Your Nutrient of This Week¹

Iron
Get your iron on! Iron is especially important during these weeks of pregnancy to produce the red blood cells your body needs. Without enough iron, you may become anemic. This can make you tired and more susceptible to illnesses.

Your Wellness Tips This Week²

Avoid the nosebleed
Do you want to relieve your congestion, stuffiness, or even the nosebleeds? By your 16th week of pregnancy, you might have found that a runny nose is a usual part of being pregnant. If you’re lucky, you may not have had any stuffiness at all. Either is normal, but if hormones and your body’s extra blood volume wreak havoc with your nose, take a look at these suggestions:

• Try saline drops (with your doctor’s approval).
• Drink enough liquids to keep nasal passages moist.
• Try a humidifier, particularly when you sleep.
• Dab petroleum jelly around the edges of your nostrils to further moisten and protect the skin.

Your Fitness Tip
Replace any fluids you lose when you sweat during exercise. For every half hour of exercise or vigorous activity, be sure to add an extra glass of water or liquid to your daily total.

Your Baby's Development at Week 16^3-5

Let us take a closer look at your baby’s growth at 16 weeks pregnant:

• Right now, your baby is about 11.5 to 14 cm long, or about the length of a large orange.
• Little hiccups continue and you might feel them!
• When you are around 16 to 17 weeks pregnant, a necessary fat called brown fat develops under your baby’s skin. This will help keep her warm after birth. Later in your pregnancy, additional layers of fat develop.
• Air passages in your baby’s lungs finish branching and the digestive system has begun to work.
• By your 17th week of pregnancy, your baby’s lungs prepare to take in oxygen.

Your Changing Body at Week 16

By your 16th week of pregnancy, hopefully, you are finding the recent changes in your body much easier than the first few months of pregnancy.

• Forgetting something? It is normal during pregnancy to become forgetful, even if it’s not usual for you. It will pass.⁶
• By your 16th week of pregnancy, your body’s bones, joints, and muscles have probably adapted to the extra stress of carrying a baby.
• As you begin to “show,” your navel may protrude.
• At 16 weeks pregnant, pressure from your uterus on the veins that return blood from your legs may lead to leg cramps, especially at night.⁷

References:

¹ MedicalNewsToday. Which foods to eat and avoid during pregnancy. Available [Online] at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/246404. Accessed on 24 August 2023.
² Mayo Clinic. Pregnancy Week by week. Available [Online] at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/pregnancy/art-20047732. Accessed on 24 August 2023.
³ John Hopkins medicine. The second trimester. Available [Online] at: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-second-trimester. Accessed on 24 August 2023.
⁴ Rehman S et al. Embryology, Pulmonary. StatPearls Publishing. 2023. Available [Online] at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK544372/. Accessed on 24 August 2023.
⁵ Mayo Clinic. Pregnancy week by week. Available [Online] at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/fetal-development/art-20046151?p=1 Accessed on 21 Aug 23
⁶ Mann D. Pregnancy Brain: A myth or reality? WebMD. Available [Online] at: https://www.webmd.com/baby/features/memory_lapse_it_may_be_pregnancy_brain. Accessed on 24 August 2023.
⁷ Mayo Clinic. Pregnancy week by week. Available [Online] at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/expert-answers/leg-cramps-during-pregnancy/faq-20057766. Accessed on 24 August 2023.
* Comparison among all maternal milk in Singapore as of January 2022, as declared on the label.

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