Teratogen

Nutrition is important for an individual’s health and body. Although, nutrition is especially important for woman when they are pregnant. When a woman is pregnant, she is now not only just caring for her health, but also her fetus’s health. According to Santrock (2016), “A developing embryo or fetus depends completely on its mother for nutrition, which comes from the blood" (p.57). When a woman is negligent of her health it can be harmful to the fetus. Nutrients and other small molecules from the mother’s blood will go back and forth between the mother and fetus (p. 50). However, if any, harmful substances go throughout the mother’s body, like drugs or any type of chemical substances, it can be carried over to the fetus as well. These drugs and any other type of chemical substance are consider to be a teratogen, and teratogens can negatively affect the unborn child’s health.
54). That being said, there are many benefits of nutrition for a pregnant woman and the unborn child. When pregnant, there is a lot of things that you do to keep up with your nutrition; like taking vitamins, drinking lots of water, exercising, adapting a healthier diet, ending bad habits, etc. The reason why pregnant women need to change their diet and count calories while also taking vitamins is because if malnourished the unborn baby a higher chance of being malformed. Also, there are many issues that are at risk for the unborn baby and the mother if the mother is obese, this includes: preterm birth, stillbirth, and risk of being placed in neonatal intensive care unit; And for the mother, there are higher risk for her having diabetes, infections, high blood pressure, and breathing issues (p.57) Therefore, there are many benefits for a pregnant woman and her unborn child; mainly to keep both of them safe and