5 Steps You Can Take to Encourage a Healthy Pregnancy

Each year in the United States, an average of 3.6 million babies enter the world, bringing joy and happiness to millions of families. And you can’t wait to be part of this group as you embark on a pregnancy.

Whether it’s your first time or not, the team of board-certified OB/GYNs here at Bay Area Physicians for Women’s Health wants to share some great strategies that go a long way toward supporting a healthy pregnancy.

Start your prenatal care as soon as you can

The moment you find out (or suspect) that you’re pregnant, it’s extremely important that you schedule your first prenatal visit with us. We hesitate to use scare tactics, but the numbers don’t lie — babies of mothers who don’t avail themselves of prenatal care are five times more likely to die and three times more likely to have low birth weight than those of mothers who do get prenatal care.

Prenatal care is critical for healthy pregnancies as we can carefully monitor your health and the health of your fetus and step in when we spot a potential problem.

It’s never too late to get healthy

During your first prenatal visit, we’re going to give you a long list of dos and don’ts, and we suggest that you follow these recommendations to the letter, especially when it comes to unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking, and drug use, which you should stop immediately.

Even if you've smoked and/or consumed alcohol for decades, stopping the moment you find out you're pregnant is still a beneficial step.

Watch your weight gain

Gaining weight during pregnancy is inevitable, but it’s important that you keep an eye on how much. Your starting weight plays a big role, and here are some guidelines (for a single child):

• If your BMI is under 18.5, we suggest a weight gain between 28 and 40 pounds
• If you have a normal BMI — 18.5-24.9 — the range is 25-35 pounds
• For women who are overweight — a BMI of 25 to 29.9 — we recommend 15-25 pounds
• For women have obesity — a BMI of 30 or higher — the pregnancy gain should be between 11 and 20 pounds

When you come in for your first visit, we’ll give you more precise numbers that are tailored to your starting point and circumstances.

You’re eating for two

It’s all well and good to indulge in some junk food when you’re on your own, but you really are eating for two now. And this second person is trying to grow a body from the ground up, so it’s imperative that you’re supplying the right nutritional resources. So, ditch the junk food, and concentrate on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins.

Of course, an occasional ice cream or cookie won’t hurt, but keep these indulgences to a minimum.

Relax and enjoy yourself

Pregnancy can be stressful, so we urge you to do all that you can to stay relaxed so that you can enjoy this wonderful time. Get out and go for walks with friends (we recommend at least 150 minutes of exercise a week), practice some pregnancy yoga, or curl up with a good book or TV show to keep anxiety and stress at bay.

Between your efforts and our prenatal care, together we can work toward making your pregnancy as smooth and healthy as possible. 

For more questions about your pregnancy or to schedule your prenatal care, please contact our office in Mobile, Alabama.