Top 10 Foods to Avoid during Pregnancy

Even if you've always had a stomach of iron, pregnancy weakens your immune system and makes you more vulnerable to food-borne illnesses that could make you sick and harm your baby. So it's important to avoid certain foods during pregnancy.

Dangerous bacteria and parasites like listeria, toxoplasma, salmonella, staphylococcus aureus, and E. coli can lurk in improperly prepared, cooked, and stored foods. And listeria and toxoplasma can cross your placenta and affect your baby even if you never feel symptoms of the illness yourself.

SKIN DURING PREGNANCY :

Pregnancy not only affects a woman’ figure, it can also affect her skin. Whether you’re pregnant or just thinking about it, here’s what your skin can expect:

1. During the first trimester, you may get “the glow” associated
with early pregnancy. This radiance comes from newly created blood vessels just under the skin that carry an abundant supply of rosy-making oxygen to the skin.

2. Sensitivities manifesting them rashes or dry patches on your skin may develop. Just as you may become nauseated by certain foods or odours, you skin may develop sensitivities to any or all of the ingredients. In your normal skin-care products.

Tips to Minimize the Risk of Miscarriage:

Miscarriage can leave a couple severely shaken as the anticipation of having a baby suddenly turns to grief over a loss. Many feel devastated and guilty even if the miscarriage occurs during the early weeks or months of the pregnancy. However, while it's normal to blame some specific act or situation, miscarriages are rarely triggered by factors under the partners' control.
Most miscarriages are caused by chromosomal (genetic) abnormalities and other physical factors that are beyond your control. There are, however, steps you can take to reduce the risk of losing a pregnancy.

1. Don't smoke:

Smoking increases the risk of losing a genetically normal baby. One study showed that women who smoked more than 14 cigarettes a day were about twice as likely to miscarry, regardless of their age or use of alcoholic beverages. The risk of losing a pregnancy increases with the number of cigarettes a woman smokes. On the other hand, giving up smoking at any time during the pregnancy will benefit the baby. Since passive smoke is also dangerous, it's wisest if no one in your household smokes during the pregnancy.

New Guidelines Released To manage Thyroid in Pregnancy

Emerging data clarifying the risks of insufficient thyroid activity during pregnancy on the health of the mother and fetus, and on the future intellectual development of the child, have led to new clinical guidelines for diagnosing and managing thyroid disease during this critical period. The guidelines, developed by an American Thyroid Association (ATA) expert task force, are presented in Thyroid, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (2011)and are available free online.



Thyroid disease is present in 2-5 percent of all women and 1-2 percent of women in the reproductive age group. Thyroid problems are common in women who are pregnant.