Child wish
Most pregnancies are normal and proceed without any problems. However, it is important to prepare for pregnancy. If you are healthy and live a healthy lifestyle at the time of pregnancy, the chance of having a healthy baby is at its highest. The way of life of the expectant father also has an influence. If you want to have children, it is advisable to think about possible risks beforehand. The period just before conception and the first months of pregnancy are important for the development of the baby, more than was previously thought. What should you do, or not do, to be as healthy as possible and get pregnant?
Preconception consultation
If you want to properly prepare for a pregnancy, you can make an appointment with us for a prenatal consultation. Here, among other things, the medical history of you and your partner will be mapped. Your lifestyle and food habits will also be discussed. In most cases, your private health insurance provider will reimburse this consultation. www.zwangerwijzer.nl can help you gain insight into you and your partner's situation.
Full of passion and confidence!
Welcome to Midwifery practice Venlo-Blerick!
We are a practice of 4 passionate midwives who find personal care very important. In order to provide the best care, we believe that every pregnant woman is special and unique within her own personal situation. We stand for trust. Trust in your body, the natural process, in your baby, and in us. We offer guidance in everything that has to do with becoming pregnant, being pregnant, childbirth, unexpected pregnancy, miscarriage and contraception. We tailor our care to your needs - we offer evening consultations, we can provide additional ultrasounds at your request and you are welcome at the heart consultation hour every week. Our working area is the municipality of Venlo and surroundings.
We look forward to seeing you at our practice!
Use of medication
If you wish to get pregnant, and use or want to use medication, it is advisable to check whether these medicines are harmful to a pregnancy. You can consult your doctor, pharmacist or midwife about this.
Folic acid
To minimize the risk of a birth defect in the baby, we advise everyone to take folic acid. This reduces the risk of an open back and/or an open skull in the baby. You can buy folic acid without a prescription at the drugstore or pharmacy. Take 1 tablet of 0.4 – 0.5 milligrams daily. Because it takes about four weeks before extra folic acid is present in your body, it is advisable to start taking it 1 month before stopping the contraception. The advice is to continue until you are 10 weeks pregnant.
Alcohol
The preference is to not drink if you want to become pregnant. This applies to both women and men. In men, alcohol weakens the sperm: the number of sperm cells decreases, and the number of abnormal sperm cells increases. So, to increase the chances of becoming pregnant, men should not drink. The period just before conception and the first months of pregnancy are important for the development of the baby. Alcohol is harmful to an unborn baby. There is no safe amount regarding alcohol. Consumption of less than one glass of alcohol per day can have an adverse effect on pregnancy in the form of miscarriage, fetal death and premature birth. There are also indications that less than one glass of alcohol per day can have negative consequences on the psychomotor development of the baby.
Smoking
If you smoke during your pregnancy, it will take longer to get pregnant. You are 30% less fertile and the chance that it will take a year or more to get pregnant is three times greater than for women who do not smoke. Not only women have reduced fertility. If you smoke as a man, the amount of sperm in the semen is reduced. In addition, the sperm cells are less mobile than in a non-smoking man. This mobility is necessary in order to be able to reach the egg. In addition, a smoking man has 50% more chance of impotence than a non-smoker. The period just before conception and the first months of pregnancy are important for the development of the baby. Tobacco contains harmful substances that reduce blood flow to the placenta.
Babies of smoking mothers are more likely to be born prematurely with stunted growth. Smoking during pregnancy also increases the risk of miscarriage, a placenta that is too low, possibly resulting in bleeding, and a detaching placenta. You can get help with quitting smoking via your GP or via wequit.nl. Almost all health insurers reimburse this assistance.
Drugs
If you want to have children and you or your partner (sometimes) uses drugs, it is important to stop before you become pregnant. Using drugs poses a risk to the unborn child. Stopping during pregnancy can cause withdrawal symptoms in the child and harmful effects may have already occurred. You should therefore stop before you are pregnant. Discuss this with your doctor. Your GP can ensure that you receive help with this.
Heredity
Perhaps there are hereditary diseases in your family, or a family member was born with a congenital disorder? In those cases, we advise you to discuss this with us before you become pregnant. There is then more time for information and good preparation.