Drugs to avoid during pregnancy

Some drug can harm your baby during different stages of your pregnancy. At these time, your doctor might tell you to stop taking your reguler medicine and put you on a different medicine that is safer for your baby

Some drugs are known to induce malformations in newborn. They should be avoided in any time of the pregnancy : Vitamine A, anti-coagulants (warfarin, coumadin), lithium and some anti-convulsivants (carbamazepin, phenytoin)
Other medicines can be harmful to the baby depending on the dosage, the time of pregnancy they are taken at, or because there is only a limited knowledge on their consequences on pregnant womwn. This includes anti-inflammatories (aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen), anti-depressants, anti-nausea medicines, many anti-hypertensive medicines (propanolol), many mental health medicines (diazepam, chlorpromazine, haloperidol...) and also many anti-allergic medicines.
Some other medicine have been used a lot during pregnancy and do not appear to cause major birth defects. This includes drugs such as some antibiotics, acetaminophen/paracetamol, aspartame (artificial sweetener), famotidine, prednisone (cortisone), insulin.
Woman wanting to give birth or pregnant women with a preexisting condition such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure should seek medical advice on the appropriate way to continue their treatment as these conditions if untreated could be harmful for the baby.

Safe medicines to use during pregnancy

Pain/fever/cold/flu-paracetamol (acetaminophen) is thought to be safe for short-term use for pain and fever in pregnancy and breastfeeding. Avoid anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen, ketoprofen, diclofenac, and aspirin, especially in the third trimester.

Danger Signs during pregnancy

Mother does not want to eat and vomits often
During pregnancy, the neeed for nutrient is increased, as not onlythe mother's demand but also the one of the fetus has to be fulfilled. If the need of mother is unmeet, not only will she suffer from malnutrition, but the fetal growth will be disturbed.

During labor, mother needs food to produce energy that will be used during the delivery. (malnutrition can be an obstacle in delivery because lack of energy).

During childbirth, a mother who suffers from maltutrition can have a problem in post delivery wound healing. Anemia is also possible, because there is an obstacle in replacing red blood cell lost during delivery and childbirth.

Pregnant women with severe vomiting, known as hyperemesis gravidarum is caused by mal adaptation of the hormonal change during pregnancy. Pregnant women can suffer from dehydration and shock due to loss of fluid from the body.

Anemia
Shown by the palor, weakness, dizziness, headaches and frequent illnesses. Anemia is one of the major indirect causes of maternal death. A pregnant woman with anemia cannot fulfill mothers and fetal supply need of nutrient and oxygen, which then leads to a fetal growth problem. Anemic woman having delivery of childbirth can suffer from shock because of loss of blood supply and can lead to death.

Body weight not increasing
During pregnancy, a pregnant woman is expected to gain weight, at least 6 kilos. This can be an indicator of fetal growth. No increase of body weight shows the malnutrition condition and can cause a problem in fetal growth.

Swelling of hands/face, dizziness, seizure
Can be a sign of preeclampsia, the pregnancy induces hypertention. Typically, preeclampsia occurs after 20 weeks gestation (in the late 2nd or 3rd trimesters), though it can occur earlier. Preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are a leading global cause of maternal and infant illness and death. It is estimated that these disorders are responsible for 76,000 deaths each year in the wold. If preeclampsia is not detected and treated, it can result in seizures or convulsions, at which point it is defined as eclampsia. 1 of 50 womwn and 1 of 14 baby die because of eclampsia.

Loss of fetal movement
At 5 months gestation, pregnant women should examine the fetal movement. The movement is expected to occur at least 3 times per hour. If a pregnant woman feels less movement-an indication of an inactive fetus, she should immediately consult a midwife or a doctor.

Other deseases affecting pregnancy
Before pregnancy, all patients with cardiac problems are encouraged to have a full check-up, which includes a medical history, physical examination, echocardiogram and electrocardiogram. A pregnant woman with a heart desease risk for delivering a low birth weight baby.
Malaria can cause anemia (seen^2) to a pregnant woman.
Pregnant woman with diabetes mellitus has an elevated sugar rate in her blood that can disrupt fetal metabolic function, give birth to a big baby, but not necessarily a healthy one ; a big baby is more likely to have birth complications and need to be delivered by forceps, vacuum or cecarean section. Very big newborns may have low blood sugar rate, develop jaundice or breathing problems and need to be observed in the hight-risk nursery.

Pre-labor rupture of membranes
Will make infection easier to occur, lead to sepsis, and threat the pregnancy and the mother.

Prolonged/obstructed labor
Can occur due to inadequate contraction, mal position, cephalo pelvic disproportion. Obstructed of prolonged labor can also lead to severe postpartum infections and increased risk of Pelvic Inflammatory Desease (PID), infertility, and neulorogical injuries. Woman with prolonged/obstructed labor should be referred to hospital immediately.

Vaginal Bleeding
Early in pregnancy, bleeding could be a sign of miscarriage or tubal pregnancy. From the 4th to the 9th month, bleeding might mean that the placenta is low in the uterus and may block the birth canal. Late in pregnancy, bleeding may be a sign that the placenta has separated from the uterus. If there is severe bleeding after delivery, mother can die in a matter of hours; postpartum hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death.

High Fever
Can be due to infection or other deseases, can lead to premature delivery. High fever after labor can indicate postpartum infection that can lead to sepsis and death.

Family and Disaster Preparedness

When disaster strikes it will greatly impact the family life. The impact itself will take from in the separation of the family members, disability, death, relationship tension, reduced of coping mechanism, and family conflict. According to the north Carolina Cooperative Extension, think and plan before a disaster usually helps family members react wisely to the emergency. Familes should work together to identity and collect the resources which are needed to meet basic needs during and after disaster. When people feel prepared, they cope better.