9 Essential Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy
Taking care of you and your baby while pregnant is vital in keeping you and the baby healthy. Prenatal care allows you to enjoy a healthy birth and ensure that your little one gets a head start on a healthy life. Good prenatal care includes eating healthy, keeping up with doctor appointments, and learning from a community of mums. Want to know more about keeping and maintaining a healthy pregnancy? Here are some of the tips that will help.
Exercise
If you are looking for a healthy way of carrying a pregnancy, then you should consider exercising. Staying active through your pregnancy is essential for your general health. It helps you control your weight, improve your circulation, boost your mood and even sleep better. Exercising doesn’t need to be complicated. You can begin with walking around your neighborhood for 15-20min daily. If you wish to engage in more complex exercises, make sure to consult your doctor first.
Check what you eat
Eating healthy is not an option when you are pregnant. Remember that you are eating for two; this means you must be cautious of what goes into your body. It is recommended that you try to eat five or six well-balanced meals in a day.
Healthy food choices to include in your journey:
- Eat calcium-rich food such as dairy, soy canned fish.
- Up your fiber intake.
- Go for Folate – rich food is good. This includes lentils, oranges, and asparagus. Folic acid is crucial for the development of the baby’s spinal cord.
- Stick to 300-500 calories per day.
- Limit your caffeine.
Conduct regular checkups to detect any issues during pregnancy
When you are pregnant, those doctor appointments should be your biggest concern. Carrying another human being for nine months is a journey that must be constantly monitored, the rest of things go wrong. Checkups are meant to help monitor the development and health of your baby to detect problems and treat them early. For example, by going for scans, your doctor can detect problems such as Spina Bifida, Sickle-cell disease, Fibular Hemimelia, Down syndrome, and others. The good news is that there is a treatment for most of these conditions if they are detected early.
Hydrate!
Did you know that during pregnancy, your blood volume increases up to 50% to handle the supply of oxygen and nutrients to your baby? This means you must stay hydrated so that this activity can be supported. Work with 8-10 glasses of water and supplement that with healthy smoothies or juices. Other than the mentioned benefit, drinking enough water helps to prevent, headaches, fatigue, swelling, UTI’s and other common pregnancy symptoms.
Go slow with the chores.
House chores are generally a good way of staying active when pregnant. They are a great way of exercising without having to take time out for it. However, not all household chores are safe for expecting mums. Try to avoid chores that involve lifting or moving heavy loads, remember hormone changes that happen when you are pregnant loosen the tough tissues in your joints and pelvic floor. Straining to lift something can cause problems in your back and pelvic. You can learn about the precautions you need to take when lifting or moving heavy objects when pregnant.
Take prenatal vitamins
One of the most important steps to implement for a healthy pregnancy is to add prenatal vitamins to your routine. Think of them as supplements as multivitamins that provide the additional nutrients to support and grow your developing fetus. The nutrients in these vitamins, including Folic acid, iodine, calcium, and omega, are essential for your baby’s growth and development. However, before you start taking any vitamins, ensure that you consult your doctor.
Avoid chemical cleaning products and pesticides.
Whether you are pregnant or not, it is always important to be cautious when handling chemical cleaning products. This precaution should be emphasized when pregnant. Take extra care when handling cleaning products. As you might know, mixing chemicals such as ammonia and bleach releases fumes that can be dangerous to anyone inhaling them. In your state, it is safe to opt for natural rather than chemical cleaning products.
Tip:
While cleaning, make sure to wear gloves and keep the room well ventilated.
Educate yourself
Educating yourself on matters of pregnancy is the best way to prepare for your unborn baby. While conversations with your doctor are great, they are not enough. Consider signing up for childbirth classes to help demystify the process. Childbirth classes give your partner and you the opportunity to:
- Learn things you never knew about labor, delivery, and postpartum care.
- Discuss the different options of handling pain, i.e., relaxation, visualization, and coping with contractions.
- Learn the basics of medical interventions and the possible complications.
- Get a primer on newborns, especially on topics such as diapering, breastfeeding, and bathing.
- Connect with your partner and labor coach.
Track your weight
Keeping track of your weight is a crucial exercise in your pregnancy journey. First, it is important to know that you will gain weight when you are pregnant. Notably, every woman gains weight differently; hence no official guidelines as to how much weight she should gain. Keeping your weight gain at a safe and healthy level is good for you and the baby. Try to get support from your midwife or doctor so that they can keep an eye on any potential weight-related problems. For instance, If they suspect that you are underweight or overweight, they can organize extra care during your pregnancy.
Keep an eye on the symptoms
Pregnancy symptoms can be quite confusing. Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between normal and abnormal symptoms. Knowing to determine or realize “off symptoms” is crucial for your safety and the baby. Some of the symptoms that you shouldn’t ignore include shortness of breath, dizziness or fainting, intense cramps, vaginal bleeding, heart palpitations, and decreased activity of the baby.
Wrapping up
The joy of every woman is to remain safe and deliver a healthy baby. Luckily, this can be achieved by taking good care of oneself during pregnancy. The tips discussed above should get you started. While at it, remember to enjoy your journey because it is a beautiful experience that gives you the honorable title” mum.”
