Tips on a Healthy pregnancy

[Laceygabriella]

I've just found out that I'm pregnant I think I'm roughly 6 weeks. There's a lot of things flying around the internet but I was wondering if anyone had any hints and tips on how I can make sure that this pregnancy is as healthy as possible ?

I am a little overweight and that is worrying me. I have cut out most bad foods as I am worried that they will affect the baby. But am also worried that a sudden change in my diet may not be great either ?

Any tips on how I can make sure I'm making the best and healthiest choices for me and the baby would be great.

Thanks in advance :)

A healthy pregnancy is almost exactly the same as a healthy life. Eat good food, not too much, move as much as you can (yes, even in pregnancy - if you don't currently run marathons it's not the time to start, but otherwise stay as active as you possibly can). Don't drink, don't smoke, don't do drugs.

You won't do any harm by eating better. Dieting is not a great idea, but you don't need to eat any extra and if you're overweight it's worth trying to maintain your weight for now rather than start gaining.

Oh, and take folic acid and vitamin D. That's all you strictly need, but many people choose to take a pregnancy multivitamin.

That's great thank you.

I don't smoke, drink, and have never taken drugs.

I got pregnant within 6 weeks of having my implant removed (I had 3 so almost 9 years) so the pregnancy was very unexpected. And I was worried that I hadn't given myself chance to change my lifestyle before conception.

Generally my health is great it's just my fitness and eating habits that were worrying me. However I'm now worrying about everything I eat and am concerned that losing weight will affect the baby. Although I'm not dieting, I am making better choices which will probably result in a little weight loss.

As above just focus on a normal healthy diet but don't beat your self up if when you start to get the sickness you need to eat rubbish , I lived on chips soaked in salt and vinegar for 2 months as it was the only thing to settle my stomach !

Try and stay active too , 30 mins of waking or going swimming is great .
There's also lots of workouts on YouTube for you to try like yoga

You can take folic acid and vitamin D.
Rest as much as humanly possible (you'll need it ).
Look after your mental health; don't worry too much about trying to be over healthy if you're just normal usually. Getting over anxious about doing everything right right now is no fun at all. Enjoy it as much as you can and eat a few biscuits every now and then

Also try and stick to homemade food so with my chip addiction I would make them my self ( potato's chopped up with abit of fry light , into the oven for 45 mins ) rather than oven chips

Nothing you eat or any weight loss will affect the baby unless you're really restricting calories. The baby is extremely resilient and gets first pick of all your nutrients. It might make YOU feel dizzy and crappy though, because you get what's left over after the baby takes all the good stuff. If drugs and smoking aren't in the picture, practically nothing you can do as part of a normal lifestyle is going to bother the baby at all.

Remember that many women with hyperemesis live off Hula Hoops for literally months and lose considerable weight and their babies are born totally healthy and normal.

In all honesty, so long as you're not smoking/drinking/crack-piping – and you're not, yay! – the baby will be fine, nutrition-wise.

Take a prenatal with folic acid, vitamin D, and loads of other stuff – a lot of it will go into supporting YOU. Babies are (in the nicest possible way) parasites and will take what they need from you, even if you get horrendous morning sickness and live off plain hula hoops and ginger beer for the first six months... Obviously the ideal is lots and lots of fresh vegetables in a rainbow of colours, lean protein, grains, pulses, etc; but then there was the fortnight when I could eat NOTHING but McDonald's hamburgers morning noon and night. Try your best but if you get nauseous/vomitty, go with the flow and prioritise hydration/energy levels.

Walk as much as you can; swim; don't start crazy regimes if you're not used to it. Stay hydrated. Rest when you need to, it's exhausting. Lots of calcium, get your whooping cough jab, attend your MW appts, limit the Haribo consumption to a family bag a day (that's my particular poison). Paracetamol is fine if you get headaches.

Try not to worry too much. The NHS website gives good guidelines in pregnancy for making healthy choices Including food and drink

Listen to your body (and baby!) and don't be afraid to ring your midwife (and tell her every little symptom!)
These are things which have literally saved my life during pregnancy.