How to Stay Healthy for a Happy Pregnancy

If you like my content, spread the word!

Pregnancy is a beautiful journey full of anticipation and joy, but it also brings a lot of physical and emotional changes. As an expectant mother, you may be wondering how to stay healthy for a smooth and happy pregnancy. If you’re like most expecting moms, you probably desire to have an overall “good” time across these 9-months.

In this comprehensive guide, I delve into the essentials of a healthy pregnancy to help you carry a baby that’ll develop well.

From understanding the nutritional needs of you and your baby to exploring the exercises that are safe and beneficial during pregnancy, I've got you covered.

With insights from my own experience and research, I provide you with practical tips and suggestions to maintain optimal health and well-being during this wonderful season of life.

So, whether you're a first-time mom or expecting another child, join me on this journey of creating a strong foundation for your baby's well-being.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Please see my full disclaimer for further information.

What Does a Healthy Pregnancy Look Like?

When I got pregnant, I imagined I’d have a healthy pregnancy with zero hiccups. That turned out not to be the case.

Though my morning sickness wasn’t so bad, I did have anemia and gestational diabetes.

Even so, I still had a healthy pregnancy despite being “high-risk.”

A healthy pregnancy is about how you feel throughout the 9 months and whether your baby is developing normally or not.

Really, a better way to consider what’s healthy in pregnancy is to know what’s normal versus abnormal.

Your pregnancy is considered normal if you have some or all of the following:

• Healthy weight gain and growing belly (you’ll get these measurements at your regular prenatal visits)
• Your baby has a normal weight and heartbeat
• Your baby moves regularly and is in the right position by the time you’re in labour
• Some morning sickness during the first trimester
• Some vaginal discharge
• Breast soreness
• Fatigue
• You go to full-term, meaning you give birth between 39 weeks at 40 weeks.

What you need to watch for is extreme weight gain (or not gaining enough), high blood pressure, bleeding or spotting, extreme pain, or anything else that you think doesn’t feel right. If you experience any of these symptoms, be sure to contact your doctor’s office.

Keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all to a healthy pregnancy.

Some moms go to full-term. Some moms don’t, but still have a happy pregnancy and give birth to a healthy baby.

That said, let’s get into some ways you can be as healthy as possible during pregnancy.

1. Consume the Essential Nutrients

Consuming the recommended amount of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals is crucial for the development of your baby’s brain and spinal cord; bones and teeth; circulatory, muscular, and nervous systems; and overall growth.

You also need two times the amount of iron to ensure you have enough blood to deliver oxygen to your baby.

I was anemic during my pregnancy but it was easily managed by taking iron supplements that my doctor prescribed.

Tip: if you do need to take iron supplements, don’t drink orange juice fortified with calcium since it can hinder the progress of the supplements.

Here are some ways you can maintain a healthy diet during pregnancy:

• Eat foods rich in folate: spinach, oranges, dried beans, peas, and asparagus
• Eat foods rich in calcium: low-mercury fish (like Salmon), cheese, milk, yogurt, orange juice, and spinach
• Eat foods rich in iron along with some Vitamin C to better absorb it: poultry, salmon, red meat (occasionally), spinach (again), beans, and tofu are great options for iron in addition to some orange juice or strawberries for added benefits
• Also increase your folate, calcium, and iron intake by taking prenatal vitamins every day, just as you did when preparing for pregnancy
• You can take Vitamin D supplements but you can also get it naturally through salmon, eggs, milk, and orange juice
• Drink about 12 cups of water a day to make up for the increased demand on your body to bring oxygen to and carbon dioxide away from your baby

I recommend making spinach, asparagus, oranges, and strawberries your main choices for vegetables and fruits; salmon, poultry, cottage cheese, peanut butter and beans for protein; cheese, milk, and yogurt for dairy and fats; whole-grain bread, pasta, rice, chickpeas and oats for grains and complex carbohydrates (starch and fibres).

Overall, you don’t need to “eat for two,” you only need to increase your calorie intake by about 300, depending on your pre-pregnancy weight and what your doctor recommends.

2. Don’t Eat or Drink Foods Bad for Pregnant Women

Where there’s the good there’s also the bad.

By eating the foods I recommended, you can steer clear of foods considered unsafe for pregnant women.

Still, you’ll most likely want more variety and wonder if you can eat your beloved sushi or over-easy eggs.

I hate to break it to you but you need to avoid these foods and follow the following guidelines:

• Don’t eat fish high in mercury: it negatively impacts your baby’s brain development, so instead consume salmon, canned tuna, and shrimp to get your Omega-3 fatty acids
• Have less than 300 mg of caffeine per day: heavy consumption increases the risk of miscarriage and low birth weight (keep in mind this includes tea, chocolate, pop, and energy drinks)
• Make sure meat and seafood are completely cooked and if you must eat hotdogs and deli meat, make sure they are heated to 74 °C (165 °F) to prevent Listeria
• Don’t consume unpasteurized dairy products because they can also cause Listeria
• Thoroughly cook eggs to prevent Salmonella
• Don’t eat raw sprouts since they increase the risk of Salmonella and E.coli poisoning
• Avoid herbal teas - some herbal teas like chamomile and peppermint might be safe during pregnancy in moderate amounts but research hasn’t been able to confirm or deny their effects to this date
• Drink zero glasses of wine (research hasn’t found evidence that any amount of alcohol is safe for pregnant women)
• Only indulge in sugary and processed foods sometimes (after all, we can’t get rid of all of our joys during pregnancy!)

I know I just spat out a bunch of facts related to food consumption, but I’m sure you get the picture.

For the most part, you can keep going about your daily food consumption, just make some tweaks!

3. Keep Up With Your Daily Exercise But Talk to Your Doctor First

I’m not going to pretend that I was amazing at keeping up with daily exercise while I was pregnant. Pregnancy was the perfect excuse for me to stop going hardcore.

Because of this, I’m struggling to get back into the habit even 6-months postpartum.

So, what I want for you is to get your daily exercise by having fun and without it being a chore - not to avoid it as much as possible like I did.

There are several ways pregnant women can exercise safely:

• Walking is the easiest way to exercise but is the hardest for me because I find it boring when I don’t have a destination; however, it’s the safest type of exercise for pregnancy and you can make it fun by listening to your favourite podcast or an audiobook
• Swimming is great so long as you don’t push too hard
• Pilates is a good option but you may want to find a class led by someone who is experienced in training pregnant women
• Yoga can be a fun and relaxing activity and is my favourite kind of exercise
• Do daily kegel exercises as well - this is more to prepare your pelvic floor for giving birth but I thought it would still fit in this category

The rule of thumb is to slow down if you can’t speak clearly, a sure sign you’re overexerting yourself.

For the most part, you can just continue exercising as you normally would but watch out for exhaustion. I would tell your doctor about your typical exercise routine and they'll let you know what they want you to steer away from.

4. Be Mindful of Your Environment

Many aspects of our environment can negatively affect our baby’s health.

Did you know that air pollution can increase the risk of a miscarriage, stillbirth, jaundice, and low birth weight?

Though much of the environment is outside our control, there are steps you can take to avoid air pollution:

• Pay attention to the air quality outside and stay indoors when the quality is low
• Avoid smoke by steering clear of areas where people commonly smoke and don’t allow people to smoke inside your home
• Try not to be outside near busy roads
• Stay away from harmful chemicals, pesticides, and toxins: make homemade cleaning supplies and save cat litter duties for someone else

Outside of pollution and toxins, be sure to protect yourself from the sun by wearing sunscreen.

Download this FREE pregnancy guide today if you need support in your pregnancy journey.

5. Get Lots of Sleep

Treasure sleep while it lasts - trust me, you’ll miss it when you realize you’re only getting maybe a couple of hours of quality sleep when the baby arrives.

It’s also crucial for a healthy pregnancy.

So, take a 20-minute nap daily if you feel sluggish and don’t skip getting 8 hours of sleep every night.

Still, getting lots of sleep during pregnancy can be easier said than done.

As your pregnancy progresses, you may find yourself restless due to your kicking baby and the constant need to pee.

You may even feel uncomfortable because you need to sleep on your side and not your back or belly to prevent pregnancy complications.

There are a few ways you can increase your odds of getting quality sleep while pregnant:

• Purchase a pregnancy pillow
• Practice deep muscle relaxation before bed
• Listen to a sleep podcast or follow along with a meditation that lulls you to sleep.

If all else fails and you find yourself sleep-deprived, reach out to your doctor’s office.

6. Don’t Skip Your Vaccinations

Vaccinations are controversial; however, most of us realize their necessity.

Your doctor will likely recommend the following vaccinations in your second to third trimesters:

• COVID-19 vaccine
• The flu shot
• The Tdap vaccine (regardless if you’ve already gotten it before)

---

As you can tell, pregnant women have a lot to consider to nurture a healthy pregnancy. We have to do so much to protect the growing human within us!

When you break it down, most of the suggestions laid out in this article are what we should be doing anyway to stay healthy. Let me tie them up in a neater bow:

• Get the daily recommended amount of carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins, minerals and water with just a little bit extra of each
• Don’t eat high-mercury fish and undercooked/raw foods
• Exercise for 30 minutes at least a few times a week and take daily 10-minute walks
• Stay away from smoke and the outdoors when air quality is low
• Wear sunscreen every day
• Sleep for 8 hours a night with daily naps as needed
• Book your vaccinations as recommended

My goal with this post isn’t to scare you but to educate you. Not everything is in our control - we can only do our best to stay healthy and enjoy pregnancy in bliss.

Call-to-Action

If you’re not pregnant yet, check out my previous article on preparing for pregnancy to approach pregnancy with confidence. And, if you like my content, join other new moms and moms-to-be in my email list. I send out valuable content every week.

Have a happy pregnancy!