A woman’s health is important in all stages of her life, but pregnancy can be a special time in which to focus on her health and well-being. Pregnancy can be a strain on women’s health. For their sake and their children’s, women need to take their health very seriously.
To start, women’s health before getting pregnant is very important. Even if a woman isn’t planning to get pregnant or does not want to have children, she should keep her body as healthy as possible not only for her sake, but in case she does get pregnant. “The U.S. has a pretty high proportion of unplanned pregnancies,” says Hyagriv Simhan, MD, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, chief of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and medical director of Obstetrical Services at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC. “Getting sufficient and appropriate prenatal care in the first few months of pregnancy is critical. Prenatal care is the base from which we watch for abnormal pregnancy.”