MARY HONDROS: Okay. I am going to talk a little bit about pregnancy. Maintaining your health during pregnancy is one of the most important things that you can do for your baby. Things that your body might need a little bit more of when you are pregnant are vitamin C, iron, calcium, vitamin D and protein for that growing fetus. So it is important that you eat the right foods to obtain those nutrients and also that you are taking some sort a prenatal vitamin before you get pregnant and then while you are pregnant, if you can help it. It is also important that you avoid certain foods like alcohol, too much caffeine, any kind of tobacco in your diet. Those are the things that your baby does not need to be exposed to. In addition, you need to avoid large sources of mercury which come from certain kinds of fish in your diet, like kingfish or king mackerel, tilefish, swordfish. And those are recommended that you avoid those and that you limit the amount of tuna fish you eat, which contains just enough mercury in it. So limit to tuna fish to about six ounces per week. Lastly, make sure that you heat and you cook all of the deli meats that you do eat because your body is at risk for infection due to the fact that your immune system is lower when you are pregnant. So again, to reiterate four important things you should do while pregnant is number one, take some sort of prenatal vitamin, a multivitamin with at least 400 milligrams of folic acid. That is what you need before getting pregnant and while being pregnant. Secondly, avoid excess caffeine in coffee, tea and soda, and avoid alcohol completely, because you do not know the general effects of that on the fetus. Also, avoid certain fish like king mackerel, tilefish and swordfish as it is really high in mercury, and limit canned tuna to about six ounces a week. And lastly, heat or cook all the deli meats that you eat because they might contain a bacteria that can cause infection. So those are four general tips on having a healthy pregnancy.
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