How to Practice Self-Care During Your Pregnancy

Taking care of your baby while you’re pregnant is important, but it is equally as important to practice self-care during your unplanned pregnancy. When you find out you’re pregnant, a million questions may be running through your head: How can I make sure my pregnancy is as smooth as possible? What measures can I take to ease my pregnancy? How can I help make sure that my baby is healthy?  One of the easiest steps you can take to help ease your worries is to begin thinking about your own health and how you can take measures to improve it. Your health is paramount for the healthy development of your child. As such, here are a few ways you can improve your overall health to help your pregnancy.  

If you need help with adoption now, you can call us at 945-444-0333, text us at 945-444-0333, or email us here.

Stop The Use of Any Drugs or Narcotics During Pregnancy

If you are a smoker, you may want to consider stopping your smoking habit while pregnant. The act of smoking includes using e-cigarettes and tobacco products that contain nicotine. According to the CDC, smoking while you are pregnant can increase the risk of health problems for your newborn, such as low birth weight or birth defects of the mouth and lip. In addition, if you choose to smoke during or after your pregnancy, your choice can greatly increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Although it may be hard to stop smoking, it is still possible, and there are many resources available to help you. If you are planning to get pregnant, it is best that you quit smoking before you get pregnant. However, if you are currently pregnant and are a smoker, you should stop smoking for your baby’s health. One resource to help you stop smoking is your doctor. 

Drug use is not recommended during your pregnancy because it can affect the health of your baby. One such drug that should be avoided during your pregnancy is marijuana. Although more research needs to be done on the effects of marijuana use on the health of a fetus, the CDC still recommends that expecting mothers avoid the usage of marijuana. Another common drug to avoid using is opioids, which are commonly used to manage pain, but the usage of opioids can easily lead to addiction. Prescription opioids may be prescribed to patients who are in extreme pain, but getting off the medication can be extremely difficult for some people. Using opioids during your pregnancy can have serious side effects for your baby, such as a stillbirth or maternal mortality. Another side effect of the usage of opioids during pregnancy is neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), which is when a newborn experiences withdrawal symptoms after being exposed to drugs from the mother.  

Although it may seem difficult to stop using drugs during your pregnancy, it is possible. If you hope to get pregnant and use drugs, you should stop any drug usage to ensure a healthy pregnancy and delivery. There are resources available to help you get off of drugs. Speak to your adoption caseworker for more information.

Eating Well and Plenty of Exercise Will Promote a Healthy Pregnancy

It is well known that a healthy diet is one of the best ways to keep yourself in shape, but some people don’t realize that a healthy diet is just as crucial for your baby’s health during your pregnancy. A nutritious diet is linked to proper brain development, and it can greatly reduce the risk of birth defects. Beyond the benefits for your child, a nutritious diet will improve your overall mood and reduce common symptoms of pregnancy, such as morning sickness or fatigue.  

One measure you can take to improve your overall diet is to eat a variety of foods. A variety should be some foods from each food group, like vegetables and grains. When picking up groceries, you should be considerate of added sugars, saturated fats, and sodium because eating less of these will improve your diet. If you do decide to snack, try to eat fruits or fat-free yogurt instead of refined grains and starches, like cookies. If you want to try and incorporate more fish into your diet since it does have a lot of healthy fats, you should try to choose fish that are low in mercury because ingesting even small amounts of mercury can harm or hinder the development of your child.  

 A healthy diet is important, but getting some exercise is equally as important. Before you start exercising, you should reach out to your obstetrician in your early prenatal appointments to check if you can exercise. Exercise does not increase the risk of miscarriage or low birth weight. However, exercise does do for you is reducing back pain, and it also helps you maintain healthy weight gain as you progress through pregnancy. Some safe exercises you can do during your pregnancy are as follows: 

• Walking  
• Swimming  
• Stationary bicycling  

These exercises are easy on the joints and reduce the risk of injury, which is extremely important to keep in mind because you have to worry about your own body and the body that is forming inside you.  

 Pregnancy Self-Care During the  Adoption Process in Texas

If you are finding yourself unexpectedly pregnant and wanting to put your child up for adoption, Adoption Choices of Texas can help you through the process. If you are finding yourself unable to practice self-care during your pregnancy, our private adoption agencies have resources available if you need financial aid or counseling. We make sure your living expenses are met so that you don’t have to worry about it while you focus on your pregnancy. To get help with your adoption in San Antonio or adoption in Texas, fill out our contact form or call/text 945-444-0333. 

As an expectant woman or birth parent, to learn more about adoption, contact Adoption Choices of Texas. You can call us at 945-444-0333, text us at 945-444-0333, or email us here. If you are hoping to adopt, please visit us here. We look forward to helping you through your adoption journey!

Adoption Choices of Texas es la única agencia de adopción con servicios completamente en esapñol en el estado de Texas. Si está embarazada y necesita ayuda, llámenos o envíenos un mensaje de texto y uno de nuestros especialistas en adopción podrá ayudarlo. Para obtener más información sobre el proceso de adopción como una mujer embarazada o una madre biológica, comuníquese con Adoption Choices of Texas. Para español llamar: 888-510-5029

Meet the author: Victoria is a sophomore at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and she is currently a Literature, Media, and Communications major. She currently runs her own blog, where she shares her poetry and creative writing projects. When she is not working or studying for school, she is often reading or writing, as she seeks to pursue a career in writing.