to screen the woman for potential
problems before she embarks on one of the most important journeys she will
ever make!
The most important precaution to
be taken is to ensure a regular intake of a vitamin called folic acid.
Folic acid greatly reduces the chances of your baby being born with spina
bifida (a developmental anomaly affecting the spinal cord) or anencephaly
(without a brain) if taken before you become pregnant and during the first
six weeks of pregnancy. This vitamin is now routinely prescribed in many
countries in the West to prevent many birth defects.
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