21 Tips For A Healthy Pregnancy

Trying for a baby? Being healthy before, during and after pregnancy involves so many different aspects of your life. So, Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE Pregnancy & Childbirth Expert has compiled a quick list to help you stay on the healthy side.

1. See your practitioner before becoming pregnant.
2. Start changing your food habits to include a healthy variety of foods.
3. Exercise! Starting now will help you stay in shape during pregnancy, can lower your risk of miscarriage, and has been proven to help reduce labor complications and length.
4. Educate yourself!
5. Eat a new vegetable you’ve never tried.
6. Check out a book on pregnancy and read.
7. Review the signs of premature labor and warnings signs for when to call your practitioner.
8. If you are decorating your house or a nursery remember to avoid fumes often associated with paint and wall paper. Perhaps have friends do the heavy work while you help make snacks for them. Keep the windows open!
9. Take a prenatal vitamin. They can be prescribed by your practitioner or you can buy them over the counter. Ensure it contains 0.4 mg of folic acid.
10.  Stretch before bed to help prevent leg cramps.
11. Ask your partner to join you on your new healthy habit changes.
12. Ask your friends about pregnancy and parenthood.
13. Avoid chemicals that could possibly harm your baby. You can find these at work, in your home, and just about anywhere, be environmentally sensitive.
14. See your dentist and brush your teeth daily. Pregnancy can affects a woman’s dental health.
15. Tell any medical professional that you may be pregnant if you are trying to get pregnant. This can prevent exposure to harmful tests and chemicals if you are pregnant and don’t know it yet.
16. Do pelvic tilts to help with late pregnancy back pain. It will help relieve your pain and even encourage the baby to assume a good birth position.
17. If trying to conceive, act pregnant. This includes not drinking alcohol. There is no known safe level during pregnancy and alcohol can cause birth defects.
18. Keep a food diary to ensure that you are keeping up with your daily requirements.
19. Talk to your parents, what do you want to take from their experiences? How do you want to be different?
20. Rest when you can. Nap!
21. Keep your prenatal appointments with your midwife or doctor. This will help ensure that if you have any problems that they are caught early and kept to a minimum.

abouthealth.com