Whether you’ve been desiring this baby, or the pregnancy came as a surprise, as long as you intend to have an enjoyable pregnancy (well, as enjoyable as pregnancy can be!), and give birth to a healthy baby, there are things you need to get started with as soon as possible:
- Start taking your prenatal vitamins immediately. Your child will be using up what your body has, so you need to replenish or your body will suffer. If you’ve been trying to conceive, you may have been on a combination of vitamins, or at least on folic acid. Otherwise, once you see a doctor you’ll be given calcium, iron, and folic acid. However, even before you start seeing an OB/GYN you can and should start taking folic acid immediately. Doctors advise women who are planning to get pregnant to start taking folic acid supplements about 3 to 6 months before conception; not just when you get pregnant. Taking your folic acid before and early on in pregnancy can reduce risk of brain and spine birth defects by up to 70 percent.
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