Baby charity Tommy’s and Asda are lending a helping hand to would-be-parents, with the help of the charity’s ‘Having a Healthy Pregnancy’ guide, available for free in Asda Pharmacies.
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Since its inception, the guide has always proved to be an invaluable resource for pregnant women, with expert advice and helpful tips.
Here are seven examples of useful information from the ‘Did you know’ sections of the guide.
1. A healthy diet in pregnancy can help reduce the risk of your child having diabetes and heart disease later in life.
2. Drinking tea and coffee at meal times can interfere with iron absorption, so try drinking water instead, or liquids high in Vitamin C such as orange juice.
3. Vitamin D: most people know folic acid is important to take pre/during pregnancy, however Vitamin D is the lesser known but equally important nutrient, for the formation of healthy bones and teeth for the baby. During these winter months, lack of sunshine can mean vitamin D is harder to come by, so women will be more likely to need a vitamin D supplement.
4. If you stop smoking before the 15th week of your pregnancy, your risk of premature birth and having a small baby becomes the same as that of a non-smoker.
5. Even if you don’t smoke, other people’s smoke can still affect you and your baby if you breathe it in.
6. It is not about ‘eating for two’: an extra 200 calories - the equivalent of two small slices of bread - is all that is recommended and only in the last 12 weeks of pregnancy.
7. Mental health: sometimes, making the changes to your lifestyle that will help get you baby-ready can be tough so always ask for help if you are struggling. Antenatal depression and anxiety is more common than people think – affecting 10-15% of women – and not all women receive the support they need. Discuss any worries you may have with your family, your midwife and particularly your GP, as GPs can fast-track pregnant women for talking therapy so that they get the necessary support.
Tommy’s believes it is unacceptable that one in four women will lose a baby every year, either at pregnancy or birth.
As such the charity aims to ensure that every baby has the best chance of being born healthy, by funding research into pregnancy problems such as miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth, and disseminating pregnancy health information that will help parents-to-be have a healthy baby.
For further information on Tommy’s guide go to: www.tommys.org/asda
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