Staying Healthy During Pregnancy
Pregnancy can bring a lot of questions from what to eat to what to avoid. It’s a life changing moment followed by life changing decisions. Dr. Cherrie Morris, an OB/GYN with Lee Health, says first moms need to start prenatal care and healthy eating. “Everything that you do is going to affect your baby. Generally speaking, you may want to increase your calories about 400 to 500 a day, if you’re just the average person and you’re starting out at a normal weight. That doesn’t mean you want to double your calories.” Maintaining a healthy weight during and after pregnancy is important to both the mom’s and baby’s health. Doctors also recommend safe exercises like swimming and walking. “When you’re pregnant your sense of gravity is off, especially when you get to 20 weeks and beyond. You may want to be careful about running outside, because you don’t want to fall or trip,” said Dr. Morris. Before maintaining or starting an exercise program, patients need to check with their doctor. “You have to modify your exercise program. You can’t do things where you could potentially lose your balance. You don’t want to be doing exercises, especially later in pregnancy, that cause you to use your core, because you really don’t have a core anymore,” said Dr. Morris. She recommends no heavy lifting or jumping up and down as both can damage the patient’s back and pelvic floor. “Folic acid is really important in pregnancy because a low folic acid could potentially be a risk for developing spinal bifida or a neuro-tube defect,” said Dr. Morris. Maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle will help moms and babies have a safe and healthy pregnancy. View More Health Matters video segments at LeeHealth.org/Healthmatters/ Lee Health in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of health care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For more than 100 years, we’ve been providing our community with personalized preventative health services and primary care to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries. Lee Health - Caring People. Inspiring Care. Visit LeeHealth.org
