Pre-Pregnancy

1. Developing and evaluating a pre-pregnancy DVD for diabetes: Dr. Valerie Holmes talks about developing and evaluating a pre-pregnancy DVD for diabetes.
2. Healthy Women Healthy Families: Planning for Your Pregnancy: Diet, exercise, weight, behavior and Folic Acid are discussed in this video, along with the importance of every woman having a pre-conception health check-up.
3. How Can I Get Pregnant Quicker: This video, which runs about 10 minutes, provides insight into how to overcome some obstacles for pregnancy.
4. Hypertension Part 1: Pre-Pregnancy Hypertension: Learn more about high blood pressure prior to pregnancy.
5. Pre-Pregnancy Check Ups: In this video, Dr. Manny talks about the kinds of exams your doctor will perform to make sure you’ll have a healthy pregnancy.
6. Pre-Pregnancy Fitness: Preparing Your Body for Pregnancy: Join Parents Ask fitness experts, Robert Reames, Holly Perkins and Ron Matthews for information and great exercises to get you started on the path to a fit pregnancy.
7. Pre-Pregnancy from Dr. Weil: Dr. Andrew Weil talks about pre-pregnancy health for women, especially stress and dietary matters.
8. Preparing for Pregnancy: The Health/Science Channel offers a video about how one woman prepares for a second baby.
9. Trying To Get Pregnant | How To Get Pregnant Fast: Learn about fertilization and ovulation from this short video.
10. Unplanned Pregnancy: A short list of health issues to think about and to plan for during an unplanned pregnancy.

Pre-Natal Fitness

11. Baby Body Shape-Up, Part II — Upper Body: Learn safe and effective moves you can do during pregnancy from perinatal Fitness Expert Dara Zall Kelly.
12. Baby Body Shape-Up, Part III — Core Workout: Perinatal Fitness Expert Dara Zall Kelly takes you through a core training workout that is safe for pregnant women.
13. Pregnancy Stretching: Great stretches you can do to ease the tension and stress that come with pregnancy, demonstrated by Lawson Harris from Brooklyn’s The Fitness Guru.
14. Pregnant Exercise – How to strengthen your lower back & abdominals: During pregnancy it is important to strengthen your core. Although your cannot perform crunches, you still can do a lot of static work shown in this video.
15. Pregnancy Exercise – Warm Up: This warm-up can safely be performed throughout your entire pregnancy.
16. Pregnancy-Safe Workouts: Ready to strap on your bowling shoes or your pregnancy bathing suit? Your baby-to-be will thank you for (safely) exercising.
17. Prenatal Fitness: Exercising while pregnant can have long-lasting health benefits. A health expert has some great workout moves for moms-to-be.
18. Prenatal Workout Video: Part I — Lower Body: Perinatal Fitness Expert Dara Zall Kelly takes you through a lower body workout that you can do during pregnancy.
19. Prenatal Yoga Pregnancy Exercise #1: Follow Emily Canibano, an ERYT, GFI and Personal Trainer in this Prenatal Flow Yoga Sequence.
20. Yoga for Pregnancy: Prepare the body for labor! Learn about a series of sitting poses ideal for preparing the body for labor.

Pregnancy Month-by-Month

21. Pregnancy: Weeks 1-4 (Month #1): Here’s what to expect during weeks one through four of your pregnancy.
22. Pregnancy: Weeks 5-8 (Month #2): This video shows you what to expect during month two of your pregnancy, including morning sickness.
23. Pregnancy: Weeks 9-12 (Month #3): During month three, the embryo transitions to a fetus. Learn more about what’s happening to “Mom’s” body during this month.
24. Pregnancy Weeks 13-16 (Month #4): Your baby is about the size of an orange this month, and growing! See what’s happening during weeks 13 to 16.
25. Pregnancy: Weeks 17-20 (Month #5): Your truck-driver’s appetite is a normal, healthy pregnancy symptom during month five. What else is “normal” this month?
26. Pregnancy: Weeks 21-24 (Month #6): Your baby probably will reach the 1 lb mark by week 25. Learn what else is going on in this video.
27. Pregnancy: Weeks 25-28 (Month #7): Your baby is probably able to hear and recognize your voice by month seven.
28. Pregnancy: Weeks 29-32 (Month #8): Morning sickness and other first trimester symptoms may re-appear during month eight.
29. Pregnancy: Weeks 33-36 (Month #9): Learn more about the physical and emotional issues that are part of the last month of pregnancy.

Pregnancy and Labor Issues

30. Alcohol and Pregnancy: An unborn baby and booze are one combination that doesn’t mix well, yet 10 percent of moms-to-be drink anyway.
31. Avoid Premature Labor, UTIs and B.V. in Pregnancy: Learn how to help urinary tract infections and bacteria vaginosis during pregnancy.
32. Eating Seafood While Pregnant: There’s a lot more to consider when it comes seafood during pregnancy than just concerns about mercury.
33. Healthy Pregnancy, Healthy Baby: Prenatal Care: The March of Dimes offers an educational video about prenatal care.
34. Hypertension Part 2: Gestational Hypertension: This video covers high blood pressure during pregnancy.
35. Inducing Labor: If you’re considering inducing labor, learn how it’s done first.
36. Pregnancy and Prescription Drugs: What prescription drugs can you safely take during pregnancy? Which drugs should you avoid?
37. Prenatal Testing: Nuchal Test: The Nuchal Test can help mothers determine if their babies are likely to have Downs Syndrome.
38. Problems with Delivery: Learn about possible problems that can arise from a seemingly normal labor and delivery.
39. Recurrent Pregnancy Loss — Miscarriage: Dr. Mark Perloe, Medical Director at Georgia Reproductive Specialists in Atlanta, explores recurrent miscarriages.
40. Wendy Ryan pregnancy Test: Wendy Ryan, an ABC Action News anchor, is six months pregnant — and she’s testing out a new baby gender test that claims it can predict your baby’s gender as early as eight weeks.

Pregnancy Imaging

41. 3D/4D Gender Ultrasound at 18 Weeks: One couple’s experience with discovering the gender of their baby at 18 weeks.
42. 3rd Trimester Sonograms: During your third trimester, your pregnancy check-ups will probably include a sonogram.
43. 4D Sonograms: Ultrasounds in 4d is the new frontier for your baby. Learn more about them from this video.
44. First Trimester Sonograms: Here’s what to expect while lying next to that sonogram machine in the early weeks.
45. First Trimester Ultrasound: A first trimester ultrasound is important for women who might incur high-risk pregnancies.
46. Is Your Baby a Boy or a Girl? Learn how you can find out in this video about second trimester sonograms.
47. IUGR Ultrasound: Ultrasound in a pregnancy case study of a 25-year-old woman who could not remember her last menstrual period.
48. My first baby sonogram in HD: This is one woman’s first baby sonogram during second-third trimester. You can see backbone, hands, legs and posture.
49. Third Trimester Ultrasound: This is the ultrasound of a third trimester healthy baby.
50. Ultrasounds, What You Can Expect to Learn at Your Appointment: This video shows women what ultrasounds can do to help a woman with her pregnancy.

Exercise

Physical wellness and strength is an important part of your pregnancy. You want to make sure that you are in the best possible shape. Consult with your health care professional about an exercise routine, and consider these tips for better exercise during pregnancy:

1. Drink water: You want to make sure that you drink plenty of water when you exercise while pregnant. This will help you remain hydrated, and keep the blood vessels from contracting and cutting off nutrients to your baby.
2. Avoid dangerous sports: Dangerous sports can harm you and your baby during pregnancy. Mountain biking, high impact aerobics and any sort of extreme sport should be avoided.
3. Realize that some weight gain is healthy: Don’t go to extremes when exercising. Realize that some weight gain during pregnancy is healthy and desirable. Don’t exercise so much that you are unhealthy.
4. Consider yoga: Not all yoga is healthy for a pregnancy, but prenatal yoga can be a good way to strengthen and tone your body, while providing you with gentle exercise and a mind-body connection.
5. Avoid lying flat on your back: Lying flat during exercise can cause problems during pregnancy. If you are concerned about your abs, there are exercises you can do that keep you from lying flat.
6. Wear appropriate clothing: Proper workout clothing will increase your comfort and ensure that you (and the baby) are not restricted.
7. Start slowly: This is especially important if you have not been exercising prior to becoming pregnant. Start gradually and work up to more activity.
8. Consider multiples: There might be additional exercise considerations if you are carrying multiples.
9. Warm up: Make sure that you properly warm-up your body during pregnancy exercise to avoid injury and other problems.
10. Cool down: You want to properly disengage your body from the exercises through a good cool down.
11. Consider post-pregnancy exercise: You want to prepare for post-pregnancy exercises ahead of time. If you ease into from an exercise regimen during pregnancy, it will be a little easier.

Nutrition

Good nutrition helps the fetus develop properly, and can keep you healthy. Here are some nutrition tips to follow during pregnancy:

12. Don’t get too excited about “eating for two”: While you do need more calories during pregnancy, you do not need more than about 300 extra calories. Don’t double your caloric intact while pregnant.
13. Get folic acid: This nutrient has been shown to help aid in the development of the baby. Make sure you are getting adequate folic acid.
14. Get calcium: Your baby’s development is influenced by calcium — as is your bone strength.
15. Get iron: You can fight fatigue during pregnancy with the proper amount of iron.
16. Avoid alcohol: You can seriously damage the baby — and yourself — by drinking during pregnancy.
17. Cut back on caffeine: A great deal of caffeine consumption during pregnancy can slow fetal development by restricting bloodflow to the baby. Reduce your intake for your baby’s sake.
18. Reduce fatty foods intake: Fatty foods can increase heartburn during pregnancy, not to mention these foods are not rich in the nutrients your baby needs.
19. Avoid gestational diabetes: You can take steps, such as eating a health diet, to avoid gestational diabetes. Your health care provider will test you and help you avoid the pitfalls that lead to this complication.
20. Be careful with your Vegan diet: If you are vegan, you can have a healthy pregnancy. Just be sure you are getting adequate protein through your non-animal sources.
21. Create an eating plan: You can monitor what you eat, and eat more healthy foods, when you create a pregnancy eating plan.

Mental Health and Mood

Part of your health and wellness — and even your beauty — can be traced to mental health and mood. Here are some tips to help you fight mood swings and improve your outlook:

22. Slow down and avoid fatigue: Fatigue — mental and physical — can affect your mood and your mental health. Slow down and perhaps limit your activities so that you are not as tired.
23. Get adequate sleep: You can protect yourself from mental fatigue and mood swings by getting enough rest and sleep during pregnancy.
24. Take time to relax: There are a number of safe things you can do to relax and reduce anxiety during pregnancy. Special massage and other techniques can be used.
25. Do something that you enjoy: Taking time to do something that you like can help you enjoy life more, and reduce your mood swings.
26. Share your feelings: Sometimes it can help to talk to your partner or even a professional counselor in order to get your feelings sorted out, and deal with anxieties.
27. Meditation: Connect with your body and clear your mind. Meditation can aid in relaxation and stress reduction.
28. Depression treatment: In some cases, it might be necessary to get depression treatment during pregnancy. If you feel that you are having difficulties deal with your mental health on your own, seek professional help.
29. Exercise: Following an approved exercise program during pregnancy can help you reduce your feelings of anxiety and depression. A healthy body can contribute to a healthy mind.
30. Eat right: Like exercise, proper nutrition also has mental health benefits. Make sure to follow the right healthy eating habits to improve your mood.
31. Educate yourself: Calm anxieties and find peace of mind by getting reliable information about pregnancy and what to expect.
32. Address small problems early on: Instead of waiting for small problems to become large, address them early so that anxiety is contained.

Skin Care

During pregnancy, some of the biggest concerns are about skin care. Here are some skin care tips for pregnancy:

33. Melasma: This is a darkening of the skin around the nose, cheeks and forehead that can look mask-like. You can wear sunscreen to help limit the effects.
34. Stretch marks: One of the most dreaded skin issues related to pregnancy is that of stretch marks. You keep your skin moisturized, as well as get proper nutrition to minimize the appearance of stretch marks.
35. Acne: The adolescent affliction of acne often returns during pregnancy. Speak with a professional if lots of water, good nutrition and pregnancy safe creams don’t get it under control.
36. Dry, itchy skin: You are likely to encounter dry, itchy skin during pregnancy. Moisturizer and even olive oil can help. You can also avoid hot water and soaps that dry out the skin.
37. Varicose veins: These unsightly blemishes can be annoying for some women. Regular exercise, vitamin C and some special tights can help reduce the appearance of varicose veins.
38. Spider veins: Avoid crossing your legs, and increase vitamin C to help reduce the appearance of spider veins.
39. Red palms: You might end up with red palms. Sadly, there isn’t much you can do beyond waiting to give birth. But be aware of it. Sometimes moisturizer can ease itchiness.
40. Exfoliate: You can give your skin a healthy pregnancy glow by gently exfoliating daily.
41. Drink water: You can drink water to help ease a lot of skin problems. Make sure to drink plenty of water to keep your skin elastic and smooth.

Makeup and Beauty

You want to feel like you look beautiful during your pregnancy. Here are some general makeup and beauty tips:

42. Avoid too much makeup: It can be tempting to cake it on, but try to avoid wearing too much makeup.
43. Concealer: Use this to hide the circles under your eyes.
44. Highlights: You can still add highlights or full hair color during pregnancy. You can even use “hair mascara” if you are concerned.
45. Shave your legs: This can help you feel sexy. However, you need to be careful about how you go about shaving your legs, and take precautions later in your pregnancy, since it can get tricky.
46. Solid colors: You can embrace your curves and keep things simple with solid colors. You can also find career maternity clothes that provide a professional look.
47. Posture: You can improve how you look by improving your posture.
48. Condition your hair: The nutrients your baby needs have to come from somewhere. You can use oils and special conditioners to help your hair. Also, avoid blow drying as much as possible.
49. Lip gloss: Apply lipstick or lip gloss to glamor up. You can even find lead free options meant for concerned pregnant women.
50. Pamper yourself: When you are pampered and well-rested, you are more likely to naturally “glow” with beauty. There are natural ways to safely pamper yourself during pregnancy.