Womens health for a healthy pregnancy

Healthy Pregnancy

Womens health and advice:

Womens health is very important to a healthy pregnancy and during the pregnancy. You will receive lots of health advice from family and friends and don’t be put off by inane mumbo jumbo that seems to come with it. This is a time to listen to good old mum and grandma if she is still around as she has probably had to cope with far more womens health hurdles in her days as a young mother than you will ever have to endure.

Healthy Pregnancy And Smoking:

One thing that you definitely have to do once you discover you are pregnant is give up smoking that is if you are a smoker and also to cut out alcohol until after the babies birth. Then if not breast feeding, you can celebrate as much as you like with the champers. It is important to keep in mind a womens health influences the babies health. What your body consumes your unborn baby also consumes at the same time. Cigarette smoking during pregnancy can cause serious health problems in an unborn child. Smoking during the pregnancy has been linked to premature labor, breathing problems, and other fatal illness among infants.

Morning sickness relief:

Morning sickness, If you are like me is very severe and never seems to go away and you always feel nauseous, then try this suggestion that my grandmother gave to me. It won’t work against severe nausea but it certainly did help to settle my stomach down on many occasions.

First thing in the morning drink a cup of black tea or ginger tea when you feel nauseated. Ginger is known to quiet a queasy tummy, taking small sips at a time. At the same time as drinking your tea, nibble slowly on a couple of Sao crackers. If you can’t find Sao’s then some plain dry crackers will do, this helped me with the nausea.

Do not the buy highly salted or cheese crackers as this is not good for the health of the new baby. I don’t know what the crackers do, but they certainly seem to bind your tummy a bit and help with the nausea.

Eat small meals and snacks frequently throughout the day. If your stomach is empty, this can make nausea worse, so try to eat something every two hours or so and stay hydrated. Fluids will help you from getting dehydrated and will soothe the stomach.

Womens health and exercise:

Another important part to a maintaining health during pregnancy is Exercise and diet. If you haven’t been used to a lot of exercise in the past then a short walk is enough to start with. If you are keeping well then you can increase the distance each day, this will help to maintain your body health and benefit the babies health.

I had nausea and sickness that lasted forever with my pregnancies, I always felt better if I could have a walk each day. Don’t go overboard with trying for the big Power Walks as you don’t need it  when in fact a nice brisk walk is just as good and much easier on you. I always felt better if I could have a walk each day. I even went and learnt to play golf during my first pregnancy. Nothing fancy at the big golf courses. Just a small nine hole course that we could play at our own rate.

Pregnant food:
You need to check your diet and if in the past you have not been that good at looking after yourself by eating a good healthy diet, now is the time to turn over a new leaf. You need food that is rich in Folic Acid so get all the information you need on these. You don’t need to go to the expense of buying books on healthy pregnancy or any other pregnancy subject as everything you need to know is probably available online and can be downloaded in a flash.

Raw foods:
While you are pregnant, forget the uncooked or raw foods, apart from fruit and vegetables as it’s important to make sure that your food is properly cooked so it will kill any bacteria. Foods such as poultry, pork, seafood and meat, especially need to be properly cooked.

Try to go for organic products if available as these will not have any chemicals or pesticides in them that can prove harmful to the babies health. If you cannot get organic foods, then make sure you thoroughly wash all fruit and vegetables before use, especially if eating raw. Try to avoid fish that are known to have high levels of mercury. Mercury is something that can be transferred to your baby, so be aware of this when choosing certain fish.

Food allergies:
It has been proven that someone with food allergies can transfer that allergy to their new baby so if you or the new baby’s father have any food allergies. It is advisable to check with an allergy specialist for advice on planning a sensible diet during your pregnancy and afterwards if you are still breastfeeding. Don’t forget that anything you eat will get transferred to the baby through your milk.

Baby sleep:
Now is also a great time for catching up on sleep and light exercise. If you are used to surviving on very little sleep or loved partying all night long, then it may take you a little longer to adjust to a normal sleep pattern again.

Just remember that in a few months you will be wishing you had a few more hours of sleep a day, the babies sleep patterns will not be the same as what you are used to, so enjoy it while you can. Your body will be going through some incredible changes and you need to be aware that your hormones will be out of whack for some time now so relax and enjoy your quiet moments to yourself.

Look on it as having time to do all the things you haven’t been able to in the past or won’t get time for in the future. Use your bathroom as your own special ‘SPA’ and lay back in your bath filled with lovely scented bath and body oils. Light some aromatherapy candles and/or burners and just let your mind take you away to another place.

I hope these few words have helped with health issues during your pregnancy. Hopefully the nausea of morning sickness will not take away the joy of the new baby to come.

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