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Following the Passport To A Healthy Pregnancy contest, noted obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr. Gita Arjun shares her tips for a healthy pregnancy
If you’ve been following our Passport To A Healthy Pregnancy contest, you would be familiar with Dr. Gita Arjun, noted Chennai-based obstetrician-gynaecologist, whose book, Passport To A Healthy Pregnancy started it all!
Besides all the tips shared generously by participating bloggers, we asked Dr. Gita Arjun to share her pregnancy tips as well, and here are some she chose to pass on to Women’s Web readers. (More information is available at her website, Passport to Health.)
You can climb stairs in the first three months of pregnancy and through your pregnancy. Be as active as possible.
Vegetables provide vitamins, minerals and roughage. Try to include 3-4 servings per day. A salad with fresh vegetables is highly recommended. 2-3 servings of fruit should be included daily. The old wives’ tale of not eating papaya, pineapple and mangoes in pregnancy has no basis in science.
Taking folic acid supplements can help prevent neural tube defects like spina bifida and anencephaly. To do this, they must be taken before you get pregnant and in early pregnancy. The time when the developing neural tube needs the folic acid often occurs before a woman knows she is pregnant. Therefore, all women trying for a pregnancy should take a daily supplement containing at least 0.4 mg of folic acid. Women, who already have a child with a neural tube defect, must take at least 4 mg of folic acid daily to prevent a recurrence in the next pregnancy.
Adolescent girls and women in the child-bearing age group should take an iron supplement for at least three months in each year. The ideal supplement will contain 60-100 mg of elemental iron in the form of ferrous sulphate, ferrous fumarate or ferrous gluconate.
It is safe to have intercourse in pregnancy, even in the first 3 months. Your doctor may advise you to avoid intercourse for 2 weeks if you have had bleeding in pregnancy.
Babies born to mothers with diabetes are not born with diabetes. Large babies born to diabetic mothers are more likely to become obese and to develop Type 2 diabetes later in life. Unless they are trained to develop healthy eating and regular exercise habits as they grow up, they have a greater chance for obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
When you exercise, extra care must be taken not to hurt the back. In pregnancy, the normal curve of the small of the back is exaggerated because of the growing size of the uterus. There is a tendency to low back pain. Avoid positions and exercises that increase the curve in your back. Make sure that your exercise regimen is supervised by a person who is trained to teach pregnancy exercises.
Some women are worried that a forceps delivery or a vacuum extraction can harm the baby. This is not true. When a child is born with cerebral palsy or mental retardation, parents are sometimes quick to blame the use of instruments. In reality, instrumental deliveries cannot result in a baby being born with mental retardation or cerebral palsy.
As your abdomen and breasts grow during pregnancy, they may become stretched and marked with reddish lines. By the end of the pregnancy almost all pregnant women will get stretch marks on their abdomen, and sometimes on the buttocks, breasts, or thighs. The number of stretch marks you get depends on your genetic makeup. Just apply plenty of moisturising lotion to the skin to keep it supple. Do not waste money on lotions and creams which promise to prevent stretch marks.
Most women are alarmed by the hair loss which usually occurs after having a baby. This loss is related to hormonal changes. Normal hair growth will resume about 3-6 months after delivery.
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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