Healthy mother can give birth to healthy child

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WOMEN-PREGNANCY-HEALTHCARE (UNICEF FEATURE)

Healthy mother can give birth to healthy child

By Sheuli Aktar

DHAKA, Dec 15, 2017 (BSS) – Josne Ara Begum, a media worker, is going to be
a mother. She lives in city’s Rayerbagh area and her office is situated in
Motijheel.

Despite her pregnancy, Josne Ara has to attend office regularly. “It’s a
little bit difficult for me to adapt myself to complete all household chores
and meet the demands of my husband and children after coming to house from
office,” she said.

During this risky period, it’s very difficult for a pregnant woman to work
at her office. It’s very necessary to take care of her own health as well as
for the expecting child. Better health of mother and her coming baby depends
on nutritious food, movement, rest and environment.

For becoming a mother, she has to cross about 10-month time with pain,
sufferings and hurdles and then her long-cherished desire is fulfilled. The
long 10 months are risky and challenging for a working woman.

In this era of information technology, the women are not sitting idle at
home. They’re showing their talent in every step like study, games, sports
and work skill. They’re not lagging behind in any field outside of the house.
They’ve to manage the family, look after study of their children and give
attention to profession also.

During the pregnancy, women go through many changes. Changes come in their
face while blackness is seen under their eye and legs are swollen. After that
the working women have to go outside of the house.

Dr Hasrat Jahan, an associate professor of the Institute of Child and
Mother Health at Matuail under Kadomtali thana, said in the life of a woman,
the pregnancy period is the most difficult time.

“At this time, two lives grow up in the same body. In our country, the
mother and child mortality has declined significantly than the past. But it
still exists at the level of concern,” she said.

She said the family will have to take more care of the pregnant mother,
while nutrition of the mother and her coming child will have to be ensured.

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Dr Jahan said a working woman will have to take effective steps. If any
special problem arises during her pregnancy, she should visit mother and
child specialist without any delay.

During pregnancy, taking regular advices from the physicians is very
essential side by side with receiving health education and tetanus vaccine
and checking blood pressure and other physical problems like anaemia, she
said.

While talking about the nutritious food of a working woman during pregnancy
period, Chief Dietician of Asgar Ali Hospital located at Gendaria in the
capital Selina Badruddin said the women who take proper nutritious food
during pregnancy her children also get equal nutrition and during the
pregnancy period they remain safe.

She said these babies are born with normal weight and they grow up
healthily.

“In our country, a woman in normal situation needs 2000-2200 calories of
food on an average every day. But a pregnant mother and a breastfeeding mom
requires 300 calories and 700 calories of additional energy respectively
every day,” Dr Selina Badruddin continued.

Of the additional energy, she said, a breastfeeding mother gets 500
calories from her everyday food and she receives the remaining 200 calories
from the fat deposited in the body.

So the breastfeeding mom has to collect food for her baby from the
pregnancy period. Otherwise, she has a risk of giving birth to underweight
baby, dead baby or crippled baby due to anaemia, iodine deficiency and
becoming mother at early age, she continued.

The possibility of death of both mother and the baby is more due to lack
of nutrition. If the weight of a mother is less than 40 kgs before
conception, she may give birth to an underweight baby. At the last stage of
the pregnancy, the baby grows up fast. If a pregnant mother takes more
nutritious food at that time, her baby gets more nutrition.

During the pregnancy period, a mother needs additional nutrition and
services because she has to consume calories due to labour at her work place.
For this, she needs to take additional nutritious food. A healthy pregnant
mother can give birth to a healthy and normal baby, she added.

During the pregnancy period, she said, a working woman must be very careful
at her workplace. Any overweight thing couldn’t be carried and she will have
to be careful in using stairs. She will have to wear flat shoes and avoid
stress. There is a chance of nausea or vomiting during the first three or
four months of pregnancy. Feeling bad and anxiety whatever it is that is
temporary. It’s cured with the passage of time.

The pregnant women will have to give attention to their health. Especially
the working mother need cooperation and sympathy from their colleagues, she
opined.

Conceiving baby is a matter of happiness and pride for every woman. Though
the process of conceive is natural, sometimes it can be deadly. During this
time, various hormone-related problems could be arisen. But there is no need
to do something special for solving the problem. This problem will be solved
after the delivery. If the problem is permanent, then advices will have to be
taken from gynaecologists, she added.

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