Precautions and dietary taboos during early pregnancy

Do an early pregnancy check-up first to check for the risk of ectopic pregnancy and fetal arrest. Avoid foods and behaviors that are clearly teratogenic/pathogenic. You don’t have to be kidnapped by various folk taboos. Just follow the doctor’s advice for your individual situation.

Not long ago, my best friend just got two marks on her test, and the whole family went into "level one alert" that day: her mother-in-law asked her to quit her job and stay at home until she gave birth, and her mother scolded her for half an hour even when she bent down to pick up a package. In fact, there is really no need to be so anxious. Early pregnancy is a natural physiological process. It is not an illness. There is no need to treat yourself as a fragile glass doll.

Oh, yes, the first thing you do when you find out you are pregnant is not to lie down and take supplements at home. You go to the hospital to draw blood to check HCG and progesterone, and then do an abdominal B-ultrasound about 6 weeks later to confirm that it is intrauterine pregnancy and that there is fetal heartbeat and fetal bud. This is more important than anything else. Having said this, someone must ask, if progesterone is low, do we need to replenish it quickly? In fact, there are indeed differences in the views of obstetricians at home and abroad on this point: many domestic doctors will recommend that pregnant women with abdominal pain, bleeding symptoms, or a history of fetal arrest, appropriately supplement dydrogesterone ； However, the view of evidence-based medicine in Europe and the United States is that as long as there are no obvious symptoms of threatened abortion, slight fluctuations in progesterone values ​​are normal. If there is a problem with the quality of the embryo itself, progesterone supplementation cannot retain it, so there is no need for excessive intervention. I met a girl in the obstetrics clinic before. Her progesterone was 2 units lower than the reference value. She cried at home for three days. As a result, the doctor did not prescribe any medicine and let her go to get off work normally. Later, the prenatal checkup gave the green light and the baby was born weighing more than 8 pounds.

There is also the question of "can I move" that has been asked so often that there really is no unified answer. For those who have no symptoms of threatened abortion and have regular exercise habits, it is no problem to take a walk, do gentle yoga, or even lift light dumbbells. A fitness blogger I know is still filming home fitness tutorials when she is 9 weeks pregnant, and her baby can now run and jump. But if you have a history of habitual miscarriage, or have symptoms of bleeding or abdominal pain, you still have to lie down, and don’t hold on to show off. As for dyeing your hair, doing manicures, and using skin care products, the amount of regular big-name products absorbed through the skin into the blood is very small. If you really mind, wait until the placenta is stable at 12 weeks before doing it. Don't use products from Sanwu small workshops. Just use ordinary hydrating and moisturizing skin care products, and avoid functional products containing retinol and salicylic acid.

After talking about what we should pay attention to in daily life, let’s talk about the food issue that everyone is most concerned about. First of all, don’t touch a few things that draw the line of death: any alcoholic beverage, whether it is red wine, beer or so-called “fruit wine for pregnant women”, alcohol is a clear teratogen and there is no safe dose. ； Foods that are not fully cooked, such as soft-boiled eggs, half-cooked steaks, sashimi, uncooked hot pot meat, and unpasteurized fresh milk and raw cheese, can easily carry Listeria. Ordinary people may just have diarrhea if they are infected. Pregnant women are at a much higher risk of miscarriage and premature birth after infection. ； There are also wild vegetables that are clearly poisonous and folk remedies and supplements of unknown origin. Don’t just take them blindly when the elders at home say they “eat to repair a fetus.”

There is another topic that everyone has been arguing about for many years, which is whether the so-called "sliding food" is reliable? For example, barley, purslane, crab, etc., the older generation said that eating them will cause miscarriage. In fact, according to the perspective of modern nutrition, as long as these foods are not eaten two or three pounds at a time, they cannot reach the dose to stimulate uterine contractions. When I was seriously pregnant, I secretly ate ice crabs twice. Except that it was a bit cold at the time, nothing happened. My colleague drank half a cup of red bean and barley water when she was 8 weeks pregnant. She was so scared that she went to the emergency room. The doctor was amused by her. Of course, if you have a weak stomach and are prone to diarrhea after eating these, it is better to eat less. After all, severe diarrhea may stimulate uterine contractions, and this is a matter that varies from person to person.

As for the questions that people often ask, can I eat spicy food, can I drink milk tea, and can I eat hot pot? As long as you don't feel uncomfortable eating these things, you can eat them during the first trimester. Many people vomit so much in early pregnancy that they can't even drink porridge. At this time, don't worry about "nutritional balance". Just eat whatever you can, even spicy strips, instant noodles, and hot and sour noodles. Eating it is better than vomiting bile when you are hungry. Many pregnant mothers around me rely on iced Coke and hot and sour noodles to survive in the early stages of pregnancy. Their babies are all white and chubby after birth. Of course, they can cut down on sugar. Just don’t eat too spicy food that will cause constipation. In the early stages of pregnancy, progesterone will slow down gastrointestinal motility, and constipation is really painful.

Oh, yes, you don’t need to follow the trend and buy a lot of supplements. It is recognized that you should take folic acid from 3 months before pregnancy to 3 months after pregnancy. If you have the conditions, you can do a folic acid metabolism test. If you are at high risk, you should eat more until you are pregnant. As for DHA and multivitamins, if you are not picky about food and eat meat, eggs, milk, vegetables and fruits, it doesn’t matter if you don’t eat them. If you often eat takeout and are picky, just eat some regular OTC ones instead of spending a lot of money to buy imported Internet celebrity models.

To put it bluntly, the most important thing in early pregnancy is not to follow a bunch of taboos, but to maintain a comfortable mood. Think about it, the embryo itself is "survival of the fittest". You can keep the good quality embryos no matter how careful you are. If you are really unsure about something, don't search for fragmented information on the Internet. Ask your obstetrician directly. It's more reliable than anything else~