Pregnancy
Pregnancy occurs when an egg is fertilized by a sperm, grows inside a woman’s uterus (womb), and develops into a baby. In humans, this process takes about 280 days (40 weeks).
Pregnancy Symptoms
Symptoms of pregnancy include the following:
* Breast tenderness: One of the early signs of pregnancy is sensitive, sore breasts caused by increasing levels of hormones.
* Nausea, vomiting, or both: If you’re like most women, morning sickness won’t hit until about a month after conception. (A lucky few escape it altogether.) But some women do start to feel queasy a bit earlier. And not just in the morning, either — pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting can be a problem morning, noon, or night.
* Missing a period or having an abnormal period: If you’re usually pretty regular and your period doesn’t arrive on time, you’ll probably take a pregnancy test long before you notice any of the above symptoms. But if you’re not regular or you’re not keeping track of your cycle, nausea and breast tenderness and extra trips to the bathroom may signal pregnancy before you realize you didn’t get your period.
* Weight gain
* Breast enlargement, nipples darkening, or breast discharge
* Urinating more frequently than usual: Shortly after you become pregnant, you may find yourself hurrying to the bathroom all the time. Why? Mostly because during pregnancy the amount of blood and other fluids in your body increases, which leads to extra fluid being processed by your kidneys and ending up in your bladder.
* Fetal movement (after 20 weeks for new mothers) If a woman suspects that she is pregnant or has a positive home pregnancy test, she should make an appointment with a health care provider, which could be a doctor, an obstetrician (women’s health specialist), a midwife, or a nurse practitioner. Early care (prenatal care) is essential for a healthy pregnancy.
Exams and Tests
Several tests may be conducted while a woman is pregnant.
- Pregnancy tests: The woman’s urine or blood may be tested.
- Ultrasound: A doctor may use sound waves to examine the internal structures such as the uterus, ovaries, and the embryo or fetus.
- Blood tests: Blood type, Rh status, and antibody test. Thyroid test. Urine culture. Sickle cell screening if of African American heritage. Syphilis tests, HIV test, and tests for hepatitis B. Alpha fetoprotein tests
- Culture Tests.
Smoking during pregnancy
Why is it harmful to smoke during pregnancy?
A baby in the womb gets everything from its mother. Nutrients and oxygen come via the placenta and umbilical cord. Smoking not only exposes the foetus to toxins in tobacco smoke, but it also damages placental function.
When a person smokes, some of the oxygen in their blood is replaced by carbon monoxide. If a pregnant woman smokes, her blood and therefore her child’s blood will contain less oxygen than normal. This can cause the foetal heart rate to rise as baby struggles to get enough oxygen.
The particles in tobacco smoke contain different toxic substances that change the blood’s ability to work in a healthy and normal manner. This can affect the placenta that feeds the baby.
How smoking harms the unborn baby
Babies born to mothers who smoke:
- are more likely to be born prematurely and with a low birth weight (below 2.5kg or 5lb 8oz).
- have a birth weight on average 200g (7oz) less than those born to non-smokers. This effect increases proportionally - the more the mother smokes, the less the child weighs.
- have organs that are smaller on average than babies born to non-smokers.
- have poorer lung function.
- are twice as likely to die from cot death. There seems to be a direct link between cot death and parents smoking.
- are ill more frequently. Babies born to women who smoked 15 cigarettes or more a day during pregnancy are taken into hospital twice as often during the first eight months of life.
- get painful diseases such as inflammation of the middle ear and asthmatic bronchitis more frequently in early childhood.
- are more likely to become smokers themselves in later years.
Preventing Pregnancy
Contraception is the term used for preventing pregnancy. There are many ways to prevent pregnancy, but none of them is 100% effective except not having sexual relations (abstinence). The following are current methods of contraception:
- Sterilization - Male (vasectomy) or female (tubal ligation or tubal implant)
- Hormonal contraceptives - Birth control pills, birth control patches, birth control vaginal ring
- Intra-uterine device (IUD) or intra-uterine system (Mirena)
- Diaphragm
- Cervical caps
- Condoms
- Spermicides
- Coitus interruptus - Withdrawal by the male before climax
- Rhythm method - Not having sex during the time when is woman is most likely to be fertile
- Emergency contraception
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