Just found out you’re pregnant? You’ve got a long nine months ahead of you.
As your little bundle of joy grows, you’ll be prone to oestrogen shifts, mad cravings, mood swings, back pains, tiredness and a whole host of other symptoms, foisting themselves on you like a hormonal variety show.
While this is to be expected, it doesn’t mean you should let your health fade as you roll with the punches. Indeed, pregnant women are deemed more at risk of illness and infection than most other groups, according to international body the World Health Organisation (WHO), making good health your number one priority.
So, if you’re pregnant, here are some precautions you can take.
Fighting the flu
In that aforementioned WHO report, it is recommended “that pregnant women, or others at higher risk of severe illness and their caregivers, be vaccinated against pandemic influenza and take all the necessary precautions, including hygiene measures, to prevent the spread of illness.”
Indeed, hygiene measures are the perfect way to fight the flu whether you’re pregnant or not. But how do you keep your hygiene in tip-top condition?
Start off with an efficient hand washing regime in a high-quality washroom to keep those digits spick and span. If you allow wet hands to linger, even if you’ve used anti-bacterial wash, an increasing number of germs will multiply, so make sure your hands are as dry as possible after washing.
Stay balanced – despite those cravings
If you’ve got a bun in the oven, you can almost guarantee that unconventional cravings will kick in sooner or later. Whether you’re looking for endless amounts of anchovy pizza, banana ice cream, nettle soup or maybe even all three mixed together, pregnancy is a proverbial hotbed for the weirdest combination of foods possible.
While it’s fine to give in to those cravings every now and again (it’s arguably even healthy to pig out if you’re eating for two), the trick to maintaining a healthy body during pregnancy is to stay on a healthy diet as much as possible.
Naturally, a “pregnant healthy diet” is different to your common-garden diet. Make sure you can make up for the nutrients that sprog growing in your womb will consume. That phrase “You’re eating for two” isn’t a cliché for nothing.
Sleep is the best medicine
Tiredness is the blight of pregnant women, and chronic exhaustion can leave you susceptible to germs at the best of times, let alone if you’re expecting.
The only solution to this is to let your body sleep whenever it’s alerting you. In the context of having a child, sleep is benefiting you and the little one, providing both without time on the go.
Exhaustion will invariably increase as those nine months wear on, but just remember – sleep is usually the best remedy.