4.

4 Keeping a fetus healthy

4.4 Keeping a fetus healthy
• How can the development of a fetus is affected by
the health of the mother
• Find out how diet, smoking, alcohol, caffeine and
drugs can affect fetal health.
• Do you think a woman is likely to need the same diet
when she is pregnant, as before she was pregnant.
A healthy pregnancy
For the first nine months of its life, a new human being grows inside its
mother. During these nine months, it is called a fetus. A fetus is a baby before
it is born.
A fetus growing in its mother’s body needs to:
• Be fed
• Respire
• Excrete

The fetus relies on its mother to supply it with everything that it

needs, and to remove the substances it needs to excrete. If the
pregnant mother makes sure that she stays healthy, this helps the
fetus to stay healthy, too.
The substances that the fetus needs are brought to it in its mother’s blood.

But the mother’s blood does not mix with the blood of the fetus.
The two blood systems come very close together, but do not touch. The substances that the fetus needs, diffuse from
the mother’s blood to the fetus’s blood. The substances that the fetus needs to excrete diffuse in the opposite
direction.

Placenta: The placenta is an organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy. This
structure provides oxygen and nutrients to a growing baby. It also removes waste
products from the baby's blood. The placenta attaches to the wall of the uterus, and the
baby's umbilical cord arises from it.
 3 factors affect the fetus health
inside his mother’s uterus
Smoking Alcohol Caffeine Drugs Diet

protein

carbohydrate

Vitamins and
minerals
 Smoking:
has an effect on mean birthweight it causes low
birth weight

Carbon Nicotine
monoxide Tar Tobaco
Addictive
CO
Reduces the oxygen
concentration on
hemoglobin
reaching the fetus
 Diet
A good diet during pregnancy has a big effect on fetal health.

A pregnant woman needs to eat a balanced diet. This means

that she should eat some of all the different nutrients that are needed to stay healthy. She needs to eat a little bit
more than usual, because some of the nutrients that she eats are passed to the growing fetus.
Protein
Mother:
• The mother needs protein to keep her muscles strong and working well.
• She also needs extra protein to make extra hemoglobin sufficient for herself and to transport oxygen to give
to her fetus.
Fetus:
• The fetus needs protein to produce new cells and grow,
• Fetus also needs to make hemoglobin for itself.
Note:
Hemoglobin = heme + globin
iron + protein
Carbohydrate:

Glucose is a carbohydrate that is burnt by oxygen to produce energy in a process called respiration

Glucose supplies energy.

Mother and fetus:

Both the mother and her fetus need carbohydrate to produce energy.

So the mother needs to eat enough carbohydrate to make sure they both have enough energy. But
she should not eat too much, or the extra could be changed to fat and make her put on too much weight, which is not
healthy.

Minerals Iron is needed to make haemoglobin, so the mother needs to eat plenty of foods containing iron.
Sometimes, it can help if the mother takes iron pills during pregnancy, if she cannot get enough in her diet.

Calcium is essential for helping the baby to grow strong bones, and to keep the mother’s bones and teeth in good
health.

Vitamins The mother also needs to make sure she gets plenty of vitamins in her diet.
D ……………....... grow strong bones, and to keep the mother’s bones and teeth in good health.
B………………….. Important for the nervous system
Caffeine:
The researchers noted that caffeine is believed to
cause blood vessels in the uterus and placenta to
constrict, which could reduce the blood supply
to the fetus and inhibit growth.

Consuming large amounts of caffeine during

pregnancy may increase the risk of
miscarriage or low birthweight