I wish I could offer you a magical formula for a perfect pregnancy and baby. But no such formula exists because "perfection" is a word that has no place in describing the human endeavor of childbearing. What's more, differing backgrounds, histories, tastes, habits, starting points, and so on mean that no one-size-fits-all health plan can possibly have the same effect on every person. Every birth is different, too. Sure, all female bodies are designed to gestate and give birth, but while some lucky people can just step out of the way and let the body do its thing, more often challenges arise - nausea, anemia, preterm labor - where our attention and involvement can make a difference. In addition, certain aspects of birth simply fall beyond anyone's control or understanding. We don't know why some women develop preeclampsia or why some fetuses refuse to come out of a breech position, for example. Your goal should be to move toward a lifestyle that will support your pregnancy in an optimal way. And that's something I can give you.

Whatever your starting point, this season of change is an ideal time to make some improvements in the way you take care of yourself. Whether you work to bring better balance into your life, shed unhealthy habits, or improve the good habits you already have, a child is the ultimate motivation. What's more, these benefits reverberate well beyond pregnancy and childbirth. You can create new habits that persist long after your baby is born, setting yourself up for a healthier midlife and beyond. By modeling those behaviors in motherhood, you'll send out powerful messages that shape your child's health as she or he grows, too.

The Five Centers of Wellness

Good health consists of five different (but overlapping) domains that must be individually strong as well as balanced overall. These five Centers of Wellness are:

1. Nutrition: food, drink, and supplements.
2. Movement: exercise for fitness as well as movement that brings you joy.
3. Mind: the state of your mind, including your stressors and your perceptions.
4. Spirit: a feeling of connectedness to self, to other beings, and to an entity larger than yourself (such as God or nature), whether via spirituality, community, religion, or other vehicles.
5. Sensation: sensuality (the senses: touch, taste, vision, hearing, and smell) and sexuality.

It's through these five centers that you nourish your body and soul. They're listed in no particular order of importance, because all five are important! Conventional medicine tends to value the first two and give a nod to the third. The last two are rarely even considered in a medical setting. But I believe all five interconnect to impact your well-being. For example, when you are eating well, you often feel less depressed, more energetic and apt to exercise more, and your relationships are also better. When you are not managing stress well, you may overeat and stop exercising, and your relationships and sex life may suffer.

What's so interesting is that your needs within a given center are constantly shifting - especially in pregnancy. The way you move, your appetites and food preferences, your stress level, your libido, your sense of connection to God or to your own mother or your friends - all will be impacted across the arc of this experience and all will vary from trimester to trimester, and even from day to day. That's why paying attention to all five of your Centers of Wellness is so important, and why you need a flexible plan that changes as you do. The Basic Self-Care Plan for Pregnancy is simple and life-changing.

In each of your five Centers of Wellness, I've mapped out a handful of daily goals. These are the minimum steps necessary to bring consciousness to that aspect of your health each day. Then I've listed a number of suggestions as to how you can attain each goal. Although the following summary of base-plan goals may sound like small steps, the ways you meet them, which I'll outline in the following pages, add up to big health changes.

Basic Self-Care Plan for Pregnancy

Mind Center goals

• Try to bring awareness to your level of stress every day.
• Trigger the relaxation response at least once a day.
• Explore ways to use mind-body techniques to support the specific needs of your body and your soul.

Nutrition Center goals

• Explore and understand your relationship with food.
• Bring meal-by-meal consciousness to your food choices.
• Eliminate substances that are known dangers.
• Shift to a more pregnancy-friendly, balanced diet, with:
  • More essential nutrients
  • More fruits and vegetables
  • Healthier fats, especially omega-3s
  • More whole grains
  • Healthier proteins
  • Fewer empty calories

Movement Center goals

• Make conscious choices about the kinds of activity that your body needs and enjoys every day.
• Do a low-impact aerobic activity that you enjoy at least three times a week on nonconsecutive days.
• Strength-train at least three times a week nonconsecutive days.
• Stretch every day.

Spirit Center goals

• Think about your sense of your life's meaning and purpose.
• Build a "sacred time" into each day.
• Do one thing every day to fuel or feed a relationship that you care about.

Sensation Center goals

• Pay attention to which of your senses you are most nurtured by.
• Actively nurture the full range of your senses and sensuality each day.
• Explore and support your sexuality as it evolves throughout your pregnancy and beyond.

Copyright © 2007 by Tracy Gaudet

About the Author

Tracey W. Gaudet, M.D., is director of the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine at Duke University Medical School and a practicing, board-certified Ob-Gyn. She was the founding executive director of Dr. Andrew Weil's Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Dr. Gaudet received her M.D. from the Duke University School of Medicine. A noted expert on women's health issues, she's been featured on Oprah, ABC News' 20/20, and the Arts and Entertainment network. She and her husband, Dr. Richard Liebowitz, live in Durham, North Carolina.

Paula Spencer specializes in health and family subjects for Woman's Day, Glamour, Parenting, Baby Talk, USA Weekend, and other publications. She is the author of four books on pregnancy and parenting, including Everything ELSE You Need to Know When You're Expecting.