Pregnancy: A Teachable Moment...
When I started work as a Dietitian, I quickly found the niche that I wanted to work in: pregnancy. One of the main reasons I found nutrition in pregnancy so interesting was due to a paper I read early on in my career by renowned researcher, Dr Susan Phelan: 'Pregnancy: a 'teachable moment' for weight control and obesity management'.
A 'teachable moment' describes a naturally occurring life event thought to motivate individuals to adopt risk-reducing behaviours.
Essentially, Dr Phelan's paper provides an argument for why pregnancy is such an important time to develop healthy habits. She notes pregnancy is an important time for education as:
- Pregnancy is associated with an immediate and personal experience with risk related to mother's and baby's health and enhances the perceived value of healthy eating and exercise
- Emotional responses surrounding pregnancy may make it an opportune time to initiate change.
- Pregnancy may prompt feelings of elation and fear about the well being of the foetus, which may motivate women to change their eating and exercise habits.
From a clinical perspective, I encourage women to try and create and maintain healthy habits in pregnancy as, with around 9 months of practice, habits are likely to be sustained. Further, the habits of mothers' are often passed to other members of the family also.
Start small, make sure goals are realistic and sustainable, write your goals down and keep going!