So you're thinking about having a baby someday. Your body has been ready to have a baby for a while, but now you are warming up to the idea, too. While the prospect of parenthood can be thrilling, it can also be a little scary.
Click the headings below to see the major guidelines to follow when planning a pregnancy:
Talk to your partner to find out if you both are ready to have a baby
Ask yourselves:
- Are we ready to be parents?
- How will having a baby change our lives, our jobs and our relationship?
- How will we pay for prenatal care and delivery?
- Who will take care of the baby?
- Do we have enough money to pay for child care, diapers, clothes and all the other things a baby will need?
- What help will we need and who can help us?
Your answers to these questions can help you decide if you’re ready to have a baby. Use birth control until you’re sure you’re ready.
Get into healthy habits today
Being healthy can help keep your baby from being born too small, too soon or with birth defects. Also, you can be pregnant for a few weeks and not even know it. That’s why it’s so important to get into healthy habits for life. Here are some tips:
- Eat smart. Choose healthy foods like whole-grain breads, cereal, rice and pasta; cheese and yogurt; low-fat meat and chicken; and lots of fruits and vegetables.
- Drink a lot of fluids such as low-fat milk, water and juice every day.
- Prepare meat, chicken and seafood properly. Make sure you follow directions when cooking them.
- Move more. Check with your health care provider to learn how much and which kinds of exercise are best for you.
- Don’t drink alcohol, smoke or use street drugs. These can harm a baby growing inside you. Stopping bad health habits can be very hard to do. But you will never have a better reason to quit! So try to stop. If you’re having trouble quitting, get help—and keep trying.
- Protect yourself from AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Only have sex with one person who doesn’t have any other sex partners or use a condom when having sex.
- Stay away from chemicals that can hurt an unborn baby. Examples of chemicals at home include: paint, paint thinner, insect and weed killers, and cat litter. Examples of chemicals at work include: lead that is used to make paint, cable or plastics; liquids with strong smells; and radiation from X-rays or other sources if you work in medicine, dentistry, mining, electronics or in a power plant.
Take folic acid!
Folic acid is a special vitamin that can help prevent birth defects of the brain and spinal cord. The health problems caused by these defects can be severe and, in some cases, even fatal.
It’s essential that you get all the folic acid you need every day. One way is to take a multivitamin. Check the label to make sure it contains 100% of the recommended daily amount of folic acid. You can also, eat foods that contain folic acid such as:
- Orange juice, peanuts, green vegetables, beans and peas
- Breakfast cereals that say “fortified” on the box
- Rice and whole-wheat bread that say “enriched” on the label
It is important to have enough folic acid in your body before you get pregnant and in the first few weeks of pregnancy. So take it today—and every day.
Get a checkup before you get pregnant
Visit your health care provider for a check up to make sure you are in good health.
- Be sure you have all your shots for illnesses like rubella (German measles) and chickenpox. If you get these illnesses while you are pregnant, they can lead to birth defects in your baby.
- Talk to your provider about any recurring health problems in your family. If they are hereditary, they could be passed on to your baby.
- Tell your provider about any medicines you are currently taking. Certain medicines can adversely affect babies while they are still in the womb.
- Get treated for problems like diabetes and high blood pressure. They could pose a potential threat to your baby or get worse during your pregnancy.
- Get tested for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Left untreated, STIs can endanger your baby’s health as well as your own.
- Get help for depression. Talk to someone you trust such as your provider, partner, family member or good friend about how to get help.
- If your partner hits you, yells at you or abuses you in any way, get help now. Don’t wait until you are pregnant. Talk to your provider, a member of the clergy, a family member or a good friend about how to get help.
Some content provided by the March of Dimes Foundation. The publication, "Are you ready for a baby?", can be found at www.marchofdimes.com/catalog or by calling 800-367-6630. This is item #09-2385-08.