What You Should Avoid During Pregnancy

As a pregnant mother your goal is to conceive a healthy baby.

As much as we love to indulge in the luxuries of life, there are many things a pregnant mother needs to cut out during pregnancy.

High exposure to certain foods and chemicals can cause serious health defects and mental issues with the newborn.

Here is a comprehensive list of things you should avoid when you are pregnant.

Vitamin A

Small doses of vitamin A is necessary during pregnancy. But medium to high doses can lead to birth defects in the child. Avoid vitamin A supplements, foods that are high in vitamin A, or any synthetic vitamin A drugs such as Accutane or Roaccutane. By consuming as little as 4 times the RDA of vitamin A, you greatly increase the risk of having a baby with birth defects.

Alcohol

Again, a bit of red wine once in a while is fine. But excessive consumption can increase the risk of miscarriage and congenital deformities. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is the worst-case scenario, leading to severe retardation and other abnormalities.

It is recommended that you should completely cut out alcohol all together during pregnancy, but if you are to drink, you should have no more than 3 or 4 standard drinks a week.

Fish

Fish is rich in omega 3 essential fatty acids and should be consumed during pregnancy. However, there are certain fish groups that contain too much mercury which can harm the health of your newborn. High mercury fish includes, swordfish, blue fin tuna, catfish, marlin, broadbill, perch, gemfish, shark…..etc. Try to keep away from fish containing high levels of mercury.

Illegal Drug

Whether you are pregnant or not, you should stay away from illegal drugs. Illegal drugs can cause the newborn to have low birth weight, central nervous system damage that may delay or impair neurobehavioral development, mild to severe withdrawal effects, and physical malformations such as cleft palate, heart murmurs, eye defects, and abnormalities of facial features and other organ systems.

Over Counter Drugs

You should discuss with your GP any OTC drugs you think about taking. This includes aspirins and cough medicine.

Caffeine

Cut out the coffee. Caffeine taken during pregnancy is thought to increase the probability of a child contracting diabetes. Tea in moderation is ok.

Cigarettes and cigarette smoke

Quite smoking if you’re pregnant. Smoking effects the development of the fetus and can result in spontaneous abortion, pre-term births, and premature fetal and infant deaths. Even if you’re not a smoker, second hand smoke is just as harmful.

Nuts

Avoid nuts of all form if you have a family history of food allergies. Exposure to peanuts during pregnancy and through breastfeeding can increase the chance of the allergy developing if your baby has a predisposition.

Hot Baths, Sauna, steam rooms

There is a potential danger to the developing fetus if your body temperature rises above 102 degrees.

Radiation

We all know the possible deformities that occurs from constant exposure to radiation. Try avoiding any form of radiation such as X-rays, microwaves, or electric blankets.

Pesticides

Pesticides (including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and so on) can have a variety of effects on your unborn baby depending on the type of chemical, the length and intensity of exposure and the age of the fetus. In general it is best to avoid exposure to all pesticides.

Cheese
Cheese may be contaminated with bacteria known as Listeria that can result in causing miscarriage and premature births and they could raise the chances of listeriosis.

Uncooked or under-cooked Meat

Avoid eating any uncooked or undercooked meat as it presents the risk of toxoplasmosis, which causes birth defects.

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