Prenatal Care Planning a Pregnancy

Planning a pregnancy soon?  There are several steps you can take before trying to get pregnant to get you and your baby off to a healthy start:

    * Begin taking a prenatal vitamin with at least 400 mcg of folic acid daily several months before you plan to get pregnant.  Folic acid lowers the risk of some birth defects of the brain and spine.  There is some evidence that taking higher doses of folic acid (800 mcg) may be beneficial, but this is not totally clear.

Care for Mothers

Breastfeeding is a wonderful feeling that a woman can experience. It is beneficial for both the baby and the mother in several ways. But breast care is equally important. This will not only give a hygienic supply of milk to the baby but also help mother to maintain the shape and the firmness of her breasts.

This assumes that it is solely a lactating mother's outlook to sustain a good and healthy diet for her breastfeeding child. A mother who gives birth to a large baby that grows fast may experience difficulties in producing and sustaining enough quantities of milk. This is because the fat reserves she had during the pregnancy period can be lost soon after childbirth and eating well enough might become a problem for her.

Culture and Mother Care

Charlotte Mason advises the homeschool Mom to make Mother Culture a priority.  Mother Culture is living a life of learning, of filling your mind with new thoughts and new experiences:   reading quality literature and non-fiction, exploring poetry, enjoying music, and studying God’s Creation.  Taking time to fill our minds with beautiful things, and enjoying the beauty of God’s world, helps keep our minds active, alert, and creative.  It inspires and encourages us, which better enables us to serve our children and teach them.  Just half an hour each day, or even 15 minutes, helps to brighten our minds and our spirits.


"Mothers should cultivate their souls, so that in turn they may cultivate the souls of their children."  Rev. Billy Graham.

Living with Your Parents (Mother)

Moving back home is an economic necessity for many single mothers. However, one of the major issues cited by women who have moved back with their parents is that of being treated like a child again by one or both of them.

Some mothers were raised to believe that a woman’s success was measured by how long she could hold a family together and not so much by how she felt about herself or her ability to create her own life. So these moms often feel responsible for what they see as their daughter’s failed
 relationship or marriage. If you try and see things more from your mother’s perspective and understand where it comes from, you will cope more effectively with your current living arrangements.