10 Tips for Staying Healthy During Pregnancy

“Since 1990, pregnancy rates for married and unmarried women have fallen by about 10 percent each. In the United States, birth rates for women continued to decline throughout 2009, hitting the lowest level over 12 years.”

A woman’s health is vital to her baby’s good health. People who eat well and frequently workout along with good prenatal care are less likely to experience problems during pregnancy. Often they are also more likely to deliver a healthy baby safely.

Below are the 10 tips that might be helpful for a healthy pregnancy:

1. Study as much as you can about the wonderful ways your body changes, and how your baby grows. Chat about conception, labor, and birth with your mother, friends and other women in the family. Go to an early pregnancy workshop to study the birth of a child, read books and watch videos online on normal pregnancy and childbirth.

2. Decide if you want to give birth in a hospital, a birth center or at home. Choose a health care provider who can support you at your chosen venue who will help you to build trust and confidence while pregnancy and childbirth.

3. Follow a well-balanced diet with US guidelines of Agriculture section in mind. Keep your plate colorful — eat plenty of fruits and vegetables daily. Eat seafood for your baby’s brain growth and development every three days a week. Drink six to ten glasses of water and choose (real) fruit juices and skim milk instead of sodas.

4. Stop using things, such as tobacco, alcohol and street drugs, that may be harmful to you and your infant. Do not take any medications, including over-the-counter drugs, before you consult your health care provider about these.

5. Keep going! Start exercising programs that you doing before you were pregnant as per the health care provider’s advice. If you were not into exercises before you became pregnant, consider walking, swimming, prenatal activity or dance classes. Daily, moderate exercise allows labor faster and less stressful, which reduces the risk of an operation via cesareans.

6. Gobble up plenty of rest. Listen to your body and decide whether you need short breaks during the day, and evaluate how many hours of night sleep you need.

7. Have small conversations with your child and cherish the moments of the bond. Evidence now indicates that as early as 10 weeks pregnant, babies respond to the sense of touch. Your baby can respond to light, your talk, music, and other sounds a little later.

8. Handle the stress that you are facing in your life. Keep open contact with your partner. Build the support system. Master yoga, and then practice it. Take a lesson about prenatal meditation.

9. Have a proper plan for giving birth to your kid. Study as much as you can about what childbirth is like to happen at your chosen location.

10. Spend this special time in your life! Your friends and family can help you make the most of this great transition. Have faith in the abilities of your body to develop, nourish and give birth to this infant, just as women have done for centuries.

This article might be helpful for a healthy pregnancy. Read the full article here.