Planning for pregnancy and Labour

Planning pregnancy and Labour

Pregnancy planning is an important part of becoming pregnant.

Understanding what you can expect, and making the adjustments to your lifestyle can soften the blow of the demands that will be hoist upon you when you are pregnant, and beyond when you are parenting. 

Putting some things into practice can give you peace of mind for when the baby arrives.

Steps before The Pregnancy Planning

• The first thing you can do for pregnancy planning is chatted to your doctor. 
• For one they can tell you what kind of Nutritional and lifestyle changes you can make to accommodate a healthy developing baby. This can include incorporating certain foods into your diet and some low-impact exercises in your daily regime.
• As part of pregnancy planning, the doctor will also run you through some assessments to determine your current health. This includes blood count and urine tests, along with physical exams, such as a pap smear. 
• This is also a time to discuss heredity and family history. If you are suffering from certain conditions relating to blood sugar, cardiovascular health, or have a history of stillbirths, sexually transmitted diseases, or genetic disorders, it is extremely important you visit a doctor prior to becoming pregnant.

We have spoken about this before in-depth, but the Nutritional changes you make are not super dramatic in pregnancy planning. As we have said before simple sugars will need to go in place of complex carbohydrates, quality proteins and healthy fats.

As part of pregnancy planning, expecting mothers should focus on foods rich in Folic Acid and Vitamin D. You should be consuming about 300 calories above your maintenance calorie level for healthy baby development.

Pregnancy planning is also a good time to set up a relationship with appropriate professionals. If your family doctor is capable of providing antenatal care, you can tentatively begin to schedule appointments for after conception. 

If you do not have a regular doctor, get in contact with your local parenting or medical center, and set an appointment with a maternity consultant and appropriate doctor.

Signs of Labour

Signs of labour vary across women. Because of this there is no simple precise way to determine the things you are going through are signs of labour.

That said, there are common sensations that women will experience during the prelude to labour, and early labour. 

Below we consider these sensations and what you should do if you believe you are experiencing signs of Labour .

Midwife Labour

Signs of labour will as Following :

• Characterised by painful contractions that will occur more frequently than you regular contractions. 

• They will be longer and sharper as well. 

• This can typically be accompanied by very strong lower back pain and menstrual cramps, beyond the usual cramping you would have experienced to date in your pregnancy.

• Also, examine your excretions. 

• If your water has begun to break, that is, your amniotic fluid has begun to leak, this is a primary indicator you are going into labour. 
• This can be accompanied by a brownish reddish discharge of mucus. 
• This is one of those signs of labour that suggest labour is imminent. In either case, you must contact your maternity consultant straight away.

Typically contacting your maternity consultant can start with a phone call, from the tone of your voice and the frequency of contracting.

 along with the description of your experience, they may be able to tell then and there whether you are experiencing signs of labour:

1. In most cases, you will likely need to visit your hospital or birth centre and have a proper assessment made.
2. You may be in early labour, which means the active labour is still a little off. 
3. The best means of coping in early labour is distracting yourself from the increasing contractions and discomfort. Watch a movie or two, talk with your partner, and go for a short walk. 
4. Get your mind off the labour, as it will occur soon enough.