It is always important to take whatever steps you can to be healthy, but while you are pregnant it is even more important: not only do you need to take good care of yourself, you are also profoundly affecting the life of another person – your baby. Here's 7 tips to help you along the way.
1.If you smoke, one of the most important things you can do is to stop smoking: babies born to mothers who smoke have a lower average birth weight, are more likely to be born prematurely, and are at greater risk of death from sudden infant death syndrome than babies of non-smokers. Sometimes mothers feel having a low birth weight baby could be an advantage as it will make the baby easy to deliver. This is not necessarily the case, as it may lead to an emergency delivery, which can result in all sorts of complications. Even if you are already pregnant, stopping smoking will benefit the baby for the rest of your pregnancy. It is not only the baby who benefits. You are likely to suffer from less morning sickness, experience fewer complications and have a more contented baby after the birth.
2. It is also important to pay attention to your diet. Many women feel they should ‘eat for two’, but research has shown that women only need an extra 200-300 calories a day while pregnant, and you may be eating those extra calories anyway. What is important is to ensure that you get the protein, vitamins and minerals necessary to build another human being. Those extra 200-300 calories should not be squandered on chocolate or crisps, but should be eaten as fruit, vegetables, etc. It is also important to increase your water intake, which will help avoid constipation.
3. It is generally a good idea to take a good quality multivitamin and mineral supplement too. There are now ones specially formulated for pregnant women. Ideally these should be started before you become pregnant, so that you are in the best shape possible for the pregnancy, and then continued throughout your pregnancy. An adequate supply of vitamins and minerals is important right from conception. For example, a deficiency of one of the B vitamins, folic acid, in the first month of pregnancy may lead to the baby being born with a cleft lip, congenital heart disease or spina bifida. Omega-3 fatty acids (obtained by eating oily fish, flaxseed oil, walnuts, spinach and spirulina, or taken as a supplement) are important for the development of the baby’s eyes and brain. Omega-3 also reduces the risk of premature birth and post-natal depression.
4. Nobody knows how much alcohol it is safe to consume during pregnancy, so many health experts feel it is better to avoid alcohol entirely for the sake of the baby. This can seem hard on the pregnant woman when everyone else is drinking, but it is important to remember that alcohol is a poison for the growing baby, and no caring mother willingly gives her baby poison.
5. Pregnancy is not a time to sit still. Although adequate rest is vitally important, most experts believe that healthy pregnant women should be taking 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day.
6. It is also important to minimise exposure to toxic chemicals while pregnant, so spending a lot of time painting the house and laying new carpets is not a good idea, especially in the early stages of pregnancy when the baby is particularly vulnerable.
7. Many women find pregnancy stressful, and this can be a particularly good time to turn to safe, non-invasive options such as Bach flower remedies, homeopathy, kinesiology and other therapies.
Making a new life is something miraculous. Doing the best you can for that new life starts long before you have the baby in your arms for the first time.
About the author:
Jane Thurnell-Read is an author and researcher on health, allergies and stress. She has written two books for the general public: "Allergy A to Z" and "Health Kinesiology". She also maintains a web site http://www.healthandgoodness.comwith tips, inspiration and information for everyone who wants to live a happier, healthier life.
Flattering Styles For
Women With Curves
by: Her Plus Life
Are you one of those fabulous women that has curves, and you would like
to know a fun way of showing them off? There are several ways to make your
figure look the way that you want. It is all in the manner that you carry
yourself. Being confident and following a few basic rules on how to dress
will make you look like the woman you want to be.
The first rule is to go out and buy the correct size bra. A good bra
will make your outfits look the way that they should. Having curves is a
wonderful thing to have, but you need to know how to make them fit right
with your clothing style. It is amazing what a great bra can do for your
figure.
The second rule is buying clothes that are the right size for you. So,
go ahead and throw away all those clothes that are too baggy on you. Say
hello to a more fun, alive figure. Stop hiding it. Wearing sizes too big
or small for your body frame will only accentuate your weight, and not
your lovely curves. You do not want to wear shapeless styles. Try wearing
semi-fitted separates. It will make you look taller and thinner, and make
it look like you have a more sculpted waist. Wear tops that just skim your
waist and hips. Jackets should be worn just to the length of your
fingertips. As for your bottoms, select clothes that tend to taper
downwards. It will look better than other styles. Skirts will look good if
they are not too high. If you can sit in your skirt without it ridding up
on you, then you are all set. Shift dresses are great especially with a
round neckline. It will even out your proportions wonderfully.
The third rule is not to wear anything that is too bold, and that calls
extra attention to yourself. That means no super bold prints, no big patch
pockets, no oversized buttons or bows, and no horizontal patterns. You
want to wear a nice crisp line of color, and then accessorize with just a
few simple accessories such as jewelry or a scarf. Sometimes even just
wearing one solid color all over is great look. It will add height to your
frame, and shrink your width.
The last rule is very easy. You should buy the best quality that you
can afford. Quality fabrics can make all the difference in how you look.
Fine fabrics look better than stiff fabrics that can add inches onto your
body. In addition, well-made clothes will hold their shape better. Better
shape will improve your shape too. If you follow all these rules, you will
look and feel better. So go out, and let your light shine. Better clothes,
for a better you!
Afrikaans 
Albanian 
Amharic 
Arabic 
Armenian 
Azerbaijani 
Basque 
Belarusian 
Bengali 
Bosnian 
Bulgarian 
Catalan 
Cebuano 
Chichewa 
Chinese (Simplified) 
Chinese (Traditional) 
Corsican 
Croatian 
Czech 
Danish 
Dutch 
English 
Esperanto 
Estonian 
Filipino 
Finnish 
French 
Frisian 
Galician 
Georgian 
German 
Greek 
Gujarati 
Haitian Creole 
Hausa 
Hawaiian 
Hebrew 
Hindi 
Hmong 
Hungarian 
Icelandic 
Igbo 
Indonesian 
Irish 
Italian 
Japanese 
Javanese 
Kannada 
Kazakh 
Khmer 
Korean 
Kurdish (Kurmanji) 
Kyrgyz 
Lao 
Latin 
Latvian 
Lithuanian 
Luxembourgish 
Macedonian 
Malagasy 
Malay 
Malayalam 
Maltese 
Maori 
Marathi 
Mongolian 
Myanmar (Burmese) 
Nepali 
Norwegian 
Pashto 
Persian 
Polish 
Portuguese 
Punjabi 
Romanian 
Russian 
Samoan 
Scottish Gaelic 
Serbian 
Sesotho 
Shona 
Sindhi 
Sinhala 
Slovak 
Slovenian 
Somali 
Spanish 
Sundanese 
Swahili 
Swedish 
Tajik 
Tamil 
Telugu 
Thai 
Turkish 
Ukrainian 
Urdu 
Uzbek 
Vietnamese 
Welsh 
Xhosa 
Yiddish 
Yoruba 
Zulu
