When
I was expecting my first child, threats to my baby's health
seemed to lurk everywhere. I knew, of course, that alcohol,
cigarettes, and drugs of any kind were off-limits. But what
about those lattes I'd chugged before I knew I was pregnant?
Did I need to get rid of my beloved cats? What sort of environmental
hazards was I unwittingly exposing my fetus to? Nine months
of caffeine withdrawal, cat avoidance, and breath-holding-around-noxious-odors
later, my strapping baby boy arrived.
Unlike
me, you don't have to be paranoid when you're pregnant.
"You can't put yourself in a glass bottle during pregnancy—all
you can do is avoid known risks," says Dr. Robert Resnik,
a professor of reproductive medicine at the University of
California, San Diego, School of Medicine. Since some women,
such as those with high blood pressure or gestational diabetes,
need to take extra precautions, talk to your doctor about
special circumstances that relate to you. Also steer clear
of the following:
Too
Much Caffeine
For java junkies like me, the research on caffeine during
pregnancy has been maddeningly contradictory. Some studies
point to problems such as miscarriage and low birth weight,
while others show no such relationship. The latest consensus
is that only excessive amounts of caffeine (more than 300
milligrams a day) are likely to cause these problems, says
Dr. Kathleen Bradley, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist
and assistant clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology
at the UCLA School of Medicine. The caffeine content of
different brews varies, but you should be able to stay under
the 300-milligram mark by limiting your daily quaffing to
one or two 5-ounce cups of coffee or tea or a few 12-ounce
cans of soda. (Since even non-colas can pack quite a caffeine
punch, check the label before you imbibe.) And while chocolate
does contain caffeine, it typically has much less—1
to 35 milligrams per one ounce—than coffee.
Cat
Litter
Cat feces may play host to a parasite that causes toxoplasmosis.
The symptoms (fever, fatigue, and sore throat) are similar
to those of a garden-variety flu, but the results (miscarriage,
preterm labor, or serious health problems in the newborn)
can be devastating. Even so, having a baby on board doesn't
mean you need to send your puss packing, says Marion McCartney,
a certified nurse-midwife and the director of professional
services at the American College of Nurse-Midwives in Washington,
D.C. It simply means you should put your mate on litter-box
duty for the nine-month duration. It's also a good idea
to wash your hands after heavy petting sessions with the
cat and after handling raw meat. Don't feed yourself or
the cat undercooked meat (which can harbor the parasite).
Wear gloves when you're gardening and avoid children's sandboxes.
(Roaming cats may use these as litter boxes.)
Certain
Foods
Beware, foodies: Uncooked, soft cheeses (such as feta, Camembert,
Brie, and blue-veined varieties), unpasteurized milk and
the foods made from it, and raw or undercooked meats, fish,
and poultry may contain listeria bacteria. During pregnancy,
listeriosis (symptoms include fever, chills, diarrhea, and
nausea) can cause miscarriage, preterm labor, or stillbirth.
Some seafood may also contain high levels of mercury, PCBs,
and other toxins. If these foods are consumed during pregnancy,
the baby is put at risk for developmental delays. (Your
local health department may be able to tell you which fish
to avoid.) Experts recommend that expecting mothers limit
their servings of shark and swordfish—which contain
higher levels of mercury than other fish—to one three-ounce
serving a month. Finally, lab tests have linked heavy consumption
of saccharine to cancer. Though you're not likely to swill
enough of the artificial sweetener to equal several times
your body weight, you may still want to forgo those little
pink packets for now. Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal) appears
to be a safe sugar substitute.
Herbal
Remedies
You know that many prescription drugs are off-limits during
pregnancy, but the natural remedies you can pick up at health-food
stores are okay, aren't they? Guess again: Herbal remedies
can have a potent effect on your body—and your baby's—cautions
McCartney. Don't take anything without running it by your
health-care provider first. She'll most likely tell you
not to use any during your first trimester. Throughout your
pregnancy, steer clear of goldenseal, mugwort, and pennyroyal,
all of which have been associated with uterine contractions
(which could possibly lead to miscarriage or preterm labor);
Asian ginseng (which interferes with metabolism); and feverfew
(though popular for migraine headaches, it has unpredictable
effects on pregnant women). It's also wise to avoid herbal
teas that purport to have medicinal benefits.
Home
Hazards
If you haven't been gripped by that famous pregnancy cleaning-and-nesting
frenzy, chances are you will be soon. Safety tips for those
3 a.m. floor-scrubbing and nursery-decorating sessions:
Read labels carefully. Wear gloves and work in well-ventilated
areas. And avoid aerosols (which disperse more chemicals
into the air than pump bottles do), oven cleaners, paint
fumes, solvents, and furniture strippers. Although frequent,
heavy exposure to chemicals in the workplace (home workshops
count, too) has been linked to birth defects, Bradley explains,
home use of most products is more likely to make you feel
faint or nauseous—not a great proposition when you're
nine months pregnant and perched high on a ladder or wedged
behind the toilet.
Overheating
Soaking in the hot tub or relaxing in a sauna may seem like
the perfect way to pamper your pregnant body, but raising
your core temperature—especially during the first trimester—may
boost the odds of birth defects. It's safe to soak in a
lukewarm bath, though. Just make sure that the temperature
is not above 100 degrees and that you get out after about
ten minutes, Resnik advises. Sustained exercise in very
hot, humid weather can also raise your core temperature.
When you do exercise, be sure to drink liquids before, during,
and after, and if you find that you're heating up, take
a five- or ten-minute breather.
Lead
Lead exposure has been linked to miscarriage, preterm labor,
low birth weight, and mental and behavioral problems in
children. Residue from the toxic metal can lurk in places
you might not suspect: houses built before 1978 (the year
lead paint was banned), tap water, even calcium supplements.
A few precautions will reduce the amount of lead you come
into contact with: Call in a lead-abatement specialist if
you live in an older home with chipping or peeling paint.
(Whatever you do, don't try to sand or scrape it off yourself.)
Filtering your water may help, or have your tap water tested.
(Call the Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking
Water Hotline at 800-426-4791 for a testing lab in your
area.) Finally, if you take a calcium supplement, ask your
doctor to recommend one that's low in lead, such as Tums
500 Calcium Supplement.
Oral
Sex
Don't worry, you needn't swear off oral gratification entirely.
(After all, when you hit that physically awkward last trimester,
there may not be much else you can do between the sheets.)
But when he's pleasuring you, your mate should be careful
not to blow air into your vagina, if that's something that's
part of his, uh, repertoire. Why? Your blood vessels are
dilated during pregnancy, and, though the chances of this
happening are very rare, a fatal air bubble could potentially
enter your bloodstream, McCartney explains.
Certain
Over-the-Counter Drugs
Your back is aching, your heart is burning, and your stomach
is roiling—do you have to forgo all pharmaceutical
relief? Not necessarily, says Bradley. But since even benign-seeming
remedies, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and certain cold preparations,
can cause problems for your baby, don't pop any pill without
your doctor's approval. If one medication is off-limits,
she can suggest an alternative. Acetaminophen (Tylenol),
for instance, is fine.
Secondhand
Smoke
You may have given up cigarettes, but if your mate's still
puffing away, your baby's getting hefty doses of the 43
cancer-causing chemicals in cigarette smoke. In fact, exposure
to secondhand smoke during pregnancy raises the risk of
low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome, and other
health problems. So ask your partner to quit or to cut down—if
not for his own health, then for yours and your baby's.
And tell anyone who lights up around you to kindly take
it outside.
Stress
Every time you look down, your growing belly reminds you
of just how much your life will change once your baby is
born. Exciting, yes. Stressful? You bet. Even so, try to
take it easy. Stress causes the release of hormones that
reduce blood flow to the placenta and triggers contractions,
and it has been linked to miscarriage, preterm birth, and
low birth weight, Bradley explains. If you hold a high-pressure
job, do what you can to scale back. If you're feeling the
heat in your personal life, practice relaxation techniques,
surround yourself with supportive people, and seek counseling
if need be.
Vitamin
A
As is the case with its chemical relative Accutane (a prescription
acne drug), high doses of vitamin A during pregnancy can
cause heart and facial defects, says Resnik. How much is
too much? Some studies have indicated that problems can
occur when pregnant women take more than 10,000 international
units (IU) a day, while others list 25,000 IUs and even
50,000 IUs as the threshold. You get a fair amount of vitamin
A from the food you eat, and though the dose in your prenatal
vitamin should be fine, your doctor can tell you whether
it's an excessive amount.
Leah
Hennen is a writer and editor in San Francisco and the mother
of two, ages four and one.
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