1)Nausea & Vomiting
‘Morning sickness’ most common during 1st trimester.
Not all women
Severe and continued vomiting may require hospitalization if it results in acidosis, dehydration or excessive weight loss.
Probable causes - relaxation of digestive muscles due to hormonal change, increased gastric pressure (growing fetus),& anxiety.
2) Constipation and Hemorrhoids
Hormones alter muscle tone and the growing fetus crowds intestinal organs (2nd & 3rd trimester)
Causes: iron in prenatal vitamins, enlarging uterus, decreased bowel motility, decreases in physical activity, & inadequate fluid or fiber intake.
Hemorrhoids (swollen veins of the rectum)
3) Heartburn
Caused by increased levels of progesterone, causing relaxation of digestion muscles, and the growing fetus puts increasing pressure on mother’s stomach.
This combinations allows stomach acid to back up into the lower esophagus and create a burning sensation near the heart
4) Food cravings and Aversions
to particular foods and beverages
Fairly common
Do not seem to reflect real physiological needs (e.g)
Due to hormone-induced changes in sensitivity to taste and smell
5) Nonfood cravings
Laundry starch, clay, soil, ice – pica
Often associated with iron-deficiency anemia, whether ID leads to pica or pica leads to ID is unclear
Malnutrition and early pregnancy
Prevents the full development of placenta; so can’t deliver optimum nourishment to the fetus infant will be born small and possibly with physical and cognitive abnormalities.
Small female infants, have an elevated risk of developing a chronic condition that could impair her ability to give birth to a healthy infant.
Thus, can adversely affect children and grandchildren.
Malnutrition and fetal development
Fetal growth retardation
Congenital malformations (birth defects)
Spontaneous abortion and stillbirth
Premature birth
Low infant birthweight
Malnutrition + low birthweight = factor in more than half of all deaths of children under four years of age worldwide
No comments:
Post a Comment