What to beware of during conception and pregnancy

These things should be avoided when conceiving

Of course, if you plan to have a baby, you need to provide the best conditions for fertilization and try to avoid risk factors that can negatively affect the very early stages of fetal development. These factors are generally known: smoking, drinking alcohol just before conception, and chronic abuse of alcohol( see figure)

There are professions in which there is constant contact with various harmful substances: lead, cadmium, mercury, etc.,Work in production related to radioactive exposure. If such contact occurs for a long time, then mutations may appear in the germ cells, changing their genetic material. This is more true of women, because their egg stock remains constant and unchanged throughout life, and all harmful effects inevitably affect the condition of future offspring. In men, the full update of spermatozoa occurs within 3 months, so it is enough that the husband tries to lead a healthy lifestyle at least 3 months before possible conception.

Alcohol, especially taken just before sexual intercourse, during which a woman becomes pregnant, breaks the initial stages of division and specialization of the fetal tissues. This subsequently leads very often to malformations, dementia, insufficient development of the nervous system, excessive excitability of the newborn.

Smoking causes oxygen starvation of all tissues and cells of the mother, including eggs, in which the influence of nicotine mutations occur.

Those who are forced to take medicine in connection with any diseases, it should be remembered that some of them have a very negative effect on the processes of cell division of the fetus, causing the development of congenital malformations.

In the middle of the 20th century in America, thalidomide was widely prescribed for future mothers, which in animal experiments had no toxic effect on the fetus. Women who took this medicine, in due time gave birth to babies without pens or legs. After such a monstrous incident, the appointment of this drug to pregnant women was banned.

As a rule, such drugs are most antibiotics, all cytotoxic drugs, antineoplastic agents and some others. If you use these medicines, then

use reliable methods of protection. When passing the course of radiation therapy, also refrain from conception, because X-rays affect the fetus adversely.

Do not forget about age, because the older the future mother, the greater the probability of the appearance of some kind of congenital pathology in the child. There are reliable data confirming the increase in the birth rate of children with Down syndrome in women older than 35 years.

In some families, hereditary diseases are observed in a number of generations, for example, mu-koviscidosis, ichthyosis, Parkinson's disease and many others. They can be inherited in different ways. It happens that the disease does not manifest itself for a number of generations, and then a child with this pathology is born, so if there are cases of such diseases in the family, you should consult a female geneticist doctor about the probability of having a sick child. This way you can avoid the tragedy in your family.