Here are my top 5 tips for a healthy pregnancy:

1. Reduce Stress. The first one is always going to be keeping your stress level low. When you are under stress, you have increased levels of adrenaline and cortisol. Those hormones are not really productive when you are trying to deliver a baby. They has been a lot of research done regarding moms who are under stress. They actually did an experiment on rats that were pregnant, and they would annoy the rats. They would electric shock them. They would subject them to loud noises and things like that. What they found was that the rats that were under stress while pregnant, had much larger progeny; the baby rats that they gave birth to were much bigger. The stress can certainly affect that, because it drives the body into sympathetic overdrive, which is highly adrenalized. The adrenaline actually causes a larger size birth weight.

2. Rest. The other thing that’s important is rest. You have to have good rest. Building a baby inside you is very metabolic expensive. You expend a lot of energy when you’re building anything. It is a lot harder to build a house than to tear one down. When you’re building a baby, it requires a lot of energy. That’s why expecting moms have a tendency to be tired. Make sure that you are scheduling your rest, you get enough sleep, and that it is good quality sleep.

3. Listen to Your Body. When you’re feeling tired, rest. When you’re feeling hungry, eat. Some people are worried about gaining weight during pregnancy, and things like that. Your body craves things in order to help you get through times that might be different than your normal modus operandi. If things are different when you’re pregnant, because you need more energy, you might crave certain foods that have different nutrients.

I was reading a book about survival, and one guy, he was out at sea. He had no trouble catching fish. He was stranded for several weeks. What I found so interesting is, they talked about, as he was going on, and pulling fish out of the water, he became less interested in eating the flaky white meat, and become more interested in eating the organ meats and the eyes, and the different parts of the fish that he normally wouldn’t eat; his body innately told him to go for those things. It was important for him to do that, because in those organs were different nutrients and higher water content than the meat that he also needed to survive, which brings me into eating well.

4. Eat Well. You have to eat well. You can’t be skimping on calories because you’re afraid to gain weight. You may also want to take some prenatal vitamins, if your diet isn’t as well rounded. If you’re not sure about your diet, get a nutritional profile done. Give it to someone who is an expert, particularly a registered dietitian, or anyone who is a health counselor. They will look for holes in your diet. They can fill those in. If they think that you are not getting enough food, or you are having trouble keeping certain foods down, or don’t like certain foods. They will recommend the appropriate nutrients for that, as well.

5. See a Chiropractor. The last tip, and yes, I might be a little biased, but seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy is one of the best things you can do. It is going to minimize back pain. It is going to help with pelvic alignment, particularly if we use the Webster Technique, which is the primary technique we use with the expectant mom, here in our office. It is going to be absolutely amazing, because all the research shows, if you do the Webster Technique up until you deliver, it is going to result in shorter delivery times, less need for interventions, and less pain, which is pretty much what the moms want.

There are a host of things you can do. There is tons of research. You can ask questions. Talk to other moms. We put out resources on Facebook. We have a Conscious Pregnancy Facebook group, which allows people to look up our offices and ask questions. It is also monitored by a doula, a midwife, and an exercise physiologist.

Those are my top five. Some people may have different ones in different order, but those are basically the best ones. Rest. Keep your stress low. Get adjusted. Listen to your body. Eat well.