SCREENING OF MOTHER AND CHILD

    Pregnancy Tracking- This is important cause culturally it is still not accepted by elders or the husbands to take the pregnant mother to the primary health centre.

           Malnourished, anaemic pregnant women are a higher risk of complications during       childbirth including postpartum bleeding, the most common cause of such deaths. These   woman also have a higher likelihood of having low birth weight or malnourished babies who, in turn, are at higher risk of further malnutrition as the women cannot produce sufficient breast milk. This pregnancyinfancy child continuum of malnutrition predisposes mothers and children to undue disease and mortality.

·      Creating awareness among parents and society about “malnutrition as a sickness” and  “personal hygiene”

·      Awareness on breast feeding for six months and on giving colostrum to the new born

·      Nutrition counseling to parents

·      Periodic monitoring of nutritional and health status of children

·      Tracking pregnant and lactating mothers & supplementing with Spirulina

·      Robust mis to analyse malnutrition against social, economic and life style parameters- its elimination against different and differentiated inputs

   Interventions for Pregnant mothers-  VISITS TO PRIMARY HEALTH CENTRES FOR ANTENATAL CARE WILL START THE PREVENTIVE ASPECT EVEN BEFORE BIRTH.

      GROWTH OF THE FETUS IN PREGNANCY IS A GOOD INDICATOR FOR MALNUTRITION LATER. THUS THE WEIGHT GAIN OF THE MOTHER AND THE WEIGHT OF THE FETUS ON SCANS PREDICT THE OPTIMUM WEIGHT OF THE FETUS .

       INDIA STILL HAS THE PROBLEM OF GROWTH RESTRICTED FETUS WHICH COULD BE NORMAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL CALLED SMALL FOR GESTATIONAL AGE. OR IT COULD BE PATHOLOGICAL CALLED IN UTERINE GROWTH RESTRICTION

A pregnant woman needs:

ü  An adequate nutritious diet

ü  Adequate rest during last trimester

ü  Iron and Folic Acid tablets throghout pregnancy

          DIET . .on Increasefood intake.

Whole gram, pulses and legumes, sprouted pulses, leafy vegetables,jaggery,dates,groundnuts,tilarefoodsofplant origin having good iron content. Include more of these in the daily diet.

Include green leafy vegetables in daily diet right from the beginning as all foliage provide "folic acid" much needed during early months.

Consumeone seasonalfruit daily.

Milk, curd, butter milk, egg, meat, fish arehelpful.

Iodised salt should be consumed as pregnant women require sufficient iodine for brain development of the child in the womb.

Take plenty of fluiddwater. Take small and frequent meals.

Rest

 Heavy work should be avoided throughout the pregnancy.

 Rest (inlyingdownposition) during third trimester is important to enable adequate    flow of nutrients from mother to the child.

A woman should gain 10-12 kg weight during pregnancy.

Iron and Folic Acid tablets

Folic acid supplementation in the first three months of pregnancy

Iron and Calcium supplementation as medications from the 4 th month of pregnancy till lactation

Folic Acid tablets should be consumed throughout the pregnancy. Iron tablets may cause black stools which are harmless.

+Iron and folic acid tablets prevent anaemia and helps a women to deliver a normal healthy baby.

+ The folic acid deficiency can cause "Neural tube defects" in the new borns.

Immunisation

+ Immunisation of the pregnant woman with tetanus toxoid (TT) given between the V and VI months of pregnancy in two doses at an interval of 4 weeks is essential.

Care for pregnancy related problems at the primary health centre should be available

Counseling for breastfeeding during pregnancy

Practically all mothers, including those with mild to moderate chronic malnutrition,can successfully breastfeed.

Expectant mothers, particularly primiparas, and those who have experienced difficulties with lactation management, should be motivated and prepared for early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding. This should be achieved by educating them, through a personal approach, about the benefits and management of breastfeeding. In the last trimester of pregnancy, breasts and nipples should be examined and relevant advice given.

Antenatal checkups and maternal tetanus toxoid immunisation contact points should be utilised for promoting early initiation of breastfeeding,feeding of colostrum,exclusive breastfeeding and