5 Tips for the Expecting Woman

Are you pregnant and feeling a little lost? It’s normal to feel overwhelmed, especially since your body is going through so many changes. This blog post will give you six tips to help make the next nine months a little easier. From eating right to getting enough exercise, we’ll cover everything you need to know to have a healthy pregnancy. So, relax and take it one day at a time—you’re in for an amazing ride!

Prenatal Checkups

One of the most important things that you can do as a mother is to regularly go for prenatal checkups. In today’s day in age, there is absolutely no reason why you should go it alone and therefore going for prenatal checkups should be a part of your schedule to ensure a healthy pregnancy. There are facilities like the Atwell Centre which provides pregnancy testing in Hamilton as well as many other support services for expectant mothers, so you want to consider contacting a center if you feel like you want to talk to someone about this whole new process that can change your life.

In terms of when you should go to your prenatal checkups, this usually takes place between weeks 4 to 28 once a month, weeks 28 to 36 twice a month, and weeks 36 to 41 once a month. If you are not sure who you can go to for prenatal care, you can go to a certified nurse-midwife, an obstetrician, a family practice doctor, a family nurse practitioner, and a maternal-fetal medicine specialist.

Exercise When You Can

A great tip for a mom to be is to exercise when you can and to stay as active as possible. Not many people will tell you this since most people will focus on the positives of it being pregnant, however, there is a lot of stress and anxiety that you may feel. By staying active, you will help to reduce your anxiety, and more than this you will be healthy throughout your pregnancy. 

This does not mean that you should push yourself as far as you can go since this will be unhealthy; instead, listen to your body, since it knows more than you do, and take it easy. If it gets a bit much.

Healthy Diet

Another important part of staying healthy during pregnancy is to have a healthy diet. Many women might find that their diet begins to change when they are pregnant and they begin craving foods that they have never wanted before. However, there are a few foods that you should avoid during your pregnancy.

Some of these foods include raw eggs, sushi, liver, unpasteurized milk, raw or rare meats, as well as soft cheeses. You might also want to think about avoiding fish since this can lead to mercury poisoning and can be potentially harmful to the baby. 

Be Prepared for Birth

A great tip for a woman who is expecting is to be as prepared for birth as possible. Although you might have some idea of when the baby will be arriving, having a plan for that specific day and the following days after will alleviate a lot of the stress and pressure that you might experience leading up to that moment. 

For example, if you will be breastfeeding, you might want to buy a nursing bra and get the equipment you need for that beforehand. More than this, you’ll need to know who will be taking you to the hospital, who will be fetching you, and who will be doing all of the chores that need to be done around the house, whilst you aren’t able to do them.

Sleep is Important

As mentioned above, being pregnant can be very anxiety-inducing as well as stressful, so one of the most important things that you can do for yourself and your baby is to get enough sleep. In terms of how much sleep to get, it is advised to get around 7 to 9 hours of sleep per day, but this differs from person to person, as well as levels of activity. 

Another thing that you should keep in mind is that when you are in your third trimester, a good idea would be to begin sleeping on your side if you are not doing this already. One of the primary reasons why you should do this is because it increases blood flow and is overall safer for your baby.