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Dr.Ambrose Igwe Daniel, Jaba, Kano (2026)

28/04/2026

BREAST CHANGES IN PREGNANCY.

As pregnancy advances, your breasts will go through several significant changes.

These changes are normal, and are driven by increasing levels of estrogen, progesterone, and prolactin in your blood.

The goal is to prepare and equip your body for lactation (breastfeeding).

Some Common Normal Breast Changes include-

🌀Enlargement-
You'll watch your breasts literally grow bigger in size. This increase is due to the formation of new milk ducts called alveoli, plus significant increase in blood flow to your breast.

🌀Tenderness-
The increase in size mentioned above may be associated with some tenderness (pain to touch). You may have some pain when you touch your breasts.

🌀 Stretch Marks-
The rapid growth and enlargement of your breast tissue may sometimes cause visible stretch marks.
These stretch marks are often associated with itching.

🌀Nipple and Areolar Changes-
Your ni***es may grow wider, larger, and darker. They'll also become more erect and sensitive to touch.

🌀 Visible Veins-
Some prominent bluish looking lines may appear on your breasts. They are the veins that drain blood from your breasts. They're enlarged because of increased blood flow to your breasts during pregnancy.

🌀 Colostrum-
As your breasts enlarge due to the new milk ducts formed, you may begin to express milk from your ni***es. This is the very first milk formed and its called colostrum. The most nutritious part of the milk.

More on Breast Changes Tomorrow.
Stay tuned...

❤️

27/04/2026

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR TASTE OR SMELL CHANGES IN PREGNANCY.

🧊 Eat Acidic foods.
Acidic foods can be identified by their sour taste. So eat more Sour foods.

Examples include-
Citrus fruits like orange, lime, lemon, grapefruit, etc.
Vinegar, or pickles. These can help reduce the metallic or bitter taste.

🧊 Intensify your Oral Hygiene.
Brush your mouth more frequently, especially your tongue. Use mouth wash often.

🧊 Avoid Metallic Utensils.
Metallic pots, bowls, plates, cups may worsen your Metallic taste. Try changing to plastic, or glass.

🧊 Gargling with salt and baking soda mixed in water may help.

🧊 Drink water often.
Adequate hydration may help to reduce these taste and smell abnormalities.

📍It is important to note that these changes to your taste and smell are generally harmless. The symptoms often go away completely after delivery.

Just make necessary adjustments and you'll be fine.

More on Common Symptoms in Pregnancy.
Stay tuned...

❤️

24/04/2026

HOW PREGNANCY AFFECTS YOUR SENSE OF SMELL /TASTE.

Pregnancy often causes significant changes to your sense of smell and taste, especially during the first trimester.

These changes are temporary and are often the drivers of the food cravings, food aversions, nausea, and Vomiting that are common during this period of pregnancy.

The cause is related to fluctuations in your hormones during early pregnancy.
High blood estrogen level has been identified as a major factor.

SMELL

Heightened sensitivity to odors is often the trigger for nausea and Vomiting, and increased aversion to food.

Many women develop aversion to familiar smells, e.g perfumes, soaps, creams and other body care products, the aroma of certain foods, etc.

For these women, these odors become unpleasant during pregnancy.

TASTE.

🔹️ The commonest change in taste reported by many women in pregnancy is a METALLIC TASTE. The taste is said to feel like chewing on coins.

🔹️ Salty, bitter, or blande tastes have also been reported by pregnant women.

🔹️ While some pregnant women experience increased sensitivity to taste, there are those who have Reduced Sensitivity to taste.

Their taste buds may develop a higher threshold for detecting salt and sweet. This can elicit stronger cravings for sweet or salty foods.

For these women, the sugar or salt is never enough.

Next we shall discuss How to Manage these changes to your Taste and Smell during Pregnancy.
Stay tuned...

❤️

22/04/2026

HOW TO MANAGE FOOD AVERSIONS IN PREGNANCY.

🔹️ It's ok to avoid foods that trigger you, however, you must find alternatives.
Don't just avoid the foods that trigger you, find other nutritious alternatives.

Try substitutes- get the nutrition from other types of foods.

For instance, if yogurt is an issue, try milk.
If the aversion is to milk, try calcium-fortified juice, or yogurt.

🔹️ Ensure adequate ventilation- this will help reduce any strong aroma that might be a trigger.

🔹️ Eat a bland diet- foods with mild non provoking smell and taste.
Avoid foods with strong aroma or spices.

🔹️ Let others cook.
This helps minimize your exposure to smells from ingredients that may trigger Aversion to the food.

🔹️ Eat cold foods.
Cold foods (e.g chilled proteins like yogurt, smoothies) are less aromatic (they have less odor), and hence less of a trigger.

Hot foods have stronger smell.

🔹️Eat small amounts of food frequently.
Eating too much at one time may trigger constipation and nausea.

🔹️ Stay hydrated all day.
Take sips of fluids intermittently throughout the day, and especially during meals.

More on Your Health in PREGNANCY.
Stay tuned...

❤️

21/04/2026

🔸️FOOD STORAGE.

▪️The most important things to consider about food storage is temperatures and time.

You must find out the right temperature at which each food stays preserved, and for how long.

▪️Cover your foods appropriately to avoid contact with pests.

▪️In the refrigerator, always Keep your raw meats at levels below cooked food to avoid contamination of the already prepared food.

Liquid from the raw meat can drop into the cooked food, and that'll amount to contamination.

▪️Cooked food should not be left at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Refrigerate immediately.

Disease causing organisms multiply very fast at room temperature.

▪️Make only small amounts of food each time to reduce left overs.

▪️Refrigerate at temperatures below 5⁰C.
At temperatures below 5⁰C and above 60⁰C, bacterial growth will stop.

So, any temperature between 5⁰C and 60⁰C is very good for bacterial growth. And they will grow very fast.

▪️Don't store leftover food for more than 3days in the Refrigerator, and do not reheat food more than once.

▪️Even in the freezer or Refrigerator, some microorganisms can grow, so don't store food therein for too long.

The Refrigerators or freezers do not kill bacteria, they only stop them from growing and multiplying.

▪️Use insecticides or rodenticides against pests, to keep them from your stored foods.

▪️Keep your Pets (Cats, Dogs, Birds, etc.) away from your kitchen or other food preparation/storage areas.

These Pets are often carriers of diverse microorganisms and pests (like fleas, lice, ticks, etc,) in their furs, feet and feathers. These can contaminate food.

More on Your Health
Stay tuned...

21/04/2026

COMMON FOOD AVERSIONS IN PREGNANCY.

Many women experience food aversions in pregnancy. It is often associated with nausea and Vomiting.

Food aversion simply refers to that sudden strong dislike for certain foods in pregnancy. Sometimes they're even foods you previously enjoyed.

Food aversions are very common during the first trimester of pregnancy.

COMMONLY AVOIDED FOODS
include-

● Fish- likely due to it's strong smell.

● Eggs- The smell and texture can trigger nausea.

● Foods with strong smell- Onions 🌰, Garlic, pungent spices like black pepper, ginger, cloves, cumin, chilli 🌶 peppers, aligator pepper, mustard seeds, etc.

● Meat or Poultry- usually due to increased sensitivity to smell or taste.

● Dairy products- Like Milk, Yogurt, sometimes cheese.

● Fried or Fatty foods- Excessively greasy foods may cause indigestion and trigger nausea/aversion.

● Coffee or Tea- Repulsion here may be due to increased sensitivity to smell.

Tomorrow we shall discuss how to manage Food Aversions in Pregnancy.
Stay tuned...

❤️

20/04/2026

🔸️COOKING

The heating of food is very important and probably the most important food Hygiene technique.

▪️It kills most of the disease causing organisms before the food is ready to eat.

The risk of food poisoning is very high with eating raw food.

▪️For foods that should be eaten raw, always wash thoroughly with salt and warm water.

▪️Keep raw foods like meats away from other foods e.g vegetables, during preparation.

Remember, meats may contain parasites that require longer cooking time to destroy, which time vegetables cannot be subjected to.

▪️Cook raw foods thoroughly, especially meats, eggs, poultry, and seafoods.
Adequate cooking ensures that most of the disease causing agents are deactivated.

▪️Reheat leftover foods thoroughly before you eat.

▪️Do not use plastic containers to heat food in your microwave. Plastic containers release toxic (probably also carcinogenic-cancer causing) chemicals into your food when hot.

▪️When heating with your microwave, ensure that all parts of the food are adequately heated. Bacteria can grow quickly in areas not properly heated.

▪️When cooking, ensure the temperature is at least 70⁰C. At this temperature most of the harmful organisms are dead or inactive.

More on Your Health.
Stay tuned...

20/04/2026

FOOD AVERSION IN PREGNANCY.

Food Aversion in Pregnancy refers to a strong dislike for specific foods during pregnancy.

Sometimes, they include foods that you considered favorites before the pregnancy.

55-70% of pregnant women experience food Aversion in Pregnancy.

Food Aversions are stronger during the first trimester, usually starting around weeks 5-6. In some women, it persists through the pregnancy.

CAUSES.

🌀 The cause is connected to the heightened taste and smell sensitivity, occasioned by hormonal changes during pregnancy.

The same rapid surges of pregnancy hormones (human Chorionic gonadotropin-hCG), which cause morning sickness are responsible for food Aversion.

🌀 Food aversions are often associated with symptoms like nausea and Vomiting. This often drives or at least worsens the repulsion to food.

🌀 Some research suggests that Food Aversions in pregnancy may be some kind of "maternal-embryo protection" mechanism. Your body's way of making you avoid foods that are potentially harmful to the baby.

NUTRITIONAL IMPACT.
Depending on the type of food, Food aversion can have negative impacts on the pregnancy.

● Food Aversion can reduce dietary diversity, which may lead to undernutrition, and in some cases significant malnutrition.

● Malnutrition and dehydration may result if associated with severe vomiting.

● Some common food Aversions include-
Meat, eggs, milk, onions, garlic, spicy foods, fatty foods, coffee, tea.

More on Food Aversions in Pregnancy tomorrow.
Stay tuned...

❤️

16/04/2026

HOW TO MANAGE NIGHT TERRORS.

We defined sleep terrors as sudden episodes of panic and intense fear occuring during partial sleep. See previous post for details.

Night terrors are generally harmless and resolve on their own with age. Most affected individuals therefore do not really need any specific medical treatment.
They just need a little support, some reassurance, and education.

However, a few measures may be of help, especially in more severe cases.
Some of these measures include:

🔸️Adequate treatment of any other associated medical conditions like fevers, sleep apnea, anxiety disoders, depression, etc.

🔸️Manage your stress effectively.
🔸️Develop a regular sleep habit and be religious about it. Avoid sleep deprivation by all means.

🔸️It may be also helpful to have scheduled awakenings. That is, specific times for waking up.
🔸️Ensure your environment is safe and devoid of anything that can harm you during a sleep terror episode.

🔸️Stop alcohol.
🔸️Keep scheduled visits to your doctor to ensure regular assessments and to observe for the emergence of any other disoders or developmental problems in children.

🔸️When someone is having a Night terror, let the episode run its course. Don't try to stop them, or awaken them. Just ensure their environment is safe and devoid of anything that can harm them.

🔸️Medications are rarely indicated for sleep terrors.
However, if your night terrors are so bad you are afraid to sleep, or at risk of injuries due to severe episodes, or your symptoms persist beyond adolescence or begin in adulthood, visit your doctor.

More on Your Health.
Stay tuned...

16/04/2026

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR FOOD CRAVINGS IN PREGNANCY.

🔻 Staying hungry for too long is the most common trigger for food cravings.
So, eat small portions of food many times in the day (like 4-6 times), rather than 1 or 2 large meals.

🔻 Small frequent meals also help you to prevent drops in your energy and nutrient levels. This helps to avoid Cravings.
Cravings occur when your body feels deprived or starved of something.

🔻 Prioritize foods that are heavy on nutrients, rather than empty calories. So, pack your meals with lots of vegetables, fruits, proteins, and whole grains.

🔻 Drink adequate amounts of water throughout the day, rather than a large quantity at one time or a few times. This keeps you hydrated all day, and helps reduce cravings.

🔻 When your cravings hit, don't ignore them. Don't deprive yourself. Just make healthy snack choices.

Completely cutting out the foods you love can make your cravings worse.

If the foods you crave are unhealthy, replace them with healthier ones.

● Replace sweets, candies, and pastries with fruits, yogurts, nuts, dried fruits, etc and keep these healthy options handy.

● Replace salty/crunchy chips with air-popped corn, nuts, whole grain crackers, cheese.

● Replace cold/creamy ice-cream with frozen yogurt, smoothies, homemade Popsicles.

● Replace soda with home made fruit juices, smoothies.

🔻 Prepare your meals ahead to avoid falling back to the often easy to reach unhealthy snacks.

🔻 If your Cravings are excessive and are causing unhealthy weight gain, see your doctor for counsel.

🔻 If you find yourself craving non-food items (it's called Pica), see your doctor immediately. That may indicate serious nutrient deficiencies.

More on Common Symptoms in Pregnancy.
Stay tuned...

❤️

15/04/2026

YOUR FOOD CRAVINGS DURING PREGNANCY MAY POINT TO NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES.

Food Cravings are a common experience for many women in pregnancy.

These food cravings are driven majorly by 3 factors-
1. The surge of pregnancy hormones,
2. Your body's demand for more nutrients,
3. Specific nutrient deficiencies.

This Post focuses on food cravings that point to nutrient deficiencies.

Food Cravings in Pregnancy may sometimes indicate specific nutrient deficiencies like protein, carbs, magnesium, iron, zinc, calcium, sodium, chromium, and protein deficiencies.

🔻 Below are common food cravings and the potential nutrient deficiencies they reveal:

🍬 Cravings for sweets may be a signal that your body needs QUICK ENERGY. It may also indicate FATIGUE.

🍫 Cravings for chocolates may indicate MAGNESIUM deficiency.

🍖 If you're craving Red meat or steak, that may be IRON or PROTEIN deficiency.

🥛 Cravings for milk may indicate CALCIUM deficiency. It could also be an indication your body needs more FAT or PROTEINS.

🍊 Your Cravings for citrus fruits or fruits generally may signal low blood levels of VITAMIN C, IRON.
It sometimes also indicates dehydration. Means your body needs fluid.

🧊 Cravings for ice or any non-food item is often strongly associated with IRON deficiency, or ANEMIA (shortage of blood).
It's called Pica.

Pica often occurs in severe iron deficiency anemia. You must see a doctor immediately.

🧂 Cravings for salty snacks or foods may indicate SODIUM deficiency. That may also mean your body has too much fluid.

Well talk about How to deal with Food Cravings in Pregnancy tomorrow.
Stay tuned...

❤️

14/04/2026

FOOD CRAVINGS IN PREGNANCY.

Food Cravings simply means you have a strong appetite or an almost irresistible longing for a particular type of food.

Over 90% of women experience food cravings during pregnancy.

For some women it comes as a increased appetite for food generally. In other cases, the women have cravings for specific food types- like sweets, sour or savory foods, dairy or dairy products, fruits, etc.

Food Cravings in Pregnancy usually begin in the first trimester, and reaches its highest point during the second trimester.

It starts specifically around the 5th week of pregnancy, and continues until most of the second trimester.

CAUSES.
● The major cause of food cravings in pregnancy is the increase in hormone levels in your blood.

Hormonal changes during pregnancy altar your sensitivity to taste and smell.

● Food Cravings in pregnancy are also manytimes your body's way of telling you it needs more calories.
During pregnancy, your energy needs are higher, because of the rapidly growing baby and many other processes going on at the same time in your body.

So, your body will increase the hunger hormone to signal need for more calories.

● Food Cravings in Pregnancy may sometimes indicate specific nutrient deficiencies like protein, carbs, magnesium, iron, zinc, calcium, sodium, chromium, proteins, etc.

COMMON FOODS CRAVED.
~Sweets- Chocolates, candy, ice-cream, sweet fruits.
~Savory or salty, pizza, pickles, fast foods.
~Dairy- cheese, yogurt, milk.
~Carbs- bread, pasta, cereals.
~Cold foods- ice pops, ice cubes, slushies.

More on Food Cravings in Pregnancy tomorrow.
Stay tuned...

❤️

Dr.Ambrose Igwe Daniel

28/04/2026

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