|
pregnancy toxemia
Pregnancy toxemia is a disease which occurs characteristically in
about 30 weeks pregnant women.
Its cause has not yet been determined and it is believed to develop when pregnant women cannot accommodate the changed conditions due to pregnancy or the fetus growth.
As the advanced disease would not only cause premature or dead birth but endanger the pregnant women themselves, it is desirable to be always
mindful of prevent and discover the disease at early stages.
Symptoms of pregnancy toxemia
High blood pressure : upper (systolic) and lower (diastolic) pressures
go up higher than 140 mmHg and 90 mmHg, respectively.
Albuminuria.: there is a trace of albumen in the urine.
Feet swelling : foot insteps or shanks may swell to the extent that
pressed sites will remain visibly hollowed.
Prevention
- 1) To take sufficient sleep and rest and avoid overload
- 2) To intake enough nutrition including good quality of animal
protein or vegetable albumin and
refrain excessive salt.
- Pregnancy toxemia will not be serious if you find it at early stages
and comply with the above mentioned regimen.
Anemia
Anemia in the maternal body prevents adequate oxygen and nutrition
from being supplied to fetus, affecting the fetal growth.
Also it may
lower the maternal resistance to bleeding at the delivery and delay
the progress after childbirth.
Prevention
- To prevent anemia, it is essential to take nutritiously-balanced meals,in particular those with nutrition contributing to red blood cells at
the early stage of pregnancy.
- Foods containing large amount of iron, protein and vitamins (e.g.,
lever, egg, meat, yellow and green vegetable, seeweeds, etc.) prevent
effectively anemia.
*If you have anemia, intake antianemics for one or two months under
the instructions from doctors to get substantial improvement.
Dietary regimen during pregnancy
- Take well-balanced and good quality meals and don't overeat.
- Take more foods containing good quality of protein, calcium and iron.
- 30 kinds of foods per day or 70 kinds per week are recommended to be
taken through everyday meals.
- Avoid some processed foods , in particular prepacked foods or
retortable pouches.
- Reduce intake of animal fat or sugar
- Use yellow or green vegetable or rootcrops for cooking.Vegetable salads are alone insufficient in amount or variety of vegetable.
- Grow accustomed to eating light-flavored food.
- Iron contained in vegetable foods including seaweeds, yellow and green vegetable and soybean products becomes more absorbable if they are taken in altogether with animal protein or vitamin C.
- Fruits cannot substitute for vegetable.Ensure that too much of fruits are not taken, which leads to excessive intake of energy.
Criteria for desirable weight gain due to pregnancy
Babies weigh normally about 3kg or, if combined with amniotic fluid
and placenta, maximally 4kg at their birth. Weight gain intrinsic to
pregnancy is 3kg (growth of breast and uterine, increased amount of
blood).
The remaining weight gain reflects increased maternal fat. Typically it is recommended to limit weight gain to 10kg. The ideal one is 7kg.
According to the guideline from The Ministry of Health and Welfare,
the caloric requirement is 1950kcal per day for women in the early
stages of pregnancy and 2150 Kcal for women in the later stages. (it
is 1800Kcal for not pregnant women).
These figures, however, are true of the cases with normal weight
balance. Suitable weight gain may vary depending on individual cases.
It is useful to consult with midwives or public health nurses about
dietary regimen suitable for you when you receive routine medical
check-up.
On the four-category based numerical evaluation system(FCBNES: "Yongun
-Tensu-ho")
Public health nurses give you relevant dietary instructions based on
the health check results.
We explain here about the 'four-category based numerical evaluation
system' widely used in such settings, referring to a dietary guidebook
prepared on a calorie basis by Kogawa Nutrition College (Joshi-Eiyo-
Daigaku).
What is the FCBNS?
- This system classifies foods into four groups in accordance with their
nutritious characteristics.
- The weight of individual classified foods shall be scored in the form
of points with 80 calories as a unit.
- The quantity of foods to be taken in one day shall be specified on the
basis of the four categories and expressed with corresponding points.
| Category I | milk, dairy products, eggs |
| Category II | sea foods, meats, beans and bean products |
| Category III | vegetable, routcrops and fruits |
| Category IV | cereals, sugar, oil and other miscellaneous foods |
How to measure the amount of foods actually consumed
The quantity of prepared foods minus the quantity of the foods left
uneaten
Cooking with measuring spoons, measuring cups and so on, have a clear grasp of the total calorie of dishes.
For reference The guidebook illustrates, using photos, each food
scored as one point according to the FGBNS in order to enabling
intuitive understanding. This allows you to calculate the calories
based on the photos if you cannot read Japanese.
As some of flavorings are difficult to identify by photo alone, we
give here descriptions about them as follows. The descriptions between
parentheses indicate the corresponding page in the guidebook.
- Category I
- dry milk (p24) one point =16g
- high fat creme (p24)=19g
- skim milk (p24) one point=23g
- sweetened condensed milk(p25) one point=25g
- sugared pulverized yogurt(p26) one point=110g
- processed condensed milk (p26) one point =120g
- processed milk (p26) one point=130g
- non-sugar yogurt (p27) one point=135g
- tamago-dofu(steamed egg custard) (p27) one point=140g
- normal milk (p27) one point =140g
- low-fat processed milk (p27) one point=160g
- Category II
- miso (p73) one point=45g
- soybean milk (p75) one point=175g
- Category IV
- mochi (rice cake) (p101) one point=35g
- fine sugar (p108) one point=21g
- malt syrup (p108) one point=25g
- honey (p109) one point=28g
- apple jam (p109) one point=30g
- strawberry jam (p109) one point=30g
- orange marmalade (p109) one point=30g
- maple syrup (p109) one point=32g
- vegetable oil (p110) one point=9g
- lard (p110) one point=9g
- margarine (p110) one point =11g
- butter (p111) one point=11g
- mayonnaise (p111) one point=12g
- French dressing product (p111) one point=21g
- emulsifier-added French dressing product (p111) one point=24g
- peanut butter (p113) one point=14g
- thick ("nohkoh") sauce (p138) one point=65g
- Worcester sauce (p139) one point=70g
- sauce for noodle (p139) one point=100g
- rich soy sauce("koikuchi-shoyu") (p139) one point=140g
- vinegar (p139) one point=500g
|