Teen Pregnancy Help

Prenatal care for teens is essential for a healthy pregnancy, healthy baby, and recovery for the pregnant teenager. This article offers tips on finding prenatal care for pregnant teens and importance of ongoing prenatal care, a healthy diet, prenatal vitamins, and exercise.

Whether you decide to keep your baby, or if you plan to give it up for adoption, it is important to take proper care of yourself during pregnancy. Indeed, if you plan to give birth, it is vital that you do what you can to keep you and your baby healthy. One of the best ways to do this is to get proper prenatal care. Prenatal care for teens can be found in all states, and it can help you do what you need to in order to help your baby be born healthy - and keep you healthy, too.

Finding prenatal care

If you are looking for prenatal care for teens, you should first seek help from people you know. Your parents and other relatives can help you. Indeed, there is a good chance that prenatal care for teens is covered on your parents’ insurance plan. If your parents are unwilling or unable to help you find prenatal care, there are a number of other options that you have. Most states have Family Services departments that you can turn to. Additionally, many towns and cities have women’s centers and family planning centers. You can also visit a Planned Parenthood to find out information about prenatal care for teens.

When you first go to see a health care professional about your teen pregnancy, it is important to be honest. Answer the questions you are asked truthfully, and listen to your what your health care professional tells you about properly caring for yourself and your baby. You should be aware that you will probably need a pelvic examine, as well as be tested for sexually transmitted diseases, STD testing should include an HIV test.

Ongoing prenatal care for teens

It is important to realize that prenatal care for teens doesn’t stop after the first visit. Regular check-ups are needed. At first, you will only see your health care professional once a month. By the end of the teen pregnancy, though, your visits will increase to once a week. It is important that you go to your appointments so that your health, and the baby’s health, can be tracked. You should also realize that there are some things that can harm your baby’s health as well as your own. Some things to avoid during pregnancy include:

• Alcohol
• Prescription drugs (unless given by the health care professional - follow directions exactly)
• Cigarettes
• Marijuana
• Other illegal drugs
• Excessive caffeine

Before you take over the counter medicine, you should talk to your health care provider. He or she may recommend some prenatal vitamins that are specially formulated to help you get the nutrients your baby needs for healthy development. Make sure you follow the advice of your health care professional.

There are plenty of things you can eat in order to be healthy during teen pregnancy. Good prenatal care for teens includes eating plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Dairy products and protein should not be neglected, either. Talk to your health care professional about safe items to eat, and what to avoid. Some foods should be avoided during teen pregnancy. If you are vegetarian or vegan, speak with your health care professional about how you can get the proper amounts of protein and calcium without consuming animal products.

Finally, it is a good idea to get proper exercise during teen pregnancy. You can increase the chances that your body will remain fit by exercising. Plus, you increase the chances that you will lose your baby weight faster if you are exercising. However, just as there are foods and substances to avoid during pregnancy, proper prenatal care requires that you avoid some pregnancy exercises. Exercises that require you to lay on your back, or that involve objects that could hit your stomach (such as tennis) should be avoided. Your health care professional can help you come up with a regimen appropriate for teen pregnancy.

In the end, prenatal care for teens is up to you. It’s up to you to make sure your baby is healthy, and that you are healthy, too. Even if you feel like you don’t have a place to turn, there are resources available. You can go to a local shelter or even a city or county building to be pointed in the right direction for prenatal care. Don’t wait, either. As soon as you find out you are pregnant, that is the time to begin seeking prenatal care.