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Growing
Healthy Babies
lt's no accident. Healthy babies don't just happen. Many
birth defects can be prevented with
simple planning. And the result will make child rearing easier.
O
NE
of the most impor–
tant factors in success–
ful c hild rearin g is
producing an a lert, healthy
child to begin wit h.
Many factors are involved in
whether the outcome of a preg–
nancy is favorable or not–
genetic, biological, social and
psychological.
No one has control over all the
elements necessary to ensure a suc–
ccssful pregnancy and an alert,
healthy baby. But in one vitally
important area the majority of
pregnant women
do have control.
That area is
nutrition.
Think Before You Act
There is overwhelming evidence that
women who smoke or who consume
alcohol regularly and poorly nour–
ished women with poor diets during
pregnancy have more complications
than do .well-nourished women with
good, well-balanced diets.
Low birth weight is the major
cause of infant mortality
in
the
world. Even the well-fed United
States is ranked 13th in infant mor–
tal ity rates, according to 1981 sta–
tistics from the U .S. Census
Bureau.
Tragically, it has also been dem–
onstrated that mental deficiency in
newborns is related to low birth
weight and prematurity rates.
November / December 1984
"Cell division is most rapid and,
therefore, most vulnerable from one
month before birth until five
months after. Never again will the
baby's brain experience such an
incredible prol iferation of new cells.
All of the eleven billion neurons, the
cells which process and analyze
information, are formed before
birth. Inadequate nutrition during
gestation res ults in permanent,
irreversible deficits in
the number of cells
which make up the
baby's brain"
(What
Every
Pregnant
Woman Should Knowj
The Truth About Diets
and Drugs in Pregnan–
cy
by Gail Sforza
Brewer, page 95).
If
you are a pregnant
woman, you are re–
sponsible for the good
nutrition that will en–
able your child to reach
his or her maximum
genetic poten tia
l.
You
can give your baby a
head start that no one
else can. Your baby is
what you eat.
Your baby is also what you
drink, smoke and otherwise ingest
into your system.
"The [U.S.] Surgeon General
reports that smoking during preg–
nancy also results in a significantly
greater number of spontaneous
abortions, stillbirths, and neonatal
deaths."
As well as the matter of smok–
ing, the decision by a pregnant
mother to drink alcoholic beverages
should be arrived at by taking into
consideration metabolic and other
factors such as weight, diet and
drugs used, illicit or otherwise.
Alcohol flows easily from a moth–
er's bloodstream through the placen-
ta into her unborn child. The odds of
damaging the fetus are even higher
when drugs are combined with alco–
hol by the pregnant mother.
What if your doctor recom–
ménds a low-salt, low-calorie diet
sometime during your pregnancy?
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