Abstract
This essay explores how poor nutrition during pregnancy can affect prenatal development. It will be touching on the subjects of how the fetus can obtain diabetes, abnormal brain development, and heart disease from poor nutrition. Pregnant mothers should maintain a healthy diet to avoid pregnancy and birth complications. The amount of food mothers consume during pregnancy is important for normal development for the fetus. This essay will expand on the necessary foods and how to maintain a healthy diet in order to give birth to a healthy child. It will also expand on how to avoid unhealthy foods and lower the risk of giving birth to a child that has not developed properly. I will also be explaining how these birth defects have contributed to Forsyth County’s infant mortality reduction. Keywords: diabetes, brain development, mortality reduction, birth complications
Prenatal Influences: Poor Nutrition during Pregnancy
There are multiple prenatal influences that can affect the well being of infants. One of these
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Consuming certain foods will lower risks of a child being born with diabetes, heart disease, or any other disease. Pregnant women should avoid; raw meats, deli meat, fish with mercury, smoked seafood, raw shellfish, raw eggs, soft cheese, unpasteurized milk, and caffeine. Also mothers should avoid alcohol as this would increase the chances of the fetus having Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or other developmental disorders. A healthy diet for a pregnant mother would consist of foods containing whole grains, beans, salmon, eggs, berries, and low fat yogurt. You'll require protein and calcium for your infant's tissues and bones. You'll likewise require additional folic corrosive to secure against neural tube conception deformities, and additionally more iron to help red platelets convey oxygen to your infant. (Katherine Kam,
Two-thirds of infants die during the first month of life due to low birth weight (Lia-Hoagberg et al, 1990). One reason for this outcome is primarily due to difficulties in accessing prenatal care. Prenatal health care encompasses the health of women in both pre and post childbearing years and provides the support for a healthy lifestyle for the mother and fetus and/or infant. This form of care plays an important role in the prevention of poor birth outcomes, such as prematurity, low birth weight and infant mortality, where education, risk assessment, treatment of complications, and monitoring of fetus development are vital (McKenzie, Pinger,& Kotecki, 2012). Although every woman is recommended to receive prenatal health care, low-income and disadvantaged minority women do not seek care due to structural and individual barriers.
Diabetes develops when the body can't efficiently produce or use insulin made by the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that lets cells change glucose into fuel. When glucose accumulates in the blood in large amounts, it means that cells aren't getting the fuel they need. Gestational diabetes (GD) is a type of diabetes that can develop in a pregnant woman who did not necessarily have diabetes before becoming pregnant. This condition is caused by changes in a pregnant woman’s metabolism and hormone production where the body does not produce enough insulin to deal with the increased blood sugar of pregnancy. Symptoms of GD can include excessive thirst, more frequent urination, vaginal infections, and high blood pressure. GD almost always disappears once the baby is born and is usually not an indicator of the child developing diabetes later in life.
... middle of paper ... ... Studies have determined that some infants can rectify these behavioral inconsistencies, but that the change is dependent upon a responsive caregiver in a nurturing environment. The birth of a healthy child is a blessing.
Although there are many factors that affect the development of the fetus, research on the specific effects of prenatal maternal stress and the resulting negative outcomes for the development of the fetus will be reviewed. While there is knowledge of these harmful effects in scientific and medical communities, researchers are still in the midst of discovering the results of these negative effects on human development. An overall review of the literature suggests that this topic is still relatively new in research as most of the articles make note that despite the amount of current research studies, there are still many unanswered questions.
It has been proven that a child’s early years are the peak at which the mind can bend and shape, creating the foundation for a life. We know now that even before birth, the mind is a delicate matter that if improperly taken care of could alter a person’s entire life. Nourishment and stimulation before and after the birth of a child mold’s the brain in its most malleable state. Medical and scientific institutes paired with parenting information organizations have made information readily available for parents, childcare providers, and students to advise them of the importance of childhood brain development. This information is not only critical for the child, but for the person they will become in the future.
Stanner, S. (2005). Safe Diet for Pregnancy. In B. Caballero, L. Allen, & A. Prentice (Eds.),
An ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates, believed that any illness that was suffered by humans was due to their bad eating habits as well as their poor nutrition intake and historically, Hereditarians implied that the health of a fetus and the future of it was determined by its genes at conception, retrospectively evidence suggests that with the lack of nutrition a fetus receives, is a major contributory factor for future diseases (Edwards & Thomas, 2009).
The first two years of a infants development is crucial. They are dependent on their caregivers to provide them with enough nutrition, nurturing, attention, love, and experiences to not only learn about their surrounding world but how to interact with it. Without these experiences a babies brain isn’t given the chance to grow and develop the way that is was designed to. Unfortunately in many circumstances if these experiences don’t happen early on children suffer
Child psychology, also known as child development, is the study of psychological growth of children; how these mechanisms develop from infancy to adolescence and why they deviate from one child to the next. Child development is associated with biological, psychological, and emotional diversity that occur in humans. Although there is a different advancement for each child, these developmental changes may be greatly determined by genetic factors and experience during prenatal life. The early years of a child’s life are very important for his or her health and development. Parents, health professionals, educators, and others can work together as partners to help children grow up to reach their full potential.
The foundations for a child’s development begins not only in the child’s first year, but also while they are in utero. A child’s development can also be influenced by how much the parents are contributing to the development of the child. A couple that interacts well with one another as well as with the child can have “positive impacts on a child’s cognitive, language and motor development, this can also positively benefit the couple relationship, and the parent-infant relationship,” (Parfitt, Pike, & Ayers, 2013). A parent’s especially a mother’s mental health can greatly impact a child’s development if a mother is less stressed the will be more comfortable around the child creating a better mother-child attachment which also promotes language development. (Parfitt, Pike, & Ayers, 2013). If a father’s is positively involved in a child’s life early on that the child will have a greater reduction in cognitive delays, this is especially true in boys (Parfitt, Pike, & Ayers, 2013). Another positive key in a child’s development comes from the sibling relationships. Siblings help a child learn social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral
As we know, when I woman becomes pregnant, the body often needs to adjust and change accordingly in order to fully accommodate the development of the fetus for at least nine months. Not only do these changes help assist in the development of the fetus but such changes also offer nutritional benefits as well as other benefits, pro...
In the developing stages of a child, psychological factors play a huge role in th...
A child’s proper growth depends greatly on their nutrition and health. A healthy diet is essential to the developing child. Food should never be used to reward, punish, or bribe a child. Instead children should have three healthy meals with snacks in between. It is also important for children to have good self care behaviors (including bathing, washing hands, brushing teeth), and adequate sleep.
Mothers who receive a higher level of education might be able to provide better protection and health care for their children than those with less education. Without the proper nutrition and health care before and after birth, children will develop poor cognition, motor, and social-emotional maturity. Studies show a distinct relationship between mothers having a higher maternal education and the physical growth in children. With the higher level of education, women will have increased knowledge and understanding in how to increase the overall health and wellbeing of their children. It is noted that after the child’s birth the first few years are the most critical in the child’s life. According to Semba, et al., 2008 children who do not get the proper care cannot maximize and develop as functional adults because of growth stunting during childhood. He further stated that the consequences of growth stunting could adversely affect the quality of life of an individual. It is imperative to understand the implications of growth stunting on a child’s development, and the importance of maternal education in order to reduce its impact.
A greater understanding of the effects of both prenatal and postpartum maternal distress on a larger scope of infant developmental conclusions is essential to prevention and early intervention strategies. A larger foundation for crucial strategies to build upon will lead to better treatment and more accurate prediction of potential outcomes of