(NAPSA)—Pregnancy is an exciting chlamydia is another important part of caring for yourself and your baby during pregnancy. Someofthese infec time, from decorating the nursery to readingevery parenting bookavailable. The most important thing expecting momscan do for themselves andtheir babyis to protect their health throughout pregnancy. Start by being aware of whatthe science says about preventing common conditions that can emerge tions don't cause problems right away, whichis whyit’s importantto get tested early. Treating these infections during plements that can support your baby’s development. three different kinds ofinfections: Be goodto your baby during preg- detect HIV, hepatitis B andsyphilis. The HIV nancy by looking after your own test checks for antibodies (disease-fighthealth. ing proteins) that react specifically to during pregnancy and aboutdaily supTakingFolic Acid If you are pregnantortrying to become pregnant,it’s important to take a daily vitamin that contains folic acid (0.4 to 0.8 mg). Folic acidis essential to yourbaby’s growing brain andto spinal cord development. Toolittle folic acid hasbeenlinkedto seriousbirth defects, which occurin aboutsix to seven out of pregnancy will help reduce the chance that the infection will be passed on to your baby and cause complications. A simple blood test can be used to complications throughout the body. About 6 percent of pregnant women develop gestational diabetes, which can causedifficult delivery and an increased risk of diabeteslater inlife. Babies born to mothers with gestational diabetes mayhave low blood sugar, which cani the virus. Women with HIV are giv- en antiviral medicines that greatly re- ducethe likelihood of the babygetting HIV. Screeningfor the hepatitis B virus should happenduringyour first prenatal visit and also involvesa test that looks for certain antibodies. Infants born to mothers with the virus should get the every 10,000babies born. Ask your doc- crease a baby’srisk ofseizures and obe- Monitoring BloodPressure condition is fairly easy. Testing is done during weeks 24 to 28 of pregnancy, or ciated with high blood pressure after 20 weeks of pregnancy andcanlead to tionaldiabetes dueto obesity or a family history ofdiabetes. This simple test con- lis bacterium is found through a blood test and antibiotics treat infection in the andthen measuring with a blood test to seriousbirth defects in the baby. tor which supplementis right for you. One of the most serious pregnancy conditions is pre-eclampsia. Its assolife-threatening complications for moms andinfants.It'sa leading cause of preterm delivery (when baby is born too early) sity later in childhood.Screeningfor the hepatitis B vaccine and hepatitis B immuneglobulin (another disease-fighting protein)within 12 hours ofbirth to help earlier if there is a higherrisk of gesta- preventinfection. Similarly, the syphisists of drinking 50 g of a sugary liquid andlowbirth weightin the UnitedStates, see how quickly your bodygets ridofit. ‘Ask your doctorabout whenyou should pressure throughout pregnancy. Fortu- Identifying Depression Duringor After Pregnancy Some women experience depression accounting for nearly onein five preterm births. Your doctor will screen you for pre-eclampsia by measuring your blood nately, low-dose aspirin (81 mg per day) can reduce therisk of pre-eclampsia for some womenatincreasedrisk, so your doctor may suggest taking a low-dose aspirin every day to help protect you and your baby. Talk to your doctor about any questions you have. Screeningfor Gestational Diabetes take this importanttest. during or after pregnancy—evenif they treated with antibiotics. Talk to your doctor aboutthese and other infections that can affect your didnt have symptoms before getting pregnant. If you feel persistent sadness, you aren't alone. About 10 percent of pregnant women experience major de- pressive episodes andthese episodes can continue after the babyarrives. Depres- (a hormone) or use it correctly. This buildup of sugarin the bloodleads to Screening for infections like HIV, hepatitis B, syphilis, gonorrhea and diabetes. Diabetes is a disease in which the body doesn’t make enough insulin means the body can't turn starches or sugars from foods anddrinks into the energy it needs to function, and the Screening for chlamydia and gonor- thea involvestesting a urine sample or a swab from the vagina.If the test comes sion mayaffect the baby, too, because it can disrupt a mom’ability to care for herself and her newborn. The good. newsis that depression can be managed through treatments like behavioral therapy, so check in with your doctor regu- Another health condition that can happen during pregnancy is gestational motherandhelp preventinfections and larly about how you are feeling. Screeningfor Infections back positive, both conditions can be pregnancy. Recommendationsto Protect You and Your Baby’s Health These recommendations were de- veloped by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force—an independent group of nationalexpertsin prevention. The Task Force makes recommendations, based on thelatest science, about what works and what doesn't work whenit comes to preventing disease and promoting good health. For more information on these and other Task Force recommendations,visit www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce. org.
