Prenatal care content

The core of prenatal care can be summarized into four categories: health monitoring, lifestyle adjustment, complication prevention and control, delivery and psychological preparation. However, there is never a standard answer that applies to all pregnant mothers. All content must be flexibly adjusted based on the gestational age, personal basic medical history, and physical tolerance. There is nothing that must be done, and there is nothing that cannot be done.

Last week, she accompanied her friend who was just pregnant with her second child for a prenatal check-up. She grabbed the "Most Complete Prenatal Check-up Checklist" downloaded from Xiaohongshu and asked the doctor one by one, whether she should do this extra fetal heart ultrasound? Do I need to add the cervical canal length measurement? After reviewing her previous two prenatal check-up reports, the doctor found that her first baby was delivered at full term, with no history of miscarriage and premature birth, and her basic indicators were all normal. He crossed out more than half of the list: "Just keep up with the must-dos like NT, Tang Screening, Glucose Tolerance, and Major Abnormalities. The rest are only for high-risk groups, so don't waste money." ”In fact, it’s not just prenatal check-ups in hospitals. Many people tend to be overly nervous at home. It’s really unnecessary to buy a Doppler fetal heart rate monitor and listen to it three times a day. If you can’t find the fetal heart rate, you run to the emergency room. Midwives we are familiar with have told us many times that it is enough to develop the habit of counting fetal movements after 28 weeks. There is no need to impose a rigid standard of "must move three times an hour". Your baby may like to sleep in the morning and move more at night. As long as the daily fetal movement pattern is similar to usual, there will be no problem. If the fetal movements suddenly double or half as much as usual, it is not too late to go to the hospital.

When it comes to food, the controversy is even greater. When my best friend was pregnant, her mother-in-law made a page full of taboos, including crab, watermelon, iced Coke, and hot pot. She held it in for three months and secretly had a butter hot pot meal. When she came back, she was so scared that she cried. She was afraid that the baby would be born with eczema, but nothing happened. Later, when I asked different doctors, they had different opinions. Western medicine said that as long as the food is clean, non-toxic, and you are not allergic to it or have diarrhea, you can eat anything without any dietary restrictions. ； Traditional Chinese medicine will recommend that pregnant mothers with spleen and stomach deficiency and prone to diarrhea eat less cold and spicy foods. Both opinions are actually reasonable. Eat when you feel comfortable, and don't touch it if you have acid reflux and diarrhea in your stomach. It is not a matter of worrying about stuttering, nor is it wronging yourself for ten months. The same goes for supplements. Some people say that you need to take a bunch of DHA, calcium tablets, and iron supplements. Some people say that dietary supplements are enough. In fact, it all depends on your personal situation. If you drink milk every day and get enough sun, and your legs never cramp, then calcium may be enough. If your blood hemoglobin is low, then follow the doctor's advice to supplement some iron. I have seen a pregnant mother take seven or eight kinds of supplements a day, and her liver function test was abnormal in the end. It is really not worth the gain.

Not to mention the differences in sports. A while ago, a post was posted about a pregnant mother who was still running a half-marathon at 9 months pregnant. Netizens scolded her to the point of deleting her post. Another post was posted about someone who lay in bed and refused to get off the floor as soon as she found out she was pregnant. Even her meals were brought to the bedside. In fact, both sides are too extreme. Pregnant mothers who have long-term exercise habits before pregnancy and who are not at risk of low-lying placenta or threatened premature birth will have no problem doing some low-intensity exercise or even maintaining fitness habits. If they run every day and have enough core strength, they will give birth much faster than ordinary people. ； But if you rarely even walked before, don’t join in the excitement of “exercise for faster delivery”. Walking for half an hour every day and doing a few sets of Kegel exercises are enough. Pregnant mothers who are really at risk of premature birth should really rest more and don’t move blindly.

Many people think that they are young and in good health and will not suffer from complications during pregnancy. My cousin, who was born in 1998, seldom catches colds. At 24 weeks into her pregnancy, her blood sugar exceeded two points in one hour. She did not take it seriously and continued to drink milk tea and cream cakes every day. The B-ultrasound at 32 weeks showed that the fetus was two weeks too big and there was too much amniotic fluid. After that, she ate brown rice and green leafy vegetables for more than a month to control her blood sugar. When she was finally delivered, the baby weighed 6.5 pounds, just in line with the standard. There are also many people who are stubborn about taking medicines during pregnancy. They insist on not taking medicines for colds and fevers, for fear of affecting the baby. In fact, there are many clearly classified safety drugs during pregnancy. If you take them according to the doctor's instructions, the risk is much smaller than the risk of having a high fever or viral infection affecting the baby. If you really feel uncomfortable, don't insist on it, just ask the doctor.

Many people always think that prenatal care is only about the body. In fact, psychological preparation plays a very important role. I once met a 37-week pregnant mother in the maternity ward. She watched videos of lacerations and side incisions during natural birth every day. She hid in the quilt and cried every day. She couldn't sleep and her blood pressure increased. Later, the midwife spent half an hour every day chatting with her, showing her the environment of the delivery room, and teaching her the Lamaze breathing method. She slowly relaxed. In the end, the natural delivery went smoothly, and she didn't even have a side incision. Hormones fluctuate greatly during the tenth month of pregnancy. It's normal to feel anxious and emo occasionally. If you feel uncomfortable, tell your family or talk to your doctor. Don't hold it in. Your mood is as effective as any supplement.

To be honest, prenatal care really doesn’t have so many rules. You don’t have to check off other people’s lists one by one, and you don’t have to be nervous based on the “experiences” of seven aunts and eight aunts. The core thing is that both you and the baby are comfortable. If you have any questions, go to a doctor from a regular hospital, which is more reliable than any internet celebrity guide.