Healthy Lifestyles, diet, nutrition.

Question 1

What dosage of folic acid should be taken and when is the dose increased?

Answer 1

400 micrograms to help the development of the neural tube.

Dose should be increased to 5mg daily until the twelfth week of pregnancy.

Question 2

What are the risk factors for a NTD?

Answer 2

• Either partner NTD
• Previous pregnancy
• Anti-epileptic medication
• Coeliac disease
• Women is obese

Question 3

How long is folic acid taken for?

Answer 3

-Until the 12th week of pregnancy

Question 4

What to advise women about diet?

Answer 4

• A healthy, balanced diet.

Question 5

How much caffeine is allowed in pregnancy?

Answer 5

-200mg per day, equates to one cup of coffee.

Question 6

What Dairy foods to avoid during pregnancy?

Answer 6

• Mould-ripended cheese: brie, camembert and chèvre unless cooked until piping hot.
• Soft blue cheese
• Any unpasteurised cow’s milk or cheese

Question 7

What does pasteurised mean?

Answer 7

-Heat treated to kill of harmful bacteria and pathogens.

Question 8

Why avoid those certain foods?

Answer 8

Unpasteurised products may contain listeria. It causes an infection called listeriosis or toxoplasmosis. Can lead to miscarriage, still birth or make newborn unwell.

Question 9

What meat and poultry to avoid?

Answer 9

• Raw, uncooked meat
• Liver and liver products
• All pate
• Goose, partridge and pheasant.
• These can contain rich vitamin A, and be harmful to the baby.

Question 10

What eggs to avoid?

Answer 10

• Raw or partially cooked eggs that are not British Lion.

- Goose, duck or quail eggs.

Question 11

What fish to avoid?

Answer 11

-Swordfish
-Marlin
-Shark
-Raw shellfish
(harmful toxins, bacteria, viruses).

Question 12

What fish to limit?

Answer 12

• Eat no more than 2 portions of oily fish per week. (contain pollutants such as dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls.)
• Eat no more than 2 tuna steaks or 4 medium cans of tuna per week (Contains mercury harmful to baby).

Question 13

What vitamins are recommended?

Answer 13

-Make sure to take a pregnancy multi-vitamin. Regular vitamins will contain vitamin A which can be extremely harmful to the baby.

Question 14

How is BMI calculated?

Answer 14

Weight in KG divided by height in metres squared.

Question 15

What is smoking cessation?

Answer 15

• Offer referral to a NHS smoking-cessation service
• Advise women who may become pregnant to initially try to stop without NRT.
• Consider offering NRT to women who are planning and have failed to stop previously.

Question 16

What is said about cervical screening?

Answer 16

-Advise women planning pregnancy who are due a cervical smear test to have the test ASAP before becoming pregnant.