Taking care of oneself throughout pregnancy will help your growing child get off to the best healthy start in life. Exercise, a good diet, and attending prenatal visits all contribute to a successful pregnancy. Learn more about how you can have help by taking a few simple steps.

• Contact Your Doctor as soon as Possible.

As soon as you learn you're expecting, get yourself registered for prenatal care. Schedule an appointment with your GP or a midwife at your local clinic or children's centre, or register online with your local maternity service.

When you schedule your care ahead of time, you'll get sound counsel for a healthy pregnancy right away. You'll also have plenty of time to schedule any ultrasound scans or testing you might want.

• Maintain Healthy Eating Habits

When possible, try to consume a healthy, balanced diet. Follow a pregnancy diet chart which will help you in setting a healthy routine. This necessitates:

You have to make your intake like eating five servings of fruits & vegetables. Fresh, frozen, canned, dried, or juice are all acceptable options. Avoid veggies canned in salt water and choose fruit in its juice or water rather than a sweet syrup.

Potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, yams, cassava, quinoa, bulgur wheat, and millet are examples of starchy foods (carbohydrates). Just over a third of your total dietary intake should come from these. To get enough fibre, choose wholegrain types. Potatoes with the skin on them are more nutritious for both you and your kid.

Protein can be found in fish, lean meat, eggs, nuts, pulses, or beans such as red kidney beans, black-eyed peas, Bambara nut (okpa), and yam bean. At least one portion of fish each week should be oily, such as salmon, sardines, or mackerel.

For the next three months, you'll only require 200 calories per day. Keep yourself moisturised as well. You'll need more water now that you're pregnant to produce extra blood and amniotic fluid. Constipation and weariness can be alleviated by drinking adequate water.

You need to increase the intake of water, 8 glasses per day would be optimum. Although water is the healthiest way to stay hydrated, fruit teas and skimmed or semi-skimmed milk are other options for improving your daily fluid intake. Following this diet chart for pregnant women is effective.

• Keep Food Hygiene in Mind.

Wash your hands before handling food, particularly if you've just used the restroom, changed a nappy, or worked with a pet or other animal.

Clean your utensils, cutting boards, and hands thoroughly after handling raw meat. Raw and ready-to-eat meals should be kept separate. When you're expecting a child, food safety is even more important.

When eating spicy food, exercise caution. While mildly spicy African and Asian meals are perfectly acceptable to eat while pregnant, overly spiced foods can cause heartburn, which is something you're more prone to anyhow. Spices like chilli, alligator pepper, ginger, garlic, uziza, and cayenne might upset your stomach, so use them sparingly.

• Exercise Regularly

Regular pregnancy exercise has many benefits for both you and your child.

Gentle exercise:

• Aids in coping with changes in posture and joint strains that occur during pregnancy.
• Helps you maintain a healthy weight, even though it's natural to gain weight during pregnancy.
• Aids in the prevention of pregnancy problems like high blood pressure and gestational diabetes.

• Remove Alcohol from Your Diet

Any alcohol you consume enters your system fast and crosses the placenta to reach your child. There is no such thing as a safe amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant, and the more you drink, the higher the risk of damage to your baby. As a result, it's best to stay away from alcohol when you're expecting.

It's especially vital to stay away from alcohol during the first and third trimesters.

• Curtail Caffeine Consumption

Caffeine consumption during pregnancy has been linked to an increased risk of miscarriage and stillbirth. Caffeine is found in a variety of beverages, including coffee, tea, cola, chocolate, and energy drinks. It may also increase your chances of having a kid with low birth weight or giving birth too soon. Caffeine intake during pregnancy should be limited to 200mg per day, according to current health recommendations.

Instead of feeling guilty or anxious when you fall short of your ideal, give yourself grace. Pregnancy is supposed to be a joyful time for you. It is entirely up to you to choose that path and stay healthy and happy all the time, as your mood also certainly affects your child in the womb.