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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 14, Issue 5 (August 1, 1939)

Suggestions for the Mother-to-be

Suggestions for the Mother-to-be.

(1) See your doctor early. He will examine you thoroughly, and arrange for you to visit him periodically to check up on your health.

(2) Drink the juice of two oranges daily on rising. This early morning drink, incidentally, is of benefit to those who, through pressure caused by earlier wearing of stiff corsets, are subject to morning sickness.

(3) Simplify the diet, avoiding pastries and heavily-seasoned dishes. Eat plenty of uncooked fruit and green vegetables. Take at least a pint of milk daily, as a drink or in puddings. (The calcium content is essential for your own and baby's teeth). Cut down on meat, substituting fish (invaluable for iodine) twice a week, and a poached egg on another day.

Note the advice of J. B. S. Haldane, the biologist: “If you are an adult, and eat an orange every other day and liver once a week, you will probably get enough vitamins for most purposes, including some which you cannot yet buy from the chemist.”

Avoid late supper, particularly during the later months. Warm milk is a sleep-inducing bedtime drink.

If your diet is well-balanced you will find you are eating less than usual, rather than more. This is a good thing, showing that your system is receiving all that it needs. Also, your medical adviser will tell you that it is not in your interests to bear an over-weight child.

(4) Wear light, non-constricting clothes, hung from the shoulders. With a normally healthy woman there is no need of support. Your doctor will advise you if weak muscles or internal displacement require a belt.

If you wish to wear a skirt, have it hung from a bodice, and have the garment, bodice and all, made with a wide, adjustable wrap-over. As regards dress styles, the wrap-over at front or back is superior to adjustable pleats, which never sit so well when they have been adjusted.

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Shoes, of course, will be of the sensible variety, roomy and flat-heeled.

(5) Varicose veins are to be guarded against. If legs ache, stop what you are doing, and rest with the legs raised. You will save yourself a lot of future tiredness if you take care of your legs now. Some women sleep with the legs raised on a pillow, or with the ends of the bed raised on five-inch or six-inch wooden blocks.

No matter how well you are, a rest with the legs up is advisable after lunch. “Early to bed” is one of the best health rules.

(6) Strenuous exercise is not advisable. Golf and tennis, non-competitive, are possible for some during the first few months. Swimming is a fine exercise which may be continued until quite late. Walking, however, pursued conscientiously (up to three miles daily) is the only essential exercise. “Drill exercises” of certain kinds are advised for those who feel they are not getting sufficient activity otherwise.

Ordinary household duties can be carried on as usual, except that heavy lifting should be entirely avoided.

(7) It is important to supplement the natural elasticity of the skin by rubbing the front of the body with olive oil daily from the fifth month.