Healthy Practices Benefit Pregnant Women

WiRED Offers Modules on Living a Healthy Lifestyle during Pregnancy

BY ALLISON KOZICHAROW; EDITED BY BERNICE BORN

“Information is no longer a luxury for the rich. I don’t have to Google or blame everything on my superstition. All I have to do is access WiRED programs. I am in a better position to take care of my family and my unborn child.”
— Brenda Akoth, Kenya

 

An expectant mother’s health determines the health of her baby. In low-resource areas of the world, women receive too little information and scant professional attention about healthy practices during their pregnancies.

 

WiRED’s general audience module describes the elements of a healthy pregnancy, beginning with cutting out alcohol and tobacco and eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.

WiRED International’s Health Learning Center now houses two modules on living a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy, one for general audiences and one for community health workers (CHWs). These modules are part of WiRED’s Mother and Child Health Series of 24 modules to train CHWs, women and their families on how to prepare for a healthy pregnancy, delivery and the early years of their child.

 

WiRED’s general audience module describes the elements of a healthy pregnancy, beginning with cutting out alcohol and tobacco and eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. It is also important that a pregnant woman drink plenty of clean water, take vitamin and mineral supplements, exercise safely and avoid unhealthy weight gain. WiRED’s CHW module contains similar information about healthy practices, but specifically guides workers as they provide crucial prenatal care to expectant mothers.

 

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is vital to us all. For many of us, that may only mean resisting holiday temptations of too much food and drink this season. But for people living in underserved communities around the world, staying healthy is a daily challenge. WiRED will continue to offer health information and training free of charge wherever needed, in our belief that community health begins with knowledge.

 

 


WiRED’s Mother and Child Health Series

 

WiRED’s Mother and Child Health Series provides a 24-part comprehensive training program to assist families, caregivers, community health workers and others with subjects related to the following four topics: Before Pregnancy, Pregnant Now, Labor and Delivery, and Parenting. The Mother and Child Health series will be used by schools, clinics and hospitals and nongovernmental organizations that help families prepare for a healthy pregnancy, delivery and the years of childhood up to age five.

 

WiRED embraces WHO’s maternal, newborn and child health principle, “Continuum of Care,” in which skilled care during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period prevents complications and allows for their early detection and appropriate management.