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Exercise

If you are planning to get pregnant and you are already active, you can carry on with your exercise. If you are thinking of getting fit before getting pregnant, you need to make sure the type of intensity of your exercise is appropriate for your level of fitness.

As a guideline, adults should:

Aim to be physically active every day. Use every opportunity to be active, exercise does not have to be strenuous to be beneficial.
Reduce time spent sitting or lying down and break up long periods of not moving with gentle activity.
Do strengthening activities that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms) several times a week.
Do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week.

To find out more about how to achieve a healthy weight for pregnancy and to get local support, please contact our Positive Image, Motivation and Support (PIMS) in pregnancy service.

Useful link: NHS Live Well - Exercise

Healthy Diet

Maintaining a healthy, nutritious diet is especially important if you're planning a pregnancy. By aiming for a healthy weight, you increase your chances of conceiving naturally and having a healthy pregnancy and baby, as well as decreasing the risks of developing complications, such as diabetes.

Our diets should contain a wide variety of different foods, to help us get the wide range of nutrients that our bodies need. This is shown by the UK’s healthy eating model - the Eatwell Guide.

If you're vegan or you follow a restricted diet because of a food intolerance (for example, a gluten-free diet for coeliac disease) or for religious reasons, talk to your midwife or GP and ask to be referred to a dietitian for advice on how to make sure you're getting all the nutrients you need for you and your baby.

There are also certain foods to avoid once you are pregnant.

To find out more about how to achieve a healthy diet and to get local support, please contact our Positive Image, Motivation and Support (PIMS) in pregnancy service.

Useful Links:

NHS - Food Scanner App

Wiltshire Council - Pregnancy and healthy weight

LiveWell Dorset

Hampshire Healthy Families

Supplements

Eating a healthy, varied diet will help you get most of the vitamins and minerals you need. But when you're planning on becoming pregnant, it’s important to also take certain supplements.

Folic Acid It's recommended that you take 400 micrograms of folic acid every day – for at least 8 weeks before you're pregnant until you're 12 weeks pregnant. This helps to reduce the risk of developmental problems and birth defects, such as spina bifida. A higher dose may be recommended by your GP for several reasons, including a BMI over 30 and other existing medical conditions.

Vitamin D All adults need 10 micrograms of vitamin D each day to regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body, which are needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy. Most people get all the vitamin D they need from sunlight, however in the winter months (September – March) it is recommended to take a supplement.

It is important to not take high-dose multivitamin supplements, or any supplements with vitamin A in them. Read more about vitamins and supplements in pregnancy.

Caffeine & Alcohol

As well as consuming nutritious foods, it is important to limit harmful substances, such as caffeine and alcohol.

Caffeine

Caffeine can be found in coffee, tea, soft drinks, energy drinks and chocolate. Having more than 200mg of caffeine a day (two mugs of instant coffee a day or one mug of filter coffee) is harmful to a baby in the womb, so it is safer to avoid caffeine as soon as you stop contraception. A helpful way to monitor your caffeine intake is to use Tommy's caffeine calculator.

Alcohol

Many women ask how much alcohol is safe to drink when planning to get pregnant. The safest approach is not to drink at all. However, if you do decide to drink, you should try to limit alcohol to no more than one or two units, once or twice a week. There is evidence to suggest that alcohol can negatively impact on both women and men’s fertility, for example alcohol can damage sperm production in men.

Stopping Smoking

Quitting smoking is the most important thing you and your partner can do to give your baby the best start in life. Smoking can affect both male and female fertility rates, reducing your chances of becoming pregnant by almost half. Men who smoke can suffer from reduced quality sperm and erection difficulties.

Smoking during pregnancy is harmful to both mothers and their unborn babies. Smoking will deprive your unborn baby of oxygen, leading to complications in your baby's growth and development.

To find out more about quitting and to get local support, please contact our Positive Image, Motivation and Support (PIMS) in pregnancy service.

Alternatively, you and your partner can call the NHS Smokefree helpline on 0300 123 1044 or download the NHS quit smoking app for free. Alternatively, you can talk to your midwife, a health visitor, your GP surgery or a pharmacist.

Useful links:

NHS - Smoking in Pregnancy

Wiltshire Council - Smokefree Wiltshire

Pelvic Health

The Perinatal Pelvic Health Team is a new service, dedicated to providing Pelvic Health care for all women/birthing people from pregnancy to 12 months postnatal.

We are a team of pelvic floor specialists across different specialisms together to reduce the chance of bladder or bowel related issues during the perinatal period and promoting pelvic health to all birthing people in the BSW region.

Our aim is to improve prevention and recognition of pelvic health issues and provide evidenced based care and treatment to woman/birthing people with mild to moderate pelvic health dysfunction.

To find out more please visit the BSW website here: https://bswtogether.org.uk/maternity/pelvic-health or email the service at sft.pelvichealthservice@nhs.net.

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