Infinite Ideas - Healthy pregnancy guide: Simple ideas for stress-free pregnancy

Healthy pregnancy guide

Simple ideas for stress-free pregnancy

Infinite Ideas

Previously published in paperback as Love your bump

8. Beach babe or beached whale?

Avoid eating for two.

Dont look upon pregnancy as a no-holds-barred Im eating for two food fest. For the first trimester (up to 12 weeks) your body only needs about 100 extra calories a day and that amounts to roughly a piece of fruit. During the second and third trimesters, you need about 300 extra calories per day.

Expect to gain around 1116 kg (2535 lb), but do not become fixated on your weight. Women who gain less than 9 kg (20 lb) tend to have smaller babies, who may even be more likely to be born prematurely. Women who gain excessive amounts equally risk their health. The muscles have to work harder the heavier you get, and this may result in back and leg pain, increased tiredness, piles, varicose veins and even complications during delivery.

Of the average of 11 kg (25 lb) of weight gained, roughly 2.53.5 kg (68 lb) is the baby. Your enlarged womb weighs around a kilo and the placenta and amniotic fluid weigh about 500 g each. Another 24 kg of fluid are present as extra blood and fluid, and you carry an extra 2 kg of fat. Around 1.52 kg (34 lb) should be gained in the first trimester, then 5.56.5 kg (1214 lb) in the second. In the last trimester, you should expect to gain around half a kilo a week. This slows off in the last few weeks, and you may find that your weight drops slightly just before delivery.

We worry about our pregnant and postnatal figures because we see celebrities in crop tops parading their neat bumps, then immediately returning to their svelte selves weeks after the birth. Remember: real women cant do this. We dont have personal trainers, chefs and nannies.

Heres an idea for you

Do not go on a crash diet. This can be positively dangerous in the postpartum period when you need optimum nutrition to cope with the stresses of new parenthood.

9. Love the skin youre in

Coping with your hormonal skin

You may find that your skin breaks out more in pregnancy, despite all that clean living as oil (sebum) production increases. You might get spots, particularly in the last trimester. The tiny oil glands (Montgomerys tubercles) around your nipples may also enlarge to help protect your nipples and stop them from drying out during breastfeeding. Things will return to normal after delivery.

Drink lots of water, and eat plenty of vitamin B6-rich foods to help control hormonally induced skin problems. Avoid supplements unless you have consulted your doctor. Do not take any anti-acne prescription drugs during pregnancy: they carry a high risk of causing birth defects.

Increased sweating during pregnancy may result in a sweat rash under your boobs and in your groin. Bathe the area in cool water. You can also sprinkle on cornflour to reduce chafing. As your skin stretches, you may feel generalised itching. Take warm showers and baths rather than hot. If your skin is ultra itchy, dissolve a cup of bicarbonate of soda in the bath water. If the itching is unbearable or you have a persistent rash, contact your healthcare provider.

Stretch marks are small tears made in response to the pulling and stretching your dermis undergoes as you expand. The jury is still out as to whether any of the lotions available effectively reduce them. If you do get stretch marks, try not to worry. They start off red, but fade.

You may also notice a dark line running from your pubes up to your belly button. The line is called the linea nigra, found more often in women with darker skin and hair. Pre-pregnancy, you had an unnoticeable line in the same place. When you are pregnant, you produce more melanin and that causes the line to darken. It usually disappears again after the birth.

Heres an idea for you

Avoid harsh exfoliants, which can aggravate your skin. Make yourself a gentle facial scrub from fine oatmeal mixed with honey and a little water. Press it onto your skin before washing it off with tepid water.

10. Home or away?

How do you know what to choose?

Read about where people give birth, go to hospital and birthing centre open days, and above all, talk to other families about their experiences.

If you decide on a home birth, midwives bring everything that is needed to your home. Statistics show that home births are as safe, or safer, than hospital birth for women with low-risk pregnancies, but the downside is that all the empowerment and decision making now falls on your head. It also means you are committed to managing your own pain although gas and air and injected painkillers are available, an epidural is not.

A midwife-led birthing centre provides an alternative if you are not quite comfortable with home birth, but do not want to give birth in a hospital. If you experience complications during labour, its likely that youll need to be transferred to hospital anyway.

You may decide that you feel safest giving birth in hospital. For example, you have immediate access to emergency care should there be complications. The downside to hospital care is that however well furnished with cushions and duvets, they can seem clinical and even intimidating. You also have less privacy in hospital.

Although you are generally past caring, it may seem as though a never-ending stream of different faces pop in to have a peek at the business end. You can feel less in control during a hospital birth, as your birth is medicalised, and you are more likely to have interventions in hospital such as a drip to accelerate labour, or foetal monitoring. That said, a vocal and well-informed set of parents can still ensure that they have an individual experience. Be prepared to be awkward if necessary: its your birth and your baby.

Heres an idea for you

When you go to hospital appointments, write down your questions so you remember what to ask. Make a flexible birth plan and share it with your carers, and give a copy to them to be attached to your notes.

11. Meet the midwife

Your chance to get answers to all your questions.

Your first antenatal visit, known as a booking-in appointment usually takes place between about eight and twelve weeks of pregnancy and is the longest clinic visit you will experience.

The midwife will ask you a lot of questions to help her assess if your pregnancy is low risk, or if there are any potential problems. She will ask about your general health and your medical history, and the details of any health problems in both your and your partners family, such as heart disease.

She will also ask about your obstetric history any previous pregnancies and pregnancy losses, including those that have been terminated. You will have the opportunity to discuss where you would prefer to have your baby.

Your midwife will also ask about your ethnic origin to assess if you are at any risk of conditions such as sickle cell anaemia.

She will also ask you some questions about your lifestyle. She is not passing judgement, but is highlighting any risks to your baby. This includes whether you smoke or drink, are taking any medication; non-prescription or recreational drugs, and what work you do in case there are any hazards attached.

Your midwife will also want to know the date of your last menstrual period and the length of your monthly cycle. This will enable her to calculate your delivery date. She will also ask which contraception you used before you became pregnant.

A blood sample is taken to test your immunity to rubella, to find out your blood group, your rhesus status and whether you are anaemic. Your blood will also be tested for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B unless you specifically ask not to have these tests.