Preggo: Maternal Habits and Nutrition for Child Development

“Nick, you’re going to be an uncle! What can we do during pregnancy to give our baby a strong start to life?” I sat back and pondered🤔… ultimately there’s three things that affect an unborn baby’s development that you can influence: your nutrition, your activity levels and your state of mind.

Nutrition
What you eat is how you nourish your baby. With regards to cravings it’s long been speculated that what you crave during pregnancy 🤰🏾 is the baby signaling a deficiency. Craving oranges 🍊 or particular fruits? That’s likely because your baby needs more vitamin C and other micronutrients so indulge your cravings. I can’t speak on women that crave inexplicable things such as mud🤷🏾‍♂️😅 but maybe there’s something useful in the soil. Anyway, much of what you eat will probably be determined by what you crave so follow through on that and keep everything else simple. Make fruits and vegetables staples at every meal and avoid processed foods, sugar in excess (juice, biscuits, candy etc). Eat your regular protein such as fish, chicken, beef, nuts, milk, beans and note that fish is thought to aid brain development in babies so you might want to consider having more of that for protein and vary your sources for a comprehensive range of benefits, it can’t just be bream and kapenta daily. You should surprise your taste buds and indeed your baby with some salmon or mackerel every now and then. Ngati ufuna mwana wa nzelu ukazi kudya nsomba (if you want a smart kid eat more fish). Note that habits such as alcohol 🍷 and smoking 🚬 lend a heavy hand to birth defects your child might have so please don’t just reduce intake but cease intake completely. Remember to take the prenatal vitamins prescribed by your doctor to support your overall nutrition.

🗣 Other advice: husbands😐, wake up and source the things your pregnant wives crave and provide them as and when they desire to consume them. Ngati ni 22 hrs ni ku nyamuka chabe. Wives give your babies what they want when they want it.

Activity level
Pregnancy is not a disability so strive to stay active. Refrain from sleeping all day and only exercising when you’re walking to the bathroom. An inactive mother may produce a lazy child. Stay busy and you might harvest the next Kalusha Bwalya ⚽️. When it comes to exercise anything goes really, just don’t be overzealous and overdo it.

🗣 Advice: wives commit to gentle 30 minute walks daily as a bare minimum. You can additionally look to incorporate other low intensity exercise such as yoga or swimming 🏊‍♀️. All Lusaka based women should strongly consider signing up to Evolve Gym for all your exercise needs in a safe and comfortable women’s only gym environment. Husbands😐, massage your women’s swollen feet daily to provide some relief, mwana ni wo lema (a child is heavy).

State of mind
For your health and that of your baby, take care of yourself as much as you can. Protect your peace at all costs and avoid people and situations that place you in a dark space. A mother in a dark place risks adversely influencing her child’s mental health. You’re depressed? Your child might end up in the same boat. Always keep that in mind.

🗣 Advice: pray 🙏🏾 , meditate 🧘🏾‍♀️ and journal 📔 ✍🏾 as often as you can to manage stress. Talk to someone and get help when you need it if you’re overwhelmed with life (stress, anxiety, depression etc).

Evolve Gym Contact:
👩🏾‍💻 📸 : https://instagram.com/evolvezm
📧 : admin@evolvezm.com
📞 : 0211252061

*****Supplementary reading

• Developing physical, mental & intellectual capacity in children
  
• Mental health