Observer Online | Preparing for Baby Means Taking a Closer Look at Your Nutrition

Edition of Jan. 18, 2008

Preparing for Baby Means Taking a Closer Look at Your Nutrition

By Rebecca Plevin

Observer Staff Writer

People spend months meticulously planning trips and weddings, so why wouldn't women spend that much time planning a pregnancy?

According to Dona Dei, a registered nurse and the March of Dimes' state director of program services for the National Capital Area, about 50 percent of pregnancies are unplanned or unexpected. For that reason, she said, sexually active women who are not taking precautions should be prepared to become pregnant at any time.

"If there is a baby in the future someday, the time to prepare for that is now," she said. Women, she said, should "conduct your life as though you could be pregnant."

Dei said every woman should have a reproductive life plan, and should discuss with her partner when she plans on becoming pregnant and how many children she wants to have. "A pregnancy and the outcomes last forever," she said. "If you are prepared for these sort of things from day one, it makes planning and having a baby more comprehensive."

The March of Dimes is now promoting preconception care, which encourages women to make improvements in their health and lifestyle before prenatal care is even an issue. One of the top preconception care recommendations is that all women of birthing age should take a multi-vitamin with 400 micrograms of folic acid, Dei said.

Since women started taking folic acid in the early 1990s, Dei said, incidences of spinal bifida and other neural tube defects have decreased by about 30 percent. This B vitamin has been proven to prevent birth defects to the spine and brain and may also protect men and women from strokes, colon cancer and breast cancer, according to the March of Dimes.

Folic acid is also found in fortified foods like enriched bread, flour, pasta rice, and cereals, as well as in lentils, asparagus, spinach, black beans, peanuts, orange juice, romaine lettuce and broccoli.

Dei also recommended that women improve their daily habits before they become pregnant and maintain a lifestyle of moderation. They should be at a healthy weight and should cut back on caffeine, drinking, smoking and drugs, she said.

Women should also stay away from unsafe chemicals, including unsafe stress levels in high-stress jobs, Dei said. She said stress can have an adverse effect on vitamin intake and said long hours of sitting can decrease blood flow to the uterus.

But preconception and prenatal care does not mean cutting out all vices. Women can look forward to treatments such as pregnancy massages and other treats at health and beauty spas.