PREGNANCY RISKS YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF AND HOW TO AVOID THEM
SMOKING
This increases the risk of your baby having a low-birth weight, being born prematurely and sudden infant death (SIDS). Even if you don’t smoke yourself, inhaling second-hand smoke seriously increases the risk of miscarriage and still birth. There has never been a better reason for you and your partner to give up smoking. If you need help ask your midwife or GP for advice and details of local support groups or call the NHS SmokeFree help-line on 0300 123 1044.
ALCOHOL
To keep risks to your baby to a minimum, the DoH advises that pregnant women, or women who are planning a pregnancy, should not drink any alcohol. If you drank before you found out that you were pregnant, you should avoid drinking any further alcohol.
It is known that even small amounts of alcohol can affect your baby's behaviour in the womb. Only by avoiding alcohol completely can you avoid the risk of damage occurring in your baby's brain as a result of drinking.** Drinking during the first three months of pregnancy also increases your risk of miscarriage and must be avoided.
CAFFEINE
Some research has linked too much caffeine consumption to miscarriage and low birth weight, so you should limit your intake to no more than 200mg a day.
CERTAIN FOODS
There are a number of foods which have been found to be harmful to your unborn baby, these include: pâté, under-cooked eggs and blue-vein or mould-ripened crust cheeses.
This increases the risk of your baby having a low-birth weight, being born prematurely and sudden infant death (SIDS). Even if you don’t smoke yourself, inhaling second-hand smoke seriously increases the risk of miscarriage and still birth. There has never been a better reason for you and your partner to give up smoking. If you need help ask your midwife or GP for advice and details of local support groups or call the NHS SmokeFree help-line on 0300 123 1044.
ALCOHOL
To keep risks to your baby to a minimum, the DoH advises that pregnant women, or women who are planning a pregnancy, should not drink any alcohol. If you drank before you found out that you were pregnant, you should avoid drinking any further alcohol.
It is known that even small amounts of alcohol can affect your baby's behaviour in the womb. Only by avoiding alcohol completely can you avoid the risk of damage occurring in your baby's brain as a result of drinking.** Drinking during the first three months of pregnancy also increases your risk of miscarriage and must be avoided.
CAFFEINE
Some research has linked too much caffeine consumption to miscarriage and low birth weight, so you should limit your intake to no more than 200mg a day.
CERTAIN FOODS
There are a number of foods which have been found to be harmful to your unborn baby, these include: pâté, under-cooked eggs and blue-vein or mould-ripened crust cheeses.
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