Here’s to moms and healthy pregnancies

There are around 3.7 million births in the U.S. every year. Unfortunately, many women face mental health challenges in the weeks surrounding delivery, making emotional distress the top cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the United States. It may be the case that many women have mental health challenges even before they become pregnant, or that there is a lack of planning or challenging family dynamics before pregnancy, but whatever the causes, it is not a minor problem.

A recent review in JAMA Psychiatry evaluated 26 studies and concluded that pregnancy-related distress is fueling addiction and suicide among women — accounting for 25 percent of maternal deaths.

Clearly, it is important for health care providers — and family and friends — to look for distress and for the government to offer effective programs to help women before, during and after pregnancy. About 13 percent of women have episodes of depression during the first three months after birth, but only 12 percent of women are screened for postpartum depression.

What can you (or your loved ones) do to help ease an emotionally challenging pregnancy and birth?

■ Advocate for family planning and counseling, if needed, prior to pregnancy.

■ Get regular prenatal checkups. Don’t hesitate to tell your doctor about any distress you are feeling.

■ If you experience postpartum depression, ask for help. (This is a physical problem, not some character flaw in you.)

You don’t have to chicken out

If you are not a vegetarian but are committed to a plant-based diet that includes healthy animal proteins, you know that salmon, sea trout, herring and anchovies are good options. They’re loaded with hearthealthy omega-3s, protein (3.5 ounces of salmon has 20 grams) and vitamins A, D and B12, plus calcium.

But what about poultry? Chicken skin is packed with inflammatory, heart-damaging saturated fats (40 grams in 3.5 ounces). But skinless chicken and turkey, for example, have far less saturated fat than when they’re cooked with the skin on — and a lot less than beef (12 grams fat in 3 ounces of sirloin versus 3 grams in skinless chicken breast and 1.4 grams in skinless turkey breast). Plus, skinless chicken and turkey provide selenium, phosphorus, iron and vitamins B12, B6, niacin, thiamine and riboflavin. Other good poultry choices are skinless quail and pheasant.