Highlights
Pregnancy is an ideal time to start taking really good care of your-self both physically and emotionally. If you follow the few simple guidelines below, you should give yourself the best chance of having a problem-free pregnancy and a healthy baby.
As soon as you find out you're pregnant, get in touch with your GP or a midwife to organize your antenatal care. Organizing your care early means you'll get good advice for a healthy pregnancy right from the start. You'll also have plenty of time to organize any ultrasound scans and tests that you may need.
Aim to eat a healthy, balanced diet whenever you can. Try to have:
You don't need to eat for two when you're pregnant. You don't need extra calories for the first six months of pregnancy. In the last three months you'll need about an extra 200 calories a day. You can keep up your energy levels with healthy snacks.
See our pregnancy meal planners for each trimester.
Pregnancy vitamin supplements aren't a substitute for a balanced diet. But they can help if you're worried you're not eating well, or you're too sick to eat much.
Make sure your supplement contains 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid. You need this while you're trying for a baby and for the first three months of pregnancy. Taking folic acid reduces the risk of your baby developing a neural tube defect such as spina bifida.
If you don't eat fish, fish oil supplements may be helpful. Choose a supplement made from the body of the fish, not the liver. This is because fish liver oils (such as cod liver oil) may contain the retinol form of vitamin A, which isn't recommended in pregnancy.
There are some foods it's safest not to eat in pregnancy. This is because they can carry a health risk for your baby.
Listeriosis is an infection caused by listeria bacteria. It's rare and doesn't usually pose a threat to your health. However, it can cause pregnancy or birth complications. Listeriosis can even lead to miscarriage.
The following foods may harbour listeria and so are best avoided:
As listeria bacteria are destroyed by heat, make sure you heat ready meals thoroughly.
Salmonella can cause food poisoning. You can catch it from eating:
Cook eggs until the white and yolk are solid. Thoroughly wash utensils, boards
and your hands after handling raw poultry. Food hygiene is especially
important now you're pregnant. Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused
by a parasite. It's also rare, but it can affect your unborn baby. You can cut
down your risk of catching it by:
Regular exercise has many benefits for mums-to-be. It can:
Good exercise choices for pregnancy include:
If you play sport, you can continue as long as it feels comfortable for you.
However, if your particular sport carries a risk of falls or knocks, or
extra stress on your joints, it's best to stop. Talk to your GP if you're
unsure.
Your pelvic floor comprises a hammock of muscles at the base of your pelvis. These muscles support your bladder, vagina and back passage. They can feel weaker than usual in pregnancy because of the extra pressure upon them. Pregnancy hormones can also cause your pelvic floor to slacken slightly.
Strengthening your muscles by doing pelvic floor exercises regularly throughout your pregnancy can help. Having a toned pelvic floor may help your baby's birth go more smoothly too. You'll feel the benefit if do eight pelvic floor squeezes, three times a day.
Any alcohol you drink rapidly reaches your baby via your blood stream and placenta.
No one knows for sure how much alcohol it's safe to drink while you're pregnant. That's why many experts advise you to cut out alcohol throughout pregnancy, or at least for the first three months.
If you do decide to drink, stick to no more than one or two units of alcohol, no more than once or twice per week, and never get drunk.
Drinking heavily or binge drinking during pregnancy is dangerous for your baby. Mums-to-be who drink heavily on a regular basis are more likely to give birth to a baby with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). These are problems ranging from learning difficulties to more serious birth defects.
8. Cut back on caffeine
Coffee, tea, cola and energy drinks are mild stimulants. There are concerns that too much caffeine may increase your risk of miscarriage. It's also thought possible that too much caffeine may contribute to your risk of having a low-birth-weight baby.
Current guidelines state that up to 200mg of caffeine a day won't hurt your
baby. That's the equivalent of two mugs of instant coffee.
As with alcohol, you may prefer to cut out caffeine altogether,
particularly in the first trimester. Decaffeinated tea and coffee, fruit teas
and fruit juices are all safe alternatives.
Smoking during pregnancy can cause serious health problems, for you and your baby. These risks include an increased risk of:
Smoking may even be associated with the loss of a baby at birth.
Smoking makes the following pregnancy complications more likely:
If you smoke, it's best to stop, for your own health and that of your baby. The
sooner you stop smoking, the better, but it's never too late. Even
stopping in the last few weeks of your pregnancy can benefit you both. Watch a
video about how smoke reaches your unborn baby.
The fatigue you feel in the first few months is due to high levels of pregnancy hormones circulating in your body. Later on, it's your body's way of telling you to slow down.
If you can't sleep at night, try to take a quick nap in the middle of the day to catch up. If that's impossible, at least put your feet up and try to relax for 30 minutes.
If backache is disturbing your sleep, try lying on your left-hand
side with your knees bent. Placing a wedge-shaped pillow under your
bump may help ease the strain on your back.
Exercise may also give you some relief from backache. It can help with sleep problems, too, as long as you don't exercise too close to bedtime.
To wind down ready for bed, try relaxation techniques, which are safe in
pregnancy, such as:
Always let your exercise teacher know that you're pregnant or, ideally, choose classes tailored to pregnant women.