By: Saurabh K Jain
Pregnancy consists of two very common and strongly felt effects for expectant mothers – the joy of giving birth on the one hand and the fear of pregnancy complications on the other. Most women fear if their pregnancies end up with negative outcomes like premature birth of babies etc. As per the recommendations of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vitamin C plays a role in reducing the intensity of various types of complications that may arouse during pregnancy. A small quantity of vitamin C contributes a great deal in alleviating complications that may affect both baby and mother in the second trimester of pregnancy.
What Is Premature Birth?
Premature birth is commonly known as delivering of the baby prior to the due date. Normal pregnancy is said to end at about forty weeks. In clinical language, a premature birth marks the delivery of the baby before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Premature delivery takes place when the membranes or the wall of the sac that supports growth of the baby and contains amniotic fluid appears to break or ‘rupture’. Across the world, about 10 to 20 percent of the pregnancy cases may end up in this Premature Rupture Of Membrane or PROM.
Premature birth implies delivery of baby before complete pregnancy development in the womb. Therefore, babies delivered prematurely show several complications in them. First of all, due to premature delivery the baby feature improperly developed legs, lungs and other limbs. This is why those underdeveloped organs may not function as they do and cause various health complications such as infections. The main reasons to contribute to the increase in the risk of PROM are smoking habit, lack of proper nutrition, infections in vaginal areas during the months of pregnancy.
How Far Is Vitamin C Beneficial In Minimizing Pregnancy Complications?
Inadequate amount of Vitamin C in the pregnant woman’s body is supposed to be the main cause of pregnancy complications. The cells in the bodies of expectant mother are not supposed to be deficient of vitamin c as it is an important ingredient to produce and repair connective tissues in the body. Moreover, vitamin c plays a vital role in restoring the membranes or the walls of the sac to prevent PROM. This is the reason why medical experts advise adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables enriched with vitamin C. Vitamin C is also a good source of antioxidants to fight against free radicals and environmental damages.
Several studies have been conducted to establish the significant contribution of vitamin c to reduce the likelihood of pregnancy complications. Studies prove that women who consumed vitamin c in sufficient amounts have been found to have a lower risk of premature birth than those with lower vitamin C intake. This conclusion related to vitamin C were made after studies were undertaken that observed notable changes in 120 women with random intake of 100 mg of vitamin c supplements or use of placebo. All these 120 women were healthy and were pregnant for 20 weeks. The evaluations were taken every four weeks starting from their twenty week of pregnancy. Women with this vitamin c intake lessened their incidence of pregnancy complications by 74 percent in comparison to those who did not consume vitamin C.
