Creation or Evolution,
Design or Random Chance.
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They say it all
began with a "Big Bang".
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But when we look at
the amazing human body,
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the answer is obvious.
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The complexity of the
design exceeds anything man has
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ever made. The body,
could have only been designed
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by the "Master Designer",
we read about in the Bible.
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Hello, I'm Patti Barnes,
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Director of the Midwifery
Program at Hartland College.
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In this segment, we are
going to discuss the importance
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of prenatal care.
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Prenatal, also called Antepartum
is a period of the time
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the baby is developing
in the womb prior to birth.
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Several studies have revealed
the importance of mothers
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of teen prenatal
checkups early on in pregnancy.
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It has been found that
proper and early prenatal care
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can help reduce
high risk situations,
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and bad outcomes such as:
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These are just a few,
but you can see from these
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that there is certainly
value in good prenatal care.
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According to the Maternal
and Child Health Bureau,
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mothers that fail to
receive prenatal care,
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are three times more likely
to have low birth weight babies,
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and the chances of their
babies dying is increased
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by five times. Child Health
USA reports that babies born
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with a birth weight
under five and a half pounds,
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and especially a very
low birth weight of less than
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three and a quarter pounds
are more likely than infants
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of normal weight to die
in the first year of life,
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and to experience long
range physical and developmental
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health problems.
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These are terrible, yet
often avoidable outcomes,
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and it isn't just the
physical health we should be
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concerned about.
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In the book Mind,
Character, and Personality,
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Volume 1 we read:
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Ok, so when should
prenatal care begin?
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The answer is surprisingly
enough before pregnancy
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even begins.
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In the book Education,
page 276, we find this
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very important council:
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Young people, we cannot stress
enough, that you take this
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responsibility seriously,
it can make a great difference
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in your lives and the
lives of your offspring.
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How sad is it today,
that few people understand
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these principles. I like
to think of prenatal care
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as the assessment of a mother's:
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needs, and ways of providing for
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those needs. The first visit
with your healthcare provider,
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should take place as
early as possible in the
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first trimester of pregnancy.
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The gestational period is
basically divided into three
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major time periods called:
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Which roughly
breaks down as follows:
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At the first prenatal
visit, your healthcare provider
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should determine
your estimated due date.
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Then go over the health
or medical history of you
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and your family.
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Review previous
pregnancies if any.
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Evaluate possible risk factors.
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In addition, lab
tests are done, including:
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Which checks for the iron
level, to rule out anemia.
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Which is your blood type.
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To certain conditions like:
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Then a complete
physical exam should be done.
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After the first visit,
regular prenatals should be done
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every month until 28
weeks, then every two weeks
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until 36 weeks, increasing
to every week up until delivery,
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now, more visits may be
needed in high risk cases.
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For subsequent visits, I like
to use the acronym, "CHECKUP".
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Edema, that's
checking for swelling.
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Checking the urine.
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Let's start with
checking the mother's weight.
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It will be important to monitor
the weight gain at each visit.
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Why is this important?
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Generally speaking, a healthy
mother, will gain roughly
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around 20 to 32
lbs. during pregnancy.
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This can vary according
to pre-pregnancy weight.
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One who begins under
weight, should gain more during
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pregnancy than one
who begins overweight.
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On the average a mother
might gain four pounds or less
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the first trimester,
and about one pound per week
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through the
remainder of the pregnancy.
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If significant
weight gain takes place,
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there is a higher risk
of gestational diabetes
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or oversize baby, which could
lead to birthing difficulties.
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Weight loss could lead
to an underweight baby,
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and then higher
risk of infant mortality.
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By monitoring the weight gain,
the mother's diet, and lifestyle
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can be adjusted to
meet the circumstances.
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Let's see where the
normal weight gain comes from.
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So we get the sum of 20- 32 Lbs.
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I once had a client that was
very overweight for pregnancy,
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along with my backup
doctor, we worked with her diet,
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eliminating junk foods, but imp-
lementing good wholesome foods.
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At delivery, she had a
net gain of a mere 3 lbs.
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The baby was born a
healthy seven and a half pounds.
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Subtract that
extra weight for the:
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and you can see, she
actually lost some body weight.
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Another client who began her
pregnancy slightly underweight,
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was determined to
maintain a two meal a day diet
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even though I counseled
her to eat a third meal
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during pregnancy. The
baby was born in the hospital
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weighing only five pounds.
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Such slight weight gain may
mean that quantity or quality
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of the food is
insufficient to supply both
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the mother and the baby.
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The next item on the
check-up list is her:
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and pulse rate.
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The normal blood
pressure is around 120/70,
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high blood pressure is said
to be anything above 140/90,
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If high blood pressure continues
too long, Preeclampsia,
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also known as
Toxemia, can develop.
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a condition that can lead
to organ damage in the mother.
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If the Preeclampsia is
unchecked, it could lead to
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seizures, and a
condition called Eclampsia,
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this can be fatal.
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Some signs of Preeclampsia
are protein in the urine,
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headaches, swelling in
the face, hands, and feet,
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also referred to as
Edema, which is the next item
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in our checkup acronym.
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So how do we help
prevent this condition?
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The first thing to
consider is the elimination of
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certain things from the
diet including pork, caffeine,
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and other stimulants.
Fried and fatty foods,
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spicy foods, sugar
and sugar substitutes.
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But adding good things like
fresh fruits and vegetables,
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proper protein balance, fresh
lemon in the place of vinegar,
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garlic, parsley, onions,
and cucumbers, proper hydration.
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Now we come to
Chemstrip Urinalysis,
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at each visit the urine
should be analyzed to detect
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indicators of possible problems.
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For example, the presence
of Glucose in the urine can be
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an indicator of Diabetes.
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Protein presence
can be an indicator of
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Preeclampsic conditions.
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Blood in the urine
may be a sign of anemia.
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Or Leukocytes, which is white
blood cells, may be the result
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of fighting off a
Urinary Tract Infection.
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So you can see the values
in having these Chemstrip Tests
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done. Next on the list is
Kicking and Fetal Movement.
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Around seventeen weeks is
when you might start noticing
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your baby move,
and by twenty weeks,
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it should be quite noticeable.
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As the baby grows, you will
begin to pick up his regular
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pattern of movement.
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There can be anywhere between
ten to one hundred movements
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within a three hour period.
Watch for any marked deviation
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from what your
baby is used to doing.
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Now we come to the uterus
size. At each prenatal session,
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the doctor or midwife
will measure what they call the
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Fundal Height to assure
that the baby is growing.
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This is the distance between
the top of the pubic bone
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which is called
the "Symphysis Pubis"
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to the top of the
Uterus, or Fundus.
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The Uterus
normally grows 1CM/week,
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meaning that at 28 weeks,
the uterus should be around
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28 centimeters, or at 32
weeks, it should measure around
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32 centimeters and so forth.
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If the measurement is
significantly greater than
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expected, maybe you have twins.
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Finally we come to
Palpation and Fetal Heart Tones.
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Palpating, is simply
feeling with your hands
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how the baby is positioned,
which comes with practice.
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A common technique
used by midwives is called
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Leopold's Maneuver.
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A systematic way of
palpating the mother's abdomen.
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The fetal heart tones are also
checked confirming the position
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of the baby. A Doppler
is commonly used to pick up
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the heart tones of the
baby starting at around
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eight to twelve weeks. A Fetal
Doppler is simply a hand held
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device that aids in detecting
the heart tones and simulating
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them as an audible level so
they can be heard by everyone
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in the room. The
baby's heart rate should be
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anywhere from 120 to
160 beats per minute.
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In addition to the physical
benefits of prenatal care,
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there are also spiritual
and emotional benefits.
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A mother may be
encouraged from the word of God
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and prayer support.
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I once had a client come to me
explaining that she was scared
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because the first birth
had been a terrible experience.
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As she went into transition,
she found herself completely
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unprepared, not knowing
what was going on inside of her.
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Panic set in, all she could
think of was escaping the birth
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and the hospital. She
climbed out of bed and started
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streaking down the hall,
with the doctors and nurses
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chasing her. After that
experience, she was terrified
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to have another baby,
and mortified to think
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she would have to face
that hospital staff again.
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I worked with her,
giving her childbirth classes,
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and also
encouraging her spiritually,
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I had them cultivate
and atmosphere of praise
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by singing and
playing scripture songs,
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hymns and peaceful music.
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When delivery time arrived,
she was an entirely different
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woman, she had one of
the most peaceful births that
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I can remember. Not only was
she calm and in perfect control,
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but the delivery
was smooth and simple.
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In Isaiah 26: 3,4 we read.
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Let Him be your strength today.
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Join me next time for
more of Divine Design.
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