Pregnancy Health & Pregnancy Nutrition

Nutrition and pregnancy refers to the nutrient intake, and dietary planning that is undertaken before, during and after pregnancy. All dietary advice relating to pregnancy-related nutrition is noted by Mary E. Barasi as one of the major factors in determining the future well-being of a child conceived, some factors of a diet are even noted to reduce childhood morbidity and mortality due to helping the supply of nutrients to the mother.

In a precursory study into the link between nutrition and pregnancy in 1950 women who consumed minimal amounts over the eight week period had a higher mortality or disorder rate concerning their offspring than women who ate regularly, because children born to well-fed mothers had less restriction within the womb.

Not only have physical disorders been linked with poor nutrition before and during pregnancy, but neurological disorders and handicaps are a risk that is run by mothers who are malnourished, a condition which can also lead to the child becoming more susceptible to later degenerative disease(s).

The following sections refer to the pertinence of nutrition throughout pregnancy, and are thoroughly researched enough to be usable for mothers or couples planning on conceiving.

Prenatal care refers to the medical and nursing care recommended for women before and during pregnancy. The aim of good prenatal care is to detect any potential problems early, to prevent them if possible (through recommendations on adequate nutrition, exercise, vitamin intake etc), and to direct the woman to appropriate specialists, hospitals, etc. if necessary. The availability of routine prenatal care has played a part in reducing maternal death rates and miscarriages as well as birth defects, low birth weight, and other preventable infant problems in the developed world.

While availability of prenatal care has considerable personal health and social benefits, socioeconomic problems prevent its universal adoption in many developed as well as developing nations.

One prenatal practice is for the expecting mother to consume vitamins with at least 400 mcg of folic acid to help prevent neural tube defects.

Prenatal care generally consists of:

* monthly visits during the first two trimesters (from week 1-28)

* biweekly from 28 to week 36 of pregnancy

* weekly after week 36 (delivery at week 38-40)

* Assessment of parental needs and family dynamic

:"Unborn child" redirects here; for other uses, see unborn child (disambiguation).

Prenatal or antenatal development is the process in which an embryo or fetus (or foetus) gestates during pregnancy, from fertilization until birth. Often, the terms fetal development, foetal development, or embryology are used in a similar sense.

After fertilization the embryogenesis starts. In humans, when embryogenesis finishes, by the end of the 10th week of gestational age, the precursors of all the major organs of the body have been created. Therefore, the following period, the fetal period, is described both topically on one hand, i.e. by organ, and strictly chronologically on the other, by a list of major occurrences by weeks of gestational age.