Even though you may not feel like doing much at all as your belly grows week after week, it’s important to keep moving throughout pregnancy, including in the awkward and uncomfortable last weeks. Third-trimester exercises are some of the most important, helping to alleviate aches and pains while also preparing your body for labor. These exercises will open up the hips and pelvis, strengthening the muscles you’ll be using during childbirth.

“Don’t let fatigue rule the end of your pregnancy. Keep up your exercise schedule with this easy-to-follow plan for months 8-9 of your pregnancy.”

Pelvic Floor Exercises  

Pelvic floor exercises help to strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor. These muscles come under great strain during pregnancy and childbirth.

The pelvic floor muscles are overstretched and weakened underneath that weight so it is important to do pelvic floor exercises to maintain muscle tone. If your pelvic floor muscles are weakened, you may find that you leak urine when you cough, sneeze or strain. This is quite common and you needn’t feel embarrassed. It’s known as stress incontinence and it can continue after pregnancy.

Squats

The full squat position is a passive position that allows gravity to open the pelvis, causing the pelvic floor muscles to engage. Use a prop if you need to, placing a rolled-up towel or yoga mat under your heels if they don’t reach the ground.

Squatting can open your pelvic outlet by 10 percent. When you squat to induce labor, it creates more room for the baby to move down into the birth canal. Squatting during the third trimester helps strengthen your leg muscles. Strong legs are a must when it comes to labor and the final push to give birth. It eases constipation and pressure on the pelvic floor – a blessing during the last few weeks of your pregnancy.

Caution:

Though squatting to induce labor is harmless in most cases, but you need to keep some points in mind. If your baby is in breach position, squatting can prove to be harmful. This is because squatting will force her to descend the birth canal without giving her the chance to move into proper position. So talk to your doctor to make sure your baby is head down before you try squatting.

Gentle Abs  

Given all the stretching that your ab muscles go through during pregnancy to accommodate your growing baby, you wouldn’t be the first woman to wonder if there must be something you can do to keep them in shape and speed recovery after birth. And while pregnancy isn’t the time to strive for the chiseled core you’ve always dreamed of, you can certainly take a few safe steps, with the guidance of your practitioner, to maintain your fitness and keep your core strong during pregnancy. In fact, exercising your abs during pregnancy has lots of benefits, including reduced risk for back pain and potentially even a speedier labor.

You can do abdominal exercise in the late stages of pregnancy, as long as they are gentle exercises that don’t over-strain the abdominal muscles. A basic pelvic tilt is a great place to start and is safe at all stages. For more of a challenge, you can add movement to the pelvic tilt by incorporating knee lifts and toe taps.

The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. The purpose of this website is to promote broad consumer understanding and knowledge of various health topics. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.

Resources:

http://www.momjunction.com/articles/benefits-of-doing-squats-to-induce-labor_00113886/#gref

https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/pelvic-floor-exercises

All soon-to-be parents want their children to be healthy and to have a pregnancy free of major complications. Unfortunately, complications can occur during pregnancy, either with the mother’s health or the child’s. Sometimes, the mother and child are at risk for certain complications throughout the pregnancy because of their family history and genetics.

All pregnant women are offered some form of testing for genetic problems. Now, deciding whether you want to have it done is completely personal. You will want to weigh different factors, including baby’s risk for genetic problems.

What is genetic testing (carrier screening)?

Carrier testing is a type of genetic testing that is used to determine if a person is a carrier for a specific autosomal recessive disease. This kind of testing is used most often by couples who are considering becoming pregnant to determine the risks of their child inheriting one of these genetic disorders. In other words, if you screen positive for a genetic abnormality but your partner does not, your child will not inherit the condition. And even if you both screen positive, there’s only a 25 percent chance your baby will have the disease.

When should you get genetic testing?

Getting screened before you try to get pregnant can give you reassurance (if you or your partner is not a carrier, it’s one less thing to worry about when do you get pregnant) or can help you make an informed game plan for pregnancy. If it turns out that you are both carriers, you can be prepared for and bone up on what it means to have a baby with the genetic condition, choose to learn about certain prenatal tests to check whether your baby’s healthy, or you can consider other options like egg or sperm donation or adoption.

Getting tested once you become pregnant (if you hadn’t done so ahead of time) can help you and your doctor decides the right prenatal tests for your baby, and what to look for if you choose to have them. If you know that your baby’s at an increased risk for having cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease, for instance, your doctor can look for those conditions specifically through either a CVS (chorionic villi sampling) or amniocentesis.

Who are genetic carriers?

If both partners in a couple carry the same recessive disease, then the couple have a one in four chance of a child with that disease. Carrier couples may, therefore, have multiple affected children. Some recessive diseases are relatively mild but others are severe, including many that cause death at or shortly after birth.

What are some of the most common genetic diseases? 

• Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening condition that causes lung damage and digestive problems. It is a progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time. In people with CF, a defective gene causes a thick, sticky buildup of mucus in the lungs, pancreas, and other organs.
• Sickle cell disease is a disorder of the blood caused by an inherited abnormal hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying protein within the red blood cells). The abnormal hemoglobin causes distorted (sickled) red blood cells. The sickled red blood cells are fragile and prone to rupture, most common in people of African and Mediterranean backgrounds, cause a blood disorder that leads to anemia, a weakened immune system, and other health complications.
• Thalassemia is another blood disorder common to people of African and Mediterranean descent. It is an inherited blood disorder in which the body makes an abnormal form of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen. The disorder results in excessive destruction of red blood cells, which leads to anemia and bone growth and liver problems; in severe cases, some babies born with the condition may not survive.
• Tay-Sachs Disease, which mainly affects people of French Canadian and Eastern European Jewish descent, is a disorder of the central nervous system that’s usually fatal in early childhood. Eastern European Jews also face an increased risk for another nervous system disorder called Canavan disease as well as a number of other conditions including familial dysautonomia, familial hyperinsulinism, and Gaucher disease. Your doctor can screen for all of these conditions at the same time.
• Fragile X Syndrome is a genetic condition that causes a range of developmental problems including learning disabilities and cognitive impairment and mental retardation. Usually, males are more severely affected by this disorder than females. Affected individuals usually have delayed development of speech and language by age 2. It is not linked to a specific ethnic background. Reviewing your family’s health history with a doctor or genetic counselor may help you decide whether you should be screened for Fragile X.

Benefits  

When pre-pregnancy carrier screening programs are introduced, they reduce death and disease associated with screened diseases. They can save families from experiencing the tragedy of a child affected by a significant genetic disease. They also reduce the burden of recessive disease with the population as a whole. Each recessive disease is rare but there are hundreds of recessive diseases and so collectively they have wide-ranging social and economic impacts.

So pre-pregnancy carrier screening programs that include many genetic diseases, as now recommended by the American College, would maximize knowledge of genetic risk for couples.

Limitations

When testing genes, some identified variations are definitely harmful while most are definitely harmless. But for some variations, we can’t be sure if they are harmful, and whether or not they will cause disease in any children. There is no guarantee that pre-pregnancy screening will result in a healthy baby, but it will allow couples options to reduce the burden of disease associated with known disease-causing mutations.

Counseling is required before and after the test to explain the risks to couples.

The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. The purpose of this website is to promote broad consumer understanding and knowledge of various health topics. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.

Resources:

https://www.parents.com/getting-pregnant/genetics/tests/health-101-genetic-testing-before-during-pregnancy/

Congratulations – you’re having a baby! When you are pregnant, thinking of all the stuff you may need for the baby can be mind blowing. First trimester is always a DOOZY. Any way you slice it. It’s just hard!  But don’t jump the gun – they’re not even born yet so concentrate on the pregnancy must haves that will make YOU feel better along the way.

New Pants or a Waistband extender 

Your belly may not be visibly rounder yet, but your pants may not be fitting as well, even just a few weeks in. A new pair of pants with a bit of Lycra stretch might round out your wardrobe perfectly.If you don’t want to start buying new clothes just yet, try a waistband extender such as the Belly Belt or Bella Band. Keeping comfy is your new mission, and it’s more important than you may think: Some women report that a looser waistband helps with morning sickness.

Folic Acid

If you’re pregnant or might become pregnant, it’s critically important to get enough folic acid, the synthetic form of vitamin B9, also known as folate. Folic acid helps prevent neural tube defects (NTDs) – serious birth defects of the spinal cord (such as spina bifida) and the brain (such as anencephaly).Taking a folic acid supplement, ideally before you conceive, and then every day for the entire first trimester will help prevent neural tube defects. A daily 400 mcg (microgram) supplement is recommended for most women. Some women need a 5mg (milligram) daily dose so check with your doctor if this applies to you.

Vitamin D 

The study confirmed vitamin D at this level is not only safe for you, but for your baby, and the researchers from this study now recommend this daily dosage of vitamin D for all pregnant women. The average prenatal vitamin only contains 400 IU of vitamin D, so additional supplementation should be taken daily. The Department of Health advice is to consider taking a 10 mcg (microgram) daily supplement. Vitamin D helps keep bones, muscles, and teeth healthy and it can be hard when pregnant to get the amount you need from food and sunlight alone.

Sickness Bands

The first 12 weeks of pregnancy is the time when morning sickness can often make you feel wretched. Morning sickness acupressure bands that you wear around your wrist may help alleviate that nauseous feeling that affects around 80% of women.

Body Pillow

During pregnancy, you may find yourself wrestling in bed trying to get comfortable before falling asleep. Unfortunately, your regular sleeping positions may no longer work for you during pregnancy. There are a number of reasons for this new discomfort, but there are some sleeping positions that you can try that may help you get your much-needed rest. Pillows can help you avoid sleepless nights. You can try various pillows, either regularly used ones or those available specifically for pregnancy use. You may use body-length, U or C-shaped pillows, or wedge-shaped pillows to support your tummy or chest.

Read more: https://sonoline.ca/simple-guide-to-sleeping-well-during-pregnancy/  

Tooth Care

Oral health care – including teeth cleaning, X-rays, pain medication, and local anesthesia – is safe throughout pregnancy. In fact, it’s especially important to have a dental checkup, dental cleaning, and any necessary treatment during pregnancy. Pregnant women are susceptible to gingivitis (inflammation of the gums).

A comfy cotton Bra

The Dual-Use Maternity and Nursing Bra. Later in pregnancy, you have a feel for how things are going with your body. A multi-use bra can be key after the baby comes, for nursing, pumping, and overall comfort.This can double as a nursing and sleep bra because of the wide, comfy cotton that surrounds your breasts.

A good body lotion

Your skin is extra-sensitive now that you’re pregnant. Body scrubs and exfoliants can actually cause micro-tears on your skin, which isn’t just irritating, it can also make it easier for chemicals to be absorbed into it. You’re better off using a loofah or soft washcloth to scrub away dead skin cells.Cocoa Butter for stretch mark. Containing cocoa butter, vitamin E, collagen, elastin and shea butter, this cream is safe to use during pregnancy.

Baby Heartbeat Monitor (Fetal Doppler) 

A Doppler fetal monitor is a hand-held ultrasound transducer used to detect the fetal heartbeat for prenatal care. sometimes referred to as a pocket fetal Doppler. It uses the Doppler effect to provide an audible simulation of the heartbeat. The device sends sound waves through your skin and tissue in search of any movement. When movement is detected, the waves bounce back, creating a pattern, which the fetal Doppler records and plays back for you.You may be able to hear – and see – your baby’s heartbeat for the first time when you’re about 8 weeks pregnant if you have an early ultrasound exam. Otherwise, you’ll probably first hear baby’s heartbeat with a fetal doppler until 10 to 12 weeks.However,  baby’s heart starts to beat at around 6 weeks. Fetal Doppler is highly recommended to ease anxiety and feel reassure throughout pregnancy.

Read more: http://torontek.com/pregnancy/what-is-fetal-doppler/

Pregnancy Journal 

Collecting your thoughts and putting pen to paper is especially rewarding during pregnancy. Not only will you have a personal record of your life during this time, you’ll create a special gift for your child years later. Few experiences are more magical than creating a new life in your own body and then watching it grow. Pregnancy is also a time of transformation and deep questioning for you. A pregnant woman’s inner life is powerful, private, and often disturbing. After pregnancy, nothing is ever the same.By keeping a diary or journal, a woman chooses to confront rather than ignore the issues that come up for her during pregnancy. Her quiet time of introspection and writing will be among the most important moments she spends on her journey into motherhood.

The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. The purpose of this website is to promote broad consumer understanding and knowledge of various health topics. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.

Resources:

https://www.webmd.boots.com/pregnancy/features/pregnancy-kit-essentials

https://www.babycenter.com/0_write-your-own-pregnancy-diary_5827.bc

Swimming for Pregnant Women

Swimming is the safest form of exercise for expectant moms. It can benefit you – and your baby – by strengthening your heart and making it more efficient at pumping blood. This improves circulation to your whole body and boosts oxygen levels in your blood. Swimming gives you all this and more!

The benefits of swimming during pregnancy

• It works both of your large muscle groups (arms and legs).
• The water keeps you from overheating and prevents injury by supporting your joints and ligaments as you exercise, which is especially helpful for moms-to-be with round ligament pain. The buoyancy of the water lets you enjoy a feeling of weightlessness despite the extra pounds of pregnancy.
• It counteracts increased back strain from your expanding belly. Pregnancy can make your spine and shoulders round forward and tilt your pelvis out of alignment, but swimming gently strengthens the muscles and offsets this tendency.
• Immersing yourself in water alleviates swelling in your arms and legs.

Getting enough exercise is essential especially for breathing which will be very helpful during labor and getting the right doppler will be very helpful to ease fear and anxiety during pregnancy.

Swimming tips for the first, second and third semester

First: Swimming first thing in the morning may prevent nausea and energize you for the rest of the day. Use a kickboard, noodle, or another type of pool equipment to vary your workout and keep it fun.

If the smell of chlorine triggers nausea or causes skin or eye discomfort, see if there’s a saltwater pool in your area. If you want to swim in a body of water like an ocean, lake, or pond, check your healthcare provider first because germs and bacteria in open water can cause illness.

Second:  As your pregnancy progresses and you grow larger, you won’t need to cut down on swimming very much because it’s such a gentle activity for expectant moms.

The water’s buoyancy also reduces the effects of gravity on your body, so you can lie on your back to do the backstroke without risking the impaired blood flow such positions can cause on dry land.

Third: Comfort is key during the last weeks of pregnancy, so try different strokes to see which ones feel most comfortable. You may also want to get a maternity swimsuit to accommodate your expanding belly. You can use a snorkel to relieve the pressure on your neck when you bob up and down for air.

If you have sore or tight muscles, try walking in the shallow end of the pool instead of swimming. Move your arms through the water as you walk for more resistance. If you feel tired, use a paddle board to support your upper body, and take breaks as needed.Be extra careful when getting out of the pool, and wear non-slip footwear for walking on wet surfaces.

General Tips

Try to swim for 20 to 30 minutes on most, if not all, days of the week. If you swam regularly before pregnancy, you should be able to continue without much modification. Just be sure you know the warning signs to slow down or stop exercising.

A good guideline is to aim to drink one 8-ounce glass before you start your swim, one glass for every 20 minutes of exercise, and one glass after you get out of the pool. In hot or humid weather, you need more.