It takes nine months, or 40 weeks or about 280 days, for the unborn baby to develop in the womb – a long time during which the placenta, also known as the placenta, nourishes the growing life. Day after day, the mother absorbs nutrients, but also dangerous, unhealthy or even toxic substances. Everything is shared by mother and child, including what does not agree with them, e.g. cigarettes, alcohol, drugs and many medications. In this way, substances reach the unborn child that can harm it.
Avoid alcohol and cigarettes
In first place among the dangerous substances is alcohol: embryos are extremely susceptible to even small amounts of alcohol during the first three months of pregnancy; they not infrequently pay a high price if they have to “drink” alcohol regularly or copiously. They are born with physical and mental developmental delays or damage that doctors are often unable to repair. So-called “alcohol embryopathy” affects babies with varying degrees of severity, including heart defects, facial deformities, hearing disorders, hyperactivity or brain damage.
The placenta can’t tell the difference
The placenta is not a filter that distinguishes between harmful and beneficial substances – and so the unborn baby gets its share of toxins, such as from smoking: Cigarette smoke contains about 4,000 different toxic and carcinogenic substances, such as arsenic, benzene, hydrogen cyanide, lead, cadmium, carbon monoxide and tar. All unborn babies react to cigarettes with developmental problems and low weight gain. This is because with each puff, nicotine enters the shared circulation of mother and child. The blood vessels constrict and disrupt the baby’s oxygen supply. It is also exposed to toxic carbon monoxide, which also worsens the oxygen supply. It may then be born prematurely or perhaps on time but as a “deficient baby.” In either case, babies usually have a lot of trouble catching up with their developmental delays. According to medical studies, children of smoking mothers are 30 percent more likely to develop allergies and asthma. By the way, passive smoking is just as dangerous as active smoking, according to numerous studies.
Luxury foods: coffee and tea in moderation
A study by Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark (source: British Medical Journal 2003, Volume 326) examined whether coffee consumption during pregnancy increases the risk of stillbirth or infant mortality in the first year of life. Scientists had gained this suspicion from studies on monkeys. They analyzed data from more than 18,000 pregnancies in relation to coffee consumption: it was found that those women who drank at least eight cups of coffee per day had a threefold increased risk of stillbirth compared to those women who remained caffeine-abstinent. Surprisingly, those women who drank one to three cups of coffee per day had a slight, though not significant, reduction in risk compared to the completely coffee-abstinent pregnant women. Four to seven cups slightly increased the risk. The study leaders conclude that the “threshold” for the harmful effects of coffee is likely to be around four to seven cups of coffee per day. No correlation was found between coffee consumption and infant mortality in the first year of life. The same is true for black tea. Herbal teas, however, are permitted and even encouraged.
Environmental exposures
This is where the problem begins: Certain pollutants such as heavy metals, have been in our food for decades and are still found in almost all foods today. Very basically, fruits and vegetables should be thoroughly washed and peeled. With food from organic cultivation, at least no pesticides are guaranteed, but pollutants from the soil and air also accumulate here. Medical experts have proven that environmental toxins damage the reproductive organs. Doctors advise even before the beginning of a pregnancy to carry out appropriate tests and to have homes such as workplaces checked. Heavy metals are among the most dangerous environmental toxins. Particularly when mothers are highly contaminated with lead, malformations can occur in their children, and premature births and stillbirths are more common. In many old buildings, old lead pipes pollute the drinking water. Lead is also present in many paints and in foodstuffs grown in urban areas. The same applies to cadmium: it accumulates in the amniotic fluid and interferes with the baby’s growth.It is present in high concentrations in haddock or liver, and also in cigarettes. Mercury that enters the body via dental fillings containing amalgam can cause brain damage in the unborn child. Teeth should not be remediated immediately before pregnancy, because the substances can still be detected in the blood for months. To help excretion, selenium and vitamin C help.
Medications and vitamins
Bitter pills are mainly the headache pills, sedatives and sleeping pills, slimming or laxatives, which one takes out of habit “just like that”. The side effect: mental and physical damage – again, the first three months of development are particularly explosive. In the case of acute or chronic illnesses, the pregnant woman does not have to give up medicines such as antibiotics, but her doctor must advise her. In the case of pronounced complaints such as severe headaches, painkillers can also be taken. Tablets containing paracetamol are particularly recommended – acetylsalicylic acid (found in aspirin, among others) should not be taken, especially in the last third of pregnancy. In the case of vaccinations, the doctor should be informed of pregnancy. When traveling to countries for which preventive vaccinations are recommended, one should carefully consider whether this trip is really necessary for a pregnant woman. Travel prophylaxis with live vaccine (cholera, measles, mumps, rubella) is not recommended. Diphtheria, TBE (early summer meningoencephalitis, transmitted by ticks), meningitis, pneumococcus, tuberculosis, rabies and typhoid should not be vaccinated. Malaria prophylaxis can be given with some, but not all, medications. Vitamins are important and vital, especially, of course, during pregnancy. But: be careful with vitamin A, which is found in animal foods (and as provitamin beta-carotene also in plant foods). If it is lacking, it leads to growth disorders and night blindness. Too much, for example, when taken additionally in tablet form or in excessive consumption of t ier liver, it can lead to malformations in the unborn child.
Nutrition during pregnancy
Through a healthy diet, the expectant mother can do a lot for the baby. A recommendation from Medicine-Worldwide says: 10 percent protein, 35 percent fat, 55 percent carbohydrates should be consumed by pregnant women. Fats should be vegetable-based if possible and also high in fiber (whole-grain bread, fruits, vegetables).
