If you’ve recently gotten the news that you’re pregnant, it’s important to make sure you’ve living a healthy lifestyle for the safety of you and your future baby. Here are 10 tips for having a healthy pregnancy.
Over 130,000,000 babies are born across the world every single year. That astonishing number means millions of mothers doing their best to keep their bodies in a condition that’s conducive to the birth of a healthy, happy child.
There are a lot of conflicting schools of thought on how to achieve that end, tips from eating certain foods to doing certain exercises and beyond.
To help you better understand which tips will have the most impact on you and your child’s health, our team has culled a wide variety of sources to bring you this list. Below you’ll find the top 10 healthy pregnancy tips you should be implementing into your daily routine today!
1) Consistent Exercise
Many people managing their first pregnancy are unsure of how much physical activity they should be partaking in. According to most medical professionals, regular exercise is not only okay during a pregnancy, it’s also helpful in making sure your body is functioning in a means that’s optimal for both you and your child to enjoy a healthy pregnancy.
Doing exercise while pregnant can help you reduce your stress levels. It can help improve your blood’s circulation. It can even help you sleep better which is a must for maintaining your overall wellness.
As a general rule, while pregnant, aim for 30 minutes of exercise every day. This can be accomplished via simple means such as a morning walk. You can also consider alternative ways to exercise, such as prenatal yoga Toronto that can significantly help in keeping you healthy during your pregnancy.
2) Take Vitamins
Your child’s neural chord which will later develop into its spine desperately needs key nutrients for healthy growth. These nutrients include iron, calcium and folic acid.
To help ensure that your body has a good stock of these nutrients, you should start taking daily vitamins not only during your pregnancy for sustenance but while you’re trying to conceive.
Be sure to consult your doctor and have them help you develop a personalized vitamin regimen that works for your unique situation.
3) Have a Good Support System
Pregnancy can be an emotional roller coaster. Women can experience everything from extreme euphoria to crippling depression.
To help ensure that you stay in good mental and emotional health, it’s important to have people to lean on. Whether it be family members or close friends, having access to your social circle during pregnancy and during labor can help improve fetal development and ease your labor process.
4) Keep an Eye on Your Weight
Weight gain is a normal and important part of a pregnancy. Still, there is an acceptable range you should target.
Putting on too much weight during a pregnancy can lead to your body having a difficult time bouncing back post delivery. Putting on too little weight can mean an underweight child which can lead to a bevy of developmental issues.
Talk to your doctor and have them suggest, based on your BMI, what sort of weight gain you should be striving for.
5) Take Your Safety Seriously
Accidental injury of expecting mothers is one of the leading causes of prenatal death in infants. These accidents range from car crashes to domestic violence.
To help you avoid a life-threatening accident for your child, do simple things like ensuring that your car’s seat belt is positioned correctly around your stomach and be willing to call for help if you’re in an abusive relationship.
6) Eat a Healthy Diet
What you eat is what your baby eats. That’s why, while pregnant, it’s extremely important that you’re consuming foods that are nutrient rich.
For starters, keep your water intake up at about 8 glasses per day. In addition to that, consume folic rich foods to support your baby’s neural development. These foods can include oranges, lentils, orange juice and wheat.
7) Stay Protected Against the Sun
Pregnant woman are at a higher risk for skin related issues. Because of this, it’s important that you wear a healthy amount of sunscreen, even on days that are mostly overcast.
In addition to staying protected from the sun, you should also avoid tanning beds while pregnant according to the American Pregnancy Association.
8) Get Help With Chores
While you may be a workhorse when it comes to chores in your regular life, you should definitely be more selective about which tasks you take on while pregnant.
Doing things like lifting heavy objects or working with harmful chemicals can have an adverse effect on your child. For those reasons, it’s best to stick to simple household work and ask for help when it comes to more labor intensive or chemical related tasks.
9) Get Educated
This healthy pregnancy tip is especially good for first-time parents but can be helpful for seasoned mothers as well. When pregnant, it’s always a good idea to seek support from pregnancy classes.
Pregnancy classes will help educate you on what to expect during each trimester of your pregnancy. It will also help you to learn the newest recommended childcare techniques for post-pregnancy life.
If classes aren’t up your alley, you can learn a lot about pregnancy health from online resources.
10) Allow Yourself to Enjoy Cravings
While scientists still debate on why mothers have cravings, most agree that giving into them every now and then supports a healthy pregnancy. It can help you reduce stress and boost your mood which can have a positive impact your child’s development.
When it comes to comes to indulging your cravings, it’s best to steer clear of things like uncooked meat, unpasteurized dairy products, and eggs.
Wrapping Up Healthy Pregnancy Tips
An expectant mother’s experience being pregnant and the health of her child is directly linked to the way the mother cares for herself during her pregnancy.
If you’re pregnant and are looking for ways to maximize your healthy pregnancy experience, we recommend starting with the tips above.
Doing things as simple as taking good care of yourself and keeping stress levels low can have a profound effect on the odds of you having a happy and healthy 9 months of pregnancy and subsequent delivery!
