Origins' advice for a happy, healthy pregnancy

Answers to the questions we hear most often.

What should I be eating?

Eating for two doesn't mean consuming twice as much, but it does require you to consider your intake of essential food groups.
Here's our interpretation of the Ministry of Health's recommended eating plan for pregnancy:

• Eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables every day, preferably more.
• Eat at least six serves of bread, cereal, rice or pasta and every day. When applicable, choose wholegrain.
• Consume at least three serves of milk, cheese or yoghurt every day.
• Eat at least two serves of protein every day - lean meat, poultry, chicken, seafood, eggs, nuts, seeds or legumes.
• Try to include a source of omega-3 fatty acids in your daily eating. These 'good fats' are found in oily fish like mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon. Walnuts, flaxseed and canola are also good sources of omega-3 fatty acids.

What sort of exercise is best?

Daily exercise is recommended for you and your baby. It helps to maintain circulation, overcome tiredness and keep you fit for the birth. If you're accustomed to regular cardio or strength training, you can continue within reason. However, pregnancy is not the time to begin a major quest for fitness.

These tips will help you to establish an achievable exercise plan:

• Don't suddenly increase the amount of exercise you usually do in a day.
• Reduce high impact activities such as running, dancing and aerobic classes. Alternatives include power walking, swimming, stationary cycling and specialised antenatal exercise classes.
• Eliminate potentially risky activities such as skiing, water skiing, contact sports and scuba diving.
• Avoid elevating your body temperature too much while exercising.
• Avoid activities that require you to be flat on your back for more than five minutes. This decreases blood flow to the uterus.
• If you attend yoga or pilates classes, talk to your instructor about how the exercises can be tailored for pregnancy.
• Drink plenty of water; wear supportive shoes and a sports bra when appropriate.
• Start improving the tone of your pelvic floor with pelvic floor exercises.
• If you're not sure about the safety of a specific activity, talk to your Origins' obstetrician.
• Stop exercising immediately if you experience shortness of breath, dizziness, numbness, tingling, abdominal pain or vaginal bleeding.
• If it hurts, don't do it!

How much alcohol is OK?

The consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is a controversial issue. As yet, clinical research has not been able to determine a safe level of alcohol consumption for pregnant women. In the USA, the Surgeon General has advised total abstinence in pregnancy, given that no absolute safe limit has yet been defined.

Whether you drink alcohol or not is a personal decision. In general, alcohol consumption should be minimized and binge drinking must be avoided.

Here's why:

• Foetal alcohol syndrome occurs in about a third of pregnancies where the mother drinks 18 units* or more of alcohol per day.
• Women who are heavy drinkers are at increased risk of spontaneous miscarriage, premature labour and delivery, still birth and anaesthetic complications.
• While there is no evidence to suggest that drinking up to 15 standard drinks per week will reduce baby's birthweight or I, subtle behavioural effects may be noticed with this level of alcohol consumption. There is strong evidence to show that drinking more than 15 standard drinks per week will reduce baby's birthweight by 60 - 120g.

*One unit is equivalent to 120mls of wine or 200mls of beer.