Pregnancy
Pregnancy is the wonderful period and the most pleasant experience in the life of the woman. It is the stage where she carries a life into her womb.
A female, a woman, performs a number of roles throughout her life right from the womb to tomb i.e. from her birth till the death. It’s really true. We observe her acting out the roles of a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandma and many other related roles and, that too, she does with the harmony of affection, respect, compassion and perfection.
Of all the above mentioned roles, the role of a mother just perfectly seems incomparable…
“To be a mother is a dream of every married girl”; she wants to shower her love and motherhood upon the life that is yet to come. Pregnancy thus gains a real importance in the life of every married woman.
Pregnancy is the state or the period beginning from the conception to the birth of the baby. In other words the time from fertilization of the ovum to the delivery of the baby is termed as the pregnancy.
This duration may be of 280 days or 40 weeks calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period. This is called the gestational age which is mostly taken in weeks.
Pregnancy brings a lot of changes in the woman’s body because of the physiological modifications needed to adapt to and grow the foetus in the body. The changes are not confined to the genital organs only but it also causes considerable changes in other body systems. These alterations may sometimes be felt as troublesome for a few women.
We often hear that the pregnant woman has complains like vomiting or urgency and the frequency of the micturition, oedema over the feet and ankles, etc.
The confirmation of the pregnancy can be done by assessing the pregnancy symptoms. The most common being the amenorrhea i.e. the absence of the menses and many others that you will come to know later on.
The pregnancy is a period that demands attention, needs care throughout so that it ends into successful pregnancy outcome i.e. the birth of a healthy and normal baby and safe mother.
The pregnant woman is called an antenatal woman. The way she is cared for, the way she receives the antenatal care and treatment under skilled supervision really affects the pregnancy outcome.
She must pay frequent antenatal visits and check-ups to ensure the maternal and foetal well-being.
Good antenatal care including the antenatal visits, check-ups and the treatment, well balanced diet and nutrition, immunization, hygienic care and comfort as well as safety precautions during the pregnancy ensures that the woman can give birth to a normal and healthy baby.
Many times the pregnancy is confronted with many associated medical illnesses that may pose risk to the pregnancy outcome. All we need is to achieve the best by enhancing the surety of care we provide to a pregnant woman.
