Your second trimester is from the beginning of week 13 until week 28, during this time your pregnancy will begin to show. However, you should feel like you have more energy than you did in trimester one. This is why this trimester is also nicknamed the honeymoon period of pregnancy – your baby isn’t big enough to make you uncomfortable and your pregnancy hormones should have eased up.
During this time there are one or two things that you can keep in mind to make the most of this time while you’re feeling better, and to ensure that your baby (and you) are kept healthy and happy.
Childbirth classes, preparing your mind and body
Even if this isn’t your first baby, childbirth classes can help prepare you for what is to come. If you’re feeling anxious about labour and birth, these classes will help ease your worries, by informing you what is to come and how best to manage your mind and body coming up to, during birth and after birth.
Prenatal exercise and a healthy lifestyle
Stay fit and healthy during your pregnancy is important to both you and your baby. What you eat and regular exercise are both ways in which you can provide needed nutrition to your baby and keep yourself healthy.
Low impact exercise, such yoga, swimming, walking and prenatal pilates can help improve your sleep, and increase your strength and muscle tone. Keeping active can even have the added benefit of helping prepare your body for labour and birth.
Maternity wear and staying comfortable
Not only is learning about your pregnancy and staying healthy essential but staying comfortable is also important. The second trimester is generally when your tummy will start looking and feeling bigger, so invest in some trousers that have more give in the waistline. Luckily certain fashion items, such as flowy dresses and layered knits, may even mean you can still keep using your pre-pregnancy clothes.
Administered by Medscheme Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Bonitas aims to make quality
healthcare accessible to all South Africans and offers a wide range of plans that are simple to understand and easy to use. The Fund has the largest GP
network in South Africa, a Specialist Network and a host of supplementary
benefits paid from risk and carefully crafted managed care programmes to
cover chronic conditions, cancer, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. This allows members to derive real value for money and stretch their benefits as far as possible
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