Getting pregnant is enough motivation to adopt a healthy lifestyle—staying hydrated, getting plenty of sleep, eating right, taking supplements, getting regular checkups, and so on. After all, as a parent, you want your unborn child to be healthy and unaffected from your unhealthy habits and lifestyle. If you’re pregnant or trying to get pregnant, here are a few tips to help ensure a safe and healthy full-term pregnancy.
1. Get Necessary Prenatal Care
The first course of action you can take for a healthy pregnancy is to create a prenatal care plan and stick to it. This includes seeing your doctor regularly, getting all the recommended tests done, taking all prescribed prenatal vitamins, and communicating any questions and concerns you may have regarding different stages of fetal development.
Pregnancy is an exciting time in the birthing parents’ life. However, if you lose a fetus within the first few weeks of pregnancy due to miscarriage or they die before or during delivery, the pregnancy loss is heartbreaking and soul-crushing in equal measures. Most miscarriages and stillbirths (medically known as intrauterine fetal demise or IUFD) occur without any apparent reason. But certain factors like obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and advanced maternal age can put the expectant mother at a greater risk for fetal loss during pregnancy. Furthermore, unlike miscarriages which often occur with noticeable symptoms like cramping and bleeding, stillbirth can only be identified by routine fetal monitoring and fetal heartbeat readings by a healthcare provider. Therefore, it’s essential that your doctor screens for, diagnoses, and monitors your health problems regularly. Failure to do so will increase your risk of pregnancy complications that can lead to birth injuries, infections, permanent disabilities, and even IUFD. Keep in mind that if a doctor negligently fails to recognize symptoms of an emerging complication or leaves it untreated, they may be held accountable for losing your unborn child in a court of law.
It’s equally important that you talk with your doctor openly and honestly. Remember, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Collect your family’s medical records and show them to your doctor at your next visit. It will give your doctor a clearer picture of your personal and family health history. For instance, if you’re diagnosed with gestational diabetes, your doctor may recommend a balanced diet with stringent glycemic goals. He might also explain that doing so will increase your chances of having a healthy vaginal delivery and decrease the likelihood of your child being born with blood sugar problems. In other words, early discovery and appropriate treatment can lessen the severity of most pregnancy complications. Also, please do not take any drug, not even over-the-counter medications, unless you have first run them by your primary care physician or another qualified medical professional.
2. Make Healthy Food Choices
Pregnant women should prioritize a healthy diet above all else. Your baby needs good nutrients to grow normally and healthily in your womb. Consume foods rich in fiber, folate, and calcium. Examples include fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, non-dairy soy, eggs, lean meats, and fish with lower mercury levels. Limit your intake of edibles high in solid fats: whole milk, regular cheese, butter, ice creams, marbled steak cuts, ground beef, poultry skin, and restaurant meals and takeaway foods. Drink eight to ten glasses of water daily. Steer clear of sodas, sports or energy drinks, and fruit cocktails. Switch to sugar-free juice drinks and skim milk.
Simply put, create an eating plan that measures up to the recommended dietary allowance and helps you achieve your health goals. For instance, start your day with a bowl of hot or cold oats porridge topped with fruit like berries or a banana. Have a tinned tuna or salmon wrap, vegetable salad, and avocado for lunch. If you’re a vegetarian, go for a smashed chickpea salad wrap with tofu salad. For dinner, you can have a piece of grilled or baked lean meat like chicken, turkey, or fish with brown rice and steamed veggies.
It’s also best not to eat raw eggs or meat, soft cheeses, unpasteurized milk, or animal products while pregnant. They can cause food poisoning and hence, can be detrimental to your baby’s health. Additionally, avoid all alcoholic beverages before, during, and after pregnancy. If you continue to drink alcohol while you’re pregnant, you run the risk of giving birth to a child born with a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
If you smoke or hang around with people who do, now’s a good time to call it quits. Like alcohol, smoking adversely affects the expectant mother and her fetus. In extreme circumstances, it can lead to miscarriage or a sudden, unexplained death of a baby younger than one-year-old, also known as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
3. Educate Yourself
Childbirth and parenting have been the subject of countless books, research journals, newspaper articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos. Read, listen, and watch as much material as you can about pregnancy, stages of fetal development, signs of labor, breastfeeding, newborn baby behavior, and infant care.
A word of caution, though: when starting with self-education, it might be difficult to tell the difference between fact and opinion or between what’s true for you and what’s not. In that case, get advice from women you know, like your mom and girlfriends who have given birth. They know you more than anybody else and would know best what information applies to you and what doesn’t.
Joining an antenatal class is another fantastic way to learn more about childbirth and parenting. These programs are designed to help expectant parents prepare for the challenges of labor and delivery. As these classes mostly take place in groups, it may not be possible for you to receive as much individualized attention as you want. Nonetheless, the group instruction presents an excellent opportunity to meet and share experiences with people who are expecting a child at the same time as you are. Consider babysitting a friend’s baby once a week for some hands-on experience.
4. Exercise Regularly
You’ll find adjusting to your new body easier if you are physically active and fit before you get pregnant. Regular physical activity will ease your discomfort during labor, decrease the risk of cesarean surgery, and help you recover faster post-delivery. Thus, as long as you don’t experience any pain, you should continue exercising.
While babies are not at risk of being physically active, you must not wear yourself out. If you exercise to the point where you become out of breath while talking, you are most likely pushing yourself too hard. Also, do not start an intense activity if you were not physically active before pregnancy. Start small—15 minutes of continuous exercise (playing sports, running, brisk walking, or aerobics) three times a week. Gradually work your way up to 30 minutes once a day. Remember always to warm up first and then cool down after your routine.
Swimming is also a good option because the water can support your additional weight while you exercise. But you should try it only if your instructor is qualified and understands you’re pregnant and how far along you are. However, avoid horseback riding, gymnastics, cycling, and ice hockey. One incorrect posture and you’ll fall off or collide with another person or object. Your baby is in danger of injury if you experience a fall or collision.
Final Thoughts
Are you looking to start a family? If so, we cannot emphasize the importance of caring for yourself enough now that you’re pregnant. Follow these tips to keep yourself and your baby healthy during pregnancy.