Research has found that expectant women who exercise regularly gain less weight during pregnancy than women who don’t exercise at all.

That’s not all: Exercise also makes labor easier, alleviates constipation, back pain and fatigue, and is linked to a lower risk of high blood pressure and gestational diabetes.

The benefits extend to your kids, as well: A British study showed that active pregnant women had children who were likely to be active themselves. You really are exercising for two!

So who’s doing it? According to our survey, more than two-thirds of pregnant physicians said they exercised during their pregnancies – a number matched by regular women.

But how much should you exercise when you’re pregnant? That depends on your activity level before pregnancy. Nobody is expecting you to train hard while pregnant, like marathoners Paula Radcliffe and Kara Goucher (check out their pregnancy training!). However, almost every woman can take a brisk walk a few times a week.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists offers guidelines for starting a prenatal exercise program.

And while balmy summer weather may lure you outside, take care not to get overheated. Excessive heat is dangerous for your baby’s developing brain, and it’s harder for pregnant women to cool down since they have two bodies to regulate.

It’s best to avoid the hottest times of day (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.), and be sure to follow the CDC’s guidelines on heat exertion.

Do you have an exercise routine while pregnant? Has it helped you manage pregnancy side effects?

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A recent study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology suggests a link between low vitamin D levels and a severe form of pregnancy-related high blood pressure.

The condition, known as early-onset severe preeclampsia because it strikes before week 34, causes a sudden increase in blood pressure and protein in the urine (your doctor checks both at every prenatal visit).

While it affects fewer than 4% of pregnant women, early-onset severe preeclampsia is responsible for 15% of nationwide preterm births. The study found that women the condition had lower vitamin D levels in their blood than other pregnant women.

So what’s the best way to get enough vitamin D? Drinking a couple glasses of milk a day won’t do it. In fact, diet alone rarely supplies enough vitamin D.

Exposure to the sun helps – ultraviolet B (UVB) rays initiate a process beneath your skin that creates vitamin D. The catch is, sunscreen actually prevents this process from happening. The solution: Go outside with some exposed skin between 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. two or three times a week – for 10 minutes max.

Another option is vitamin supplements. According to the Institute of Medicine, pregnant women should get 200 I.U. of vitamin D per day. Most prenatal vitamins include vitamin D, so be sure to check. Also, there are different forms – vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is the recommended type.

And, as always, check with your doctor before starting a supplement while pregnant.

How are you getting your vitamin D?

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2. How Serious Is Gestational Hypertension?
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And high blood pressure that develops during pregnancy (known as gestational hypertension) can be dangerous to you and your baby.

Only a small percentage of women – fewer than 10%, according to a Wiser Pregnancy survey – are diagnosed with gestational hypertension, but detection and treatment are critical.

First step: Make sure your doctor is checking your blood pressure during your regular pregnancy visits.

Gestational hypertension usually develops in or after week 20, but it may take time to be diagnosed: The majority of women are diagnosed in or after their 7th month. That’s because there often aren’t noticeable symptoms.

Aside from stress, several other factors increase your risk of developing high blood pressure: smoking, being overweight or obese, lack of exercise, too much salt, age, family history and kidney disease.

Now while high blood pressure itself doesn’t mean you should whip out the meditation tapes (although they can’t hurt!), gestational hypertension can have some serious complications:

• Reduced blood flow to the placenta, limiting the supply of nutrients and oxygen to the fetus
• Placental abruption, in which the placenta separates from the uterus too early
• Increased likelihood of preeclampsia, a potentially deadly condition
• Medically induced premature delivery to protect the mother or fetus from a life-threatening complication, such as eclampsia

Although delivery is the only “cure” for gestational hypertension, there are ways to successfully manage the condition. According to Wiser Pregnancy’s most recent survey, women have tried the following treatments, with good results:

• Low salt diet (used by 65%) – effective for 65% of users
• Bed rest (used by 59%) – effective for 69% of users
• Monitor with home blood pressure cuff (used by 53%) – effective for 75% of users
• Blood pressure medication (used by 47%) – effective for 77% of users
• Reduced work hours (used by 46%) – effective for 67% of users

Do you have gestational hypertension?  What are you doing to manage the condition?

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But new medical guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) may change that. According to that organization, hospitals should respect women’s preferences about the kind of birth they want and not strong-arm them into repeat C-sections.

That’s good news for moms-to-be who don’t want to go under the knife again, especially since risks associated with VBACs are much lower than previously thought.

Why the new guidelines? The numbers of C-sections have skyrocketed in recent years. According to a Wiser Pregnancy survey, 23% of women have had at least one C-section. And more than 8 out of every 10 women who has a C-section has a repeat Cesarean delivery, even though they’re not at risk from a vaginal deliver. (Read why hospitals prefer repeat C-sections.)

In fact, experts estimate that between 60% and 80% of women who’ve had a previous C-section are good candidates for VBAC.

ACOG now recommends that hospital respect a woman’s choice to have a VBAC, as long as she’s informed and willing to accept increased levels of risk.

The new guidelines mean some doctors and hospitals will need to make changes.  ACOG encourages even hospitals with anti-VBAC policies in place (often because they don’t have the resources to handle an emergency C-section) to respect a woman’s choice.

Doctors who are uncomfortable with a woman’s delivery choice – for medical or liability reasons – are encouraged to refer patients to another physician.

Have you had a C-section in the past and want a VBAC? Has your doctor encouraged or discouraged you from having a VBAC?

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It’s estimated that about 10%-20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. In a Wiser Pregnancy survey, about 4% of women miscarried their current pregnancy. However, almost two-thirds of these women had had a previous miscarriage.

While miscarriage can be heartbreaking for women, experts used to think that men weren’t that affected by the loss. They simply weren’t attached to the unborn child.

Not so, according to a new study.

While women are more affected by miscarriage, the study found that losing a baby can have a profound effect on both partners.  Just over half of women (52%) and 40% of men reported having significant psychological distress after losing a baby. Falling into depression isn’t uncommon either: 26% of women and 17% of men had serious depression immediately after the event.

Gender does a play a role in grief, though. Women who had seen the fetal heartbeat on ultrasound or had troubled marriages had the toughest time recovering from miscarriage. Men, on the other hand, were likely to be more depressed if the pregnancy was planned.

It takes time to recover physically and mentally after a miscarriage.  If you’re feeling sad or depressed, you don’t need to keep your feelings to yourself.  A counselor and/or support group can help you and your partner in the aftermath of your loss.

Learn more about depression and where to get help. Your doctor may also have some suggestions.

Have you had a miscarriage? What helped you recover?

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According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), caffeine isn’t the no-no during pregnancy that was previously believed. (That sound you hear is a stampede of moms-to-be heading to Starbucks.)

A review of recent studies on the effects of caffeine on pregnancy has found that moderate caffeine consumption (less than 200 milligrams a day) won’t increase the risk of miscarriage or preterm birth.

That’s good news for all those expectant women (75%, according to a Wiser Pregnancy survey) who avoid caffeine during pregnancy – some of them reluctantly.

So how much is 200 milligrams of caffeine? It’s equivalent to one of these:

• One 12-ounce cup of coffee (although the amount of caffeine in coffee can vary)
• Four 8-ounce cups of tea
• More than five 12-ounce cans of soda a day
• Six or seven dark chocolate bars

However, there may be risks associated with consuming more than 200 milligrams of caffeine daily, so ACOG recommends keeping your intake below that.

Does this new position change your mind about caffeine? Would you have caffeine while pregnant?

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HealthGrades, a leading independent health care ratings organization, looked at more than 1,500 U.S. hospitals. Their findings: The better the hospital, the less likely there was to be complications with births.

The best-performing hospitals boasted 51% fewer complications among women giving birth vaginally, and 74% fewer C-section complications, compared to poorly performing hospitals. Infants were also more likely to survive in a top hospital.

Of course, this study only looked at hospitals, which is where most women give birth. According to a Wiser Pregnancy survey, 93% of women polled gave birth in a hospital. And 99% of doctors we asked had their own babies in a hospital.

And yet, 66% of women surveyed didn’t visit their chosen birth location prior to delivery.  Reputation was the reason most women cited (28%) for choosing the location they did. Other top reasons were prior experience with a facility and recommendation from a care provider.

So how do you find out if your hospital is considered a good one? The Joint Commission, an organization that accredits and evaluates healthcare institutions for states, has a helpful page on what to look for.

Also, a simple Internet search for top hospitals will bring up rankings done by news outlets or healthcare organizations. Just be sure to look at what they are basing their rankings on—patient safety should be at the top of the list!

How did you choose your birth location? What were the main factors in your decision?

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In fact, 10% of moms-to-be have at least one UTI while expecting, according to a Wiser Pregnancy survey.  Around 8% of female doctors got at least one UTI when they were pregnant.  

But “gotta go” urgency isn’t the only symptom of UTIs. You may experience itching and burning when you pee, or feel like you have to go again after you’ve just went. 

While expectant women aren’t more likely to develop UTIs than other women, pregnancy can be a risk factor. Some experts believe hormones are to blame. Pregnancy hormones relax muscles around the urethra, which allows bacteria to travel up from the bladder to the kidneys with greater ease than normal.

Also, as your uterus grows, it pushes down on the bladder and you may not be able to completely empty your bladder. If urine sits in your bladder, bacteria can multiply and cause an infection.

Unlike in other women, however, UTIs during pregnancy can be serious. If a lower UTI (infection in the bladder or urethra) isn’t treated, the infection can travel up the ureters to the kidneys. Kidney infections can cause preterm birth or low birth weight.

Treatment is generally very effective and simple. Here’s what other women tried:

Although some women aren’t comfortable taking medication during pregnancy, antibiotics used to treat UTIs in pregnant women have been shown to be safe and effective.  The benefits of treating the infection and preventing complications outweigh any risks posed by the medication. 

Have you been diagnosed with a UTI during pregnancy?  What worked to treat the symptoms?

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The answer is: nothing. The cause of gestational diabetes – a condition characterized by dangerously high levels of blood sugar in pregnant women – has long been a mystery.

And more moms-to-be are likely to be diagnosed now. That’s because blood sugar levels previously thought to be normal pose a risk to mother and baby, according to a recent study by the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

About 5%-8% of pregnant women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes. But as a result of new blood sugar guidelines, that number could climb to 16%.

Blood sugar levels now considered dangerous are:

• Fasting blood sugar level of 92 or higher
• 1-hour level of 180 or higher on a glucose tolerance test
• 2-hour level of 153 or higher on a glucose tolerance test

So what’s the danger of gestational diabetes? It can cause complications such as overweight babies with high insulin levels, premature births, dangerously high blood pressure in the mother, and more C-section deliveries.

The good news is gestational diabetes is highly manageable. According to a Wiser Pregnancy survey, 70%-100% of pregnant women and women doctors successfully managed the condition with diet and exercise, plus regular monitoring of their blood sugar.

Interestingly, only 22% of non-physician women took prescription insulin, whereas 55% of pregnant doctors took a prescription to manage their diabetes.

A healthy diet is also key. A diabetic woman’s daily diet should consist of three small meals and three snacks a day of fiber-rich vegetables, fruits, beans, lean protein and legumes. Refined starches such as white bread and sweets should be avoided as much as possible.

And just in time for summer comes this news: People with diabetes are prone to heat-related illness, thanks to an impaired ability to sweat. For pregnant women, excess heat can damage a developing baby. So if you have gestational diabetes, stay cool and drink plenty of cold fluids.

Do you have gestational diabetes?

How are you managing your condition: diet, insulin or other ways?

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How common are multiples? Carrying two or more babies make up only about 3% of all pregnancies. But if you had multiples in a previous pregnancy, you’re more likely to have them in the future.

A Wiser Pregnancy survey found that 16% of pregnant women who were carrying twins or more had a multiples pregnancy in the past. But that’s not the only cause: Heredity, older age, personal history, race and fertility drugs and treatments also boost the odds.

But multiples bring a downside: a greater risk of complications during pregnancy, including: 

• Preterm labor and birth
• Gestational hypertension
• Placental abruption
• Preeclampsia
• Birth defects
• Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS)
• Amniotic fluid level problems
• Spontaneous abortion of all babies or single fetal death
• Cesarean delivery
• Postpartum hemorrhage

In many ways, expecting twins or more is similar to a “singleton” pregnancy. However, there are several additional issues that you many encounter: 

• Pregnancy reduction – The fewer babies a woman carries, the more likely it is that those babies will be healthy. In some cases, a woman’s body naturally aborts one or more of the fetuses.  In other cases, a doctor may advise medically removing the at-risk fetus(es). 
• Diet changes – It can be difficult for moms pregnant with multiples to gain enough weight, which can increase the risk of early birth and low birth weight babies.  Preterm births occur about 60% of the time a woman has multiples. So women expecting multiples need to eat more than singleton mothers.
• Extra tests and monitoring – You may have more ultrasound exams or an amniocentesis closer to delivery to make sure your babies’ lungs are developed enough for delivery.

Are you pregnant with multiples?  What complications have you had? What did your doctor advise?

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