Maintaining your health and well-being throughout your pregnancy can not only give your unborn child a great start in life but can also help you during labour and help you regain your pre-pregnant body shape quickly and easily.

However being pregnant is not always as easy and as straightforward as we would like it to be and can for many of us cause all kinds of health problems such as backache, bleeding gums, deep vein thrombosis, morning sickness and nausea to name just a few! Making sure you have a good support team around you such as an understanding GP and midwife and also a dentist who offers general dentistry services will help keep you in great shape and answer any worries or concerns you may have.

Eating a healthy well-balanced diet will give you and your baby the right nutrients and vitamins. Eating the right foods will also help keep your energy levels up but remember even though you are pregnant you don’t necessarily need to eat for two! You should also remember more importantly that there are certain foods you should avoid whilst you are pregnant as they can make you ill or harm your baby. These include some types of cheese, pâté, raw or partially cooked eggs and raw shellfish. For an extensive list of foods to avoid whilst pregnant visit the NHS website and follow this link.

It can also be very tempting to avoid all exercise during pregnancy but taking part in exercise that you were previously involved in before you came pregnant at a reduced level can help keep you fit and healthy. If you are at all worried about continuing with exercise it is important that you seek medical advice from your GP or midwife who will be able to discuss the level of exercise that is correct for you and your baby.

As you enter your last trimester you will most certainly be slowing down and feeling more tired. Make sure you take plenty of rest and eat on a regular basis. One of the most common problems pregnant women suffer from is feeling faint and dizzy. This is mainly due to the hormonal changes that occur within the body. Fainting can be triggered when the brain does not get enough blood and therefore enough oxygen. Getting up too quickly can cause light headedness so make sure you take things slowly and move at your own speed.

If you are a first time mum the thought of labour and child birth can be quite overwhelming so if you are feeling unsettled or need to find out more, make sure you talk to your GP and mid-wife who will discuss your birthing options with you.

Thanks to the world of technology there are loads of fabulous apps now available to help you monitor not only your pregnancy, help choose your baby’s name but also your labour! iTunes has a great range you can download, some of which are free.

You could also join a private ante-natal group like the NCT who will be able to put you in touch with other mum’s to be in your area who will be expecting around the same time as you. Friendships formed during this wonderful precious time can last a lifetime for both you and your baby.