How to boost your immunity during pregnancy

So you’ve gotten your positive pregnancy test! Congratulations! So many feelings set in those first couple weeks like joy, excitement and even some fear and nervousness, or being completely overwhelmed. It’s that time for mothers to specially take care of their bodies.

During pregnancy, your body can be very delicate and dainty to medications or unfavourable exposures as opposed to women who are not pregnant. Boosting your immunity during a sensitive phase like this is an important step for the beginning of your journey towards a beautiful future for both you and your baby. Our immune system is like a shield – it protects us from illness, germs, toxins and infections, by providing resistance. 

Today we talk about various ways to boost your immunity during pregnancy. 

Take probiotics regularly

Probiotics help in increasing the child’s as well as your immunity and can protect your child from allergies or asthma in the long run. What’s best about it is that you can find it in daily consumable food products like yoghurt or in fruits like banana, custard apples or watermelon but you can also opt for buying them from the supermarket or medical stores. 

Having a nutritious diet

We all have heard or seen around us that during pregnancy the body craves weird tastes. While eating those are good for once in a while but it’s also important to remember that the body needs a much healthier and a nutritious diet as you are not only eating to fulfil yourself but your baby as well. 

A healthy diet consisting of greens like fruits and veggies, grains, and protein is very essential for the strong muscle build-up of the baby for example consumption of the following food items:

– Vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkin, spinach and cooked greens 

– Dairy: fat-free or low-fat yoghurt, skim or 1% milk, soymilk

– Fruits like mangoes, bananas, oranges, apricots or grapefruit (for potassium)

 

 Keep in check to avoid certain food items like:

– Raw or undercooked eggs, seafood and meat

– Refrigerated smoked seafood

– All forms of Alcohol 

– Food items made with unpasteurized milk or the direct intake of unpasteurized milk.

Keep in mind to wash, clean and cook each item properly. Stack up on folic acid and Vitamin D as it can help reduce the risk of neural tube defects, which are birth defects of the brain and spinal cord and Vitamin D helps with your immunity, boosting it and helping with fertility.

Getting enough sleep

Since your body is dealing with a lot of things right now resting up is one way of thanking it for all the things it is going through. The body needs to be rested well during pregnancy as sleep strengthen your immunity system. It has been observed that people lacking a good night sleep are more prone to get sick after being exposed to viruses like the common cold. For a better, physical and emotional state of mind give your body good sleep and rest.

Exercising regularly 

It is easier for the mother to adapt to their changing shape and weight gain with regular exercise especially during labour and after birth, to get back into their shape. Several exercises like Stomach-strengthening exercises, pelvic tilt exercises, pelvic floor exercises are good but if you don’t do them in a proper way or if you try to exhaust yourself during these then it could soon become a reason for concern. Always remember to them cautiously and listen to the body when it says to stop. 

– Avoid exercised that involve a lot of jumping, jerking or bouncing movements.

– Avoid activities that involve any risk of falling like horseback riding or skiing. 

– Avoid heavy exercise spurts followed by long periods of doing no activity at all. 

It is best to favour low impact exercises like yoga, water aerobics and especially walking during this time.

Keep yourself warm and hydrated especially during winters

As winter approaches we avoid having water as we feel less dehydrated in winters than in summers. It’s advisable to keep yourself hydrated at all times and keep a special check during winters. Make sure to drink at least 8 to 12 glasses of water a day without skipping. Stay warm too and avoid too much sunlight or getting wet in the rain.

And in the end, try to keep yourself happy and positive as much as possible cause happiness is the best cure against most diseases as it actually helps in building a better immunity. Having a cheerful and optimistic state of mind also assists the baby to grow in a happy and calm environment. So go out to a nice restaurant and finally have that food you were craving for all week long or buy that tiny shoes you saw down the shop window because you are beginning to embark on a life-changing exciting journey.

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