What Expecting Mothers Need

When a woman gets to know that she is pregnant, she feels like she is going to have the whole world. One of the greatest joys of being a pregnant mother is arranging essential baby items for her child. Sometimes, however, pregnant mothers are too busy collecting baby items for their child, forgetting to arrange what they want as pregnant mothers, or simply putting it away.

"No worries, I can get my things ready even later"
"Oh! I forgot to collect my belongings while I was busy collecting baby items for my child"
"I think I don’t have much to arrange for myself"

This is how some pregnant mothers think about themselves. But if you are a pregnant mother, you can't think this way. There are many things that are essential for a pregnant mother. You have to start using some of these things during your pregnancy period. So do not procrastinate arranging your items.

As you read this article, you as a pregnant mother will get to know how much things you need for yourself. 

This blog post is about the items that are required for an expecting mother. You can check this list and select only the items that are required for you. Also, you can add some more items according to your preference, and can make your own essential items list. 

Pregnancy Essentials

1. Bed jackets and cheeththa (postpartum wear)
2. Comfortable daytime dresses (postpartum wear): instead of wearing bed jackets and cloths, you can choose to wear comfortable clothes after the delivery. However, when choosing such clothes check whether they enable you to breastfeed discreetly and pump conveniently 
3. Comfortable nighttime wear (postpartum wear)
4. Nursing wear (please check the video  to see different types of nursing wear): these are tops that specifically designed to enable you to breastfeed discreetly and pump conveniently wherever you go. The best thing about these clothes is, from the outside, no one can tell that these clothes are nursing wear
5. Maternity panties
6. Nursing bras (please check the video  to see different types of nursing bras)
7. Nursing pads: also called breast pads. Inserting one of these in each bra cup can keep your blouse dry if your breast leak (please check the below video to see how to use nursing pads)
8. Maxi pads / maternity pads / sanitary pads
9. Nipple cream: relieve sour nipples
10. Stretch marks cream: you can use these cream while you are pregnant to keep your belly moisturized which helps prevent itchiness and scratching  
11. Girdle (postpartum wear)
12. Getting to know about the books, websites, videos, and other online sources that provide information about pregnancy and parenthood
13. Personal hygiene items: for daily use and also to be included in the expecting mother's hospital bag. The things may include comb, tooth brush, tooth paste, soap or bath gel, cream, cologne, comfortable slippers. 

I believe this blog post is useful for the expecting mothers to make their own essential items list. There can be many more other items a pregnancy mother needs. Here I have listed down the most essential items. You can check this list and add or remove items according to your preferences. 

Check this video below for further details. The video contains not only photos of the items in the list above, but also some footage of some of the items.

Images: PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/)
Video music: https://www.bensound.com

Some Tips and Recommendations for Pregnant Mothers

Are you a pregnant mother? Did or do you ever think of these questions during your pregnancy? 

"What could be the things that I might need to pay special attention these days?"
"Why they say that I should not drink any caffeinated drink during my pregnancy?"
"I wish I could ease my mind and stay positive and happy during my pregnancy"

If you have ever felt such things, then this article is important to you.

It is completely normal for pregnant ladies to have a lot of questions and worries on their mind during their pregnancy period. Specially if it is their first pregnancy. In this post and the attached video, I am providing some general tips for those women on what to do throughout their pregnancy period. I hope these tips will help ease some of their questions and worries.

• Drink lots of fluid: it is important to have lots of fluids during your pregnancy. Fluids means not just “water.” You can keep yourself hydrated with these food items: water, milk, juices, fruits, and vegetables (fruits and vegetables also provide some amount of fluids to your body). It is normal to not being able to drink water when you are pregnant. But you can always try another healthy fluid instead of water. Do not compare your drinking level with other. Just try to drink as much as you can. 
• Avoid caffeinated drinks: you should not consume lots of caffeinated drinks during your pregnancy. High caffeine consumption can lead to several different problems during pregnancy. Therefore, it is better if you could avoid such drinks (such as tea and coffee) during your pregnancy period.
• Quit smoking and drinking alcohol:you must quit smoking at least during your pregnancy (you should not smoke even if you are not pregnant, but now it is more important because you are carrying another life!) period because nicotine and alcohol are bad not only for your baby but also for you. Consumption of nicotine and alcohol can lead to several different problems during pregnancy. Also, it can affect the mental and physical development of your baby.
• Avoid some food: avoid food like raw eggs, fish and meat; under-cooked eggs, fish and meat, high-mercury fish, unpasteurized milk, high-acidic fruits such as pine apple.
• Eat healthy food.
• Be active: it is a wise option to be active while you are pregnant. For example, going for a small walk (around 10-20 minutes) is a better way to be active. This also can help boost your energy levels. Furthermore, this will prevent your muscles from tightening. You better consult your doctor for some more pregnancy exercises that you can follow. These activities will make you feel much more relaxed during your pregnancy period.
• Be positive and happy: maintaining a happy and positive mind during pregnancy is just as important as having healthy food and exercising moderately. This will help to create a safe and nurturing environment for baby. Taking care of yourself is one of the ways you can keep yourself happy. Spend sometime doing what you love (i.e. talk with some of your friends, listening to music, reading books, having a prenatal massage).
• Ask for help if needed.
• Meditation: this is an effective method to keep yourself distressed and relaxing your body. Also you can do some deep breathing exercises in addition to doing meditation.

Hope this article helped you in some way to answer some of your questions and to relieve some of your worries. Furthermore, it is always better to consult your doctor if you have any further questions and worries.  

Images: PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/)