To ensure the good health of a growing child, pregnant women have to take care of themselves first. Actually, there are a lot of pieces of advice.
Pregnancy is an exciting time and women need to make healthy lifestyle choices. Seeing a gynaecologist in Melbourne is the right solution. Professionals help to maintain the good health of the patients throughout the three trimesters.
GYNs diagnose and treat the complications and additionally, educate pregnant women on what precautions to take and what to not. Moreover, we are also listing all the top tips to be fit and healthy during pregnancy.
Effective Tips For A Healthy Pregnancy
Get Prenatal Check-Ups
During pregnancy, it is a must to schedule an appointment with your gynaecologist to start prenatal care. Attending each prenatal checkup will enable the professionals to closely monitor you and your child’s health.
The checkups include weight measurement, physical exam, and urine sample testing. Additionally, GYNs will perform blood tests and ultrasound exams. Besides this, doctors will discuss the medical history of the woman. Further, they will allow the patients to ask any questions related to pregnancy.
Go For Proper Nutrition
When you’re pregnant, you have to eat for two! It is not the time to go on the diet or cut calories. It is totally the opposite! There is a body’s requirement for at least about 300 more calories per day, especially when an infant will start growing gradually.
Note that, if you are very active, lean, or carrying twins or more, you will require more nutrition. But if the case is contrasting that of being overweight, GYNs might advise intaking fewer calories.
Remember that, the right nutrition is always important. Seeing a gynaecologist will help you with getting a healthy eating diet chart, full of well-balanced food. That includes:
- Fresh fruits and green vegetables(great source of fiber and vitamins.)
- Whole-grain food like brown rice, oatmeal, and whole-grain bread(nourishes with vitamin B, fiber, and other required nutrients)
- Low-fat dairy products like soy or almond milk(provides vitamin D and calcium)
- High protein sources such as lean meats, peas, beans, etc.
Essential Prenatal Supplements
You can get the right nutrients by eating well-balanced food. But, there will be a requirement for more content of essential nutrients during the pregnancy such as iron, calcium, folic acid, and so on.
Your gynaecologist will recommend some necessary prenatal supplements according to your health condition to ensure you and your growing child are getting enough nutrients. Let’s discuss what is the role of these nutrients during pregnancy:
- Folic Acid: It prevents the risk of neural tube defects in a growing baby. Also, protects against pre-eclampsia.
- Iron: It supports red blood cells to supply oxygen to the infant. In addition, prevent anemia(deficiency of iron).
- Vitamin A: Aids for the proper growth of the baby’s eyesight, bone, and organs.
- Calcium: Makes teeth and bones strong. Additionally, good for muscles, heart, and nerves health.
- DHA: It is an omega-3 fatty acid, essential for the fetus’s brain and eye development.
- Vitamin B6: Develops a healthy nervous system and brain of the baby.
- Vitamin B12: Required for red blood cell production and proper development of the spinal cord and brain.
Practice Exercises Properly
Generally, staying active and fit is vital for health as it will reduce stress, boost the mind, and improve blood circulation. In addition, it also induces better sleep.
- Take prenatal exercise classes to maintain your good health. Besides this, walking for about 15-20 minutes is the best way to start your fresh morning. Make sure you are practicing the exercise indoors or in cool areas, protecting yourself from overheating.
- Yoga poses and pilates are the greatest activities for pregnant women(also considering their health condition). So, for assurance, do visit your gynaecologist before starting the program. Proper exercising will give you the strength to bear the weight gain and pains and improve the movement of inactive legs. Additionally, it will endure the physical pressure of the labor. Most importantly, it’ll be very helpful in easily getting the shape of your body normal after the delivery.
- Fix a goal to exercise for 30 minutes on most days. But keep in mind, always listen properly to your body and do not overperform any activity. Doing so can lead to fatigue or dehydration.
Get Enough Sleep
It is very crucial to get sound sleep and a quick nap during pregnancy. In this phase of life, the chances of feeling more tired and lazy are more than usual. As the baby bump grows, it becomes more challenging to comfortably lay and sleep.
- Gynaecologists recommend laying on your left side while bending the knees. It is the most convenient position to sleep as the pregnancy progresses. It eases the functioning of your heart by preventing the pressure of the baby’s weight on blood vessels(that carry blood to and from your heart. Moreover, side lying even reduces swelling in legs, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins.
- Besides this, sleeping on the left side keeps off the pressure on the uterus. It facilitates the flow of the right amount of blood to the placenta, and thus to the growing baby. But if you struggle a lot with your sleeping, do consult the doctor.
- In most cases, sleeping on any side helps put off stress on the back. For comfort, keep a pillow between the legs, beneath your belly, and behind the back.
Cut Off Alcohol, Smoking, And Drugs
Quit drinking alcohol, smoking, and consuming drugs while pregnant as well as when planning to conceive. Avoidance can protect from severe health issues:
- If you consume alcohol during pregnancy, it quickly reaches the growing child through the bloodstream and placenta. In fact, there’s no safe level of alcohol intake when pregnant. The more you have, the higher the risk of child defects. Therefore, the gynaecologist suggests cutting it off completely before conceiving and during expecting.
- Particularly avoid consuming much alcohol during the first and last trimesters. Wondering why? If you have alcohol in the first trimester, it can negatively impact the development of the baby and increase the miscarriages risks. On the other hand, in the third trimester, there are many chances of defects in the brain of the fetus. Moreover, other complications include stillbirth and premature birth.
- Ignorance can lead to the birth of a newborn with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. The symptoms of this health problem are learning and behavioral disabilities, difficulty with attention, poor memory, low body weight, and much more.
- When we talk about smoking, quit it as soon as you realize your pregnancy. Negligence can deprive your infant of enough oxygen they need for proper development. Besides this, the possibilities of miscarriages, stillbirths, preterm births, and childbirth defects(like heart defects, cleft lip, or cleft palate) are high.
- Furthermore, consuming drugs is also harmful to you as well as your growing child. Severe neglect can affect the health of an infant by becoming vulnerable to the impacts of toxins and chemicals. There can be the risk of placental abruption and preterm birth.
Summing Up
Being pregnant for most women can be a little confusing, particularly if it is the first time. Therefore, seeing a gynaecologist is very important to get the right care and treatment. From the first week till the last trimester of pregnancy, it is the responsibility of every woman to ensure their good health.
So, whether you are planning a pregnancy or maintaining a pregnancy, do consider all the tips mentioned above. Do remember that, a healthy mother always gives birth to a healthy child.
