Pregnancy Puts You at a Higher Risk for Illness
December 4, 2016
Warnings for pregnant women are all around. From food and diet recommendations to limits on chemical and environmental exposures, women who are pregnant have many special considerations.
The food and environmental adjustments many women make while pregnant are well worth it. When women become pregnant their immune systems become compromised.1 This is a natural condition that helps mothers and their babies coexist. This change ensures that the mother’s immune system does not reject the developing baby by reacting to it as foreign tissue or an invading pathogen.
A study conducted at New York University’s Langone Medical Center in 2012 found that embryo implantation sets off a process that ultimately turns off a key pathway required for the immune system to attack foreign bodies.2 As a result, immune cells are never recruited to the site of implantation and therefore cannot harm the developing fetus.2
However, such an alteration also makes it more difficult for an expecting mom to fight off certain harmful microorganisms, particularly those that are food-borne. The unborn baby is also at high risk because its immune system is not developed enough to fight off harmful food-borne microorganisms.
Practicing good hygiene, such as regularly washing your hands with warm water and soap, can help reduce exposure to harmful germs. Avoiding unpasteurized foods and undercooked meats also can help you avoid food-borne illness.
Women may need to alter their diets while pregnant to avoid risky foods that may have been favorites pre-pregnancy. As a result, they may have trouble meeting their nutritional needs. A daily prenatal vitamin is a fast and easy way to obtain folic acid, DHA and other vitamins critical to healthy pregnancy outcomes. Prenate® Vitamin Family provides a solution for mothers and babies to receive the vitamins and minerals they need. Every Prenate® product meets or exceeds recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for daily consumption of folic acid. Plus, Prenate® contains a form of folic acid that is highly absorbable and bioavailable to everyone. Designed for the needs of both moms and babies, Prenate® Vitamin Family helps fill nutritional gaps. Talk to your doctor to see if Prenate® is right for you.
