Fertilization (courtesy : www.wikibooks.org)
The first week of the pregnancy is considered to be the first day of your last period. This is not the actual pregnancy period, but is the appropriate time when the counting begins This date is used to determine the expected delivery date. A pregnancy period is composed of 40 weeks (or 280 days). Calculate the expected delivery date, by adding three months and 7 days to your first day of the last period. So, for example, if you last period started on June 12th, then your due date would be March 19th. During conception, the fetus is considered to be 2 years old.
During pregnancy, you must take care of your health. The eating habits of the mother really affects your baby’s health directly and indirectly. While trying to get pregnant, you must give proper time to prepare your body for motherhood. Before thinking of becoming pregnant, you should:
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Avoid alcohol, drugs and tobacco products, as these lead to birth defects, fetal alcohol syndrome, respiratory problems, low birth weight and other health problems.
Ask the doctor, before taking any prescription and nonprescription drugs, because they might negatively affect the fetus.
Consume such a diet, that contains sufficient amount of vitamins, especially folic acid. Pregnant women should take 400 micrograms of folic acid a day, to reduce the risk of neural tube defects, such as spina bifida.
