Every woman wants to give birth to a healthy child, because health is the only thing that cannot be bought for any money. In the modern world, you can often hear that healthy children are no longer born. Indeed, the ecology, the lifestyle of men and women, the abundance of medications that are used, the prevalence of infections have increased the likelihood of congenital pathologies in babies. But is it so difficult to give birth to a healthy toddler?
The article will discuss why the health of the baby depends, and what to do to increase the chances of a strong and healthy baby being born.
Is it possible to “program” health?
What the child's state of health will be is mainly determined at the very moment when the parents' germ cells - the sperm and the egg - merge. That is, at the moment of conception, when gametes exchange genetic information, it is already known what the child will be ill with, whether he will have genetic pathologies, what diseases he will inherit from mom or dad, whether he will be allergic, whether he will have a fairly strong immune system.
Parents cannot influence the course of these events. The fusion of the DNA information of the maternal and paternal germ cells is a great secret of nature, and it is difficult to say how everything will go. But in vain do people think that nothing depends on them afterwards. From a positive point of view, little can affect the health of a baby who is already developing in the womb - the foundation, as we know, has been laid. But a negative impact is possible.
It is quite possible for parents to worsen what is already programmed by genes if a woman violates the recommendations, expose the child in the womb to risks and negative influences from the outside.
Ideally, the health of the unborn child should be taken care of before conception. Modern medicine has a lot of ways to prevent diseases, defects, early diagnosis of fetal pathologies. For those who are used to trusting only the meager figures of official statistics, you can give the following data:
- Every day in Russia, on average, 4940 children are born, of which 49% are girls and 51% are boys (the ratio may vary slightly);
- the highest marks on the Apgar scale are obtained by 39% of newborns;
- 25% of children are born perfectly healthy;
- with minor deviations that are of a physiological origin and do not need treatment, they go away on their own, 21% of children are born;
- every third child has one or another congenital disease;
- children with disabilities in Russia are about 2% of the total number of children of one year of birth.
Thus, most children are still healthy, and it is not entirely correct to say that there are fewer healthy newborns in Russia... But if we compare with the indicators of the Soviet period, then the percentage of absolutely healthy children has really decreased.
In Soviet maternity hospitals, up to 40% of children were born to excellent robust people. It is difficult to say what this is connected with - with the deterioration of the ecology and the quality of products or with the advent of more accurate diagnostic equipment and medical techniques, the absence of which did not allow doctors of the Soviet period to early detect certain deviations.
Summing up all of the above, it should be noted that it is impossible to plan the health of the unborn child, but certain risk factors can be eliminated in time, and the chances of becoming the parents of a baby with excellent health indicators can be increased.
Only a way to avoid genetic abnormalities and severe hereditary diseases - IVF with genetic diagnosis... In this case, the egg is fertilized in laboratory conditions with sperm, and after a few days, genetic diagnostics of all the embryos obtained is carried out. Patients are "rejected", healthy ones are transferred to the woman's uterus. Such a diagnosis is carried out only according to the testimony of a geneticist, if there is a real chance that the child may inherit serious diseases from his parents.
What influences?
Baby's health is made up not only of genetic information about hereditary diseases, but also of many factors - parental and external.
Let's list the parental risk factors.
- Age of woman and man... Previously, it was believed that only the woman's age matters, but now scientists have found out and proved that the age of the future dad at the time of conception also largely determines the health of the baby. The fact is that with age, the quality of the DNA component of the sex cells of partners deteriorates, so the risk of giving birth to a child to chromosomal abnormalities increases, for example, with Down syndrome, Turner, Edwards syndrome, and so on.
For women, the best age to become pregnant because of the lowest estimated risk of fetal anomalies is between 21 and 35 years. Scientists call the age of 22 to 34 years the best age for men to conceive.
This does not mean that after 45 years, a woman and a man cannot expect to have a healthy baby. The risks of pathologies are higher, but they are not one hundred percent.
- Health status of parents... The more chronic diseases the expectant mothers and fathers have, the higher the likelihood of complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Chronic acquired ailments are not inherited by children, with the exception of HIV, and even then not always. But the existing problems with the heart, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, spine and so on in the mother almost always complicate the process of bearing a fetus, since pregnancy itself contributes to the exacerbation of chronic diseases.
The likelihood of giving birth to a healthy child, even if the parents have ailments, is high, but only on condition that the woman monitors her health and strictly follow all the doctor's recommendations.
- Lifestyle... A man and a woman who do not abuse alcohol, drugs, nicotine are much more likely to become parents of a healthy toddler than adults with bad habits. The fact is that the genetic makeup of the germ cells with prolonged use of alcohol, drugs, mutates with long-term smoking. It is these mutations that cause not only chromosomal syndromes, but also malformations of internal organs, external anomalies and defects in a child. From a drug addict or alcoholic, completely healthy babies are rarely born, even if a woman leads a normal life. Therefore, you need to prepare for conception in advance, quit smoking, do not consume alcohol and other dangerous substances. Even if a woman smoked, but quit a year before conception, the chances of having a baby with normal indicators increase by 35%. If both partners have abandoned bad habits - by 60%.
External factors are a set of conditions in which pregnancy will proceed and which can affect the development of the fetus.
These include:
- ecological situation in the region where parents live;
- food quality;
- unfavorable circumstances - radiation exposure, man-made disasters, and so on;
- the social status of the family - the living and economic conditions of the pregnant woman, the absence of a deficiency in nutrition, vitamins;
- working conditions of the expectant mother - type of production, harmfulness, severity of her physical labor;
- the quality of medical care during pregnancy and childbirth.
Let's take a look at how a couple can reduce possible risk factors, and what needs to be done for this.
Pregnancy planning stage
You need to start preparing for conception at least six months in advance. Male reproductive cells need about 90 days to fully renew, female ones are produced every month, but it will take 4 to 6 months to improve their quality. Thus, about six months before conception, the couple must visit two doctors: a woman goes to a gynecologist, a man goes to a urologist-andrologist... A woman undergoes a gynecological examination, a smear is taken to determine the state of the microflora of the genital tract, colposcopy is performed to determine the state of the cervix, and an ultrasound of the pelvic organs is done.
A urologist examines a man, he donates sperm for laboratory research (spermogram). Both partners donate blood for HIV status, syphilis, viral hepatitis B and C, and do tests for genital infections. Genetics will also be useful, especially for couples over the age of 36, as well as those who have had cases of hereditary diseases, abnormalities and chromosomal pathologies in the family. Couples who have had unsuccessful pregnancies that ended in miscarriages or frozen pregnancies should also go to this specialist.
If no pathologies are detected according to the results of the examination, then the couple can start taking multivitamins, folic acid, give up bad habits and after a few months proceed to the most pleasant and basic part - conceiving a baby.
If deviations are found, infections, diseases of the reproductive system organs, a decrease in the quality or quantity of sperm in a man are found, then treatment is preliminarily prescribed.
Even before conception, it is important for both partners to get enough sleep, to lead a fairly active lifestyle, not to come into contact with toxic and radioactive substances, varnishes and paints, and to eat healthy food rich in protein and vitamins. Suppose, with the permission of the doctor, the intake of biologically active additives to improve fertility rates, improve the quality of the sex cells of women and men.
If the spouses live in a gas-polluted, dusty and large city, it is reasonable to move to the countryside - fresh air noticeably improves sperm counts and contributes to the faster conception of a strong and healthy baby.
It is very important to protect yourself from severe stress. Constant nervous tension contributes to the disruption of the hormonal background, sex hormones are the first to suffer.
Carrying - risks and ways to reduce them
As soon as conception has taken place, about which the spouses are notified of the positive test results, the woman needs to visit her obstetrician-gynecologist and register for pregnancy. It is better to do this earlier, since some deviations and risk factors become noticeable at the earliest possible date. The Ministry of Health recommends registering for dispensary before the 12th week of pregnancy.
The woman is examined. She must pass a large set of tests, undergo an ultrasound scan, the obstetrician summarizes the risk factors and gives individual recommendations for the expectant mother. During pregnancy, a woman will have to donate blood from a vein twice and undergo an ultrasound scan as part of prenatal screenings. In the first and second trimester, these studies establish the possible risks of having a baby with chromosomal abnormalities and defects in the fetal neural tube. You need to take these examinations with full responsibility.
Of course, screenings do not give a child any diagnoses and cannot answer the question of whether the baby is healthy or not, they only determine the basic risks for a particular woman, taking into account her age, obstetric history, and health status.
If suddenly the risks are high, the woman will be offered more accurate examination methods - invasive and non-invasive genetic procedures and tests that will answer the most important question about a child's health with an accuracy of 97-99%.
During pregnancy, it is very important for a woman to eat right, avoid taking medications without a doctor's prescription, since many drugs have a teratogenic effect, that is, they can affect the development and formation of the fetus. But also a woman should avoid contracting infectious diseases - flu, chickenpox, rubella, measles and so on.
Special dangerous first trimester, since in the first three months all organs and systems of the embryo are formed. Negative external and internal factors can cause severe malformations and even fetal death.
Pregnant a woman needs to monitor her condition, consult a doctor on time with any questions and problems, avoiding self-medication... And you also need to start preparing for childbirth in advance - attending courses, mastering correct breathing, learning everything about how to behave during labor and attempts, since history knows many cases when a healthy and full-term baby receives a birth trauma due to the lack of correct actions from the part of the woman in labor.
Childbirth
Spouses need to be responsible when choosing an obstetric institution. Now that generic certificates are valid, a woman is free to decide where to give birth... Therefore, you should choose a maternity hospital or clinic to your liking, the specialists of which the woman in labor could fully trust. It is important to make sure that the hospital has all the conditions for resuscitation of newborns (just in case)that neonatologists are highly qualified. Do not be ashamed of your own curiosity, be sure to ask all the questions that arise in order to understand whether the chosen obstetric institution is right for you.
After the 30th week of pregnancy, you can go to the chosen maternity hospital and sign an exchange card with the head physician or chief medical officer. This will ensure that if childbirth begins suddenly, the woman will be taken to this hospital, and not to the attendant.
Every effort should be made to avoid premature birth. A healthy baby can be delivered after 37 weeks of pregnancy. All births that occur earlier are considered premature, and the shorter the period during which they occur, the higher the risks for the baby and the more unfavorable the prognosis regarding his survival and subsequent health.
If there are obstetric risks, doctors will take all necessary measures to prolong the pregnancy. If there are no such risks, then the woman needs to remember that violation of the recommendations can lead to too early onset of labor. You can not lift weights and experience excessive physical activity, you can not take medications without the knowledge of the doctor, you should avoid contracting sexually transmitted infectionswhich can cause infection and premature thinning and perforation of the membranes.
Questions of psychotherapy occupy a special place in the prevention of premature labor. A woman should not be nervous, worried, experiencing severe stress.... If in her personal circumstances it does not work out differently, it is imperative to seek help from a psychologist in an antenatal clinic in order to find together options for a way out of a traumatic psychological situation.
With the onset of contractions, you need to remember that how high the likelihood of birth injuries depends on the mother's own actions. You need to breathe correctly and regularly, apply postures that relieve pain during contractions. You need to arrive at the hospital on time. Pushing when pushing should only be at the command of the obstetrician, not forgetting about the breathing technique. Shouting is not recommended.
Correctly chosen tactics of childbirth - a significant increase in the likelihood that the baby will be born healthy and strong.
In conclusion, I would like to note that a lot depends on how well a woman is correctly configured for pregnancy and childbirth. If she constantly thinks about possible pathologies in the baby, the risks of giving birth to a sick baby increase. Self-confidence and faith in your baby, in his well-being, can work miracles.
Do not look for illnesses, enjoy the wonderful state of pregnancy and believe that the most important meeting in your life will take place soon - with your baby. And everything will definitely be fine.
For information on how to give birth to a genetically healthy child, see the next video.
