It is always important to take whatever steps you
can to be healthy, but while you are pregnant it is even more important:
not only do you need to take good care of yourself, you are also
profoundly affecting the life of another person – your baby. Here's 7
tips to help you along the way.
1. If you smoke, one of the most important things you can do is to
stop smoking: babies born to mothers who smoke have a lower average
birth weight, are more likely to be born prematurely, and are at greater
risk of death from sudden infant death syndrome than babies of
non-smokers. Sometimes mothers feel having a low birth weight baby could
be an advantage as it will make the baby easy to deliver. This is not
necessarily the case, as it may lead to an emergency delivery, which can
result in all sorts of complications. Even if you are already pregnant,
stopping smoking will benefit the baby for the rest of your pregnancy.
It is not only the baby who benefits. You are likely to suffer from less
morning sickness, experience fewer complications and have a more
contented baby after the birth.
2. It is also important to pay attention to your diet. Many women
feel they should ‘eat for two’, but research has shown that women only
need an extra 200-300 calories a day while pregnant, and you may be
eating those extra calories anyway. What is important is to ensure that
you get the protein, vitamins and minerals necessary to build another
human being. Those extra 200-300 calories should not be squandered on
chocolate or crisps, but should be eaten as fruit, vegetables, etc. It
is also important to increase your water intake, which will help avoid
constipation.
3. It is generally a good idea to take a good quality multivitamin
and mineral supplement too. There are now ones specially formulated for
pregnant women. Ideally these should be started before you become
pregnant, so that you are in the best shape possible for the pregnancy,
and then continued throughout your pregnancy. An adequate supply of
vitamins and minerals is important right from conception. For example, a
deficiency of one of the B vitamins, folic acid, in the first month of
pregnancy may lead to the baby being born with a cleft lip, congenital
heart disease or spina bifida. Omega-3 fatty acids (obtained by eating
oily fish, flaxseed oil, walnuts, spinach and spirulina, or taken as a
supplement) are important for the development of the baby’s eyes and
brain. Omega-3 also reduces the risk of premature birth and post-natal
depression.
4. Nobody knows how much alcohol it is safe to consume during
pregnancy, so many health experts feel it is better to avoid alcohol
entirely for the sake of the baby. This can seem hard on the pregnant
woman when everyone else is drinking, but it is important to remember
that alcohol is a poison for the growing baby, and no caring mother
willingly gives her baby poison.
5. Pregnancy is not a time to sit still. Although adequate rest is
vitally important, most experts believe that healthy pregnant women
should be taking 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day.
6. It is also important to minimise exposure to toxic chemicals
while pregnant, so spending a lot of time painting the house and laying
new carpets is not a good idea, especially in the early stages of
pregnancy when the baby is particularly vulnerable.
7. Many women find pregnancy stressful, and this can be a
particularly good time to turn to safe, non-invasive options such as
Bach flower remedies, homeopathy, kinesiology and other therapies.
Making a new life is something miraculous. Doing the best you can
for that new life starts long before you have the baby in your arms for
the first time.
