Pregnancy is god’s blessing to every woman in this world. The decision of getting pregnant should be well planned by considering the factors such as health status, financial position, family conditions and time. All these factors should be concentrated on to welcome a baby in to this world smoothly. If you are clear with all these factors then decided to conceive shortly then this article gives you few tips to get pregnant quickly. Refer www.pregnancy.co.uk/ovulation-calculator/ for more information on pregnancy and ovulation calculation.

Pregnancy is uncertain thing and confirmation on this is very tricky to decide. In some cases, it will be very simple to conceive and no in some other cases. There are many factors that account your pregnancy. First, you need to be fit in your health with no issues on fertility. Eat healthy to stay healthy and to get ready for pregnancy. Try to avoid junk foods which reduce your fertility. See that you are keen on your weight. See that you are not weight as it may reduce your chance of getting pregnant. Underweight is also factor to concentrate on if you are so. Start eating vitamin rich foods to maintain your weight balanced.

Quit smoking: women who smoke also may fail to get chance of pregnant. They may miss the bliss of conception as nicotine and other harmful toxins badly effects the reproduction cycle.

Avoid stress: woman who lives a very depressing life with many stresses also slows down in getting pregnant. Body with no stress easily allows the changes to be caused.

Estimate ovulation time: if you have sexual intercourse in your ovulating period then there are many chances of getting pregnant. Use ovulation calculator to get the exact time of ovulation period.

Iron is one of the best-known minerals, needed for the production of the red pigments haemoglobin and myoglobin (found in muscle cells). World-wide, iron deficiency is the most common nutritional disease, with most cases going unrecognized.

If you are unable to get sufficient iron from your diet, you may want to consider an iron supplement. As you’ll discover, iron is a vital nutrient, especially during pregnancy. Consult with your doctor to determine whether you should try iron supplements and what your dosage should be.

Why You Need It During Pregnancy

Iron is an essential component of haemoglobin, the red blood cell protein which carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues. Iron from your diet is also needed to produce your baby’s blood pigment, which is slightly different from yours and known as haemoglobin F (F for fetal). Haemoglobin F binds to oxygen more easily than your own adult haemoglobin, so that oxygen quickly passes from your own bloodstream into your baby’s blood within the placenta. Oxygenated blood arriving from the lacenta and umbilical cord is carried straight up to your baby’s brain to ensure it receives adequate supplies during develop­ment. During pregnancy, your iron requirements increase as you produce 30 per cent more red blood cells and haemoglobin.

Many enzyme systems also rely on iron, including those involved in the production of energy from carbohydrate, fat and protein. It also forms part of an antioxidant enzyme system (iron catalase) that is vital for protecting the brain from damage due to exposure to the metabolic chemicals and free radicals produced during the rapid developmental process in the womb. This enzyme may provide some protection against cere­bral palsy. Iron also has a role in boosting immunity. White blood cells destroy invading micro-organisms using powerful iron-containing chemicals. In iron deficiency, there is an increased susceptibility to infection, with sufferers being especially prone to recurrent thrush, especially during pregnancy.

A common symptom of iron deficiency during pregnancy is a craving for strange foods such as soil or coal. This is known as pica. If it happens to you during pregnancy, start taking a supple­ment containing iron immediately – ask your pharmacist or doc­tor for advice on dosage. Your doctor may also want to perform a blood test to check your iron stores. Long-term deficiency of iron during pregnancy and during childhood can lower your baby’s intelligence.

Iron deficiency increases the risk of growth retardation in the womb and low birthweight. Taking iron supplements during pregnancy may halve the risk of the offspring developing a type of brain tumour (astrocytoma) during childhood.

How Much You Need

Overall, an extra 550 mg of iron is needed throughout pregnancy -300 mg for your baby, 50 mg for the placenta and 200 mg to offset the blood lost during childbirth. As you have stopped having peri­ods while pregnant, however, your iron losses are less than usual. US Recommended Dietary Allowances suggest that iron require­ments should double during pregnancy from 15 mg to 30 mg per day. The EC RDA for adults is 14 mg while the UK RNI is 14.8 mg per day. The UK does not suggest any additional iron during preg­nancy unless a woman previously had heavy periods (putting her at risk of iron deficiency anaemia). As the average iron intake for British women is only 10.5 mg per day, however (30 per cent lower than recommended) – and as 50 per cent of women obtain less than 9.8 mg per day – a supplement specially formulated for pregnancy and containing some iron is a good idea.

Good Dietary Sources

- brewer’s yeast

- offal (liver, kidney, heart)

- red meat

- fish, especially sardines

- wheatgerm

- wholemeal bread

- cocoa powder

- egg yolk

- green vegetables

- parsley

- prunes and other dried fruit

Vegetarian mothers-to-be need to pay special attention to their dietary intake of iron.

The form of iron that is most easily absorbed is organic haem iron found in red meat. Vegetarians, and those who eat little red meat, are therefore at increased risk of iron deficiency. Their intakes are dependent on absorbing inorganic non-haem iron, and food supplements are essential.

Overboiling vegetables decreases their iron availability by up to 20 per cent. Vitamin C increases the absorption of inorganic iron, while calcium- and tannm-containing drinks (such as tea) decrease it. Coffee can reduce iron absorption by up to 39 per cent drunk within an hour of eating. Your absorption of dietary iron generally becomes more efficient during pregnancy, however.

Potential Problems

Avoid taking too much iron, as this can cause constipation or indigestion, and excess is toxic. Iron supplements given alone can decrease the absorption of zinc and other essential minerals (such as manganese, chromium and selenium), so some special­ists advise that iron should be given in combination with these.

During the last 3 months of pregnancy, your baby makes many breathing movements with the muscles in his chest wall as he practises for independent life after birth. If he receives less oxy­gen from your placenta due to excess maternal smoking, how­ever, he will stop making these practice breathing movements in an attempt to conserve both oxygen and energy. In the womb, he therefore stops breathing when oxygen levels are low. After he is born, however, his behaviour must change to the opposite ­when oxygen levels are low, he needs to respond by breathing more quickly and deeply to draw more oxygen into his lungs. The ‘low oxygen = stop breathing’ response in the womb is under the control of a small area of neurons in the brain that must be over-ridden and deactivated immediately after birth to ensure survival. In some babies, it is thought that this inborn instinct is not over-ridden, and continues after delivery, so that lack of oxy­gen triggers an inappropriate lack of breathing and an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS, also known as cot death). Exposure to cigarette smoke during fetal life seems to strengthen the ‘stop breathing’ response, which may explain why maternal smoking is linked with an increased risk of SIDS. This is currently under investigation.

The chemicals generated by smoking cigarettes are harmful to your baby’s developing brain. Less oxygen, plus the toxic effects of other chemicals in cigarette smoke, mean that babies born to mothers who have smoked during pregnancy are more likely to have a smaller head, a smaller brain and a lower intelli­gence than expected – by 10 to 15 IQ points. They are also at greater risk of developmental problems such as difficulty read­ing, solving problems and interpreting information. They are also twice as likely to display delinquent, sociopathic behaviour – probably as a result of brain damage caused by smoking during early development – as babies born to non-smoking mothers, and are almost 3 times more likely to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Overall, 50 per cent or more of babies born to mothers who smoked at least 20 cigarettes per day dur­ing pregnancy had abnormal central nervous system develop­ment with developmental delay and learning difficulties. There is no doubt that smoking during pregnancy lowers the intelli­gence of your baby.

Apart from the effects on the baby’s growth and potential intelligence, children born to mothers (or fathers) who smoke are twice as likely to suffer a childhood cancer, including leukaemia and some types of brain tumour.

Research suggests that women who smoke during pregnancy have lower intakes of several vitamins and minerals, including:

- thiamin (B1)

- riboflavin (b2)

- vitamin C

- calcium

- iron.

Pregnant women who smoke also tend to have a higher fat con­sumption and overall their diet is much less nutritious than that of non-smoking pregnant women.

Smoking liberates dangerous chemicals including gases and condensed tar particles which generate free radicals in the body. These damage cell membranes and are partially mopped up by dietary antioxidants. As a result, smoking lowers your blood lev­els of vitamins C, E, betacarotene, several B group vitamins -including folic acid – and the mineral selenium. Cadmium, a toxic metal found in tobacco, antagonizes selenium and zinc so they become less available. These effects make a nutritionally poor diet worse. If you are unable to stop smoking during preg­nancy – which is your main priority – please take a good vitamin and mineral supplement, especially formulated for pregnancy and including folic acid – and in addition take extra antioxidants (vitamin C, at least 500 mg per day, and vitamin E, at least 100 mg per day) as well as increasing your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!