1. Why should calcium supplementation during pregnancy
Calcium is an important mineral in the human body and is a necessary factor for bone growth and the maintenance of bone health. In addition, calcium plays an important role in the coagulation mechanism, and also has a certain role in nerve signaling and heart health.
The calcium needed for fetal growth and development comes entirely from the mother. Not only does calcium strengthen your baby's bones and teeth, it also helps your baby have a healthy heart, nerves, muscles and blood clotting function. And for pregnant mothers, adequate calcium can also reduce the risk of high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia.
2. How to supplement calcium during pregnancy?
In the first trimester (0 weeks to 12 weeks), the embryonic development is relatively slow at this time, and the calcium requirement is basically the same as before pregnancy, about 800mg/day;
In the second trimester (13 to 28 weeks), the fetus's bones form and develop vigorously. Pregnant mothers should increase their intake of calcium at an intake of 1000 mg/day;
The third trimester (29 weeks ~ delivery) is the period of the baby's bone storage, there are studies show that 80% of the calcium in the baby's body is accumulated in the last three months, these calcium promote the development of the baby's bones and teeth, so it is more important to adhere to the supplement of calcium-containing foods and nutrients. The intake at this time is about 1200 mg/day.
During pregnancy, some mothers use low molecular weight heparin for anticoagulation fetal protection therapy, and they need to supplement calcium more, because low molecular weight heparin is an anticoagulant, and the use of low molecular weight heparin during pregnancy due to individual differences, in order to avoid possible conditions such as osteoporosis, spontaneous fractures and other adverse reactions, so it is more necessary to supplement calcium.
3. What can I eat to supplement calcium?
1. Dairy products: Milk, yogurt and cheese and other dairy foods are good foods for calcium supplementation. Due to the increase in demand for pregnant women and lactation, it is recommended to supplement 300-500ml of dairy products every day, mainly pure milk and pure yogurt.
2. Soy products: brine tofu, gypsum tofu and dried tofu, tofu shredded and other soy products are good sources of calcium and magnesium, but in terms of calcium supplementation, soy products are far less than dairy products.
3. Green leafy vegetables: Although a small number of green leafy vegetables contain more oxalic acid, there are still many vegetables that are high in calcium and low oxalic acid, such as rapeseed, Chinese cabbage, kale, mustard greens, green leaf cabbage, radish wisps, etc., and the calcium content is quite considerable.
4. Others: In addition, there are small fish and shrimp with bones and shells, and tahini sauce can also provide calcium. However, it should be noted that milky white soups such as stick bone soup and pig's foot soup cannot be supplemented with calcium.
5. Calcium tablets
4. Will calcium supplementation lead to placental aging?
Some pregnant mothers do not dare to supplement calcium, worried about placental calcification and poor birth. In fact, calcium supplementation does not lead to placental aging and placental calcification is actually a normal aging process of the placenta, and does not belong to pathological changes.
The mother and the fetus are interconnected by the umbilical cord and placenta, and the mother transports all kinds of nutrients and oxygen needed by the baby to the fetus through the placenta, and the various metabolites produced by the fetus are transported to the mother through the placenta, and then excreted by the mother.
When the placenta ages, the vascular elasticity of the placenta decreases or even loses its elasticity, the blood vessels harden, the lumen narrows and even occlusion, etc., these changes affect the mother's transportation of oxygen and nutrients to the fetus through the blood. This reduces the blood supply to the fetus, resulting in fetal hypoxia and reduced amniotic fluid.
Placental aging is mainly the aging of blood vessels on the placenta, similar to the aging of the blood vessels of the elderly who are older, which is a stage that will naturally be experienced in the process of placental growth and development. It has nothing to do with calcium supplementation, but is related to the development of the placenta itself. Of course, there are also some pregnant women who are still not aging even if the function of the placenta of the expired pregnancy is not aged.
As for whether it is good or not, the main factors are related to the size of the fetus, the birth canal of pregnant women, productivity and psychological factors.
Therefore, whether calcium should be supplemented or not needs to be analyzed according to the specific situation. If the calcium in your diet is already sufficient to meet your body's needs, there is no need to supplement with additional calcium. However, if you can't supplement enough calcium through your diet, then you need to consider taking calcium to ensure the health of the pregnant mother herself and the baby.
Of course, not only calcium, other nutrients are the same, try to supplement through food, if the food can not meet the needs of the body, under the guidance of the doctor to reasonably supplement nutritional elements, to achieve nutritional balance.