PERINATAL DAMAGE AND DEATH: PREVENTABLE MEASURES
• Research on the adverse effects of alcohol on the fetus is now voluminous, and there is no doubt that even very small amounts of alcohol (a few drinks a week) can be harmful. You may find that during pregnancy you go off alcohol altogether (in which case you are lucky). If you really can’t do without it keep it down to one or two drinks a week at most.
• Smoking is also well known to be dangerous to the baby. Women who smoke during pregnancy tend to have small or premature babies. Smoke affects the placenta and increases the risk of bleeding in the weeks shortly before the birth. Try to get your partner to stop smoking too because the baby will get the smoke you inhale from the air around you. Giving up smoking is the single most important thing you can do to increase your chances of having a healthy baby.
• Try to avoid people who have infections if you are pregnant. The most dramatic of the illnesses that harm babies is German measles. It is best to have a blood test to ensure that you have antibodies to the disease at least three months before you plan to conceive. If you suffer from German measles during early pregnancy your baby could be born deaf, blind or with heart disease. Having had measles does not make you immune to German measles-they are different diseases. It is advisable to have a test to check whether you are immune, and then to get immunized if your blood test shows that you need to.
• If you are continuing to work be sure that you are not exposed to chemicals, radiation or other environmental hazards. If you are at all worried talk to your employer, union representative, occupational health nurse or your doctor. Look into your benefits and allowances so that you claim for all you are entitled to. This could make all the difference in your efforts to eat well and look after your baby properly, especially if you are not well off.
• Numerous studies have shown that attending ante-natal clinic is of great importance in producing live, healthy babies. Several conditions such as spina bifida and Down’s syndrome can be diagnosed early and an abortion offered. Ante-natal care generally aims to detect problems early and prevent conditions that predispose to handicap. The perinatal death rate of babies of mothers who go late for their first antenatal visit is five times higher than for babies of mothers who attend early. As soon as you miss a period, tell your doctor and get a pregnancy test done at once-the doctor can tell if you are pregnant twelve days after the first day of your missed period. He or she will then arrange for you to be ‘booked in’ for your ante-natal appointments.
• Ante-natal care is more important for the poorer mother who lives in bad housing than for her more advantaged sister but, unfortunately, as with so many preventive measures, those who would most benefit often do not receive the help. An answer here would be to make ante-natal clinics more easily accessible, perhaps as drop-in centers in shopping precincts.
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