Magnesium for a Healthy Pregnancy

Bring the magic of magnesium to make the most wonderful time of your life more enjoyable.

Pregnancy is a time for introspection and preparation. While there is a wonder at the life growing within you, it is also a time when you are likely to get anxious and worry yourself about the health of your baby, about your diet and also about the entire process of labour…

Pregnant is also a time for changes. Your body is changing, your lifestyle is about to change when the baby is born. All this can lead to a lot of stress.

Pregnancy can also be a time of great discomfort for many women—morning sickness, nausea, cramps and mood swings are common.

Adding Magnesium to your diet

One good way of keeping these issues in check is to maintain good nutrition and ensure that you intake adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals like calcium and magnesium throughout your pregnancy. Your doctor will probably put you on a prenatal multi-vitamin and calcium supplements as soon as the pregnancy is confirmed. Also of great importance during your pregnancy is magnesium. Enough magnesium in your diet during your pregnancy will make you feel healthier and help you cope better with discomforts related to increased hormonal activity.

According to British RDA, pregnant women need between 300 and 360 mg of magnesium in their diet as compared to the 310 to 320 mg recommended for non-pregnant or nursing women.

Magnesium is critical in many essential bodily functions. It helps build strong bones and teeth, regulates insulin and blood-sugar levels, and enables certain enzymes to function properly. Physical and emotional stress during pregnancy increases magnesium requirements, and pregnant women who do not intake sufficient amount of magnesium are at a risk of becoming magnesium deficient. Deficiency of magnesium during pregnancy can lead to many serious consequences for you and your baby. And a severe deficiency of magnesium during pregnancy may lead to preeclampsia, birth defects, infant mortality and pre-mature labour. ( Read more about prevention and management of preeclampsia with magnesium here)

Twelve direct benefits of Magnesium for you and your yet-to-be-born baby

1. Build/Repair body tissue: Magnesium does wonders for the bone density of your baby and helps build better teeth.
2. Good Cardiovascular Health: Magnesium controls cholesterol and irregular heartbeats.
3. Calcium Synthesis: Magnesium and calcium work very well together when presenting a good balance (1:2). Magnesium relaxes the muscles, while calcium stimulates muscles to contract. Adequate levels of magnesium during pregnancy help keep the uterus from contracting until week 35.
4. Decreases risk of Osteoporosis: Adequate amounts of calcium and magnesium during pregnancy can actually decrease your risk of osteoporosis later in life.
5. Stress-relief: Magnesium is invaluable if you are suffering from stress. It also helps in case of insomnia. For a good sleep, take it as a separate supplement (apart from what is contained in your multivitamin and mineral tablet) about an hour before going to bed.
6. Reduces cramping: Magnesium can help reduce the cramping that is so common in pregnancy.
7. Decreases the intensity of Braxton Hicks contractions.
8. Helps prevent constipation by relaxing your colon muscles. After your body has enought magnesium to function properly, it puts the excess into your colon and hydrates your colon.
9.  Prepares your body for delivery: Magnesium optimizes blood pressure levels during pregnancy and increases your pain tolerance threshold, making for a more comfortable delivery.
10.  Fewer Leg Cramps: A Swedish study that concluded in 1996 found that oral magnesium supplementation is a valuable in the treatment of pregnancy-related leg cramps. Conducted on 73 women with pregnancy-related leg cramps, the study found that serum magnesium levels in patients who suffered severe leg cramps were at or below the lower reference limit, [1].
11. Reduced Risk of Cerebral Palsy: According to 2009 Cochrane Review by leading researchers from Australia, giving pregnant mothers magnesium sulphate when they are at risk of preterm birth can help protect their babies from cerebral palsy [2]
12.  Protection from Perinatal Hypoxia: In an August 2007 study published in British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, researchers examined the effect of magnesium supplements on the development of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) or Perinatal hypoxia in babies. HIE leads to reduction of oxygen supply to tissues and the brain due to inadequate blood flow and has symptoms like decelerated foetal heart rate, low Apgar Scores, meconium aspiration pneumonia and stillbirths. Perinatal hypoxia during birth was less in the women who took the magnesium supplements when pregnant. [3]

Adding Magnesium to your Pre-natal Diet

If you are pregnant, or are planning to have a child soon, take plenty of magnesium in your diet. Add plenty of magnesium-rich foods to your diet. Specific antenatal vitamin tablets include magnesium, but probably in very low doses, so it makes sense to take a stand-alone supplement like Magnesium Supreme. Another effective alternative is Magnesium Rub or Magnesium Gel. Magnesium Rub is a sea water concentrate, with the sodium removed, and when applied directly to your skin, it absorbs much the same way magnesium sulphate or Epsom salt does (transdermal). Take a little of the Magnesium Rub or Magnesium Gel in your hand and rub directly to the skin for maximum benefit.

Disclaimer
The information in this article is meant for information purposes only and is not prescriptive. We recommended that you consult with your doctor before you introduce magnesium in your diet, especially if you have a severe kidney or heart disease or are taking hypoglycaemic drugs.

If you do take a magnesium supplement then be aware that it can inhibit the absorption of iron, so shouldn't be taken within two hours of an iron supplement.

References

1. [1] The effect of oral magnesium substitution on pregnancy-induced leg cramps.: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7631676
2. [2] Dahle LO, Berg G, Hammar M, Hurtig M, Larsson L., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University Hospital, Sweden.
3. [3] Doyle et al. Magnesium sulphate for women at risk of preterm birth for neuroprotection of the fetus. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Reviews, 2009, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD004661 DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004661.pub3