Too often, what comes after a positive pregnancy test is a steady stream of advice from friends and family about what you can and cannot do now that you’re pregnant!  Even worse, you might be searching your behavior for the past few weeks, wondering what you might have done that would hurt your developing baby. 

I can be quite reassuring about most things you might have done – while the baby’s most critical development time is early in pregnancy, the pregnancy is well protected for a few weeks after conception. 

Do these things

It’s important to add a folic acid supplement to your daily routine as soon as possible.  It’s the supplement that is recommended for all women who might become pregnant.  It is naturally found in green veggies and it’s added to bread and flours, so it’s likely you’re getting some even without a supplement.  But, a vitamin supplement ensures your baby has enough even if your diet is not great every day.  Most women choose to do a prenatal multivitamin that contains folic acid with other vitamins and minerals. 

There are cheap supplements and expensive supplements.  Some are food based, others are vegetarian or kosher, and others are even liquid or chewable.  Any brand is fine as long as it works for your body and your budget. 

Along with healthy eating, exercise is part of healthy living.  Most types of exercise are safe in pregnancy – even running and most weight lifting.  If you take classes like yoga, spinning, or pilates, the instructor can usually give you changes to make to the exercises in your first, second, and third trimester.  Often, women are really tired in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and would rather nap than exercise.  In general, if it feels okay, the activity is fine.  If you have specific questions, you should talk to your midwife. 

The longer list – don’t do these things

First on the list to look at is medications, including over the counter medicines, prescription medications, and herbal and homeopathic preparations.  There are a few rules of thumb.  Once you’re pregnant, you should NOT take Advil (ibuprofen) or Aspirin (salicylic acid), and instead take Tylenol (acetaminophen) for aches, pains, or headaches.  Homeopathic medications are considered safe in pregnancy.  Prescriptions and Herbal medications need to be considered individually.  You can talk to your pharmacist, midwife, doctor, or herbalist, or try to find the information on the internet.  If you’re doing your own research, I recommend the book, Medications and Mother’s Milk, by Dr. Hale.  Although it is designed for nursing mothers, it contains information on drugs in pregnancy as well. 

You might have heard a long list of the foods and beverages you cannot have in pregnancy.  Most of these restrictions are aimed at preventing food poisoning.  There is a particular type of bacteria, called Listeria, which is very dangerous to pregnant women.  It can be made completely safe by pasteurization or cooking food to a safe temperature.  The foods most likely to contain Listeria are un-pasteurized cheeses, lunch meats and deli meats, foods like hot dogs.  Some women choose to avoid these foods.  Others will choose to only eat foods which have been heated thoroughly or selectively eat foods from sources they consider safer. 

Sushi is another food on the caution list.  Many types of sushi are made from fish that are at risk for containing too much mercury.  No more than a serving of tuna is recommended each week for pregnant women.  Tilefish and swordfish are not recommended in any quantity.  But salmon is a great fish to eat in pregnancy!  If you trust your sushi source to be high quality and safe, it’s fine to consume in pregnancy, as long as you avoid large fish like tuna (ahi) and stick with shrimp, roe, salmon, and veggie options. 

Finally, there’s a lot of talk about cat litter box safety in pregnancy.  The concern is an infection called toxoplasmosis that is dangerous to the developing baby and carried in cat poop.  Cats themselves are perfectly safe, as the danger only develops when the feces is over 24 hours old.  Some women choose to let someone else scoop the box, or use gloves and wash afterwards.  The important thing is to avoid transmission to your mouth from all sources of cat poop.  That means washing your veggies, washing hands after gardening where there might be neighborhood cats, and especially washing up after taking care of the cat box. 

If you have any other concerns about things that you should or should not do, contact your midwife.  And have a happy, healthy pregnancy!