Every mom wants a healthy pregnancy, but it can be hard to identify. Nature is just doing its thing, so how do you know if you are onto a winner? Let’s take a look. 

The Baby Stops Moving So Much Close To Labor

At nine months, the amount of movement of the baby in a healthy pregnancy starts to reduce. The baby begins to prepare itself for exiting the womb and physically has less space to move around inside. 

Most babies take a head-first position in the birth canal before making their way to the opening. Ultrasounds can tell you whether the baby is orientated correctly in the days and weeks running up to birth. 

You Can Hear The Heart Of The Baby Beating Around Five Weeks

Before week four, the growing child doesn’t have a functioning heart. The tissues haven’t yet formed, so the heart itself cannot function. 

However, around week five, the heart suddenly lights up and begins pumping blood throughout the baby’s body, actually accelerating the growth rate of the child and providing nutrients to more tissues. 

Doctors use a non-stress test to identify whether the baby’s heart is beating or not. The heart rate of a healthy baby is usually between 110 and 160 beats per minute.

If you are worried about your child, contacting a pregnancy and abortion counseling service may help. Professionals can talk to you about what to expect and can assuage common concerns. 

You Feel Movement After Five Months

Babies actually move around in the womb from the first week in a process called “quickening.” However, because the body of the growing child is so small, you won’t feel it. At five months, though, the child is large enough to start having a real impact and effect on your body. What’s more, they are then able to respond to sound, pain and light in ways that they couldn’t before. 

At eight months, you’ll notice that your baby starts kicking more frequently. It could become a daily, or even hourly, occurrence. 

You’re Gaining Weight

During pregnancy, you should gain weight. The added weight includes the weight of the child, plus additional weight around your chest, hips, and thighs. 

The body gains additional weight to provide stores to create breast milk when the baby arrives. Babies typically consume around 500 to 1,000 calories per day, which means that additional energy reserves are needed for nursing. If you don’t put on extra fat, you may feel exhausted after several weeks of breastfeeding. 

You Have Morning Sickness

Morning sickness doesn’t feel particularly pleasant, but this first-trimester symptom is highly associated with healthy babies. If you feel occasionally sick, it doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with your pregnancy, in fact, quite the opposite. It shows that the body’s hormones are changing and that you’re preparing to give birth to a child. 

In conclusion, every mother worries about the health of her child. But the good news is that most pregnancies end with the desired outcome.

Photo by Ryan Franco on Unsplash