The First Trimester - Precautions, Do's and Don'ts | Dr Anjali Kumar | Maitri

congratulations you are pregnant it's wonderful when you hear these words from your doctor it's also wonderful when you see those two magical lines on the pregnancy test but it brings in the realization that from now onwards you need to be careful towards your own health as it can affect your and obviously your baby's health so hello everyone this is dr anjali kumar once again i'm a gynecologist and obstetrician bringing you greetings from veterinary is a space where we talk anything and everything about women's health so continuing with our pregnancy series today we will be talking about the first trimester the precautions the do's and don'ts diet and a lot more so as you all know pregnancy is divided into three trimesters the first trimester is up to three months or the 13 weeks of pregnancy and remember we count the age of the pregnancy starting from the first day of the last menstrual period so generally people say that first trimester is very risky so the answer to this is maybe yes and maybe no so why guess because this is the time when the major body parts in the baby are forming so any uncontrolled medical conditions any wrong dietary or lifestyle choices or maybe unsupervised medications taken at this time can actually cause birth defects and even abortions the first trimester is not really risky because a normal pregnancy is as it is by design of nature very strong and very robust you really do not need to be on bed rest or taking some special medications or some special care to have a safe pregnancy so in fact walking doing moderate exercises having sex having a lot of stress worry and anxiety can not really cause harm to the pregnancy so now let's talk about what all you can do to take care of yourself in the first trimester so number one visit a doctor asap as soon as possible the doctor is going to take a detailed history do examination order some blood tests confirm the pregnancy maybe do a dating scan and put you on folic acid so number two most important start folic acid as soon as possible the recommended dose is five milligram per day folic acid is part of vitamin b complex group which is known to prevent the birth defects especially neural tube defects in the baby make sure that any chronic medical conditions like diabetes hypertension or thyroid are well controlled stop smoking immediately no alcohol allowed in pregnancy completely remember there is no safe amount of alcohol to be taken alcohol intake is known to cause fetal alcohol syndrome where the baby could be born with physical mental and actually behavioral problems and no use of recreational drugs obviously then let's talk about coffee regarding coffee we have lot of conflicting advices all over so the scientific recommendation is 200 milligram of caffeine per day which means you can actually have two small cups of coffee every day but please remember caffeine is also present in uh health drinks dark chocolates to a small amount in tea and green tea as well and needless to say that you should never do any self self-medication in pregnancy remember most of the medications in pregnancy are not really safe so always consult your doctor before taking any medication uh if you are fond of pets especially cats make sure that you do not clean the cat's litter and if you must you must wear a wear your gloves especially to prevent a serious condition in the baby which is known as toxoplasmosis which can actually cause abortions and birth defects coming to the food you can practically have everything in food make sure that you're having lots of foods lot of vegetables in case you are a non-vegetarian make sure that you avoid consuming raw uncooked animal protein make sure that you cook it properly to prevent the risk of salmonella and listeria and it's definitely very very important to make sure that you wash your fruits and vegetables before eating it's normal to have lot of nausea vomiting acidity heartburn people actually call it morning sickness some people actually have a morning sickness some have a evening sickness some people have a whole day sickness and some people may not have any sickness at all ah there is also a serious condition which is known as hyperemesis gravidarum which happens in a situation where a woman is vomiting so much that she is not able to retain anything so she goes into dehydration she goes into a medical condition which is called ketosis and this is a condition whereby she actually may require admission to the hospital she may require iv fluids and intravenous anti-vomiting medications so make sure that you avoid oily and spicy food make sure that you have food at frequent small intervals it's also okay to have digest you can also speak to your doctor the doctor can actually prescribe your basic antacid also it's seen that if you take ginger that actually helps in morning nausea so you can take ginger tea you can take ginger lozenges nowadays you have ginger capsules also which are available a lot of people actually may be troubled because of the constipation again this happens because of the reduced intestinal motility because of the hcg hormone so make sure that you have diet which is which in fiber you are consuming a lot of liquids and make sure that you're walking you are physically active some people again because of the hcg also may experience a tender or slightly swollen breast but that's also normal you really do not have to worry about all this the best part is that all these symptoms typically disappear by the end of the first trimester so please don't worry too much about all these things and it's also perfectly okay to lose little weight in the first trimester i know many of you may be concerned about the weight but remember the weight gain typically starts from the fourth or the fifth month of pregnancy another symptom which most of the women actually feel in the first trimester is that they feel tired sleepy and lethargic so there's no medication for this remember there is a lot of work a lot of activity going on inside so the body actually feels very tired so the answer for this is make sure that you are resting sleeping adequately you are well hydrated you're eating reasonably well uh it's also very important to keep yourself active even in the first trimester you don't have to do some special strenuous exercises but walking is safe gentle stretching exercises yoga pilates they all are safe even in the first trimester some people also experience low back ache in the first trimester uh some people experience pain or stretchy sensation or little bit of discomfort in the lower abdomen that's also normal this is because of the growing uterus but in case you ever experience any pain severe pain or any kind of a blood stain discharge it is definitely very important to talk to your doctor a lot of women actually may experience some skin changes even in the early first trimester some people get a lot of acne while for some people acne actually clears up remember over-the-counter acne medications are not really safe in pregnancy so before using any even anti-acne creams talk to your doctor ah this is the time you may also experience little bit of darkening of the skin especially on the cheeks on the breast on the abdomen and even on the inner thighs nothing really needs to be done for this so remember first trimester can be little uncomfortable and tricky for some people but if you follow these basic precautions and tips you can easily sail through and today if you like this information and if you are new to mercury please do not forget to like share and subscribe to mercury and i will see you soon [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Maitri

Views: 2,953,027

Keywords: the first trimester, the first three months, is first trimester risky, nausea in first trimester, exercise in first trimester, folic acid in pregnancy, Hyperemesis gravidarum, skin changes in pregnancy, HCG hormone, smoking in pregnancy, alcohol in pregnancy, Dr Anjali Kumar, Sejal's Mom, Toxoplasmosis, constipation in pregnancy

Id: bEi1i6V7dxA

Length: 10min 39sec (639 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 09 2021