YOUR REPRODUCTIVE LIFE PLANNING GUIDE

Transcription

1 YOUR REPRODUCTIVE LIFE PLANNING GUIDE Notheast Floida Healthy Stat Coalition 644 Cesey Blvd., Suite 210, Jacksonville, FL p / f

2 KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF Ae you thinking about having a baby? If the answe is yes, then now s the time to stat planning and pepaing. What you and you patne do to get eady even befoe you get pegnant will help you baby get the best stat possible. You can pepae fo pegnancy Physically: Healthy paents tend to have healthy babies. So taking folic acid befoe you conceive, eating nutitious foods, getting enough execise, est and avoiding hamful substances like alcohol and tobacco ae especially impotant if you e thinking about having a baby. You should also visit you health cae povide fo a peconception visit. Emotionally: Be sue that you ae committed to becoming a paent. This means being able to handle the esponsibilities of caing fo and nutuing a baby. It also means poviding guidance and love thoughout the child s developing yeas. Financially: Unfotunately, diapes aen t fee, and babies don t come with thei own bank accounts. It s best to stat planning as ealy as possible fo the exta costs of having childen. DO IT ARE YOU READY PHYSICALLY? The healthie and happie you ae, the easie it will be to become pegnant. And, while you e tying to get pegnant, keeping youself healthy is one thing you can do. THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PREPARE YOURSELF PHYSICALLY Hee s how to get stated: Take a multivitamin supplement that includes 400 micogams of folic acid evey day. Folic acid is a B vitamin that helps a baby s neual tube the pat of a developing baby that becomes the bain and spinal cod develop popely. It must be taken befoe and duing ealy pegnancy when the neual tube is developing. The best way to get enough folic acid is to take a multivitamin with 400 micogams of folic acid in it and eat a healthy diet. Foods ich in folic acid include fotified beakfast ceeals (check the box fo 100% folic acid), oange juice and leafy geen vegetables. Stop smoking. Smoking may make it hade fo you to get pegnant and it s definitely bad fo you baby once you ae pegnant. If you smoke while you ae pegnant, you incease you isk of miscaiage, stillbith o SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndome). You baby will be at geate isk fo being bon pematuely o too small. Late in life, you child may have an inceased isk of asthma, developmental delays and leaning disabilities. If you smoke, the best time to stop is befoe you get pegnant. And now is the time to begin avoiding secondhand smoke. 2

3 Quitting is had. Some people can quit on thei own, but othes need help. Getting suppot fom a patne o fiend helps. Joining a suppot goup will offe you companionship and advice. Avesion theapy, hypnosis and acupunctue can also be effective techniques fo quitting. If you e sue you ae not pegnant yet, you could use nicotine patches o gum but be sue to stop using these at least two days befoe you stat tying to get pegnant. O see a health cae povide fo pesciption medication that may help you stop. Stop dinking. Dinking alcohol (liquo, wine, bee, wine cooles) can make it hade fo you to get pegnant. If you do get pegnant and still dink, you put you baby at isk fo miscaiage, fetal alcohol syndome (FAS) and fetal alcohol effects (FAE). Babies with FAS have seious physical and mental poblems that ae pemanent. Babies with FAE have these poblems to a lesse degee. No one knows exactly how much alcohol a woman has to dink to cause FAS o FAE, so the safest thing to do if you e thinking about having a baby is to stop dinking entiely. If you have touble giving up alcohol, talk to you health cae povide o find a suppot goup. Stop using illegal dugs. Taking illegal o steet dugs duing pegnancy is isky fo mothe and baby. Women who use cocaine ae at highe isk of miscaiage and petem labo. Babies exposed to heoin ae likely to be bon addicted. Babies exposed to illegal dugs ae also moe likely to have leaning o behavioal poblems late in life. Stop using any illegal dugs befoe you ty to get pegnant and stay clean thoughout you pegnancy. If you need help giving up dugs, find an addiction teatment pogam in you aea o look in the telephone book fo a local Nacotics Anonymous goup. Go fo a pe-pegnancy checkup 2. This is a smat idea fo anyone who wants to have a baby. You health cae povide needs to know that you want to have a baby so he o she can help you be as healthy as possible befoe, duing and afte pegnancy. Ideally, you should see the povide who will take cae of you duing you pegnancy, although you can also visit you pimay cae povide. 1 This infomation and these questions have been taken fom Ae you Ready? A Guide to Planning a Healthy, Happy Pegnancy, Mach of Dimes Bith Defects Foundation, To ode multiple copies of this guide, call This guide is also available in Spanish. 2 Attached is a Peconception Health Sceening and Tune-Up Fom that povides a quick tool fo women and thei patnes to identify and list factos that might put the woman s health o pegnancy outcome at isk. You can use the esults of you self-assessment to guide you discussions with you health cae povide. 3

4 EXPECT IT YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER WILL: Ask about you histoy : Know you health, you patne s health and you family s health. Don t woy if you don t have all the answes. If you, you patne o close elatives have cetain bith defects o disodes, you may need to see a genetic counselo and have special tests to see if these poblems could be passed on to you baby if you get pegnant. Explain how pegnancy might affect any medical conditions you may have, such as epilepsy, diabetes o high blood pessue. Chances ae, you will be able to have a nomal pegnancy even if you have a pe-existing medical condition, but you may need to take special pecautions. If you ae on medication, you health cae povide may ask you to change to a dug that is safe duing pegnancy. Make sue you have all you immunizations o ae immune to infections diseases Catching a disease like chickenpox, ubella o measles duing pegnancy can be extemely dangeous fo a developing baby. So, befoe you get pegnant you should be sue that you ae immune, eithe because you ve had the disease befoe o because you have had an immunization shot. If you aen t sue if you ae immune to these diseases, you can be tested though a simple blood test. If you need to be immunized, you should wait at least thee months afte the shot befoe tying to become pegnant. In addition to the diseases mentioned above, some health cae povides ecommend updating immunizations fo othe diseases such as mumps, hepatitis B and tetanus. And, if you plan to tavel to anothe county in the nea futue, you health cae povide may ecommend additional immunizations. Review any medications you ae taking including pesciptions, ove-the-counte, hebal o altenative medicines. Many medications ae not safe to use duing pegnancy. So it s impotant to ask about any medication you cuently use o may need to use in the futue. ASK IT Remembe to ask questions! Don t be afaid to ask you health cae povide about any issues that concen you. You can wite down questions ahead of time and take them to the appointment. 4

5 DO IT Also, don t foget about dental health. It s a good idea fo you to see you dentist fo a checkup befoe you get pegnant. You can visit you dentist while you ae pegnant but, if you need to have special dental wok done, it s best to have it done befoe you conceive. If thee s any chance that you may aleady be pegnant when you see you dentist, be sue to let the dentist know so no X-ays will be taken. AVOID IT Avoid infections. Some infections can ham a developing baby. Stat taking cae of youself to avoid getting sick by following these ules: Wash you hands well with soap and wate afte using the bathoom, blowing you nose o that of you childen, touching soil, outdoo cats and thei litte boxes o uncooked meats. Avoid potentially unsafe foods such as aw meat and fish and unpasteuized mil poducts. Ask about illnesses in family and fiends befoe going to visit. Only have sex with one peson who doesn t have any othe sex patnes and/o us a condom (male o female) when having sex. If you have a cat, ask someone else to change the litte o wea gloves when you do it. Do not allow you cat to eat aw meat o odents. Avoid hazzadous chemicals at wok and home. It s impotant to stay away fom toxic chemicals o othe hazadous substances that could be dangeous to you baby. Some chemicals used in cleaning and killing insects can be dangeous. If you wate pipes ae old, you dinking wate may contain lead. Ask you health cae povide about any substance you wok with that you suspect may not be healthy duing pegnancy. If dangeous, ask you employe to help you avoid exposue. At home, ty to avoid exposue to any stong-smelling cleanes, chemicals and paint. If you can t eliminate you exposue to dangeous substances completely, educe you isk by weaing ubbe gloves, a face mask, and woking in a well-ventilated aea. 5

6 Avoid stess. Stess isn t good fo you o you baby, befoe, duing o afte pegnancy. Too much stess may incease the isk of petem labo, low bithweight and possibly miscaiage. Stat educing stess now: Identify causes of stess, then ty to eliminate them. Cut back on unnecessay activities that contibute to you stess level. Ask patnes, family and fiends fo emotional suppot o get pofessional counseling Get egula execise and use elaxation techniques such as deep-beathing. Call a hotline o ask you health cae povide o anothe tusted peson fo help if you ae in a elationship whee you ae in dange of being hamed. Vebal abuse can be just as hamful as physical abuse. DO IT Eat ight and maintaing a healthy weight. You ll feel bette and stat you pegnancy off ight if you eat a vaiety of nutitious foods evey day. The Food Guide Pyamid shows food fom the six food goups. Use the shape of the pyamid as a guide: eat moe of the foods fom the bottom of the pyamid and less of the foods fom the top. Get fit. Execise is a good way to help maintain o lose weight, build fitness and educe stess. If you aen t aleady execising, now is a good time to stat. Talk to you health cae povide about activities you enjoy, to find out if they ae safe to do while you e pegnant. Once you decide on safe activities that you like, ty to execise fo 20 minutes o moe at least thee times a week. Good execise choices befoe and duing pegnancy include: Walking Swimming Wate aeobics Stetching Cycling (with caution) Housewok Gadening (be sue to wea gloves) Baby Spacing. Most expets ecommend waiting two yeas o moe in between pegnancies so that you and you baby can be as healthy as possible. Baby spacing incease the likelihood that you next baby will be bon healthy and that you will have time to ecove physically, emotionally and financially befoe the bith of you next child. 6

7 Dads need to be healthy, too. You patne can impove his chances of becoming a fathe if he takes cae of himself. Stating a few months befoe you ty to get pegnant, he should: Stop o cut back on smoking and dinking alcohol. Stop using illegal dugs. Eat a nutitious diet and lose weight, if needed. Minimize stess. Avoid being aound chemicals, toxins and pollution. ARE YOU READY EMOTIONALLY? Ae you eady to be a paent? It s a geat big, full-time job. Thee is no ight o wong time to have a baby it s up to you and you patne. Take a look at the following questions they can help you think though some of the emotional and lifestyle issues you will face as a paent. Also, discuss them with you patne it is impotant that you agee on most of the majo issues, o begin discussing you diffeences befoe you conceive. THINK ABOUT IT TEN QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU HAVE A BABY: Why do you want to have a baby? Do you want to have a baby o ae you being pessued by you patne, paent o someone else? How will a child affect you elationship with you patne? Ae you both eady to become paents? If you e not in a elationship, ae you pepaed to aise a child alone? Who will help suppot you? How will a baby affect you futue educational o caee plans? Do you and you patne have eligious o ethnic diffeences? Have you discussed how you will handle these and how they might affect you child? What will you do fo child cae? Ae you pepaed to paent a child who is sick o has special needs? Ae you eady to give up sleeping in on Sunday monings? Finding child cae evey time you want to go out without you baby? Do you enjoy spending time with childen? Can you see youself as a paent? What did you like about you childhood? What didn t you like? What do you want fo you child? These ae tough questions and thee ae no coect answes. Only you can decide if you e emotionally eady to have a baby. 7

8 ARE YOU READY FINANCIALLY? The time to stat thinking about the costs of having a baby is befoe you get pegnant. Having a baby can be expensive. But if you plan ahead, these new costs will be easie to manage. CHECK IT Take a look at you budget. Wite down what you spend monthly fo housing, food, clothes, insuance o medical costs, entetainment, tanspotation, and any othe expenses you may have. Compae what you spend with that amount of money you have coming in each month. How much is left ove? You might find you need to cut back on you spending to make oom in you budget fo the things you baby will need: Diapes Food Ca seat and othe equipment Cib Clothes Child cae Medical cae Toys Find out about matenity leave policy whee you wok. If you wok full time and plan to etun to you job afte you baby is bon, you should find out about you company s policies. If you wok at a company with moe than 50 employees and you ve been woking thee fo at least a yea, you have the ight to take 12 weeks of unpaid matenity leave. You ae also guaanteed you job back at the end of you leave. Some companies have paid matenity leave, othes equie new mothes to apply fo shot-tem disability with additional time taken as sick days, vacation o as unpaid leave. Some companies let women with families do some wok fom home, eithe tempoaily o pemanently. Checking out exactly what matenity and patenity benefits you employe offes befoe you get pegnant will make it easie to plan fo you baby. Check out you health insuance. Whethe you get you insuance though you job, you patne s job, Medicaid, o you pay fo it diectly, find out what it offes to pegnant women. Specifically, find out: Does it cove penatal cae? What penatal tests ae coveed? Does it cove you health cae povide? Does it cove a pe-pegnancy planning visit? What delivey options ae coveed? Does it cove hospital costs fo the baby? Is thee a co-payment? How much? Is thee a deductible? How much? Ae anestesia & emegency C-secions coveed? Ae sick and well-baby visits coveed? If you insuance does not cove some of these basic items o you feel you out-of-pocket costs will be too high, you may want to switch to a diffeent plan. But you must do this befoe you get pegnant. 8

9 Find out the benefits to low-income families. Thee ae some pogams that offe special benefits to low-income women who ae pegnant. Fo example, the WIC pogam povides food to pegnant and beastfeeding women, infants and childen. The childen s health insuance pogam in you state (Floida KidCae) will povide fee o low-cost coveage if you ae eligible, even if you and/o you patne ae woking. Immunizations ae often fee at public health clinics, and Medicaid can cove othe health expenses. Good places to find out about pogams like these ae at you local health depatment, NEFL Healthy Stat Coalition website: local Mach of Dimes chapte and the blue pages in the white pages telephone diectoy. Make money saving a habit. The time to begin financial planning and saving fo you new baby is now. If you decide to stop woking afte you baby aives, begin planning fo living on less. Begin to save now and make believe you e living on just one income. If you e going to take unpaid leave, ty to save to help make up fo you tempoaily educed income. Review o puchase long-tem disability and life insuance coveage. No one likes to think about life insuance. But, if you e thinking about a new baby, you need to think about how you will take cae of that child if something happens to you. Planning ahead fo the unthinkable, while difficult, will give you peace of mind and ensue you family will be able to live comfotably and still pay the motgage, bills and even college tuition. Most families conside tem life insuance, which insues you fo a fixed amount of money fo a given pemium and disability insuance, which insues you eaning potential in case you ae disable and cannot wok. If you e between the ages of 35 and 65, you ae moe likely to become disabled than to die, so don t ovelook this impotant type of insuance. 9

10 REVIEW IT PRE-PREGNANCY TEST 1. You stat pepaing fo a healthy baby at you fist penatal cae visit? Tue o False 2. It s dangeous to use steet dugs when you e pegnant, but ove-the-counte dugs ae ok? Tue o False 3. Woking aound dangeous chemicals befoe pegnancy can be hamful to you futue baby s health? Tue o False 4. Thee is a lot of hype about vitamins; but all you eally have to do is eat healthy foods. Tue o False 5. Thee is not much you can do befoe getting pegnant that could make a diffeence in you baby s health? Tue o False CHECK YOUR ANSWERS 1. False. You have to stat pepaing fo you baby even befoe you become pegnant. By the time of you fist penatal visit, you baby s vital ogans ae aleady foming. So it s impotant to visit you health cae povide befoe you get pegnant to make sue you ae as healthy as you can be befoe you stat tying to conceive. 2. False. You should talk to you health cae povide befoe you get pegnant about the safety of all pesciptions and nonpesciption medications you take. 3. Tue. Avoid toxic substances such as lead (in paint, soil o wate), pesticides, paint solvents, stong household cleanes and dy-cleaning fluid at home and at wok. They may make it difficult to become pegnant and can ham the developing baby. Discuss any wokplace exposue you ae concened about with you health cae povide. 4. False. It is vey impotant to take a multivitamin containing 400 micogams of folic acid evey day. Even if you eat a healthy diet which you should do if you ae tying to get pegnant it s still had to get all the folic acid you need to help pevent cetain bith defects. So, make taking a vitamin with folic acid a daily habit. 5. False. Thee is a lot you can do befoe you get pegnant to help make you baby s futue a bight one! Eating well, taking folic acid supplements, quitting bad habits like smoking o dinking these ae just a few things you can do. Stat today and help you baby get the best possible stat in life. WHAT S YOUR FOLIC ACID IQ? 1. The best way to get enough folic acid to help potect you baby fom bith defects of the bain and spinal cod is: A. Eat a banana evey day. B. Take a multivitamin with 400 micogams of folic acid evey day. C. Dink two glasses of milk evey day. D. Do nothing. Most women get enough in thei diets. 2. When should you begin taking folic acid? A. When you e thee months pegnant. B. When you health cae povide pescibes penatal vitamins. 10

11 C. Befoe you stat tying to get pegnant. D. Evey time you have sex You e tying to get moe folic acid in you diet. Which of the following foods is you best choice? A. Fench fies. B. Cheesebuge. C. Fotified beakfast ceeal. D. Pizza Folic acid is good fo moms-to-be, too. Studies show it can educe you isk of: A. Heat disease. B. Colon cance. C. Stoke. D. All of the above. You e thisty and you have a choice of the following beveages. Which is the best choice if you e tying to incease you intake of folic acid? A. Canbey juice. B. Oange juice. C. Apple juice. D. Lemonade. CHECK YOUR ANSWERS The coect answes ae: 1. B. Take a multivitamin with 400 micogams of folic acid evey day. 2. C. Befoe you stat tying to get pegnant. 3. C. Fotified beakfast ceeal. 4. D. All of the above. 5. B. Oange juice CONSIDER IT YOUR PRE-PREGNANCY DIARY Ae you eady to stat tying to get pegnant? Use this check list to help figue out if you e eady! Ask youself these questions: Yes No My patne and I have talked about having a baby? q q I m eady fo the esponsibility of taking cae of a baby? q q I ve stated a budget fo a baby? q q I m taking a multivitamin with folic acid evey day? q q I ve had a pe-pegnancy checkup with my health cae povide? q q I ve stopped smoking? q q I ve stopped dinking and using illegal dugs? q q I ve asked my health cae povide about ove-the-counte & pesciption medications? q q I m avoiding exposue to infections, dangeous chemicals o othe things that could make me sick? q q I m at a healthy weight to stat a pegnancy? q q I know which matenity expenses my insuance coves? q q I know what my company s matenity leave policy is? q q 11

12 If you answeed Yes to evey question, then you e eady! If you answeed No to any of the questions, ty to tun each of those answes into a Yes befoe you stat tying to get pegnant. Wite down lifestyle changes o actions you need to take on the following woksheet to help you baby get the best stat possible. PREPARE FOR IT YOUR PRE-PREGNANCY HEALTH CARE INFORMATION Use this to help you keep tack of you pe-pegnancy activities. My health cae povide is: Name: Type of health cae povide: Telephone: Addess: Date of my pe-pegnancy checkup: / / Special tests I should have befoe I get pegnant: Immunizations I should have befoe I get pegnant: Medical conditions and medications I want to discuss with my health cae povide: Questions o concens I want to shae with my health cae povide: My dentist is: Name: Telephone: Addess: Dental wok I may need to get done befoe I get pegnant: Weight: My weight today is pounds. My ideal pe-pegnancy weight should be pounds. I need to gain/lose pounds befoe I get pegnant. 12 Content in this booklet is fom Ae You Ready? A Guide to Planning a Healthy, Happy Pegnancy, Mach of Dimes Foundation Fo moe infomation on peconception and pegnancy, go to machofdimes.com o nacesano.og. To ode Mach of Dimes mateials, go to machofdimes.com/catalog. Ceated by the Escambia County Healthy Stat Coalition