Healthy Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy
Keeping your child safe and healthy begins before they are even born - by staying safe and healthy yourself. Adopting healthy living habits while pregnant will provide the greatest possible start for your baby and it can help alleviate some of the frequent anxieties and physical issues you may encounter during or after your pregnancy. Continue reading to learn how to keep you and your baby healthy and happy.
Taking Prenatal vitamins
The essential nutrients you'll need for conception, pregnancy, and lactation are provided by prenatal vitamins. Your body needs more nutrients, such as iron, calcium, vitamin B, vitamin A, vitamin C during pregnancy. Folic acid is one of the most crucial minerals included in prenatal vitamins. Folic acid-containing prenatal vitamins can significantly lower the risk of neural tube defects including spina bifida and anencephaly when given prior to conception. They have also been proven to lower the risk of low birth weight, cleft lip and palate, iron deficiency anaemia, preeclampsia, calcium deficiency, and preterm delivery.
To make sure you have enough nutrition, you should start taking prenatal vitamins a few months before trying to get pregnant.
Avoid Unhealthy Habits Before Pregnancy
Preventing pregnancy risks can begin before conception. If you use medications, be sure they are safe to take during pregnancy and, if necessary, switch to a safer medication. Check that your blood pressure is within a healthy range. If you smoke, stop immediately. Smoking during pregnancy can result in preterm birth, birth abnormalities, and other issues. Reduce your blood sugar if it is too high. Address any alcohol or substance abuse problems.
Discuss your personal health history with your doctor to learn what beneficial changes you can make before becoming pregnant.
Drink more Water
During pregnancy, your blood volume rises by up to 50% to deliver oxygen and nutrition to your baby via the placenta and to excrete waste. Aim for eight to ten glasses of water per day.
Furthermore, drinking extra water can help relieve some of the unpleasant symptoms of pregnancy, such as constipation, haemorrhoids, urinary tract infections, exhaustion, migraines, and edoema.
Exercise regularly
Regular exercise during pregnancy can help reduce some of the discomforts of pregnancy, strengthen your muscles in preparation for labour and delivery, and aid in the recovery process after childbirth. It can also help you control your weight, enhance circulation, increase your energy and mood, and sleep better.
Aim for 20 to 30 minutes of exercise each day. Pilates, yoga, swimming, and walking are all excellent activities for most pregnant women, and some centres even offer pregnancy-specific exercise sessions.
Make sure not to overdo it and to only undertake workouts that are suitable for you. Stop working out if you are exhausted, can't catch your breath, feel dizzy, experience pain, a headache, or start having contractions.
Maintain a Healthy Diet
A nutritious diet is essential while pregnant. Folate-rich foods, such as fortified cereals and breads, asparagus, lentils, oranges and orange juice, strawberries, spinach, broccoli, and beans, are particularly essential for the development of the new-born. To help prevent constipation, consume high-fiber foods such as whole-grain cereals, brown rice, vegetables, fruits, and beans. A nutritious diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains such as oatmeal, whole-grain bread and brown rice, calcium-rich foods such as dairy and soy and protein from natural sources.
Get enough sleep
Getting enough rest and relaxation throughout your pregnancy can help improve your mood, control mood swings, and reduce stress. Aim for a minimum of eight hours of sleep each night.
