Pregnancy | Health Articles | How to Stay Healthy During Pregnancy Part 3

Sleep during pregnancy:

During pregnancy your body will work hard to accommodate the new life. You might feel more tired than usual. Now, more than ever, it will be so important for you to get enough sleep.

Sleeping comfortable may become more difficult as your baby gets bigger. Try lying on your side with your knees bent as pregnancy progresses. This position will also make your heart’s job easier by keeping the baby’s weight from applying pressure to the large blood vessels that carry blood to and from your heart, feet and legs. Additional benefits of lying on your side include:

•   Helping to prevent or reduce varicose veins
•   Help with preventing constipation
•   Preventing hemorrhoids
•   Reduce the occurrence of swelling in your legs

Benefits of sleeping on the left side may include:

•   Help in keeping the uterus off the liver due to the liver being on the right side of the abdomen
•   Optimizes blood flow to the placenta and your baby

You can also create a more comfortable resting position on either side by:

•   Propping pillows between your legs, behind your back and underneath your belly

Are there certain things a pregnant woman needs to avoid?

During pregnancy, you want to be careful about what you put into your body or expose your body to. Some of the most adverse substances to avoid include:

•   Alcohol: Alcohol during pregnancy produces more severe abnormalities in a developing fetus than heroin, cocaine or marijuana.
•   Recreational Drugs: May cause premature birth, poor growth, birth defects, behavior and learning problems, babies addicted to the drugs themselves

If you are a pregnant woman using drugs, a health clinic such as Planned Parenthood can help you find health care providers, who can help you quit the habit and have a healthier pregnancy.

It is important to tell your health care provider if you have used drugs at any time during the pregnancy. Even if you quit, the child could still be at risk for health problems.

Additional substances to avoid include:

•   Nicotine: Risks are stillbirth, prematurity, low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome, asthma and other respiratory problems
•   Caffeine: High caffeine consumption has been associated to an increased risk of miscarriage.

Tips on how to cut back on caffeine consumption include:

•   Cut your consumption down to one or two cups per day
•   Gradually reduce the amount of caffeine you consume by combining decaffeinated coffee with regular coffee
•   Eventually stop regular coffee altogether

Caffeine is found in other products such as:

•   Green and black tea
•   Cola
•   Other soft drinks

You can enjoy chocolate (that contains caffeine) in small servings. An average chocolate bar has 5 to 30 milligrams of caffeine as compared to 95 to 135 milligrams in a cup of brewed coffee. Small amounts of chocolate are fine during pregnancy.

Foods to avoid include:

•   Soft, unpasteurized cheese such as feta, goat, Brie, Camembert and blue cheese
•   Unpasteurized milk, juices, and apple cider
•   Raw eggs or foods containing raw eggs, including mousse, tiramisu, raw cookie dough, homemade ice cream, and Caesar dressing
•   Raw or undercooked meats, fish (sushi) or shellfish
•   Processed meats like hot dogs and deli meats should be well cooked
•   Shark
•   Swordfish
•   King mackerel
•   Tilefish

Cat Litter Box Care

You should also stop cleaning kitty’s litter box. An infection called “toxoplasmosis” can be spread through soiled cat litter boxes. This infection can cause problems that include:

•   Prematurity
•   Poor growth
•   Severe eye and brain damage

An infected pregnant woman may experience no symptoms of “toxoplasmosis,” and still pass the infection to her unborn baby.

From the first week of pregnancy to the last, it is important to take extra steps toward a healthier lifestyle to help protect yourself and your baby.

Source: Nemours Foundation Online

Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All health concerns should be addressed by a qualified health care professional.

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