Every pregnant girl will suffer from some form of un-pleasant pregnancy side effect. It’s usually down to our hormones but with a few changes to our diet we can help keep symptoms at bay.

Constipation.

Constipation in pregnancy is caused by a rise of the hormone progesterone. It is also made worse by the iron in your pregnancy vitamin tablets. Don’t stop taking your pregnancy vitamin tablets though. The best way to help get things moving is to eat a probiotic yogurt every day. Team this with some tinned prunes and you should be back to normal within a few days. Increasing the amount of fiber which you are eating will also get things moving. Both brown rice and oats are packed with fiber. The most important thing to remember though is that if you up your fiber intake you must also increase the amount of water which you are drinking. This is because fiber rich foods act like a sponge and absorb the water in your body. If you fail to drink more water then you could end up more blocked up. Make sure you also take some gentle exercise too. As a last resort you can buy from a pharmacist ‘Fiber gel’. A constipation relief powder which you add to a glass of water and drink. This is safe to use in pregnancy.

Heartburn

Heartburn is another pregnancy problem. Your pregnancy hormones lead to relaxation of the valve between the bottom of the gullet (oesophagus) and the stomach. This means that stomach acid can splash up into the oesophagus, causing pain and an acid taste in the mouth. Avoiding large meals will help. Instead eat several small meals throughout the day making sure that your last meal of the day is eaten by 7pm. This will help your body to digest the food properly.  Avoid eating rich and spicy foods. Fatty foods and citrus foods can also make it worse. A mug of Chamomile tea before bedtime will help to smooth your insides. If symptoms get really bad then you can buy pregnancy safe over the counter remedies.

Restless leg syndrome

Restless legs are a common pregnancy niggle and most ladies experience this at night time. Increase the amount of potassium in your body by eating foods such as bananas, avocados and apricots. Eliminate any caffeine in tea, coffee, fizzy drinks or chocolate. Try to get some gentle exercise before bedtime. Some light stretches or a gentle walk will help to relieve the pain.

Tiredness

Carrying the extra weight and suffering from sleepless nights can make us more tired. To help to give yourself an energy boost then you need to keep your blood sugar levels steady. Eat plenty of protein rich and fibre rich foods. A breakfast of porridge or poached eggs on wholemeal toast would be ideal. Instead of snacking on sugary drinks and convenience foods carry some fruit, mixed nuts or some oat cakes in your handbag. Cut down on caffeine. This may give us an immediate buzz but then a few hours later we’ll be left craving more.

Morning sickness was the bane of my life for an entire 11 weeks. Before I became pregnant I thought that morning sickness was how they show it in films or TV shows. Just a quick early morning vomit. How wrong could I have been? For my entire first trimester I felt nauseous during all waking hours. Sometimes I would even wake in the middle of the night and vomit into a bedside bucket. In my opinion the morning part of ‘morning sickness’ is not a very accurate description.

Come to think of it the sickness part of ‘Morning Sickness’ is also not very accurate. I rarely vomited more than once a day yet I just constantly felt as if they may vomit at any minute. Morning sickness is like a really, really bad hangover. The mother of all hangovers. A hangover which lingers with you all day leaving you nauseous, drained of energy and with legs as wobbly as jelly.

Not every woman suffers with morning sickness. Some lucky ladies will breeze through their first trimester without even a slight bought of queasiness. Others may feel a little rough for the first few hours of the day but once they’ve eaten a couple of biscuits and downed a glass of juice they feel ready to face the day. The less fortunate amongst us may suffer a bit more severely spending most of the first trimester hugging the toilet bowl whilst being unable to continue their day to day chores. I have even heard of some who have needed to be hospitalized.

I suffered badly with morning sickness so did a lot of research into the best ways of coping. Here are the most effective tips I could find:-

• Eat small amounts constantly throughout the day. It doesn’t matter what you are eating just make sure that your blood sugar levels do not dip. Low blood sugar levels can cause you to feel even more nauseous. Carry some crackers around in your handbag.
• Drink lots of water. Carry a drink around with you wherever you go. You need to be drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day. Staying hydrated all the time helps keep the sickness at bay. I found that isotonic drinks were particularly good.
• Keep biscuits/crackers and water next to your bed. The minute you wake up eat the biscuits and drink the water. If you do wake during the night then take a gulp of water to help ensure you stay hydrated throughout the night.
• If the thought of eating some foods just turn your stomach then don’t eat them. Only eat foods that you want to eat. Toast, cereal, fruit, crackers and biscuits all seem to go down relatively well. If the smell of your partner frying up egg and bacon turns your stomach then go into a different room.
• Ginger and peppermint help to combat nausea. Try drinking peppermint tea and eating ginger biscuits.
• A gentle walk will help. The combination of the fresh air and exercise do wonders for morning sickness.
• Take your mind off feeling nauseous. Concentrate on something else such as reading a book or doing a crossword.
• Try wearing the sickness bands which you can buy from the pharmacy which are designed to combat seasickness.
• Your pre-natal vitamins may be making you feel sick. Take them with food and water. Speak to your midwife if they continue to make you feel sick.
• Carry some plastic bags, wet wipes and mints with your at all times in case you are sick. Sleep with a bucket next to your bed.
• Being a passenger in the car made me feel really nauseous. If possible opt to drive. Only do this though if you are sure you can fully concentrate on the road. Concentrating on something else will take your mind off feeling sick.
• Ask a partner, relative or friend to help out with any chores which you simply cannot manage yourself. Don’t feel guilty about asking for help. My mother was fantastic when I had morning sickness. I could barely do the washing up without feeling like I’d pass out. So she told me to relax whilst she took care of the housework.
• You may also feel faint and dizzy. Keep your energy levels up by eating and drinking plenty. Sit down and put your head between your knees. Take thingsI slow.

I found that I had no choice but to tell my close friends that I was pregnant before my 12 week scan. I desperately didn’t want to tell anyone before the 12 weeks was up but I had little choice as I was so ill I could barely lift myself out of bed before 3pm. My close friends completely understood and I felt it was quite a relief telling them. I no longer had to make up poor excuses as to why I couldn’t meet them for a couple of cheeky wines.

If your morning sickness is disrupting your daily work then it would be a good idea to tell your employer that you are pregnant. They may be wondering why you keep on dashing off to the toilet or curious as to why you are carrying around a waste paper basket with you. If your morning sickness is so bad that you are unable to go to work and are struggling to hold down food then speak to your GP/ Midwife.

How long will it last? This is not set in stone and will vary from person to person. It will also differ for each pregnancy. The majority of women say that it lasts until week 12. For me it lingered on until week 17. I was desperate for this stage to end and was literally ticking off the days in my diary. I had several tearful moments when I feared that the morning sickness would be with me for the entire 40 weeks. Rest assured, it is very rare for morning sickness to continue past week 18. The plus point is that the symptoms literally go overnight. One day you’ll be gagging over the smell of the deli counter in your local supermarket and the next you’ll feel right as rain. Remember to speak to your midwife and tell her exactly how you are feeling during your routine visits.

At your booking in appointment your midwife will take a blood sample and test your blood for a range of different conditions. One of the things she will have test you for is Anemia. Iron deficiency anemia is the most common type of anemia in pregnancy. This is when you don’t have enough iron in your body to make haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is needed to carry oxygen from the lungs to the other parts of your body. If your blood shows positive for Iron Deficiency Anemia then she will put you on a course of iron tablets.

Symptoms of Iron Deficiency Anemia Include:-

• Tiredness
• Weakness
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Numbness or coldness in your hands and feet
• Low body temperature
• Pale skin
• Shortness of breath
• Irritability

You should try to include iron rich foods in your diet. Here is a list of foods which are rich in iron:-

• Lean red meat
• Oily fish ( e.g. Tuna, Sardines, Mackerel)
• Turkey and chicken
• Bovril and Oxo
• Eggs
• Iron fortified breakfast cereal
• Beans and pulses ( e.g., Baked Beans, Lentils, Chickpeas, Kidney Beans)
• Leafy green vegetables ( Spinach, Watercress, Broccoli, Asparagus)
• Nuts
• Cocoa and dark chocolate

Vitamin C helps to absorb the iron in your body so make sure you are having lots of foods which are rich in vitamin C (e.g. Oranges, Kiwi Fruits, Bell Peppers, Strawberries, Broccoli) Avoid drinking tea or coffee with meals as they reduce the amount of iron being absorbed.