Top 10 Common Mistakes Pregnant Women Often Make

During pregnancy, whether in the early or late stages, pregnant women should diligently engage in light and appropriate exercises. Regular and proper exercise brings numerous benefits to both mother and baby's health. Exercise combats fatigue, insomnia, improves back pain, and prevents constipation. An active body maintains a healthy digestive system. Walking for just 30 minutes a day improves digestion. However, many pregnant women feel heavy, always tired, nauseous, and sleepy, so they often avoid exercising.

Avoiding exercise exacerbates fatigue and stress during pregnancy. Studies have shown that lack of movement can lead to numbness, soreness, or constipation, resulting in uncontrolled weight gain, especially during pregnancy.

Pregnant women should avoid strenuous exercise, so exercising needs to be appropriately timed during pregnancy. Pregnancy doesn't mean stopping movement or exercise. A regime of regular and moderate exercise under the guidance of experts not only helps mothers maintain robust health but also promotes optimal development for the fetus.

Pregnant women should exercise from the first three months until the end of pregnancy. Exercising from the beginning helps reduce preterm birth, makes delivery easier, promotes deeper sleep, and reduces fatigue. For the fetus, it enhances metabolic processes for the best development. Moreover, exercise improves back pain, helps the body stretch, facilitates childbirth, and stimulates the brain to release endorphins, the feel-good hormones that provide energy and happiness, creating a sense of joy and comfort. So, don't think that resting 'extensively' is good for pregnancy. Instead, change habits and actions for the well-being of both mother and baby.

During pregnancy, you always want the best for your baby and yourself. So, anything unknown is often googled. In fact, pregnant women love to seek information, especially related to motherhood.

During leisure time, pregnant women often go online to read and explore information. However, nowadays, the sources of information are very diverse, multidimensional, and many personal opinions are freely expressed, leading to a plethora of advice, experiences from relatives, friends, and even a myriad of information from online newspapers, magazines, books... Making pregnant women confused about what to do, sometimes even applying the wrong methods.

You may encounter someone buying pineapple for you. Immediately, you will search whether pregnant women should eat pineapple or not, and when they should eat it. Ways to facilitate childbirth, and then some information helps mothers gain little weight but mainly focus on the baby's nutrition... In fact, the same content but countless streams of information... even information that is not verified, lacks scientific basis.

During pregnancy, women should still seek information from mass media. However, choose reputable, trustworthy websites with high credibility and clear purposes. Avoid reading unnecessary information that causes disorder, quickly forgets essential or negative, confusing information.

The rate of mothers opting for cesarean section right from pregnancy keeps increasing, partly due to fear of pain, and partly due to religious beliefs, choosing auspicious birth times, or dates. Some mothers are unaware of the complications during childbirth and may opt for cesarean section thinking it's safer. However, according to obstetrician experts, this is a significant mistake. It poses risks to the child, as babies born via C-section are more prone to respiratory distress syndrome compared to those born vaginally, increasing the risk of infection at the surgical incision, in the uterus, or in other pelvic organs such as the bladder or intestines.

There's also a risk of injury to other organs during the surgery, longer recovery time, and subsequent births may require repeat cesarean sections, with a recommended minimum gap of 3 years between pregnancies. Additionally, there are many other disadvantages of cesarean section for both the mother and the baby. If the mother has no health issues or the baby doesn't have any adverse conditions, vaginal delivery should be chosen, and cesarean section should only be considered as a last resort.

Don't think that being pregnant means 'eating for two,' as this is a common misconception. Supplementing nutrients during pregnancy simply means providing adequate nutrition for both mother and baby. Overeating does not enhance the baby's health; instead, it increases the risk of excessive weight gain for both mother and baby, putting them at higher risk of pregnancy complications.

6. Excessive Use of Mobile Phones

Some studies indicate that excessive mobile phone usage can make pregnant women tired, anxious, decrease memory, disrupt sleep, or increase the risk of children facing behavioral and emotional issues at birth, even hyperactivity... because mobile phone radiation affects the fetal brain development and causes some behavioral disorders later in life.

7. Arbitrary Iron and Calcium Supplementation

Pregnant women often try to supplement nutrients like folic acid, calcium, iron, omega-3... during pregnancy for fear of fetal developmental delays. In reality, you should not supplement excess vitamins and minerals during pregnancy. This contrary action also affects the development of the baby.

8. Excessive Ultrasound is Unsafe for the Fetus

There is no scientific evidence to suggest that prenatal ultrasound is harmful to mothers and fetuses. Ultrasound does not use radiation; it only utilizes high-frequency sound waves to scan the fetus and create images. The intensity of these waves is very low and is performed quite rapidly. Therefore, the only reason ultrasound can pose a danger to pregnant women is if the user is not trained in equipment operation.

9. Dieting

Some women take advantage of pregnancy to indulge in excessive self-pampering behaviors, while others do the opposite and fail to meet the weight gain 'quota' during pregnancy. Remember, your body is nurturing another life, so you must gain weight! You may have been dissatisfied with your body shape before, but now is not the time to diet for weight loss purposes. Instead, you'll need to eat a well-balanced diet between main meals and snacks, engage in approved exercise routines, and don't worry about keeping your figure because you'll have plenty of time to do that right after the baby is born.

10. Occasionally drinking a little alcohol is not a problem

Some expectant mothers believe that having a little alcohol during pregnancy is fine. However, when you drink alcohol, your baby drinks too. Alcohol can cross the placenta. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy increases the risk of physical, mental, or neurological birth defects. This condition is also known as fetal alcohol syndrome. There is no exact amount of alcohol that can lead to this syndrome. Therefore, it's best to avoid drinking alcohol during pregnancy.