There are many things you can do to promote a healthy pregnancy before you become pregnant:

• If you smoke, stop. Pregnant women who smoke are more likely to have a stillbirth, or a low birth weight baby. SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is more likely to occur in children born to mothers who smoke. Women who smoke have a greater risk of miscarriage. Even second-hand smoke is harmful to you and your unborn child. Cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide, which deprives your baby of oxygen.
  
  
• Avoid alcohol. Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol during pregnancy can cause serious birth defects. There is no known safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Drinking mothers have a higher risk of miscarriage. Every year, one of every 750 babies is born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, or FAS. This term is used to describe a group of defects and malformations, which include mental retardation. It is completely preventable if pregnant mothers abstain from drinking alcohol.
  
  
• If you are taking any of the following prescription medicines and you are planning to become pregnant, talk to you doctor about how the medicine will affect your pregnancy.
  • Birth Control Pills. Although it is safe to become pregnant immediately after stopping birth control pills, your doctor may suggest you use an alternate form of birth control for the first month or two after you have stopped. It can take one or two months until regular periods begin again and your due date can be more easily calculated.
    
  • Accutane, a prescription to treat acne.
    
  • Anticonvulsant or seizure medications.
    
  • Prednisone or other immune-suppressing medications.
    
  • Anticoagulants, such as Coumadin, used to prevent blood clots.
    
  • Antithyroid medications, such as propylthiouracil or methimazole, used to suppress the activity of the thyroid gland.
    
  • Tetracycline, an antibiotic sometimes used to treat acne.
    
  • Medicines used to treat cancer.
  
  
  
• Take a multivitamin, including at least 400 micrograms of folic acid, each day. Studies have shown that taking folic acid prior to becoming pregnant can reduce the chance of neural tube defects, a birth defect.
  
  
• Maintain optimum health. Eat a healthy, nutritious diet. Exercise. Maintain a healthy weight.

Back to top