by R. Renee Bembry

Created on: April 26, 2009

Yes. Prenatal care most definitely is important! It's important to the pregnant mother and the unborn child during pregnancy; and it's important to prevent complications arising during pregnancy from leading to unwanted consequences to mother and child after delivery.

Certain aspects to the importance of prenatal care call for changing bad habits. Habits such as smoking, consuming alcohol, devouring too much caffeine, using drugs, eating poorly, and in some cases avoiding exercise should be ceased with immediacy. While seeking prenatal care, correcting bad habits may be discussed with doctors who can help with plans of action to eliminate them.

Eliminating smoking is important to prenatal care because cigarette smoking is bad for mother and baby during pregnancy and during delivery. Smoking also causes babies to be born underdeveloped and to incur continuous health disorders.

Alcohol consumption is risky during pregnancy especially during the embryonic stage - weeks three through eight - because the embryonic stage is when major body organs develop. These organs are vulnerable to infectious diseases, radiation, and alcohol.

Caffeine intake should be kept to a minimum while pregnant because current studies indicate consuming caffeine in excess may lead to increased chances of miscarrying babies.

Diet during pregnancy bears importance in prenatal care because mother needs proper nutrition to accommodate her changing body and baby needs proper nutrition for growth and development. It's important that pregnant women strike balance between what they actually eat and what's good for them to eat. Calcium enriched foods and calcium supplements are necessary because lacking sufficient calcium intake during pregnancy could cause women to lose calcium from their bones. Loss of calcium in the bones could cause osteoporosis as women age.

Eliminating drug use, including medicine when possible, during pregnancy is important to prenatal care most notably during the first trimester (three months) because this is when baby's internal organs form. For these and other reasons, medical practitioners suggest that women refrain from taking unneeded medications during the first trimester. Although meds for treating conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes are necessities, other drugs, say for a headache, may lack the same degree of urgency.

Exercise is important to prenatal care because it improves physical health by strengthening muscles, increasing circulation and keeping energy

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