How should I take care of myself when the due date is approaching? What are the key points of diet during the confinement period?

When the due date is getting closer, pregnant women will generally feel very anxious. So, how should we take care of ourselves when the due date is approaching?

Symptoms of approaching due date

Bleeding

Some pregnant mothers find that they have symptoms of vaginal bleeding and mucus discharge, and they think that they are "seeing blood", so they are very worried and rush to the hospital. In fact, "seeing blood" is a precursor to childbirth. Most pregnant mothers will go into labor 12 to 48 hours after "seeing blood". However, if it is just "seeing blood" without other symptoms, pregnant mothers do not need to rush to the hospital. It is not too late to go after the uterine contraction is regular or the water breaks. However, if the blood is fresh and the amount is large, you must not take it lightly and go to the hospital for examination as soon as possible.

pain

In the last month of pregnancy, many pregnant women will occasionally feel abdominal pain. If the pain is irregular, it may be false labor, so don't worry about it. About a month before delivery, labor contractions have already begun. Some pregnant women don't feel it at the beginning, and they can only feel the labor contractions when they touch their belly with their hands. After full term, this kind of invalid labor contraction will occur frequently and the frequency will increase. If the labor contraction gradually becomes regular and hurts every six or seven minutes, you should go to the hospital for examination.

Headache

If a pregnant mother suddenly experiences a headache in the late pregnancy, she must pay attention to it, as it may be a precursor to eclampsia, especially if she has high blood pressure or severe edema. This may be due to pregnancy-induced hypertension. If not diagnosed and treated in time, it may induce convulsions, coma, and even endanger the lives of mother and child.

Edema

After full term, some pregnant mothers will find that their hands, feet and lower limbs are obviously swollen than before. This is due to endocrine changes after pregnancy, which cause water and sodium retention in the body and the compression of the veins from the pelvis to the lower limbs by the pregnant uterus. Generally, no special treatment is required. However, if the swelling is particularly obvious and the leg edema exceeds the knee, you need to go to the hospital.

Small amount of watery discharge from the vagina

In the late pregnancy, some pregnant mothers will find a small amount of watery liquid flowing out of the vagina. This may be water breaking, or it may be leucorrhea. Pregnant mothers with the above phenomenon should confirm with the doctor in person whether it is water breaking to prevent secondary infection once water breaking.

Care for when the due date is approaching

Nutrition needs to keep up

In the third trimester, the fetus's bones and muscles mature, and the demand for nutrition reaches its peak. Therefore, pregnant mothers should pay attention to increasing the intake of protein, vitamin C, calcium, etc. Drink more milk, eat more dairy products, fish, eggs and other foods rich in high-quality protein, as well as fresh vegetables and fruits, to ensure that you have the strength to deliver at the time of delivery.

Don’t forget to have regular prenatal checkups

As the time of delivery approaches, the frequency of prenatal checkups also increases, with one checkup every two weeks from 28 to 37 weeks, and one checkup every week after 37 weeks. This is very important for detecting fetal heart rate, fetal position, growth rate, etc. It is an important guarantee for monitoring whether the fetus is developing normally, so you must insist on it no matter how busy you are.

Sleep with a pillow under your feet

As the fetus grows, the enlarged uterus will compress the inferior vena cava. Many women will experience swollen feet in the late pregnancy. Women should avoid standing or sitting for long periods of time to avoid aggravating edema. When sleeping at night, you may want to put a pillow under your feet to help blood return.

Don't touch your belly too hard.

Many pregnant women or their relatives and friends like to touch their big bellies to express their love for their babies, or to "touch the fetus" in this way. In the third trimester, touching the belly must be gentle. If you touch it frequently and forcefully, it may stimulate the uterus. Especially for pregnant women with placenta previa, signs of premature birth, or frequent fetal movements, they should not be stimulated frequently to avoid danger.

Practice breathing in advance

Correct breathing is very important for childbirth, and you should start practicing it in the third trimester. For example, when you inhale, try to feel your ribs expand to the sides, and when you exhale, let your navel move closer to your back. This breathing method helps to exercise the contraction function of the abdominal muscles and pelvic floor.

Walking helps with childbirth

Appropriate activities can help mothers have a normal birth, such as slow walking, strolling, and doing maternal exercises, but be sure to avoid intense activities. If the mother has cervical insufficiency, placenta previa, polyhydramnios, a history of premature birth, etc., she should exercise moderately under the guidance of an obstetrician.

Pay attention to counting fetal movements

Generally speaking, primiparas can begin to feel fetal movement at 18-20 weeks, while multiparas (women who have given birth) can feel it earlier. Whether it is the second or third trimester, normal fetal movement is no less than 30 times within 12 hours, an average of three or four times per hour. The specific method of counting fetal movement is: measure once in the morning, noon, and evening, preferably in the left side lying position, then add up the three fetal movement counts, and multiply by 4, which is the number of fetal movements in 12 hours.

If the number of fetal movements decreases, you must pay attention to it. If the fetal movement decreases by more than 1/3 compared to usual, for example, it is 30 times in 12 hours, but now it is less than 20 times, you must go to the hospital for treatment in time.

If your water breaks, lie down and go to the hospital

Once the mother's water breaks, it means that the delivery is coming! Regardless of whether there are other symptoms such as abdominal pain, bleeding, etc., you must go to the hospital in time, even in the middle of the night, and be sure to lie down. The real water breaking is like flowing water, with a large amount, which is obviously different from the small amount of secretions in the late pregnancy.

What are the key points of diet during the confinement period?

1. Properly replenish the body's water

New mothers will sweat a lot during and after delivery, and they also have to breastfeed their newborn babies. 88% of breast milk is water, so new mothers need to drink plenty of water. Drinking soup is the best way to replenish both nutrition and water.

2. Start with a liquid or semi-liquid diet

New mothers are in a relatively weak state after delivery, and their gastrointestinal function will inevitably be affected. Especially for new mothers who have undergone cesarean section, gastrointestinal motility needs to be slowly restored after anesthesia. Therefore, in the first week after delivery, it is best to eat liquid and semi-liquid foods that are easy to digest and absorb, such as porridge, egg custard, rice noodles, soup noodles and various soups.

3. Light and easy to digest

The diet during the confinement period should be light and appropriate. Whether it is various soups or other foods, they should be as light as possible and taken gradually. Avoid eating large amounts of fish and meat and blindly taking supplements. It is better to put less salt, but it does not mean no salt or too little. If a small amount of onion, ginger, garlic, pepper powder and other warm seasonings are added to the food, it will help blood circulation and help the removal of blood stasis from the body.

4. Eat small, frequent meals

The enlarged uterus during pregnancy puts pressure on other organs, and the gastrointestinal function after delivery has not yet returned to normal, so you should eat small meals frequently, five to six times a day. The principle of eating small meals frequently ensures nutrition without increasing the burden on the gastrointestinal tract, allowing the body to recover slowly.

5. A combination of meat and vegetables, rich in nutrition

Eat more foods containing calcium and iron, fresh meat, fish, seaweed, vegetables and fruits. None of them can be missing.

From a nutritional point of view, different foods contain different types and quantities of nutrients, and the human body's nutrition is multifaceted. Being too picky about food will lead to certain nutrient deficiencies. Most people advocate eating a lot of chicken, fish, and eggs during the confinement period, and ignore the intake of other foods. In addition to containing nutrients that meat foods do not have or are rare, some vegetarian foods generally contain more fiber, which promotes digestion and prevents constipation. Therefore, a combination of meat and vegetables is nutritious.

6. Avoid eating raw, cold, or hard food

It is better to keep warm rather than cold after childbirth. Warmth can promote blood circulation, while coldness can coagulate blood. During the recovery process of the body during the confinement period, there is a lot of turbid fluid (lochia) that needs to be discharged from the body. There is also blood stasis from birth injuries. Raw and cold food will make the body's blood circulation poor and affect the discharge of lochia. It will also cause gastrointestinal dysfunction and diarrhea. However, some fruits taken out of the refrigerator can be placed in warm water first, and then sliced ​​and eaten after the fruits are warmed up.

7. Avoid blindly taking supplements

Blindly taking tonics and supplements, such as ginseng, may not only fail to help the body recover, but may also cause new mothers to have adverse symptoms such as constipation, bleeding gums, bad breath, etc. The physical condition of the new mother, as well as seasonal differences, environmental changes, etc. should be considered.

Can I wash my hair, take a bath, or touch cold water during confinement?

In the past, houses were not tightly closed, and cold wind could often blow directly into the house. In addition, boiling water was not as convenient as it is now, and there were no hair dryers or electric stoves. New mothers' qi and blood were weak after giving birth, and they sweated easily for a period of time. Their immunity was also poor, and washing their hair and taking a bath could easily increase the chance of catching a cold. Once the mother was infected with a cold, many tonics and medicated foods would have to be stopped, so there was such a taboo.

But in modern environmental conditions, as long as you blow dry immediately after washing or bathing or keep warm, moderate cleaning is beneficial to both parents and children. However, there are a few women whose lochia removal is affected when they touch water. Therefore, if the mother has a lot of lochia in the first week, try not to wash her hair. Instead, use water boiled with wormwood, windproof, and dried ginger to wipe the scalp, or use dry cleaning products for the head. When washing hands, vegetables, and milk bottles, mothers are best to rinse with warm water. Because all meridians are empty after childbirth, wind and cold can easily pass through joints and skin and accumulate in the body, causing headaches and joint pain in the future, so it is better to avoid cold water.