Guest Post: Top pregnancy Precautions to Take

• Fish is good to eat during pregnancy and otherwise, however certain kinds of fish are bad for pregnant women due to their possible mercury content. Avoid tilefish, swordfish, king mackerel or shark and eat no more than 12 ounces of fish in a week. Here is a complete list of safe and unsafe fish to refer to.
• Avoid close contact with people who have illnesses or communicable infections because pregnant women have reduced immunity and may catch something more readily during this time.
• Avoid Listeria by making sure that no unpasteurized dairy products or uncooked or partly cooked meats are consumed. Soft cheeses such as feta, goat, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined cheeses are best not eaten. Listeriosis is able to cross the placenta over to the fetus and as such is a serious illness if contracted during pregnancy and even otherwise.
• Other food-borne infections such as toxoplasmosis and salmonella are also very dangerous during pregnancy and should be guarded against by avoiding handling or eating raw or partly cooked meat, pate, meat spread, deli meat, raw eggs or sauces/foods containing raw eggs. Be careful if you have to handle cat litter (have someone else do it for a while), and also be careful when working in the garden or handling soil (use gloves).
• Food borne illnesses could also transmit through raw veggies or cut and peeled fruit so be sure to eat only fresh produce that is cooked or at least has been washed thoroughly and properly cleaned and cut with clean cutlery. Remember bacteria can also flourish on your cutting or chopping boards so make sure these are properly cleaned as well.
• Be careful about any and all medication that you take – even a pain killer for a headache, an allergy pill and so called natural or herbal medications, should all be cleared with a doctor before being consumed during pregnancy.
• Avoid saunas and hot tubs during pregnancy since they can raise the body temperature to dangerously high levels. Such overheating can cause problems for the baby and may negatively impact development.
• If possible avoid contact with chemicals such as harsh cleaning agents and so on. Also if possible avoid salon procedures such as hair coloring, tinting, straightening or perming, since the possible impact of such chemicals and the possibility of their leaching into the mother’s system is not yet fully understood.

Author Bio:

This is a guest post by ThePregnancyZone.com. The blog offers complete week by week Pregnancy information and topics relating to Preparing for the Pregnancy, Pregnancy Stages, Labor & Delivery, Pregnancy Issues, Health Issues, Parental care etc.