A pregnant women’s diet should include Vitamin-K rich foods along with the foods rich in other vital nutrients that are required during pregnancy? Learn more about the importance of Vitamin-K during pregnancy.The transformations inside a woman’s body are inevitable during pregnancy. The hormonal changes, along with various other changes can sometimes be hard to cope with for an expectant mother. In these cases, it becomes really important for the woman to consume a healthy diet. There are cravings for food items that are fatty and contain an abnormal balance of nutrients, especially carbohydrates, but care must be taken to inculcate the best food items in one’s diet as the food consumed goes a long way during pregnancy.
Vitamin-K is essential for blood clotting. Therefore, it becomes important for the mother and the baby to get enough of Vitamin-K to get them through the labour period. There have not been many reports of deficiency of Vitamin-K, but a necessary precaution involves injecting a baby with Vitamin-K shortly after they are born to prevent the deficiency. The recovery period is also supported with Vitamin-K.
What Makes Vitamin-K so Important?
Healthy bone development and protein formation in the liver largely depend on the consumption of Vitamin-K. However, it also helps in the effective healing of wounds. This makes it indispensable just after the conception period as the body is still recovering and requires time to be healed. Vitamin-K is also important for the baby and its deficiency, though rare, can lead to excessive bleeding.
Vitamin-K in Your Daily Diet
Fortunately, it is easy to meet the required amount of Vitamin-K through a healthy balanced diet. The requirements of both the mother and the baby can be easily met as Vitamin-K, being fat soluble, can be stored inside the liver. This allows the body to meet the needs whenever required, terminating any possibility of deficiency. Cereals, meat and
dairy foods, green leafy vegetables are all pretty rich in Vitamin-K and furthermore it has been found that Vitamin-K does not get affected during cooking.
Avoiding Excessive Intake of Vitamin-K
It is important to note that excessive consumption of Vitamin-K can lead to adverse effects. These include people prone to cardiac arrests, strokes, and blood clotting. Supplements must be taken after careful consultation with the healthcare specialist.
Normally, shortly after their birth, children are injected with Vitamin-K supplements, in order to prevent any deficiency. This is the most common method followed all over the world.
Vitamin-K helps with normal clotting of your blood. During pregnancy your need for Vitamin-K does not increase. The requirements are the same for adult females who are not expecting a baby. The studies by University of Maryland Medical Centre have declared that one can do with 90 micrograms of Vitamin-K a day. Excessive Vitamin-K can lead to the thinning of your blood.
Meeting nutritional requirements is necessary during the
pregnancy period because it allows you to make sure that you and your unborn baby is getting what is the primary requisite for growth and development. Vitamin-K happens to be one of the many vitamins that contribute to a healthy pregnancy.
The Need of Supplements
The research by American Cancer Society states that pregnant women on anti-seizure medications should get Vitamin-K supplements prescribed from their obstetrician for themselves two to four weeks before giving birth in order to reduce the risk of bleeding in the newborn. If they develop cholestasis, a liver disease that occurs during pregnancy, they might receive Vitamin-K supplements before and after delivery to prevent haemorrhaging. Vitamin-K
supplements must not be taken voluntarily or without the proper recommendation of a physician.
Therefore, we understand that Vitamin-K is as important during the pregnancy as any other nutrient. While meeting the exact quantity is not always possible every day, maintaining an average helps in preventing any sort of deficiency inside the body. Vitamin-K, without any doubt, happens to be one of the most important nutrients for any woman during pregnancy.
Why is it necessary to include Vitamin-K rich foods in pregnancy diet? What are the effects of deficiency of Vitamin-K during pregnancy? In which cases are Vitamin-K supplements recommended to a pregnant woman? Discuss here.
