While your baby is growing inside, you will be changing too. Your uterus will get larger as your baby grows. You will produce more blood to carry food and oxygen to your baby. Your breasts will be getting ready to produce milk. At the emotional level, you will be getting ready to be a mother, and your family will be getting ready to welcome a new person.
During these nine months, carrying the extra weight makes you tired and the whole experience can leave you walking awkwardly for a bit, but pregnancy also has some amazingly positive effects on your health. Some of them could help keep you in good shape for the rest of your life as a mother.
Here’s how...
Cleaned up lifestyle. Being pregnant forces you to give up cigarettes, cut down on alcohol, and eat more sensibly and healthy for years because remember what you put in your body not only affects you but also your unborn baby, being overly health-conscious is just not an option anymore but it's mandatory.
Feel more calm and positive, free from stress. Pregnancy and breastfeeding also release feel-good hormones to de-stress you.
Stronger bones. Researchers believe the extra weight you carry in pregnancy increases bone strength, particularly in your pelvis, and may even strengthen hip muscles, too. This reduces your risk of hip fractures in later life by 44 percent - plus a further nine percent for every additional child you have.
Makes hair, skin, and nails look fabulous. Pregnancy-boosted metabolism is nourishing for growing cells, resulting in much thicker, shinier hair, stronger nails and a complexion that positively glows with health making you more pretty.
Great sex. You might not feel like making love so often, but when you do - wow! Increased blood circulation means you’re ultra-sensitive, making arousal quicker and orgasm even more pleasurable.
Being physically fit. In pregnancy, your aerobic capacity increases by up to 30 percent and your heart gets a third bigger, pumping twice the usual amount of blood. These effects last for some months after birth so if you’re fit before you get pregnant and continue exercising in pregnancy, you can emerge fitter and stronger than ever.
Long life. Pregnant women acquire some of their baby’s new cells to replace their aging ones. Researchers have found male stem cells in the bone marrow of the mums of boys. This may explain why women live longer than men, and why pregnancy protects against breast cancer.
Reduces the risk of future illness. Pregnancy can be a cornerstone of your future health. For instance, if you develop gestational diabetes, you’re more likely to get type-2 diabetes later on; if you get pre-eclampsia you’re up to 10 times more likely to develop heart disease. This may not sound like good news, but it’s a window of opportunity. Doctors can pick up on potential health problems much earlier in a woman’s life, and then intervene to reduce her risk of serious illness in the future.
Reduces the risk of cancer. Pregnancy hormones reduce your risk of endometrial, breast cancer and also boost your protection against breast cancer by over four percent for each year you breastfeed.
Break from or suppress illness. For example, if you have a chronic health condition, such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, or even multiple sclerosis, you may find your symptoms are less severe or even disappear, in pregnancy. Sadly, once those hormones settle down after birth, conditions may tend to re-appear.
Long life. Pregnant women acquire some of their baby’s new cells to replace their aging ones. Researchers have found male stem cells in the bone marrow of the mums of boys. This may explain why women live longer than men, and why pregnancy protects against breast cancer.
Reduces the risk of future illness. Pregnancy can be a cornerstone of your future health. For instance, if you develop gestational diabetes, you’re more likely to get type-2 diabetes later on; if you get pre-eclampsia you’re up to 10 times more likely to develop heart disease. This may not sound like good news, but it’s a window of opportunity. Doctors can pick up on potential health problems much earlier in a woman’s life, and then intervene to reduce her risk of serious illness in the future.
Reduces the risk of cancer. Pregnancy hormones reduce your risk of endometrial, breast cancer and also boost your protection against breast cancer by over four percent for each year you breastfeed.
Break from or suppress illness. For example, if you have a chronic health condition, such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, or even multiple sclerosis, you may find your symptoms are less severe or even disappear, in pregnancy. Sadly, once those hormones settle down after birth, conditions may tend to re-appear.