Ensuring a Healthy Baby

Ensuring a healthy baby is simple by following a well balanced meal and intake of folic acid and iron supplements. Find out how to remain fit and healthy during the seventh month. A healthy baby ensues from a healthy pregnancy. And this can be ensured by taking care of your lifestyle, habits and certain precautions. Diet is one of the major aspects to take note in this regard. There are three principal aspects to this - adequate calories, folic acid intake and iron supplements in your diet. In this articleHow Would You Ensure Nutrition?Problems Due to Increased AppetitePrecautions During Seventh Month for a Healthy BabyHow Would You Ensure Nutrition? A well balanced meal that has all the nutritional requirements of a pregnant lady and a growing baby must be ensured. As the baby grows, his requirement also increases. It is a myth that a pregnant woman must eat for two; rather, the mother to be must ensure that she is eating enough to meet the needs of her body and the baby. After all, the baby is deriving his diet from the mother. In the seventh month of pregnancy, the mother must intake around 400 calories per day. To clear understanding, here is how you can measure approximately 200 calories – 2 slices of whole grain toast, layered with jam and half-cup of low fat milk. 2 slices of whole grain toast sandwiched with a layer of 60 grams of low-fat cheese spread and half-cup of apple juice. 1 medium sized boiled mashed potatoes and 90 grams of grilled chicken breast. These are all alternatives to a lot of common Indian meals like hand made rotis, a bowl of pulses, whole grains and fish and chicken. The point to note is that the body always gives signals for every reaction taking place within it. If you are a stickler for a perfect diet but are unsure, just note the indications in your body. You will automatically get to know the amount of your diet and the type that is suiting your body. During the course of your pregnancy, your diet will fluctuate a lot. Problems Due to Increased Appetite When you are having an increased appetite during the seventh month, you might at times also feel heartburn, flatulence and an uncomfortable full feeling post meal. This is natural, as the baby is growing and the uterus is pushing against your stomach and abdominal walls. You must now resort to easy to digest, food cooked in a simple manner and regular smaller meals, instead of the heavier ones. This will help you stay fit. Remember to take the folic acid and iron supplements as suggested by your doctor. Include leafy green veggies, seasonal fruits and vegetables, cereals and pulses and milk and milk products, eggs, fish, chicken and lean cuts of meat in your diet. Drink plenty of water and fruit juices throughout the day. Keep yourself hydrated always, this will improve circulation and ensure the health of the baby too. Precautions During Seventh Month for a Healthy Baby Apart from diet, take care of your movements and posture during this stage. As your baby is mostly head-down during this stage, you must see to it that you do not spend a lot of time standing on your feet. Besides, since there is a tendency of your feet swelling up, make sure that you are not leading a sedentary life as well. There should be an adequate amount of activity always under the advice of your doctor, that will ensure that you remain fit and healthy till the time that you go into labour and after that. A fit body will also ensure that you have an easier and less stressful delivery. Some simple precautions will ensure that the health of the baby is not compromised. Avoid lying on your back and try to sleep sideways, avoid jerky movements and sudden standing up from sitting or lying down. Remember, as you are heavily pregnant, your fulcrum of the body or the point of balance is shifted, so be careful with your movements. It is also better to avoid the stairs at this stage.

Ensuring a healthy baby is simple by following a well balanced meal and intake of folic acid and iron supplements. Find out how to remain fit and healthy during the seventh month.

A healthy baby ensues from a healthy pregnancy. And this can be ensured by taking care of your lifestyle, habits and certain precautions. Diet is one of the major aspects to take note in this regard. There are three principal aspects to this - adequate calories, folic acid intake and iron supplements in your diet.

How Would You Ensure Nutrition?

A well balanced meal that has all the nutritional requirements of a pregnant lady and a growing baby must be ensured. As the baby grows, his requirement also increases. It is a myth that a pregnant woman must eat for two; rather, the mother to be must ensure that she is eating enough to meet the needs of her body and the baby. After all, the baby is deriving his diet from the mother.

In the seventh month of pregnancy, the mother must intake around 400 calories per day. To clear understanding, here is how you can measure approximately 200 calories –

• 2 slices of whole grain toast, layered with jam and half-cup of low fat milk.

• 2 slices of whole grain toast sandwiched with a layer of 60 grams of low-fat cheese spread and half-cup of apple juice.

• 1 medium sized boiled mashed potatoes and 90 grams of grilled chicken breast.

These are all alternatives to a lot of common Indian meals like hand made rotis, a bowl of pulses, whole grains and fish and chicken.

The point to note is that the body always gives signals for every reaction taking place within it. If you are a stickler for a perfect diet but are unsure, just note the indications in your body. You will automatically get to know the amount of your diet and the type that is suiting your body. During the course of your pregnancy, your diet will fluctuate a lot.

Problems Due to Increased Appetite

When you are having an increased appetite during the seventh month, you might at times also feel heartburn, flatulence and an uncomfortable full feeling post meal. This is natural, as the baby is growing and the uterus is pushing against your stomach and abdominal walls. You must now resort to easy to digest, food cooked in a simple manner and regular smaller meals, instead of the heavier ones. This will help you stay fit.

Remember to take the folic acid and iron supplements as suggested by your doctor. Include leafy green veggies, seasonal fruits and vegetables, cereals and pulses and milk and milk products, eggs, fish, chicken and lean cuts of meat in your diet. Drink plenty of water and fruit juices throughout the day. Keep yourself hydrated always, this will improve circulation and ensure the health of the baby too.

Precautions During Seventh Month for a Healthy Baby

Apart from diet, take care of your movements and posture during this stage. As your baby is mostly head-down during this stage, you must see to it that you do not spend a lot of time standing on your feet. Besides, since there is a tendency of your feet swelling up, make sure that you are not leading a sedentary life as well. There should be an adequate amount of activity always under the advice of your doctor, that will ensure that you remain fit and healthy till the time that you go into labour and after that. A fit body will also ensure that you have an easier and less stressful delivery.

Some simple precautions will ensure that the health of the baby is not compromised. Avoid lying on your back and try to sleep sideways, avoid jerky movements and sudden standing up from sitting or lying down. Remember, as you are heavily pregnant, your fulcrum of the body or the point of balance is shifted, so be careful with your movements. It is also better to avoid the stairs at this stage.