Early pregnancy must do list

If you’ve just found out your pregnant, congratulations! You may be wondering what’s next? Well, even though you won’t have your booking in appointment with your midwife until about 10 weeks, there’s a lot you can start doing now.

Here’s our quick guide.

1. Take folic acid and Vitamin D

If you haven’t started already, start taking a daily supplement of folic acid as it benefits you and helps reduce the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs), such as spina bifida for your baby. It’s advised to start taking folic from the time you are trying to conceive and continue until you reach at least 12 weeks. Take a 10 microgram supplement of Vitamin D throughout your pregnancy because here in the UK we don’t get enough sunlight and your baby needs it to help healthy bones, teeth, kidneys, heart and nervous system.

2. Make a booking appointment

Do this as soon as possible. Many care providers don’t want to see you before you’re 8 weeks pregnant, but they’ll want to see you before you’re 10 weeks. Roughly work out the day of your last period and add 40 weeks so when you call you can give an approximate idea of how pregnant you are. Your first booking in appointment will probably be your longest and take around an hour or so.

3. Eat a healthy diet

It’s important early on to be aware of what foods to avoid in pregnancy and what foods help you to have a healthy pregnancy diet. Try to increase your intake of wholesome foods such as lean meat, vegetables and pulses and avoid foods such as soft cheeses including Camembert and Brie, pate and raw or undercooked eggs if they have not been produced under the food safety standard called the Lion Code, meaning if the eggs do not have a red lion logo stamped on their shell. If the red lion logo is there then these eggs are considered very low risk for salmonella and safe for pregnant women to eat raw or partially cooked provided that they have not exceeded their best before dates. 

4. Stop drinking alcohol

It’s only for nine months. Even if you suspect you’re pregnant, guidelines suggest avoiding alcohol is the best advice for pregnancy. 

5. Check all medication

From the moment you suspect you’re pregnant you need to check before taking any medication. Some medications are not advised for pregnant women so do read the box before even taking a headache tablet. All boxes are clearly marked if they are not advised during pregnancy.

6. Cut the caffeine 

We’re not saying you can’t drink tea and coffee during pregnancy but it is worth trying to replace some of your cups a day with a decaffeinated option. For coffee in particular, it is advised that you don’t exceed two cups of instant coffee a day or one cup of fresh coffee during pregnancy.

7. Think about telling people

Reaching 12 weeks is often the time parents-to-be make their pregnancy announcement to friends and family but think about if this is right for you. There may be reasons you decide it’s not right for you to wait to announce the news including needing support earlier in your pregnancy. Whenever you decide to share the news, think about cute and creative ways to tell those close to you.