NUTRITION: Can diet save your pregnancy?

Finding out you’re pregnant is truly a glorious time. The desire to tell everyone that you’re expecting your own little bundle of joy is overwhelming. However, doctors will generally advise you to wait until you’re about 12 weeks along before you share the news with your loved ones. The reason? One in three pregnancies ends in miscarriage, and likelihood of it happening before you hit the 12-week mark is that much higher.

One question a lot of women do ask is whether they could have prevented it. While it’s true that miscarriage is likely to be nature’s way of terminating a pregnancy that was destined to go wrong, it appears that nutritionally, there are certain anti-nutrients that can contribute.

Alcohol and smoking are at the top of this list. A drinker and a smoker is four times more likely to suffer from a miscarriage. In a study conducted at Columbia University in New York, those who didn’t smoke but did have a drink every day still had a risk factor two and a half times higher than those who abstained. Perhaps this is because alcohol also inhibits the body’s absorption of nutrients such as zinc (more on this mineral below). Since it is actually the first 20 weeks that is the most critical stage of a pregnancy, I’d say that even one alcoholic drink a week is one too many during this time.

CAFFEINE DECREASES FERTILITY

There is also plenty of evidence to show that caffeine, whether in coffee, tea, chocolate or cola drinks, decreases fertility. Furthermore, drinking about two to three cups a day more than doubles the risk of miscarriage.

Of the nutrients you could be taking, zinc and selenium are the most important. Both of these play a key role in healthy chromosomes, which are critical for problem-free pregnancy. A good prenatal multivitamin will generally contain adequate levels of both.

Nutrition aside, the role of stress in both trying to conceive and sustaining a healthy pregnancy is often underestimated. Stress uses up essential nutrients at an alarming rate, leaving little for sex hormone production.

While it’s rarely possible to change the source of stress in your life (whether it’s your job, your family or even the matatus), you can change how you react to it. Finding new, effective ways of dealing with the stresses you are faced with each day can go a long way to achieving peace of mind.

So whether you decide to go to the gym to unwind, take a half an hour walk during your lunch break or just laugh more, learn to lighten up. Concentrate on what you can change in your life, and let go of the things you have no control over. I promise you’ll be happier – and more fertile for it.

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