How to Keep a Baby Healthy During Pregnancy and Why

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Follow these uncomplicated pregnancy tips on prophylactic and diet to stay good for you throughout the nine months earlier your baby arrives.

Staying Healthy During Pregnancy

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If you're pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant, you probably know some of the basic pregnancy advice about taking care of yourself and the infant: don't fume or exist around secondhand smoke, don't beverage, and get your rest. Here are more pregnancy tips, from taking vitamins to what to do with the kitty litter, that can help ensure safe and healthy prenatal development.

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Take a Prenatal Vitamin

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Even when you're still trying to conceive, it's smart to start taking prenatal vitamins. Your baby's neural string, which becomes the encephalon and spinal cord, develops within the get-go month of pregnancy, and then it's important you get essential nutrients – similar folic acid, calcium, and iron – from the very start.

Prenatal vitamins are available over the counter at most drug stores, or you lot can go them by prescription from your doctor. If taking them makes you feel queasy, try taking them at night or with a light snack. Chewing mucilage or sucking on difficult candy afterward tin can help, too.

• RELATED: The Best Prenatal Vitamin Options for Moms

Practise

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Staying active is of import for your general health and can help you reduce stress, command your weight, ameliorate circulation, boost your mood, and sleep better. Take a pregnancy practise class or walk at to the lowest degree 15-20 minutes every twenty-four hours at a moderate pace, in cool, shaded areas or indoors in order to prevent overheating.

Pilates, yoga, swimming, and walking are also dandy activities for nigh pregnant women, but be sure to check with your doctor first before starting any exercise program. Aim for 30 minutes of do most days of the calendar week. Listen to your body, though, and don't overdo it.

• RELATED: Is Information technology Rubber to Exercise During Pregnancy?

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Write a Birth Programme

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Determined to accept a doula? Counting on that epidural? Write downwardly your wishes and requite a re-create to anybody involved with the delivery. Co-ordinate to the American Pregnancy Association, here are some things to consider when writing your birth plan:

- Who you desire present, including children or siblings of the infant

- Procedures you want to avoid

- What positions you lot adopt for labor and delivery

- Special vesture you'd like to wear

- Whether y'all want music or a special focal signal

- Whether you want pain medications, and what kind

- What to practice if complications arise

• RELATED: A Unproblematic Birth Program Template for First-Time Moms

Educate Yourself

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Fifty-fifty if this isn't your first baby, attending a childbirth class will help yous experience more prepared for delivery. Not just will you have the risk to learn more than about childbirth and infant care, just you can ask specific questions and voice any concerns. You'll as well become more than acquainted with the facility and its staff.

At present is too a practiced fourth dimension to castor upwards on your family's medical history. Talk to your dr. almost problems with past pregnancies, and study whatever family unit incidences of birth defects.

• RELATED: What to Await in Childbirth Classes

Practice Kegels

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Kegel exercises strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which back up your bladder, bowels, and uterus. Washed correctly, this simple practise can help make your delivery easier and preclude problems later with incontinence. The best part: No one tin can tell yous're doing them, then you tin practice kegels in the car, while you're sitting at your desk, or even standing in line at the grocery store. Here's how to do them right:

- Practise squeezing every bit though you're stopping the flow of urine when you use the bathroom

- Hold for iii seconds, then relax for 3

- Echo 10 times

• RELATED:The All-time Pelvic Floor Exercises During Pregnancy

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Eliminate Toxins

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Because of their link to birth defects, miscarriage, and other issues, y'all should avoid tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs, and even solvents such as paint thinners and boom polish remover while pregnant. Smoking cigarettes, for example, decreases oxygen menses to your baby; it's linked to preterm nativity and other complications. "If you lot tin can't end smoking, drinking, or using drugs, let your physician know," recommends Roger Harms, M.D., an Ob-Gyn at the Mayo Clinic. A doc can offering communication and support, as well as refer you to a program that helps pregnant women terminate smoking.

• RELATED: Booze and Pregnancy: What Y'all Need to Know

Alter Up Chores

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Fifty-fifty everyday tasks similar scrubbing the bathroom or cleaning upwardly after pets can become risky when you're meaning. Exposure to toxic chemicals, lifting heavy objects, or coming in contact with leaner can harm yous and your infant. Hither are some things to (hooray!) take off your to-do-list:

- Heavy lifting

- Climbing on stepstools or ladders

- Changing kitty litter (to avert toxoplasmosis, a disease acquired by a parasite which cats can deport)

- Using harsh chemicals

- Continuing for long periods of time, particularly almost a hot stove

Also, wear gloves if yous're working in the yard where cats may have been, and wash your hands thoroughly after handling raw meat.

Check Your Medications

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Cheque with your doc or midwife earlier taking any over-the-counter medications, supplements, or "natural" remedies. Even non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such equally ibuprofen should be avoided—studies propose they increase the chance of miscarriage and damage to fetal blood vessels.

• RELATED: Is Acetaminophen Safe While Pregnant?

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Track Your Weight Gain

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We know—you lot're eating for two. But packing on also many extra pounds may make them difficult to lose later. At the aforementioned time, not gaining enough weight can put the baby at risk for a low-weight nativity, a major cause of developmental problems. Recently the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued new guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy. Here's what the IOM recommends, based on a adult female's BMI (body mass alphabetize) earlier becoming pregnant with 1 baby:

- Underweight: Gain 28-twoscore pounds

- Normal weight: Gain 25-35 pounds

- Overweight: Gain 15-25 pounds

- Obese: Proceeds 11-twenty pounds

Check in with your doctor frequently to brand sure you lot're gaining at a healthy charge per unit.

• RELATED: Pregnancy Weight Gain: What'south Normal, What's Not

Go Shoe Shopping

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At last, a perfect excuse to buy shoes! As your bump grows, so may your feet—or at least they may experience like they are. That's because your natural weight proceeds throws off your center of gravity, putting extra force per unit area on your tootsies. Over time this added pressure level can cause painful over-pronation, or flattening out of the feet. You may retain fluids, too, which tin make your anxiety and ankles dandy.

And so information technology's important to wear comfortable, nonrestricting shoes when you're pregnant. Many expectant moms find they need a larger shoe size fifty-fifty subsequently they requite birth, so get a stride up if you need to. And be sure to put your anxiety up several times a twenty-four hours to prevent fatigue and swelling of the feet, legs, and ankles.

Rethink Your Spa Style

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Pregnancy is definitely a time for pampering, only you lot demand to be conscientious. Avoid saunas, which tin can make you overheated. Ditto for hot tubs: According to the American Pregnancy Association, information technology takes just 10 to 20 minutes of sitting in one for your trunk temperature to attain 102 degrees Farenheit—nearly the limit of what's considered safe for pregnant women. Also, sure essential oils can crusade uterine contractions, especially during the first and 2d trimester, so cheque with your massage therapist to make sure but safety ones are being used. On the taboo list: juniper, rosemary, and clary sage. The same goes for over-the-counter medicines and supplements containing these herbal remedies; don't take them without first consulting your obstetrician or midwife.

• RELATED: What'due south Safe During Pregnancy? A Guide past Trimester

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Drinkable More Water

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During pregnancy, your blood is supplying oxygen and essential nutrients to your infant through the placenta and conveying waste and carbon dioxide away — which means your blood volume increases upwardly to 50 per centum to handle all this extra activeness. So, you need to drink more to back up that gain. Drinking h2o can also help prevent constipation, hemorrhoids, UTIs, fatigue, headaches, swelling, and other uncomfortable pregnancy symptoms. Aim for 8-10 spectacles per twenty-four hour period, and if you don't savour the gustation, try adding a clasp of lime or a splash of fruit juice.

Eat Folate-Rich Foods

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In addition to drinking viii-ten glasses of water each day, you should eat v or 6 well-balanced meals with enough of folate-rich foods like fortified cereals, asparagus, lentils, wheat germ, oranges, and orange juice. "Folic acid is crucial for the proper evolution of the infant'southward neural tube (it covers the spinal cord), and it'southward vital for the creation of new cherry-red blood cells," says Frances Largeman-Roth, R.D., author ofFeed the Belly.

• RELATED: Why The First 1,000 Days Actually Matter

Recharge with Fruit

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Most doctors recommend limiting caffeine during pregnancy, since it can have harmful furnishings on you and the baby. Cut dorsum can exist tough, though, especially when you're used to your morning java. For a quick pick-me-upward, try nibbling on some fruit. "The natural sugars in fruits like bananas and apples tin can help elevator energy levels," says registered dietitian Frances Largeman-Roth.

• RELATED:Nutrition During Pregnancy: 10 Exercise's and Don'ts

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Get Fish

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In a 2007 written report of more than 12,000 children, researchers constitute that youngsters whose moms ate the most fish during pregnancy had college I.Q.due south – plus better motor and communication skills – than those whose mothers did non eat fish. Scientists say that's because fish is high in omega 3s, a nutrient disquisitional to encephalon evolution. There'southward but one take hold of: Some kinds of fish incorporate mercury, which can be toxic to both babies and adults.

To exist safe, the FDA recommends that pregnant women eat no more than 12 ounces of fish per week. Stick with canned calorie-free tuna, shrimp, salmon, pollack, or catfish. Avoid swordfish, shark, king mackerel, and tilefish, which are all loftier in mercury.

• RELATED: Prenatal Diet: The Best Foods for Baby Brain Development

Wear Sunscreen

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Existence pregnant makes your peel more sensitive to sunlight, so you're more prone to sunburn and chloasma, those dark, blotchy spots that sometimes appear on the face. Utilize a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher (many brands at present offer chemical-costless formulas) and wear a hat and sunglasses. While no studies prove spending fourth dimension in tanning beds tin can hurt your baby, the American Pregnancy Clan recommends you avoid them while yous're pregnant.

• RELATED: The Ultimate Lord's day Protection Guide for Pregnancy

Stay Clean

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Frequent hand washing can protect you from infections such as Grouping B streptococcus, Fifth disease, cytomegalovirus, and chickenpox, all of which can cause nascence defects and other severe complications for your baby. Ethyl alcohol-based hand sanitizers are a groovy option for those times when you can't get to a sink. "They protect users from virtually of the communicable infections," says Anjan Chaudhury, One thousand.D., an Ob-Gyn at St. Elizabeth'due south Medical Center in Boston.

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Travel Smart

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Become ahead: volume that flight, only accept some precautions. The Mayo Clinic say mid-pregnancy (14 to 28 weeks) is usually the best fourth dimension to fly—by this time you lot're probably over forenoon sickness, and the risk of miscarriage or early on delivery is low. Still, check with your physician most any travel plans, and make sure the airline has no restrictions for pregnant women. On the plane, drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, and get upwards and walk around every one-half 60 minutes to reduce the risk of blood clots. An aisle seat will give you more than room and make trips to the bath easier.

In the car, go on to wear a condom belt. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the shoulder portion of the restraint should be positioned over the collar bone. The lap portion should exist placed under the belly as low as possible on the hips and across the upper thighs, never above the abdomen. Also, pregnant women should sit down equally far from the air bag as possible.

• RELATED:The 25 Best Babymoon Destinations

Say Yep to Cravings—Sometimes

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Truth be told, no ane knows why pregnancy cravings happen. Some experts say they may be nature's way of providing nutrients an expectant mom may be defective. Others say they're an emotional affair. Regardless, equally long as you're eating an overall healthy diet, it's usually OK to give in to your cravings. Simply exist careful to limit portions—don't down all that ice cream at once!—and know which snacks to steer clear of. A few foods to avoid: raw and undercooked meat or eggs; brie, feta, and other types of unpasteurized cheese; herbal teas; and raw sprouts.

• RELATED: What's Safety to Consume When You're Pregnant — And What's Not

Make Friends

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Detect ways to run across other significant women, whether that's through a prenatal yoga or childbirth class, a neighborhood parents group, or an online parenting forum. The back up, resources, and camaraderie from other women in the aforementioned boat as you can be crucial for getting through the ups and downs of pregnancy. "These are adept connections after y'all take the infant, too," said Dr. Miller.

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Larn About Postpartum Low

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You lot've probably heard of postpartum depression, merely y'all may not know that 10 per centum to 20 percent of women feel symptoms of major depression during pregnancy, co-ordinate to the March of Dimes. This could increase your risk for preterm labor. If you're feeling unexplainably sad, angry, or guilty – or if yous lose involvement in activities y'all usually enjoy or slumber too much – tell your doctor. Therapy, a support group, an antidepressant medication, or a combination of the three volition likely assist. Not all antidepressants are condom for pregnant women, so exist certain to piece of work with a doctor who is familiar with pregnancy-related mental health issues. To search for a prenatal/postpartum support arrangement in your area, visit postpartum.net.

• RELATED:Coping With Anxiety and Depression During Pregnancy

Know When to Phone call the Doctor

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Beingness pregnant can be confusing, especially if it's your start time. How do you know which twinge is normal and which ane isn't? Co-ordinate to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you should phone call your doctor if you take any of these symptoms:

- Pain of any kind

- Strong cramps

- Contractions at 20-minute intervals

- Vaginal bleeding or leaking of fluid

- Dizziness or fainting

- Shortness of breath

- Centre palpitations

- Constant nausea and airsickness

- Trouble walking, edema (swelling of joints)

- Decreased activity by the infant

Indulge Yourself

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Yous may call back you're busy now, only in one case the baby comes y'all'll have fifty-fifty fewer precious moments to yourself. Be certain to go at least eight hours of sleep a night, and if y'all're suffering from sleep disturbances, take naps during the day and see your physician if the situation doesn't improve.

Treating yourself, also: A lunchtime manicure, a much-needed night out with the girls, or only taking a tranquility walk can help y'all relax and de-stress—and that'south good for both you and the baby.

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