- Get your vitamin D checked and supplement accordingly if low. Low prenatal vitamin D has been linked to autism, impaired child language development, and preterm labor.
- Switch to organic food – or at least focus on eating organic from the Dirty Dozen list. Consuming foods with pesticides prenatally is thought to lead to decreased neurocognitive development in babies and children. However, when you switch to organic foods, pesticide levels in the body can drop dramatically in 1 week.
- Increase your omega-3’s through diet, supplements, or both. Research shows that babies of mothers who have the highest omega-3 blood levels at time of delivery display superior attention and focus at least up to 2 years of age.
- Eat probiotic-rich food, take a probiotic supplement, or both. The birth process plays an important role in the microbial colonization of a baby’s gut and is influenced by the composition of the mother’s microbiome. A less than optimal microbiome has been linked to the development of a wide range of chronic illness. Additionally, consumption of probiotic-rich food during pregnancy has been associated with lower rates of preterm birth and preeclampsia.
- Ask your doctor to test your immunity to CMV (cytomegalovirus), particularly if you have young child or spend time around young children. CMV is a common virus that circulates in the community and most people get exposed to during early childhood.An infection with this virus for the first time during or just prior to pregnancy can cause health complications in the developing fetus and is the leading cause of non-genetic hearing loss in US children. If you find that you are not already immune to CMV, then you should be extra careful to wash your hands around young children, avoid sharing utensils and kissing on the mouth, and handle diapers carefully.
