A healthy pregnancy involves taking good care before and after the pregnancy phase. It helps your baby grow and ensures both the baby and mother are healthy.

Prenatal Care

Prenatal care is taking good care before and during pregnancy with proper nutrition and following healthy habits. You can consult a healthcare provider before you start trying to become pregnant. There are a few things you can do:

Choose a provider: 

You need to choose a provider that can help you with prenatal care, delivery and postpartum services.

Take folic acid: If you are planning toget pregnant or are pregnant, you can take a supplement with at least 400 micrograms (0.4 mg) of folic acid every day. Make sure to consult with your healthcare provider before taking any supplement or medicine when you are pregnant.

Go for prenatal visits and tests: You need to visit your provider many times for prenatal care. Our Mothercare services in Noida providedifferent tests and exams done at different months of your pregnancy:

• First-trimester care
• Second-trimester care
• Third-trimester care

Doing the tests help the provider to know about the development of the baby and help to detect if any complication exists. The tests may include:

• Ultrasound tests to see the baby growth
• Glucose tests to check for gestational diabetes
• A blood test to check the normal fetal DNA in blood
• Fetal echocardiography to check the baby’s heart
• Amniocentesis  or birth defects and genetic problems
• Nuchal translucency test to check the baby’s genes
• Tests for sexually transmitted disease
• Blood type test to check for Rh and ABO

You can opt to screen for genetic problems depending on your family history. However, there are many points to consider before going for genetic testing. Your provider can assist you in providing the right decision.

If you are having a high-risk pregnancy, you need to consult your provider often to get the additional test done.

What to Expect During Pregnancy?

Your doctor will tell you the tips to manage the common pregnancy issues such as Morning sickness, backache, leg pain, sleep problems, vaginal bleeding etc in the early phase. Every pregnancy is different, some women have mild symptoms while some have severe. Depending on your condition, your provider will guide you to continue with a healthy pregnancy.

Possible Pregnancy Complications

Pregnancy is a complex process. There are chances of complications in some women while others may have a normal pregnancy. Your provider will take special care of you and your baby if you have any complications.

Some common complications include:

• Diabetes during pregnancy or gestational diabetes.
• High blood pressure during pregnancy.
• Premature changes in the cervix.
• Problems with the placenta.
• Vaginal bleeding.
• Poor growth of the baby

What to Expect After Your Child is Born?

Motherhood is a blissful experience. At the same time, you need to take care of yourself in the first few weeks after delivery. The type of care you require will depend on the delivery process.

In vaginal delivery, you need to spend one or two days in the hospital but in C-section, you need to stay at least for 2-3 days. Also, the provider will guide you about how to take care of yourself at home.

When to Call for Healthcare service Provider?

• You can call your provider if you are pregnant and:
• You want to ask about the medicines you are taking for diabetes, thyroid disease, or high blood pressure
• You are not getting prenatal care
• You cannot manage symptoms without medicines
• You are exposed to a sexually transmitted infection, chemicals or radiation
• You have a fever, chills, or painful urination, Vaginal bleeding
• Have your water break (membranes rupture)
• You notice that the baby is moving less or not at all

Post delivery, women need to be monitored closely for every 15 minutes for the first two hours and then regularly for the next 24 hours. Early postpartum is a critical time for the onset of PPH in new mom. The baby needs to be monitored for respiration, feeding, temperature and bleeding from the cord.

Both mom and newborn should be assessed carefully before they are sent to the home to check for the high-risk factors or problems that need closer observation. The newborn should not be sent home in the critical first 24 hours after birth. Also, the mother should be checked within the first 24 hours. Regular checks should take place on Day 3 after birth, in the first 2–3 weeks, and at 6 weeks.

Through these checks, the care provider can counsel the mother and family members on preventive care by detecting the signs and symptoms and encourage appropriate postnatal care to them which are:

• Check the health of the mother and newborn.
• Counsel the mother on breastfeeding, nutrition, hygiene, rest, and infant care including cord care.
• Counsel the mother on danger signs and symptoms such as excessive bleeding, headache, fever, severe pain, painful urination etc.
• Counsel the mother in newborn danger signs such as poor sucking, fast breathing, vomiting, convulsions, umbilical infections.
• Counsel the mother on sleeping under an ITN in malaria-endemic areas.
• Promote birth registration and timely immunization.
• Promote daily maternal iron and folate supplementation to prevent anaemia.

A vaccine is most effectively used as a routine part of the infant immunization schedule. Newborns should receive vaccines according to national immunization guidelines.

Our home visits in the postnatal period under our Mothercare services in Noidawould increase coverage of newborn care practices and reduce neonatal deaths. We provide trained health providers for mother care in Noida. These services keep women and their families aware of the newborn danger signs, newborn care and postpartum family planning.