There are so many pregnancy resources out there, it can be difficult to sift through all of them to find the information you are looking for. Here are a few that I like. I hope they help answer some of the questions or concerns you encounter during your pregnancy.
American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists - this site offers fact sheets on the most frequently asked questions about contraception, gynecologic problems, pregnancy, special procedures, and women’s health.
There are a lot of baby apps for your phone. These are the two free apps I like the best on my Verizon phone:
Baby Bump – This application tracks how far along you are in your pregnancy, gives you a daily quick tip, and weekly information on the size of your baby, its features and development, and your body changes (like farting more often or bloating that makes you feel like you are Violet from Willie Wonka). The app also contains a forum, a weight tracker, and a daily journal for your measurements and emotional status.
Baby Center - This application also tracks how far along you are, but gives you a wider range of quick tips with the ability to find more information on a particular topic. It also allows you to quickly scroll up and down to find information from previous weeks, or skip ahead. It contains a checklist of things you can do to prepare or feel better, week to week updates, a birth club forum on a variety of topics, and a “more” button for other baby center resources.
I would recommend downloading a few of the free pregnancy apps you think would be helpful or interesting to you and then deleting the ones you don’t use.
Text4baby - you can sign up for this program by texting BABY to 511411 (or BEBE in Spanish) to receive text messages each week. The messages focus on a variety of topics that include birth defect prevention, immunization, nutrition, seasonal flu, mental health, oral health, and safe sleep. Text4baby messages also connect women to prenatal and infant care services if they need to seek a provider.
Medical provider - Please call your medical provider, midwife, or your provider’s medical assistant as many times as you need to. If this is your first pregnancy you will have a lot of questions and hear a million different things from friends and family, which will probably make you a bit confused and/or worried about whether you are doing or not doing something correctly. Your first prenatal visit is usually around nine weeks. During this visit they will ask you a lot of medical questions, but be prepared with your own set of questions. Make sure they take the time you need to go over your questions on prenatal vitamins, their recommendations on unpasteurized cheeses and lunch meats, your diet, etc.
Books - There are a plethora of great books out there, but here a few recommendations from Mary’s previous post called Pregnancy, Childbirth & Parenting: What to Expect When No One Tells You What’s REALLY Going to Happen which contained the following recommended titles: Great Expectations, Spiritual Midwifery, Birthing From Within, A Child Is Born, Mayo Clinic Guide To A Healthy Pregnancy, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Your Pregnancy Week By Week, Your Pregnancy and Birth, and The Girlfriends Guide To Pregnancy. Your local library should have most of these titles and borrowing (rather than buying) saves you some money. If they don’t have the book you are looking for on the shelf, ask the librarian if they can locate it within your state or county through an inter-library loan.
*Do you have a particular pregnancy topic you would like us to blog about? Please send us some suggestions on topics you would like us to cover.
You also might find these posts interesting:
- Pregnant by Choice
- Happy Mom = Happy Baby? Antidepressants and Pregnancy
- “What if all the fetuses you save grow up without health insurance, find a lump in their breast, and can’t afford treatment? What then?”
- Pregnancy: Factoring in the Rh Factor
- Natural Family Planning, or How Fosgood Finally Got Pregnant
