Can a glass of milk a day while pregnant help you "grow" a taller child?

If you want your babies to grow up to be tall, drink milk according to new research. They found that women who drank at least a quarter pint of milk per day were more likely to have tall teenagers.

Prenatal care is the health care a woman receives during pregnancy. This involves checkups with a physician and regular prenatal testing to make sure that the pregnancy is going well.

A doctor may prescribe multivitamins to prepare and strengthen the mother’s body during pregnancy. Usually, the multivitamin will include folic acid, which is very essential especially in the early stages of pregnancy. As for other strong medication like antibiotics, it is always best to ask your doctor whether you can continue or should stop taking these medicines.

The mother should also consume all the nutrients that she can, each day. These include iron, Vitamin C, Calcium, Zinc and Vitamin D.

The best and easiest way to consume these nutrients is by keeping a very healthy and balanced diet. This means eating a variety of healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and calcium-rich foods, like milk.

Milk is highly recommended for women, since it contains many of the above-mentioned nutrients needed by the mother. These nutrients are as follows:

Calcium: Since the baby gets its calcium from the bones of the mother, including milk in her diet will strengthen both her and her baby’s bones. Apart from this, milk also helps increase the height of the baby.

Proteins: Aside from calcium, milk also provides essential proteins that serve a number of important functions during pregnancy like the buildup of the uterus, blood supply and the baby’s tissues. Studies have shown that insufficient protein intake while a woman is pregnant has resulted in decreased birth weight and health problems for the baby.

Vitamin D: Milk is also one of the few sources of Vitamin D which is another essential nutrient for pregnant women and their babies to prevent neonatal problems or low birth weight.
Apart from a proper diet, a healthier lifestyle should be observed by mothers during pregnancy:

1. Proper weight (not too much and not too little) should be kept, and will be determined by the health care provider.
2. Alcohol, smoking and drugs should be avoided. Even second-hand smoke can be harmful to the mother and the baby’s health.
3. The mother should have at least 2 hours of moderate-intensity aerobic exercises every week, unless a doctor recommends against it.
4. Sleep should be regular.
5. Stress should be kept at a minimum.

These are just some of the many suggestions that can be followed during your pregnancy, but it is always best to consult your health provider / doctor.

From: Victory A.R.T Laboratory Philippines Website - http://www.ivfvictoryphilippines.com
Source URL: http://www.ivfvictoryphilippines.com/blog/2013/10/07/the-benefits-of-drinking-milk-and-other-lifestyle-tips-during-pregnancy/

Stress can stop women from becoming pregnant, ground-breaking research has revealed.

Stress can stop women from becoming pregnant, ground-breaking research has revealed. Scientists from the United States found that a build-up of stress can play a major role in preventing a woman from ovulating.

Infertility is a problem encountered by many men and women around the world, with varied causes that affect either male or female.

One of the possible factors that may contribute to infertility is stress. Coming in different forms, stress can affect a person’s hormonal and nervous systems, which certainly impacts fertility. Scientists have even discovered that high levels of stress hormones can actually stop ovulation, in turn making conception difficult.

STRESS can be caused by many different factors: the environment; work; family, or; a very stressful event like a major accident or loss in the family. Because of this, a person’s body may react by releasing powerful neurochemicals and hormones to prepare it for action (fight or flight). There are different stressors that can affect a person.

The following are some of the general types of stress that a person may encounter, which may also affect her/ his fertility:

Age Factor and Time Pressure: Infertility is most common among women aged 20-45, and fertility declines as a woman or man ages. As soon as they encounter problems in conceiving, time pressure suddenly becomes a factor and adds to the stress that they are experiencing.

Physical Stress: This can affect both male and female in different ways. In men, for example, it has shown to cause significant decrease in sperm quality. Physical stress can also be brought about by lifestyle factors such as alcohol intake, caffeine, being overweight, smoking, drugs, excessive exercise, over work and heat.

Emotional Stress: This can be caused by a sudden severe and saddening experience. Due to the stress, a person may experience sleep disturbances, dramatic weight fluctuations and inconsistent eating patterns and chronic tiredness which in turn can affect the fertility of a person.

Financial Stress: Preparing for a baby can actually be quite stressful due to all the preparation a person has to undergo. This would also include financial preparation through work, business, etc. But this also brings about great stress to both mind and body due the different demands this may entail.

Relationship Stress: Due to a possible combination of all the above mentioned stressors, social relationships may also be compromised, thus bringing about more stress. A person may begin blocking out some people and negating help that is being offered.

These are just some examples of stress that can contribute to the infertility of a person. At present time there isn’t enough data that can draw a close link between stress and infertility, but there are studies that have shown that “when stress-reduction techniques are employed, something happens in some women that allows them to get pregnant when they couldn’t get pregnant before” (Allen Morgan, MD, director of Shore Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Lakewood, N.J.).

Some of these stress reduction techniques are acupuncture, massage therapy, proper exercise and diet, and other methods that are aimed at reducing stress.

To know more about stress and infertility, don’t hesitate to Contact us or email us at victoryartlab@yahoo.com. Visit our website www.ivfvictoryphilippines.com

How to Lose Weight After Pregnancy

Now that baby is here, there are probably more things that you will be thinking about: the baby’s food, your sleeping schedule and maybe even how to lose the extra pounds that you have gained during pregnancy.

Generally, for women who started with normal weight, and gained the extra pounds the doctor recommended, they can expect to lose this within a few months. This is considering that they follow a healthy diet and exercise.

For women who were overweight before pregnancy or gained more weight than the doctor’s recommendation, weight loss may probably take up to a year.

It is recommended that mothers should shed the weight gained since this could cause problems in the long term, like obesity.

This is why doctors recommend to follow a stricter diet and lifestyle around six to eight weeks after delivery or during your postnatal check up. Typically, they will suggest the following practices to help in weight loss:

1. Don’t Crash Diet: Depriving the basic need of food can increase the amount of stress a mother is feeling. This could result in binge or emotional eating, making her gain even more weight.

Instead of food deprivation, eat a well-balanced diet made up of fruits, vegetables, healthy proteins like white chicken and healthy fatty acids from fish. Drinking lots of water is also recommended as this can help make you feel fuller and speeds up metabolism. Calorie intake should be 1,800 each day to stay healthy, most especially if the mother is breastfeeding.

2. Breastfeed: There are some cases where breastfeeding has helped women lose weight faster, but there are also some cases where the weight stays the same despite exclusive breastfeeding.

One sure thing is that breastfeeding is very good for the baby since it boosts their immunity and provides myriad of health benefits.

3. Exercise!: Apart from dieting, a woman also needs to engage in physical activity to shed the weight. Not only will this burn calories but also strengthen muscles and bones. It also relieves stress, and helps in possible sleep issues that may arise after giving birth.

Exercises do not necessarily have to be in the gym. They can be a brisk walk with your baby, a quick trip to the convenience store or other activities that can get your heart pumping and muscles working. A weekly goal would be to have around 150 minutes of exercise a week. Eventually, you can incorporate light weights to increase the burn.

4. Get Some Sleep: Though this may seem impossible, mothers can try to accustom themselves to the sleeping pattern of their baby. Sleep deprivation causes stress on your body, making it need more nourishment.

With a healthy and balanced lifestyle, weight loss after pregnancy is can be achieved without much stress. Just make sure to also ask your doctor if there are any concerns about these tips.

From: Victory A.R.T Laboratory Philippines Website - http://www.ivfvictoryphilippines.com
Source URL: http://www.ivfvictoryphilippines.com/blog/2013/10/12/how-to-lose-weight-after-pregnancy/