Prenatal Care Case Study

Prenatal care is an essential aspect of a pregnancy in terms of child development. Depending on whether the mother received adequate prenatal care, there could be problems with the child 's development (Santrock, 2016). Prenatal care might differ depending on the era of pregnancy. For example, a 21st century 's mother might more access to information due to technology as opposed to a 16th or 17th century 's mother. Could this have played a role in the type of prenatal care each mother engaged in during her pregnancy period? Another reason could be a difference in cultural beliefs which might influence a mother 's prenatal behavior.

The first mother 's child was born on 27 September 1997 (19 years old). She is from an African descent (Nigeria).

She is from an Asian descent. She didn 't really change her diet, but paid extra attention to the foods she ate. For example, she avoided eating unpasteurized salad dressing, swordfish, and Kingfish which has mercury; a teratogen that can potentially harm the baby’s health. She also didn’t work through the pregnancy and took multivitamins and folic acid. She refrained from drinks containing alcohol and caffeine. Her sleeping pattern changed during the third trimester; she started taking short naps during the day. She indicated that she exercised during her pregnancy. For the first trimester, she engaged in moderately intense exercises such as running, cycling, and weight lifting five days a week for about forty minutes to one hour. Exercise intensity reduced in the second trimester till childbirth in which she engaged in speed walking, and in her third trimester, she did yoga for pregnant women. She had morning sickness in her first trimester, but it was mild. She took mild pain medications like Tylenol with dosage prescribed by her obstetrician with no significant exposure to environmental chemicals, infections, and other teratogens (Ting,

This helps the mother control weight gain as she tends to gain less weight in the first trimester. though, they had some differences in their vitamin intake as one mother took medication for prevention of malaria due to her surroundings, they both took the recommended vitamins and nutrition for healthy child development, such as vitamin B complex (folic acid), multivitamins, fruits, vegetables, and an increase intake of water to help with dehydration and constipation. They both exercised during their pregnancy, though their intensity was different. For instance, the first mother didn’t engage in any form of exercise until her second trimester due to her history of miscarriages. The sex exercise was the most shocking part for me as I believe it could potentially harm the baby if care is not taken, but she claimed it helps to prepare the birth canal for childbirth resulting in a less painful and strenuous delivery (Santrock,