Prenatal Care Worksheet

Patients should be given information regarding the importance of prenatal care and availability of prenatal care for future pregnancies.

There are certain activities women at the end of the second trimester and beginning of third trimester can do in order to ensure healthy fetal development, which later contributes to healthy child development. The first suggested activity could be the intake of prenatal vitamins, especially folic acid, which is essential for proper growth and development in the fetal stage (American Pregnancy Association, 2012). This can be achieved through taking synthetic multivitamins specifically designed for pregnant women as well as ensuring a healthy diet full of colorful fruits and vegetables. Developmentally, folic acid intake during pregnancy is critical in order to prevent neural tube defects in the developing fetus, which would lead to physical and psychological issues in childhood (Heseker, 2011).

Most pregnant woman imagine how their developing fetus looks like, what the developing fetus is doing at a particular point, and aspire to deliver a healthy baby. Most important, many prenatal and postpartum women are eager to know what she can do to help deliver a healthy baby and how to care for the newborn. Here are some advices and activities offered to a prenatal, postpartum, and future development of a child includes healthy foods, consumption of adequate water, exercise, medication awareness, and emotions.

Since the beginning of time, the birth of a baby was a sign of a new life, and within today’s society, many of those lives start within a hospital with the assistance of different medical staff. Now, every family and parent is different in regards to the upbringing of their future child well before their birth, and in order to protect and support this idea; different programs were established within Canada. The Canadian Prenatal Nutrition Program which was established in 1995 can be considered one, as they work to provide support to the health and wellbeing of pregnant women within different communities. Within their program some prominent goals mentioned are: to improve maternal-infant health, increase birth weight rate, and promote breastfeeding

Michelle, R.A., (2013) The effects of maternal nutrition on fetal psychological development. International Journal of Childbirth Education.28.3:p90.

Early prenatal care is essential to mothers and babies. Doctors preferably see their pregnant patients around 8 weeks of pregnancy in which an initial evaluation is conducted which includes checking for sexually transmitted infections, they screen for gestational diabetes, and to find out when the due date is. When a woman comes in during the third trimester for an initial check-up, the due date is typically not accurate; which could result in preterm labour. Being born preterm has severe consequences, such babies are more at risk for respiratory distress syndrome, and later on in life diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Among the benefits of prenatal care is the ability to anticipate future or current problems; hence, it is essential to the health of both mother and child. Prenatal care allows health care providers to take timely measures to ensure the wellbeing of the mother and

Women need to eat foods in larger amounts as she is not only feeding herself, but her baby as well. Enjoying a variety of fruits and vegetables is vital as well as increasing intake of grain and cereal foods to eight serves a day. These foods contain folic acid which is a vitamin crucial in helping to prevent birth defects in the baby’s brain and spine. Colourful vegetables and fruits also are low in calories and filled with fibres, vitamins and minerals, which will help keep the mother and her baby

Good nutrition is one of the best ways we know to aid in healthy brain development. It is important that families provide an environment that supports health in both lifestyle and nutrition. Good nutrition is important for both the pregnant mother and the infant. Pregnant mothers need appropriate amounts of folic acid and iron, and should avoid nicotine, alcohol, and illicit drugs throughout their entire pregnancy. The developing brain craves iron.

Statistically, African American have 2.5 times the likelihood of women of other races to start prenatal care in the third trimesters, or in some cases, not at all (Heisler, 18). Prenatal care includes education and counseling about how to handle various aspects of pregnancy in terms of nutrition, the importance of adequate physical activity, and basic infant care skills. This education encourages appropriate weight gain and discourages alcohol and tobacco consumption during pregnancy. It can be inferred from this information that prenatal care will reduce the occurrence of low birthweights and short gestational age births (premature births) (Heisler, 18).This education can also decrease deaths due to accidents or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). No prenatal care for the mother will result in a high probability that the infant will die in the first month after birth. However, it is a sad reality that many African American women do not have access to or knowledge of prenatal care; this unawareness will result in an equally disparaging consequence - high

Pregnancy Pregnancy is a crucial period of life for a new baby. The mother needs to get certain nutrients in her system for her unborn baby to be happy and healthy. An unborn baby cannot control how much nutrients it receives. Therefore the mother has to be safe and smart with her food intake. She has to eat good food for the nutrients essential for the development of the baby, and stay away from foods and other things that can be harmful to the baby.

Giving birth to a baby is the most amazing and miraculous experiences for parents and their loved ones. Every woman’s birth story is different and full of joy. Furthermore, the process from the moment a woman knows that she’s pregnant to being in the delivering room is very critical to both her and the newborn baby. Prenatal care is extremely important and it can impact greatly the quality of life of the baby. In this paper, the topic of giving birth will be discussed thoroughly by describing the stories of two mothers who gave birth in different decades and see how their prenatal cares are different from each other with correlation of the advancement of modern medicine between four decades.

Foods and their nutrients are essential to life. In the beginning years of life an infant’s nutritional health depends on the family unit. Parents must have knowledge of the changing food needs of the child and must also have sufficient resources to provide food, shelter, and clothing for the family. Equally important, parents create the cultural and psychological environment that influences the

Prenatal care is widely accepted as an important element in improving pregnancy outcome. (Gorrie, McKinney, Murray, 1998). Prenatal care is defined as care of a pregnant woman during the time in the maternity cycle that begins with conception and ends with the onset of labor. A medical, surgical, gynecologic, obstretic, social and family history is taken (Mosby's Medical, Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary, 1998). It is important for a pregnant woman as well as our society to know that everything that you do has an effect on your baby. Because so many women opt not to receive the benefits of prenatal care, our society sees the ramification, which include a variety of complications primarily

Prenatal care is medical care for pregnant woman and is important for a healthy pregnancy. Its key components include regular checkups and prenatal testing, eating healthfully, exercising, and beginning as soon as one knows she is pregnant.

Many times a woman does not know she is pregnant so she does not take a folic acid supplementation. Women should be consuming .4mg of folic acid before and during pregnancy. Women that have had a neural tube defect pregnancy should take 4.0 mg of folic acid a day to prevent another neural tube defect pregnancy. Women should continue taking folic acid supplements through the first trimester (Kumar, 2009).