2 Vitamins: Avoid mega-doses. More than 10,000 IUs of vitamin A, for example, can cause birth defects.
3 Alcohol: Abstain. No one knows how much alcohol is safe to drink during pregnancy. Alcohol reaches the fetus through the placenta and can restrict growth and cause cardiac defects and facial malformations. It’s the most common nongenetic cause of mental retardation.
4 Smoking: Stop. Tobacco users are more likely to miscarry and to deliver small, preterm babies with a higher risk of ear infections, colds, heart problems, upper respiratory infections and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
5 Weight gain: Most women should gain 25 to 35 pounds. Underweight women should gain 28 to 40; overweight women, 15 to 25. Women who gain too little are more likely to have smaller babies.
6 Exercise: sports such as racquetball that expose the abdomen to potential trauma. Many doctors advise against Rollerblading, skiing or bicycling after 20 weeks, since growing bellies make it easier to fall and damage the uterus. Walk, swim, run. But check your pulse to make sure your heart isn’t beating more than 140 times a minute for more than 20 minutes; that can divert too much blood from the fetus.
7 Sex: Enjoy it. Amniotic fluid cushions the fetus.
8 Medicine: Acetaminophen is fine, but ibuprofen in the third trimester may increase the risk of prolonged gestation and labor, and can in rare instances cause pulmonary hypertension in newborns. The acne drug Accutane can cause cleft palate, small ears and brain malformations. Tetracycline in the second half of pregnancy can yellow a baby’s teeth.
9 STDs: Get checked for HIV, syphilis and gonorrhea-ideally before conception. Gonorrhea can infect the baby’s eyes at birth; syphilis can cause congenital malformations. Medications can significantly cut the risk of transmitting AIDS to a baby.
10 Seat belts: Not wearing them is a leading cause of fetal death. In an accident, a belt is far less likely than a windshield to hurt the baby.
