Things to know during the first 3 months of pregnancy

The article is written by Master, Doctor Nguyen Nhu Thu Truc - Obstetrician and Gynecologist - Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology - Vinmec Nha Trang International General Hospital.

For first-time mothers, it is necessary to prepare knowledge from before pregnancy. Specifically, it is necessary to plan nutritional supplements and change habits that are beneficial for pregnancy. Changing the lifestyle in a positive direction not only helps the health of the pregnant mother and fetus, but also helps protect the fetus from risks such as miscarriage, fetal movement, abnormal fetal development, ...
Below, Master. Doctor Nguyen Nhu Thu Truc will help mothers equip themselves with knowledge during the first 3 months of pregnancy.

For mothers who want to become pregnant, they must always ensure that the time from intercourse to pregnancy is always closely monitored. It is recommended to use pregnancy test strips as well as pay attention to the signs to detect pregnancy in time to protect the fetus from strong external influences.
Early pregnancy detection will help the mother be more proactive in changing daily walking habits, eating more sensibly, avoiding vigorous exercise such as running, jumping... will lead to fetal movement, very dangerous.

The signs that mothers can rely on are bleeding, which is bleeding but not yet the next period. Or the body feels very tired, has the phenomenon of urinating more than usual, has a feeling of loss of appetite or dizziness, has a headache or is easily nauseous. In particular, the most recognizable sign is a late menstrual period and sometimes there is a feeling of tightness in the breasts, nipples will turn darker. If you have any of the above symptoms, you need to take a pregnancy test right away.

There are many causes of miscarriage, most of which occur during the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. Many women miscarry without knowing they are pregnant.
So the first thing is to find out you are pregnant early, this will increase the rate of having a healthy baby. The causes of miscarriage are many, it can be due to a malformation of the fetus or a chromosomal aberration during cell division, or it can also be due to family and personal history. However, to avoid bad cases and to minimize the possibility of miscarriage, women need to know what they need to know during this first 3 months of pregnancy.
World Health Organization advises a woman to give birth and give birth 24 months apart to ensure the health of the mother and the baby. The older the mother, the harder it is to give birth and the higher the risk of complications. If the birth is too thick, with 2 births separated by 6 months, the rate of preterm birth of the latter is very high, increasing to 59% compared to 18 months apart, according to a study by the University of British Colombia. , America.
During this first trimester of pregnancy, the mother must avoid vigorous activities, strenuous and risky sports such as jogging, jumping rope, climbing...
Exercise is very important. good for pregnant women, but pay attention to choose gentle subjects such as yoga, walking... to improve health.
Pregnant women also need to avoid caffeinated drinks, alcohol, and tobacco for healthy fetal development. In particular, the mother needs to take care of her health to avoid diseases such as colds, colic, and contagion. In addition, mothers should be fully vaccinated with vaccines for pregnant women to protect the health of mother and baby.

During the first trimester of pregnancy, stabilizing the fetus is a top priority. In addition to the addition of supplements and vitamins, the mother needs to pay special attention to folic acid supplementation, which will help the development of the fetus to be perfect.

It is very important to get nutrients from fresh foods during this period. Mothers will often feel tired and lose their appetite but need to try to eat nutritious foods to stay healthy.
Nutritious foods rich in substances such as folic acid, calcium, iron, protein are abundant in cereals, green vegetables, legumes, meat, fish, eggs, ...

However, the first 3 months of pregnancy need to be careful about nutrition because there are some foods that are not good for this period, which should be avoided such as: pineapple, green papaya, spinach, ... will cause uterine contractions , leading to pain, discomfort, and possible miscarriage.
Besides, the mother can add milk products and dairy products, but note, choose pasteurized varieties. Do not use fresh dairy products because it is easy to get bacteria. And especially, mothers need to eat cooked and drink boiling water to protect the body and health of the fetus in the best way.

Of all the factors above, psychology is the most important in the first 3 months of pregnancy. Therefore, the mother must keep a comfortable spirit, avoiding stressful situations that will affect the fetus. Detect early signs of pregnancy and change lifestyle, try to rest to ensure pregnancy, avoid the fetus being strongly affected, causing fetal movement, miscarriage or unintended complications.
In addition, for the health of both mother and baby to be stable, in the first 3 months pregnant women need to pay close attention to some other important issues such as:
Understanding pregnancy poisoning, bleeding during pregnancy . Timely, correct and sufficient first prenatal check-up, avoiding too early/too late. Fetal malformation screening at 12 weeks detects dangerous fetal malformations that can be intervened early. Distinguish between normal vaginal bleeding and pathological vaginal bleeding for timely intervention to maintain pregnancy. Screening for thyroid disease in the first 3 months of pregnancy avoids dangerous risks before and during delivery. Vinmec currently has many maternity packages (12-27-36 weeks), in which the 12-week maternity package helps monitor the health of mother and baby right from the beginning of pregnancy, early detection and timely intervention of health issues. In addition to the usual services, the maternity monitoring program from 12 weeks has special services that other maternity packages do not have such as: Double Test or Triple Test to screen for fetal malformations; Quantitative angiogenesis factor test to diagnose preeclampsia; thyroid screening test; Rubella test; testing for parasites transmitted from mother to child seriously affects the baby's brain and physical development after birth,...