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You can do a lot to ensure a safe and healthy pregnancy for you and your baby.
Eating high fiber foods, including fruits and vegetables, is a great start.
If you have heartburn or morning sickness, try eating smaller meals more often.
Don’t skip breakfast. If you don’t take vitamin and nutrient supplements already, start taking them. You need extra calcium, iron, and folic acid (600 mg a day) to help your baby develop normally.
Eat breakfast every day. If you feel sick to your stomach when you first wake up, choose dry whole-wheat or whole-grain toast, even before you get out of bed. Eat the rest of breakfast (fruit, oatmeal, cereal, milk, yogurt, or other foods) later in the morning. Eat high fiber foods. Whole-grain cereals, vegetables, fruits, beans, whole-wheat bread, and brown rice can prevent constipation. Drinking plenty of water and daily physical activity also can help. Keep healthy foods on hand. A bowl of apples, bananas, peaches, oranges, and grapes makes it easy to grab a healthy snack. Fresh, frozen, and canned fruits and vegetables make healthy and quick additions to meals, as do canned beans.
If you have “morning sickness” (hyperemesis), talk with your health care provider.
You may need to adjust the way you eat and drink, such as by eating smaller meals more frequently and drinking plenty of fluids. Your health care provider can help you deal with morning sickness while keeping your healthy eating habits on track. If you have heartburn during pregnancy, eat small meals more often. Also, eat slowly, avoid spicy and fatty foods (such as hot peppers or fried chicken), drink beverages between instead of with meals, and do not lie down right after eating. Certain foods and beverages can harm your baby if you eat and drink them while you are pregnant. Ask your health care provider for a complete list of foods and beverages to avoid.
You should not consume alcohol. Drink apple cider, tomato juice, sparkling water, or other nonalcoholic beverages. Do not eat fish that may have high levels of mercury, and avoid eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish during pregnancy. Eat no more than 350 grams of any fish per week. You should not eat soft cheeses such as feta, brie, and goat cheese and ready-to-eat meats, including lunch meats, hot dogs, and deli meats. These foods may contain bacteria called listeria that are harmful to unborn babies. Cooking hot dogs, lunch, and deli meats until steaming hot can kill the bacteria and make these meats safe to eat. Avoid eating raw fish such as sushi, sashimi, or ceviche, and raw or undercooked meat and poultry. These foods can contain harmful bacteria. Cook fish, meat, and poultry thoroughly before eating. Stay away from drinking large amounts of caffeine containing beverages. If you drink lots of coffee, tea, or soda, check with your health care provider about cutting back on caffeine. Instead, try decaffeinated versions of your favorite beverages, or warm low fat/fat free milk, or sparkling mineral water.
Sometimes pregnant women crave something that is not food, such as laundry starch or clay. Talk to your health care providers if you have such a craving.
Almost all women can and should be physically active during pregnancy. First, talk to your health care provider — particularly if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, anemia, bleeding, or other disorders, or if you are obese or underweight.
Whether or not you were active before you were pregnant, ask your doctor about a safe level of exercise for you. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderately intense physical activity on most, if not every day of the week as exercise ensures you gain the right amount of weight, boosts your mood, reduces discomfort, and improves sleep. The following are the five steps for safe exercise during pregnancy:
For you and your baby’s health and safety, it is best to avoid the following during your pregnancy:
Even before you become pregnant, exercising and good nutrition are important to your well-being. However, as you become pregnant, you have to do some changes in your eating and exercising habits to accommodate pregnancy.
As a pregnant woman, you need more of certain vitamins, minerals and proteins, including calcium, folic acid, and iron. You need to rest and try not to overdo it. Talk to your doctor to make sure you are getting everything you need for a healthy pregnancy.