Knowing What To Avoid In Pregnancy
Written by admin on Monday, March 29th, 2010 in Acne.
Whilst you want to enjoy your pregnancy, you may be worrying about the sometimes conflicting advice that can be given by well meaning people around you. Older woman in particular are prone to giving information that may be medically outdated and could potentially cause problems to your unborn baby.
Grandmothers and mothers are very keen on saying things like ‘we were never told to avoid certain foods and drinks when i was pregnant and no harm came to you!’ This is because when they were pregnant doctors simply did not know what they now know due to medical intervention and research. Miscarriages occurred in their day due to what we now know to be preventable incidents such as avoiding foods that cause salmonella in the expectant mother.
There are obvious things to avoid if pregnant and common sense will tell you this (and your midwife!) Despite the vast array of beautiful tattoo designs for women it is not advisable to get tattooed when pregnant and you may find a reputable tattooist would not tattoo you when pregnant anyway. Tattooists have listed reasons such as the risk of fainting or the pain causing a big shock and sending women into labour prematurely as some of the reasons why they will not tattoo pregnant women.
An early pregnancy guide will often advise against caffeine intake, there is also conflicting advice regarding this. Some studies have shown that drinking a few cups of coffee per day in early pregnancy can increase the miscarriage risk. Other studies dispute this; it is recommended that if you still want to drink coffee in the first trimester that you have less than three a day. Some women choose not to drink it altogether in the first three months, mainly due to ‘going off’ the taste and smell.
You may find that the pregnancy hormones cause you to break out in acne. Should this happen do not use products that contain salicylic acid or retinoid as these are unsafe to use in pregnancy.
A glycolic acid skin care treatment is a safe option whilst pregnant and is usually very effective. If this does not work for you then a prescription of a topical skin care cream can be obtained from your doctor.
It is also important that you eat well and get all the additional nutrients that you need. You will be made aware of which foods to avoid and the best ones to eat by your midwife. It is important to get enough iron as it is very common to become anaemic during pregnancy, if this does occur your doctor or midwife can prescribe iron tablet supplements to get your energy levels back to normal.