Many people think that during pregnancy everything has to change. Fortunately, this is not the case. There are a lot of things that you did prior to falling pregnant that you won’t have to change at all during pregnancy.

Some of the following are concerns for a lot of mothers when they first fall pregnant and wonder if they can continuing with their daily activities during pregnancy.

Exercise

It’s great for mum to continuing exercising during pregnancy as it helps to keep her fit and healthy and ready for the marathon that is labour and birth. Walking, jogging and cardio exercise are all fine to do during pregnancy, so long as you were already doing it prior to the pregnancy. If you decide to start exercising once pregnant, that’s fine, but check with your doctor first about where you should start.

Alternatively you might like to do some specific pregnancy exercise classes. The two main options are water aerobics and prenatal yoga. Both are great exercise programs to get into during pregnancy as they are low impact but great for keeping you fit. Just make sure that if you decide to join a yoga class, you check that it is pregnancy friendly and if it’s not, let the instructor know that you are pregnant as some of the exercises might need to me modified to suit you.

Going out with friends

Some people worry about going out with their friends during pregnancy, particularly as they get closer to their due date, but as long as you are comfortable it’s perfectly fine to go out with friends. Going to concerts is still great fun when you’re pregnant as long as you’re not in the mosh pit getting bumped about. Going shopping can be more fun with friends during pregnancy as there’s an extra little person for you to spoil!

One recommendation is that as you near your due date you don’t stray too far from the hospital just in case you go into labour. In saying that, there’s no reason why you can’t go for an hour’s long drive with your partner or a friend, as long as there is someone with you to drive you back home if contractions start.

Going to work

Unfortunately during pregnancy it’s still perfectly fine for you to go to work, as long as you’re not a deep sea diver or sky diving instructor! More often than not, the concern for most women working during pregnancy is tiredness. If you’re on your feet at work all day you will want to make sure you rest up when you get home of an evening. Whilst you might not want to and would prefer to put your feet up at home, working during pregnancy is quite alright.

Eating the foods you enjoy

During pregnancy you will hear lots of people telling you what you can and can’t eat. There are some foods that should be avoided during pregnancy (including but not limited to deli meats, soft cheeses and soft serve ice cream), most of your day to day foods are perfectly fine for you to eat. Left overs for lunch are even perfectly acceptable as long as they are stored in the fridge right away and heated until they are piping hot.

Having sex

There are very few reasons why sex should be avoided during pregnancy and unless your doctor specifically tells you otherwise, you can still enjoy sex with your partner for the whole time you are pregnant. Towards the end of the pregnancy when you are feeling very big and uncomfortable you may need to alter your positions, but there is no reason that you need to stop enjoying a full and happy sex life during pregnancy.

Looking gorgeous

Maternity fashions have come a long way since our mothers were pregnant with us. Gone are the days of huge flowery dresses that look like sacks. Most large ships like Target and Big W etc carry a nice range of maternity clothes at decent prices or you can look into more specialized maternity fashion boutiques in real life or online. Whichever way you go, during pregnancy you can still look and feel great.

You can also continue to have your manicures and acrylic nails done and your hair and eyebrows dyed. Both are perfectly safe during pregnancy, though you need to be aware that both your hair and nails are likely to grow much faster when you are pregnant so you might need to make your appointments closer together. One consideration you might need to think about though is the smell of the salon, sometimes the chemical smells will affect your morning sickness so make sure you are ok for a little while before sitting down to a two hour hair appointment.

There are however still a few things that are not recommended during pregnancy, the main two being smoking and drinking alcohol.

Smoking

We all know that smoking at any time is dangerous to your health, but smoking during pregnancy affects not only your health, but your baby’s health as well. Smoking during pregnancy reduces the amount of oxygen that can get to your baby and can cause miscarriage and brain damage. Your baby may be premature and have a small birth weight as well as being at risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

It is advisable to quit smoking prior to falling pregnant, but if you find yourself unexpectedly pregnant before you have quit, you can still do so during pregnancy. Recent research has found that using a nicotine patch during pregnancy is safer as only one of the chemicals (ie nicotine) are getting into your blood stream, as compared with a multitude of others whilst actually smoking a cigarette. Please see your doctor if you are pregnant and want to quit smoking for some advice on how to proceed.

Drinking

Depending on which article you read, research is pretty divided about what is a safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy. We all know that in excess alcohol is very dangerous to the baby, but most women will wonder at some point during their pregnancy if they are able to safely have a glass or wine, especially if they are pregnant over the festive period.

You might like to abstain completely or you might choose to have a glass of wine here or there, just remember that drinking excessive amounts of alcohol during pregnancy is dangerous to your growing baby.

Most people think that pregnancy signs are unmistakable and many women ‘just know’ when they are pregnant. But other times, pregnancy can come as quite a shock and those who have ‘symptoms’ were not even aware. There are a few common symptoms you could have to show you are pregnant.

The most obvious sign is if you miss your menstrual period. Although this is a common sign something is not as normal, it is not the only sign to say that you may be pregnant. Women can skip their cycle for a number of reasons and it may not be that you are pregnant.

Nausea is another common symptom women get whilst pregnant. Morning sickness is common among half of pregnant women and can occur at any time of the day. The sickness is usually brought on suddenly and can last for the first few weeks.

Another early sign of pregnancy is tender nipples and breasts. This tender felling usually disappears once your hormone levels have become accustomed to your body and the baby begins to grow.

If you have frequent urination and a high body temperature, it could also mean you are pregnant. Women often experience more urination as the changes in hormone levels produce the need to go. Body temperature may be high due to an increase at ovulation and may stay high for the first few weeks of pregnancy.

Weeks one to 12: Pregnancy Trimester One

The first and most prominent pregnancy symptom is a missed menstrual cycle. You may see pinkish or brownish discharge that varies in colour and lightness. Other pregnancy symptoms include nausea, frequent urination, darker areolas, fatigue, heartburn, headache, mood swings and constipation.

Weeks 13 to 26: Pregnancy Trimester Two

As you progress through the second trimester, you will experience frequent kicking movements from the growing foetus. You will also gain weight, your breasts will grow and there may be discharge from your nipples. You may also sweat more than usual and notice dark lines develop on your skin between the navel and pubic area. The skin on your stomach will begin to stretch at this time.

Weeks 27 to 40: Pregnancy Trimester Three

The last 13 weeks of pregnancy involve having the body change to prepare for labour. The child will also grow large enough to be seen more clearly during the CAT scan. You will see your navel pushing out and will experience backaches. There will be some changes in how you walk to accommodate the weight of your child.

Exercise is highly recommended for pregnant women as it helps prepare the body for the demands of a changing body and labour. The most popular exercise routines for women include swimming and brisk walking as well as special yoga classes, tai chi and pilates.

One of the lesser-known exercises that can work wonders for pregnant women is abdominal exercise. Although it may sound drastic, abdominal exercise during pregnancy yields good results. The abdominal muscles play a major role during childbirth and thus abdominal exercise during pregnancy reduce the ‘diastasis recti’ effect whereby the abdominal muscles get separated during pregnancy. Abdominal exercise during pregnancy will also reduce the likelihood of back pain by strengthening back muscles.

Before beginning abdominal exercise during pregnancy, it is worth discussing it with a doctor. Most doctors tell pregnant women to never engage in ‘lying face up’ exercises during the first trimester of the pregnancy period. The ideal routine is one that comes recommended by a doctor, as they will have a number of appropriate abdominal exercise routines to share.

Abdominal exercise during pregnancy has a number of benefits, including improved resistance to fatigue, improved posture, less ability to gain body fat, better sleeping habits, stronger back muscles, physical preparation for labour as well as faster recovery after labour.

Like many issues to do with pregnancy, recommendations have changed on how much salt should be in your diet. Advice on this issue has taken a complete turn around from that given in the past.

Do not limit your sodium intake

You may have family and friends telling you that you need to limit your sodium intake during pregnancy as it was once thought to contribute to water retention and bloating. Now, experts believe the opposite – you should increase your sodium intake for a number of reasons, one being that it could actually be beneficial in helping maintain adequate fluid levels.

In a nutshell, progesterone level in your pregnant body causes an increased sodium content in your urine. You essentially wee out more salt when pregnancy. This needs to be replaced.

Sodium should not be restricted during pregnancy your doctor put you on a low sodium diet for specific medical reasons.

Iodine is important too

Pregnant women need higher levels of iodine, as a lack of this nutrient can retard normal development in a baby. Your body need it too to make essential thyroid hormones. If these are missing you can end up with an enlarged thyroid gland (goiter).

Not all salts are the same

Saying you need more sodium and iodine does not mean you can suddenly load up on junk and processed foods.

Standard table salt is chemically cleansed, highly refined, and contained in virtually every processed food you buy. Essential minerals are stripped during the processing to the point that iodide has to be added back in to prevent goiter as mentioned above.

Alternatively, unrefined sea salt is a naturally occurring complex of sodium chloride. Without all the processing, using sea salt means your body benefits from the inclusion of major minerals such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, and around 80 essential trace minerals.

So replace your table salt with sea salt but make sure it is genuine. Real sea salt is rarely white in colour, so choose products with differing colours as it is an indication of the salt’s mineral content.

In moderation

So, feel safe in the knowledge that you need some good salt in your diet. However, like many things in pregnancy, this should be done in moderation. The amount recommended to consume each day is quite small and therefore measured in micrograms. It is recommended that you consume 220µg of salt during pregnancy and 270µg while breastfeeding per day.

If you are pregnant with your second baby you already know it is tougher second time round when you have a rambunctious toddler to keep up with. Those opportunities to rest when you need to are gone. Being tired all the time isn’t a happy or healthy situation for you and the rest of your family who may end up on the receiving end of your crankiness.

Here are some tips to getting your rest, important for a healthy pregnancy, during your busy days with your toddler.

1. Rest when your toddler is resting

You would have heard a million times the saying “mother sleeps when baby sleeps” and may have struggled to stick to it, thinking you could handle the sleep deprivation. Now, during pregnancy, it is quite important to force yourself to sit down, forget about the mounting chores, and rest while your toddler is resting.

2. Let others do the entertaining

Meet up with your friends who have kids as much as possible so your toddler can play with their kids while you try and sit back and relax.

Invite them around to your place as understanding friends will be more than happy to lend a hand in the entertaining.

Or, meet up in an indoor playground or fenced outdoor playground so your toddler can burn off energy while you sit and watch.

3. Encourage low intensity activities together

Precious time together with just you and your toddler will soon be in short supply. Take advantage of the time by engaging in activities that are restful for you but stimulating for your toddler like colouring in, making play dough together and then mucking around with it, doing puzzles, etc.

4. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself and your toddler to be ‘ready’

Minimising stress is important for a healthy pregnancy. You may have devised a To Do list in your head of where you would like your toddler to be by the time your new baby arrives, such as being potty trained.

However, a new baby in the house is notorious for unsettling a toddler. So, along with a commitment to what you are trying to do, like getting out of nappies, you also need a good dose of commonsense and flexibility. Don’t put pressure on yourself with a rigid approach to meet an impending date, where the new arrival may set all your progress back anyway; it will be doomed to frustration and stress.

Fish is often cited as a super food and is important for your pregancy. Oily fish are rich in Omega-3, a fatty acid that is essential for our health and important for brain growth, the nervous system and eye development for your baby.  It cannot be made by your body itself so needs to be sourced by food. It is recommended that during pregnancy and when breast feeding women take in about 500 milligrams of marine sourced Omega-3 daily.

However, eating some oily fish pose serious risks to your pregnancy. Both the Heart Foundation and Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) express concern for pregnant women regarding the heavy metals that make their way into fish, in particular, mercury. See FSANZ’s advice here.

Certain varieties of fish need to be taken in moderation to ensure high levels of mercury do not enter your body and thus your baby. It is advised to avoid these large fish as they are identified as potential mercury donors:

• Marlin
• Broadbill
• Flake (shark)
• Swordfish

In addition, catfish and sea perch need to be consumed in moderation.

Even canned fish has its problems, as Bisephenol (BPA) used to line the tin of canned fish has been linked to a variety of health problems and should be avoided as much as possible.

So, this is all getting confusing. On one hand we are advised to intake marine Omega-3, and on the other, warned of associated health issues. Here is ways to safely eat fish to get your important supply of Omega-3:

1. Consume any fish not listed above two to three times a week. Here is five oily fish that are small and considered a low mercury risk:

• Atlantic and Australian salmon
• Fresh rainbow trout
• blue-eye trevalla
• blue mackerel
• sardines

2. Limit fish to a serving size of around 150 grams.

3. An alternative would be one serving only of sea perch per week, and no other fish for that week, or one serve per fortnight of flake, billfish, marlin and broadbill per fortnight and no other fish for that fortnight.

This will provide adequate Omega-3 and help protect you and your baby from high mercury levels.

Our article here has some good tips on what to think about when exercising your post-baby body. In particular we mentioned resistance training as an excellent way to build-up muscle mass.

Following is a small work out that uses core body weight as the resistance to strengthen your whole body and burn plenty of calories. It is recommended by physiotherapists that you do not lift anything heavier than your baby so using your own body as a weight is a safe option.

As finding time to look after yourself is now more of a challenge, this workout is very convenient. It can be done in around 10 minutes at home with no equipment needed.

1. Do 20 squats

• Hold onto something sturdy at waist height, like the kitchen bench, with both hands.
• Have your feet at shoulder width apart.
• Using the support to do a slow squat focusing on only using the thigh muscles and not using any momentum to make the movement.
• Push from the heels when you are moving back up to a standing position.

2. Do 10 – 15 lunges on each leg

• Stand with your feet at shoulder width apart.
• Bring your right foot forward and place the ball of the foot down.
• Press down firmly on the heel of the foot making sure your toe doesn’t go further forward than your knee.
• Lower your body down as far as you feel comfortable with your shoulders back and head up.
• Bring the leg back in.
• Repeat on with your left leg.

3. Do 10 – 15 push ups

If you can’t do a single floor push up, try modifying the following steps to start with your knees bent.

• Lie face down on the floor.
• Flex your feet so your toes are on the floor pointing toward your upper body.
• Place your hands on the floor close to you with your palms at chest level and your fingertips at shoulder level.
• Look forward, not down at the floor.
• Slowly push up using the strength in your arms keeping your body straight.
• Hold the position for a few seconds.
• Lower yourself to the ground.

4. Rest 1-2 minutes, and then repeat steps 1 to 3 two more times

Don’t forget about your pelvic floor. It is recommended you keep these exercises up for the rest of your life. Read our article here on recommended pelvic floor exercises.

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Getting enough sleep is something most people worry about after the baby is born. But getting enough sleep during pregnancy, making sure you are rested and ready for the endurance event that is giving birth, can also be a bit of a challenge. In the third trimester you may be feeling pretty uncomfortable so here are some tips on getting a good night’s rest.

1. Keep cool

As we head into the cooler months keep in mind that your body is running at a hotter temperature than normal. Try not to overheat with your winter doona by keeping your bedding lighter than you normally would at this time of year.

2. Get comfortable sleeping on your side

Obviously sleeping on your stomach is impossible. Sleeping on your back is risky as it can dangerously constrict a major blood vessel as well as put too much pressure on your intestines and back.

That only leaves sleeping on your side. Try placing a pillow between your legs or underneath your stomach and spreading out your legs to help feel more comfortable.

3. Keep evening drinks to a minimum

Getting up in the night for a wee is pretty much impossible to avoid, but if you limit your drinks for a few hours before bedtime you may have to get up fewer times during the night.

However, it is important that you stay properly hydrated during pregnancy, so make sure to drink extra during the rest of the day to make up for what you don’t drink in the evening.

4. Keep the lights down

When you do get up for the inevitable wee, try not to turn any lights on. Staying in semidarkness will help your body stay in sleep mode so use a little torch to find your way to the bathroom.

5. Relax

Going to bed with your mind racing thinking about everything that is to come may make it difficult to fall asleep. Try to relax and turn your mind off with a warm bath, a bit of yoga, or a good book (that is not about pregnancy!).

Step 1. Put a collection of berries in a bowl

Besides being a delicous sweet hit without the refined sugar, berries are especially good for you and your baby. Fresh berries can be expensive and hard to find out of season, so buy more economical frozen mixed packets from your supermarket.

Look especially for strawberries which are a natural source of folate. This B group vitamin is vitally important in preconception and the first trimester to help prevent neural tube defects, including spina bifida.

Also, make sure you include blueberries. They are known as a super food due to their extremely high nutritional value and long list of healthy vitamins and minerals.

By eating fresh or frozen berries you’ll be eating a food in its whole, natural state. When these foods are well chewed digestive enzymes are released and the body can extract the maximum health benefits from them.

Step 2. Mix in some high quality natural yoghurt

You’ll already know that you need to increase your calcium intake during pregnancy. Yogurt made from pasteurised milk is safe to eat during pregnancy. It is not like soft cheeses which you also know to avoid, the bacteria in yoghurt is similar to that which is normally present in your digestive system. Yoghurt is also a good source of B vitamins, protein, and potassium.

Step 3. Finely chop up about 40g of some rich, dark chocolate and sprinkle on top

Check out our post on why dark chocolate is good for you and your pregnancy. It’s true! The darker the chocolate the better – buy high quality chocolate made up of at least 70% cocoa.

Step 4. Sit down, relax and enjoy your desert!