Health Beauty Tips
1. Be in contact with your doctor or midwife throughout pregnancy
As soon as you get to know that you’re expecting a child, get registered for antenatal care by a trusted physician.
Get an appointment from your GP or a midwife at your local hospital or children’s centre.
You can also register online with any local maternity service.
Early Organisation and care get you good advice for a healthy pregnancy right from the start of the pregnancy. You’ll also get plenty of time to organise your ultrasound scans and other essential tests that are required during pregnancy.
2. Have Healthy and Balanced Diet
Aim a healthy, balanced diet to get proper nourishment for your growing foetus. This means you should have the following:
Have five portions of fruit and vegetables on a daily basis. You can have fresh, canned, frozen, juice or in dried form, all count but the most beneficial is in its fresh state.
Food rich in carbohydrates is Starchy foods, which are bread, pasta and rice. Carbohydrates are essential as they need to make up just over a third of what is eaten. Incorporate whole grain rather than white, because you can get plenty of fibre.
They should be daily servings of protein, which include fish, lean meat, beans, eggs, nuts, and pulses.
You can have Dairy products which are milk, cheese and yoghurt. In case if you are intolerant to lactose then you can substitute it with plant milk.
Fish contains protein, minerals, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids, which are required for the development of the nervous system of your baby.
In case you don’t like fish, you can substitute with nuts, seeds, soy products and green leafy vegetables as they are rich in omega-3 fatty acid.
People say you need to eat for two when you’re pregnant but that’s not true. Because you don’t need any extra calories during the first six months of pregnancy.
During the last three months, you need to increase 200 calories a day.
Stay hydrated because it helps in healthy blood flow and keeps the system moving. The requirement of water in your body increases during pregnancy which helps you to maintain healthy blood pressure.
Increase your fluid intake and have eight to ten glasses of fluid. You can have just simply water or can substitute it with fruit juices, skimmed or semi-skimmed milk or fresh fruit teas regularly.
3. Take a supplement regularly
You need to take supplements on a regular basis so that there are no fewer nutrients in the body.
Folic acid is needed at least for the first three months and vitamin D is required during the whole pregnancy and beyond.
Folic acid reduces the risk of developing a neural tube defect such as spina bifida. So, it should be consumed on a regular basis.
4. Take care of food hygiene
Wash your hands with soap or any disinfectant before handling food, especially when you come out of the toilet, change a nappy, or handle a pet or play with your pet animal.
Your utensils, boards and your hands after handling raw red meat should be squeaky clean. Raw foods should be separately stored from ready-to-eat foods. Food hygiene is particularly important as you’re pregnant.
Listeriosis can be caused by the bacteria listeria which can lead to miscarriage or it can lead baby being seriously ill after birth.
The following are the list of foods which may contain listeria and it is best to avoid them during pregnancy :
pate of any animal
unpasteurised milk
undercooked and ready to eat meals
Brie which is soft, mould-ripened cheeses.
5. Exercise regularly during pregnancy
It has been proven that regular exercise has many benefits for you, and healthy maintenance of body weight and it is highly beneficial during pregnancy as well therefore your baby needs that extra movement.
6. Stop Caffeine
Too much intake of caffeine increases your risk of miscarriage. Caffeine is an addictive substance which is present in coffee, tea, chocolate, cola, and energy drinks.
It is also suggested by some experts that too much intake of caffeine may contribute to the risk of having a low-birth-weight baby, although to be assured more research is required.
