Top Tips For A Healthy Pregnancy

During pregnancy, your body is the vessel that gives your growing baby all the nutrients that it needs. Being as healthy as possible before and during pregnancy gives your baby the best start in life. While some things are out of our control, there are things that we can do to make sure we stay as healthy as possible through pregnancy, and we look at these below.

See your doctor as soon as possible

As soon as the pregnancy test gives a positive result, take a trip to see your doctor to confirm your pregnancy and get the ball rolling in terms of professional medical care with Obstetrics Services. Enjoy the first few months, relax and rest.

Eat well

What you eat in pregnancy is incredibly important to the developing fetes;

Increase folic acid – this is the nutrient that is essential for the development of the brain and the nervous system and is important in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Many women are also advised to increase folic acid in the pre-conception stage too.
Fruit and vegetables – eat a rainbow of fruit and vegetables every day, and makes sure that you get your five-a-day all the way through pregnancy.
Protein – get your protein from lean meats, fish, eggs, nuts and pulses and make sure you have a daily intake of protein.
Oily fish – omega 3 is packed with protein, vitamin D and other minerals and is found in oily fish such as salmon. Aim to include two portions of oily fish in your diet every week.

Take the appropriate pregnancy supplements

If you eat a varied and healthy diet pre-pregnancy and during pregnancy, you may feel that you don’t need to take any additional vitamins and supplements.

If you feel you need some extra help in terms of nutrition, always check with your doctor or midwife before taking any supplements that they are safe to do so during pregnancy.

Any vitamins and minerals need to be within safe amounts and guidelines. Taking large amounts of vitamins can be harmful. For example, vitamin A in some sources is beneficial but from other sources, can be harmful as the levels of the vitamin are too high and not needed.

Other supplements, such as fish oil, especially from the fish liver, is considered too potent for a developing fetes and thus, pregnant women are advised to carefully check all products.

Food Hygiene

Staying as healthy as possible means that your baby has the best chances of developing at the rate that it needs to.

There are many things that in ordinary situations are fine but when pregnant, can be a serious issue. Food poisoning and poor food hygiene present significant issues to pregnant women which is why you should pay close attention to how you store, prepare and cook food at home.

Ensure that all meat is well-cooked and stay away from foods that are known to cause food poisoning, such as raw shellfish and some potent cheeses made from mold. Only drink and cook with pasteurized dairy products too.