Learning about pregnancy stages information will help pregnant women take better care of themselves and their unborn child. Basically, the more knowledge you have, the more prepared you are for any eventuality. Moreover, learning about the various stages of pregnancy helps you understand the changes that your body is going through.

Pregnancy normally lasts for around 40 weeks. These 40 weeks are divided into three stages or trimesters. During these three stages, a pregnant woman experiences various symptoms and drastic changes in her body.

First Trimester

The first trimester of pregnancy starts from the first week and lasts till the 12th week. Pregnancy triggers hormonal changes in the body. Due to these hormonal changes, the body experiences several symptoms like,

• Feeling tired

• Breasts becoming tender and swollen

• Stop in periods

• Morning sickness

• Craving for certain foods

• Frequent urination

• Constipation

• Weight loss or gain

• Heartburn

Second Trimester

The second trimester of pregnancy starts from the 13th week and lasts till the 28th week. Many women notice that they are no longer experience morning sickness. The fatigue also goes away. However, the abdomen starts getting bigger. As a result of this, they might start feeling pain in their back, thighs, or groin area.

During the second trimester, some women notice swelling on their ankles, face, and fingers. Their nose, cheeks, forehead, or upper lip may develop patches of dark skin. The skin around the nipples also becomes darker.

Third Trimester

The third trimester of pregnancystarts from the 29th week and lasts till the 40th week. During this stage, many women notice that they have to make frequent visits to the bathroom. Plus, they have trouble breathing or experiencing shortness of breath. The breasts become tender and the belly button starts to stick out. Heartburn, swelling of face, ankles and fingers, and hemorrhoids are some of the other symptoms that occur in the third trimester of pregnancy.

During these three stages, both the woman’s body, and the fetus undergo changes. From being a fetus at the end of the 8 weeks, it grows up to be a baby, whose organs are able to function on their own after birth. From being 1/25 of an inch at the end of 4 weeks, it grows to around 19 to 21 inches by the end of 40 weeks.

From conception to birth, the baby and the mother have a long way to go. Learning all about pregnancy stages information helps the mother-to-be and the baby.

Another way you can help yourself is by exercising. Pregnancy exercise will help you stay fit, maintain your weight, improve blood circulation and beat stress. Yoga, walking, and swimming are some of the exercises that you can take up during your pregnancy.

By learning about pregnancy stages information, exercising, eating nutritious diet and consulting a doctor on a regular basis, you can ensure a healthy pregnancy.

Early pregnancy stages right up to the delivery of the baby is a period of numerous changes in the physical and emotional constitution of a woman’s body.

Though the emotional well-being might, in certain cases, be linked to external factors, our physical condition or the effect of the type of food we eat on our health during the three trimesters cannot be overlooked.

The importance of eating a balanced and nutritious diet cannot be more emphasized. We need to constantly think of the baby who’s wholly dependant on us for survival, and that we need to put the baby’s needs before our own. This is also the period that forms the foundation of a healthy and productive life for the baby.

Signs of Pregnancy

At the first sign of pregnancy, a proper maternal and fetal nutrition plan should be made. If it is a planned pregnancy, it would be useful to consult a doctor as certain vitamins such as folic acid should be taken while trying for the baby. The first trimester is accompanied by morning sickness in most women. However, this should not be a reason for abstaining from food. Morning sickness usually goes away by the second trimester. The emphasis in the second and third trimesters should be on gaining weight, which might have been lost in the first trimester due to nausea and vomiting. This weight gain ought to be through a nutritious diet and not through gorging on high fat-laden junk food.

A few Food tips during pregnancy stages are as follows:

• Eating several mini meals at frequent intervals rather than three large meals

• Choosing wholegrain foods, coupled with fresh vegetables and fruits

• Having a diet rich in proteins and calcium (such as milk, eggs, nuts, beans, and lean meat), but no raw or partially cooked eggs, meat, and seafood

• Including a lot of fluids in the diet

• A diet high in fiber and low in refined and processed flours

• Avoiding the consumption of shark, swordfish, marlin fish, as they contain high levels of mercury and limiting the intake of tuna

• Avoiding non-pasteurized juice and foods

• Avoiding large quantities of liver

• Staying away from caffeine and alcohol

• Avoiding herbal tea (despite all its benefits, there is no data on its effects on the baby)

Pregnancy is the time to celebrate, feel blessed that you have been given a task to create a life. Nobody and nothing should deter us from following our dream of giving birth to a healthy bundle of joy. The onus for that lies totally on us through the different pregnancy stages.