Pregnancy Tips
Get the best pregnancy information to ensure pregnancy fitness

These Pregnancy Tips remind you what you can do to make a positive difference in your baby, in terms of his temperament, health and brain development. There are honest and invaluable pregnancy tips provided here that are not found in any other pregnancy website.

Here are some pointers on Choosing a meaningful Baby's Name.

Watch this wonderful Ted.com video by Alexander Tsiaras, a mathematician and technologist as he shows fetal development from conception to birth. It is like nothing you have ever seen before.

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Try to be as happy as possible while you are pregnant. No one can have zero stress in their lives, but it can be reduced. Do you know that exercise releases endorphins which relieve the symptoms of stress? Perhaps do yoga during pregnancy or meditate. I found this particularly helpful in clearing my mind when I was pregnant the first time and had tremendous amounts of work stress.

If anything is bothering you, find ways of getting it off your chest. You can confide in your hubby or someone close to you. Especially when you are angry, just express your unhappiness (I am not advocating you quarrel with everyone though! ;D). Just observe the kids around you and you will realize that the moods the mother had when she was pregnant plays a role in the personality and temperament of the child.

Swallowing your anxiety and stress is not good for pregnant moms. Anxiety and pregnancy are a bad combination. The stress hormones produced in your body can cause your baby to be 'calibrated' wrongly and be less able to handle stress in the future. Haven't you noticed that anxious moms seem to produce difficult and fussy babies?

My kids' personalities are a reflection of my moods while I was pregnant. I was very stressed and anxious with my first child, she is now an intense, high-maintenance child. I was extremely angry during my second pregnancy, my second child is very fierce and bad-tempered. My third pregnancy was the happiest and my son is just the sunniest kid around, anything can make him laugh.

Pregnancy Exercises

Have a fit pregnancy by doing sensible pregnancy workouts, even if it is only brisk walking or swimming, try and get out and about. Maybe you can try yoga during pregnancy which is a great way to relieve stress and calm yourself. Remember to do your Kiegel exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. Otherwise after giving birth, some women have experienced the inadvertent, unintentional release of urine when they cough or sneeze. Your baby will also be leaner and healthier in the long run. Click here for a guide on pelvic floor exercises.

Just look at your parents and your parents-in-law, if they have any of the lifestyle diseases such as Diabetes, high Cholesterol and high blood pressure leading to Heart disease, those genes that predispose a person to these diseases are in you or your husband and now the baby. The fruit does not fall too far from the tree. Take precautions now to give your baby a better chance of having a healthy old age. Exercise during pregnancy is particularly important.

I ran up to 4.5km in half an hour on the treadmill while I was pregnant with my first child at up to speeds of 13km/hr right up to the week I gave birth. I don't recommend that anyone do that too, but it is just to show that it is do-able. Please check with your gynaecologist before doing any strenuous sports. The trick is to start exercising even before you get pregnant, your body is already used to the activity.

The womb actually gets more efficient and bigger with each pregnancy, you will notice that the placenta for your second child is bigger than that of your first child. Like a muscle, exercise also causes the placenta to be bigger, providing more nutrients to the baby. Your blood volume actually increases by 50% to support the growth of the baby, and that's why it is also important to make sure you have sufficient iron stores already.

Remember to use a Pregnancy Support Belt when you exercise to help support the weight of your tummy. It makes exercising much less strenuous when the weight of your bump is supported.

Warning Signs :

Stop exercising and see your obstetrician if you notice any of these symptoms -

• Vaginal bleeding
• Decreased fetal movements
• Fluid leaking from the vagina
• Painful womb contractions
• Chest pain or irregular/rapid heart beat (palpitation)
• Dizziness
• Shortness of breath
• Headache
• Calf pain/swelling
• Excessive fatigue

Sports to Avoid during Pregnancy : Scuba diving, Horse riding, Water skiing, Martial arts, Gymnastics, Trampolining, Mountain climbing

Recommended Books :

How to Exercise when You're Expecting: For the 9 Months of Pregnancy and the 5 Months it takes to Get Your Best Body Back by Lindsay Brin or

Exercising through your Pregnancy by James F Clapp. I really enjoyed this book because it had lots of interesting facts in it. Did you know that the East German Olympic team had female athletes who were pregnant during the 1936 Olympics? Their coach had gotten some of them pregnant as a form of blood-boosting. After they won their gold medals and returned home, they aborted the baby!

Pregnancy and Exercise - Walking Programme
Safe Exercise during Pregnancy

Healthy Pregnancy Diet

Lots of women find it hard to keep a meal down during the first and second trimester, that is why it is so important to eat well even before you get pregnant. It is essential to remember not to eat too much fatty foods during the third trimester when the baby is building muscles. The fat is incorporated into the baby's body and might cause the baby to have weight and health problems in the future.

Lean meat and complex carbohydrates should be the order of the day. It is not necessary to eat for two, or you are likely to gain excess weight. If you are pregnant with a boy, you might notice that you are particularly hungry all the time and crave chocolates. Apparently, male fetuses consume more energy than female ones, causing moms to get hungrier faster.

There is no better gift to your child than a healthy lean body that can withstand stresses from the environment. He is able to eat a wider variety of food without the fear of becoming fat and he is less likely to get lifestyle diseases in old age.

Have a Healthy Pregnancy with this detailed Pregnancy diet guide. Return to Pregnancy Tips when you are done reading.

Continue your Prenatal Vitamins

If you have been taking your pre natal vitamins before becoming pregnant, religiously continue to do so. Don't forget your DHA Omega 3 fish oils which are not only good for the baby's brain development, DHA benefits also by improving visual acuity or eyesight in the baby. Furthermore, there is a bonus too for you by improving the health of the mother's heart.

The following are some of the best prenatal vitamins I tried while I was pregnant as well as EPA DHA supplements that I added on just to be extra kiasu.

Best Prenatal Vitamins

Best Prenatal Vitamin -

Blackmores Pregnancy & Breast-feeding Gold

I ate this prenatal vitamin after getting pregnant. I did take prescription prenatal vitamins from my doctor in my previous pregnancies but thought I would try something different.

I did not come across any chewable prenatal vitamins. Anyway, your sense of taste is off during pregnancy and I would rather just swallow the prenatal vitamins than have to taste something strange in my mouth.

I have also never encountered any side effects of prenatal vitamins. I just feel safer than all the necessary vitamins and minerals have been taken and I didn't miss anything.

You can buy prenatal vitamins from most pharmacies and even good supermarkets too. These are also prenatal vitamins with DHA, a plus!

There is a misconception about taking prenatal vitamins for hair growth. Weird, I know. During pregnancy, because of the body producing hormones to maintain the baby, your hair doesn't fall out at the usual rate that it would normally do, so it appears as if the prenatal vitamin causes hair growth, but that is not the actual cause and effect relationship.

Efamol Efanatal Prenatal Vitamin Supplement

This was another brand of pre natal vitamins that I took. Some mothers I know swear by this brand, so I rotated the prenatal vitamins I ate.

These are the top prenatal vitamins with DHA. They are from reliable trusted brands. Prescription prenatal vitamins that you can get from doctors are from the big pharmaceutical companies, so they are the other alternatives. Otherwise I do not dare to try unknown brands during pregnancies.

Prenatal vitamins side effects from contaminated vitamins would be unthinkable and horrifying.

How to pick a good Omega 3 DHA supplement

Always choose a reliable brand. When you are planning to get pregnant, you don't want to learn later that there was some contamination of your nutritional supplements. We have too much to worry about already.

Check the marine fish oil source of your EPA DHA Supplements. It can come from cod fish, salmon, anchovies, sardines or some other nameless fish. I just picked the best source when I was pregnant.

The concentration should be about 200 to 300mg of DHA and EPA specifically. Highly concentrated ones can have even higher than 300mg. Look carefully because X amount of fish oil is not equal to X amount of Omega 3 DHA and EPA.

Omega 3 Benefits

Some fatty acids can be made in the body, however factors such as age, diet and excess saturated fats can reduce the body's efficiency in converting them from food. Omega 3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA are 'good fats' that are essential for life.

They play an important role in helping to maintain brain and eye function. In your unborn baby, they are essential in brain and eye development. DHA supplements support aspects of brain and visual function including learning ability, concentration and coordination.

DHA Omega 3 and AA Omega 6 are important building blocks of the brain, nervous system and eye. In fact, DHA should be taken in pregnancy as it is the most abundant fatty acid in the brain.

EPA Omega 3 and AA Omega 6 fatty acids help in the transmission of messages between nerves. The myelin sheath that coats every nerve cell in the brain is made from LCPuFAs, Long chain Poly-unsaturated Fatty acids.

Evening Primrose Oil benefits

Evening Primrose oil contains the other essential fatty acid, Omega 6 fatty acids, GLA and AA.

GLA helps to relieve or alleviate symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. As stated above, AA plays a crucial role in brain development in babies and children. Most children who display learning disabilities actually have some deficiency in the development of their prefrontal lobe, which is also the seat of our self-control in our brain.

How to pick a good Omega 3 DHA supplement

Always choose a reliable brand. When you are planning to get pregnant, you don't want to learn later that there was some contamination of your nutritional supplements. We have too much to worry about already.

Check the marine fish oil source of your EPA DHA Supplements. It can come from cod fish, salmon, anchovies, sardines or some other nameless fish. I just picked the best source when I was pregnant.

The concentration should be about 200 to 300mg of DHA and EPA specifically. Highly concentrated ones can have even higher than 300mg. Look carefully because X amount of fish oil is not equal to X amount of Omega 3 DHA and EPA.

Omega 3 Benefits

Some fatty acids can be made in the body, however factors such as age, diet and excess saturated fats can reduce the body's efficiency in converting them from food. Omega 3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA are 'good fats' that are essential for life.

They play an important role in helping to maintain brain and eye function. In your unborn baby, they are essential in brain and eye development. DHA supplements support aspects of brain and visual function including learning ability, concentration and coordination.

DHA Omega 3 and AA Omega 6 are important building blocks of the brain, nervous system and eye. In fact, DHA should be taken in pregnancy as it is the most abundant fatty acid in the brain.

EPA Omega 3 and AA Omega 6 fatty acids help in the transmission of messages between nerves. The myelin sheath that coats every nerve cell in the brain is made from LCPuFAs, Long chain Poly-unsaturated Fatty acids.

Evening Primrose Oil benefits

Evening Primrose oil contains the other essential fatty acid, Omega 6 fatty acids, GLA and AA.

GLA helps to relieve or alleviate symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. As stated above, AA plays a crucial role in brain development in babies and children. Most children who display learning disabilities actually have some deficiency in the development of their prefrontal lobe, which is also the seat of our self-control in our brain.

DHA Pregnancy Supplements

I added an EPA DHA booster together with my prenatal vitamins. If I took the prenatal vitamins in the morning, I would take the EPA DHA Fish oil in the evening.

Don't overdose yourself though because high Vitamin A is poisonous to you and the baby.

What is DHA? Decosahexaenoic Acid. This is the most important LCPuFA (Long Chain Poly-unsaturated Fatty Acid), a critical building block for your baby's brain.

This DHA supplement containing DHA, EPA and other essential LCPuFAs in concentrated form is now available from pharmacies. (I used the samples my husband received, he is a doctor).

Audio Stimulation

The fetus experiences the world outside, mostly by the sounds he hears. I was determined that my baby would listen to lots of interesting stuff. I talked to her incessantly, thinking powerful thoughts that I felt would somehow be transmitted to her. I played classical music, the typical stuff like Mozart, Bach and Beethoven. I also listened to the Chinese news and the BBC. I sang children's songs and even played Richard Feynman's Physics lectures to her. I know it sounds extreme, but I remember wanting to get everything perfect and agonizing over lots of things during my first pregnancy.

Remember that baby's ears are still developing until they are about 1 year old. Avoid extremely loud noises as it can damage their ears.

In hind sight, I have to advise soon-to-be moms to relax and enjoy your pregnancy. We are so lucky to be able to carry and bring new life into this world. For the 9 months that the baby is in you, you are really not alone. Of course, after that, it is going to be pretty hard to have any peace and quiet anymore...

If you haven't already done so, watch this Ted.com video by Science writer, Annie Murphy Paul on What we Learn before we are Born.

Sleeping position

Finally just a tip, try not to sleep on your back after the 5th month when you are getting much heavier. Apparently, the weight presses on blood vessels supplying the fetus. This will compromise the nutrients going to the baby. Throughout my pregnancies, I just alternated between sleeping on my left and right sides, surrounded by many pillows to support my back and belly. I even had a wedge pillow just to put under my stomach to support the bump.

I recently discovered the dreamgenii® Pregnancy Support & Feeding Pillow. It looks really comfy, too bad I didn't find it while I was pregnant :-(.

Stock up on all the essentials needed for your motherhood maternity needs and new baby at Mother & Baby Fairs which happen every month or so. You can also find lots of educational materials located all in one venue for convenience.

There is always a Book Fair going on somewhere in Singapore. Get books at steep discounts and there are sometimes even activities available to entertain the kids at the big fairs.

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