Being pregnant is one of the most exciting times of any woman’s life. It signals that you’re bringing life into this world and that’s an excellent reason to be particularly careful about your health.

Not only do you need to care for yourself, but your wellbeing has a direct effect on how healthy your newborn child will be. Every mother wants a healthy child, but sometimes complications occur during pregnancy and birth that result in birth defects.

While many birth defects are inexplicable, some are preventable with a few precautions like avoiding omissions during labor and delivery. The better prepared and informed you are, the greater your chances of a smooth birth and a healthy baby.

To help you give your growing baby exactly what it needs, we’ll give you a few tips for preventing birth defects below.

Daily Folic Acid

One of the most important recommendations is to take folic acid daily.

Folic acid is the synthetic version of the vitamin folate, which is responsible for the production of red blood cells. For pregnant mothers, it also plays a role in the development of your baby’s neural tube.

The neural tube is arguably the most important part of a developing baby because it becomes the brain and spinal cord. Some of the most impactful birth defects target the brain and/or spinal cord.

With this in mind, increasing your folic acid and folate intake directly contributes to the healthy development of your child’s spinal cord and brain.

For the best results, you’ll want to take 400 micrograms of folic acid every day. This can often be found in a prenatal vitamin, which contains several other beneficial vitamins for pregnant women.

Vitamins and folic acid won’t guarantee a healthy child, but they greatly reduce the chance of spine and brain-related birth defects.

Vaccinations

Another important tip is to stay up-to-date with all common vaccinations.

There is some controversy surrounding vaccinations, but they are scientifically-backed to be beneficial for your wellbeing. The only reasonable concern is how vaccines work, which is by administering the very disease it is vaccinating against.

You must keep in mind that vaccines administer a harmless version of the disease being vaccinated against. This means that your growing child is at no risk when you get vaccinated.

A flu shot is the only near-essential vaccine, but vaccines for rubella, mumps, measles, hepatitis B, and chickenpox are also highly recommended.

Your needs will vary depending on your vaccination history, but the more current you are with your vaccinations, the safer your child will be. Limiting their vulnerability to dangerous diseases directly reduces their chance of developing a birth defect.

Avoid Intoxicating Substances

You should also avoid any intoxicating substances during pregnancy.

Substances like alcohol and drugs are already a given, but it’s other substances that can also cause problems. In particular, tobacco/nicotine and caffeine can also be problematic for a growing baby.

Tobacco exposes your body to harmful chemicals, which usually lead to serious conditions with enough exposure. If you smoke when you’re pregnant, these chemicals affect your child as well. They are particularly dangerous when your child is still developing and can easily damage cells.

Caffeine is less problematic, but can still be dangerous in high doses. Humans can only handle so much caffeine before they experience caffeine toxicity, which results in adverse conditions like an irregular heartbeat and poor blood flow.

Babies can handle far less caffeine than you can, meaning that it’s easier for them to reach caffeine toxicity. Caffeine has been linked to low birth weight and birth defects in animals but hasn’t conclusively been shown to cause them in humans.

Despite that, you should consider limiting your caffeine intake to no more than 200 milligrams per day. That’s roughly three shots of espresso or two cups of black coffee.

Remember that everything you ingest is also affecting your baby! Cut back on any potentially dangerous substances like nicotine and caffeine to protect your child.

Manage Weight

Lastly, try to manage your weight as much as possible.

This can certainly be difficult to do because pregnancy will inevitably add several pounds. You have a whole human growing inside you, how could you not?

Making things harder, you also likely face many cravings for food that often aren’t very healthy. Paired with an inability to exercise effectively, it can be downright difficult to maintain your weight.

Despite this, keeping your weight in check is essential to preventing birth defects. Obesity has been directly linked to birth defects and other complications during birth.

With this in mind, try to stay active whenever you can. Try to take a 30-minute walk each day and don’t always cave into your unhealthy cravings! After you give birth, you can eat whatever you want!

Closing Thoughts

If you want to do the best for your child while you are pregnant, you need to consider the risks of birth defects. Your behaviour and how you approach your health will directly affect the health of your newborn child.

Most birth defects don’t have a known cause, but certain actions are known to protect your child. This includes taking 400 micrograms of folic acid daily, staying current with vaccinations, avoiding all intoxicating substances, and managing your weight.

Pregnancy is undeniably difficult and you may feel a lot of pressure. Giving your best to your child during your pregnancy is essential to preventing birth defects and keeping them healthy. Remember this and think carefully about how you approach each day!