Your birth plan: what to decide and what to ask the maternity unit
A short birth plan helps you think about your birth partner, pain relief, time with your baby and feeding before contractions begin.
4 min read
Category
Pregnancy
Everything about the nine months of pregnancy: your body, your baby's development and getting ready for the birth.
Pain relief in labour: from breathing to an epidural
The ways to ease labour pain, what an epidural does and does not do, and the questions worth asking your maternity unit before the birth.
4 min read
The stages of labour: from the first contraction to the placenta
What happens at each stage of labour, how long it usually lasts, when to set off for the maternity unit and when to call straight away.
4 min read
Heartburn in pregnancy: why it happens and what helps
Why your stomach burns in pregnancy, what to change about meals and sleep, why bicarbonate of soda is not the answer and when heartburn needs a doctor.
3 min read
Gestational diabetes: the test, food and after the birth
Who is most at risk, how the glucose test works, how to eat without giving up the Albanian table and what happens after the birth.
4 min read
Warning signs in pregnancy and after the birth
The signs that should not wait for your next appointment, in pregnancy and up to a year after the birth, and how to tell a doctor so they take you seriously.
4 min read
Exercise in pregnancy: how much, what kind and when to stop
How much activity you need each week, what is safe, what to avoid, how to exercise in the summer heat and the signs that tell you to stop.
4 min read
Hospital bag checklist: what to pack for the birth
The full list of things for labour, for the days after and for your baby, and when to pack your bag.
3 min read
Your baby’s movements in pregnancy
When you first feel your baby move, what it feels like, why you do not need to count kicks and when to call straight away.
3 min read
Signs of labour: how to tell it is starting
Contractions, your waters breaking and the other signs that labour is starting, when to call the maternity unit and when to call straight away.
4 min read
Ultrasound scans in pregnancy
The dating scan and the anomaly scan: when they happen, what they check, what they feel like and whether they are safe.
3 min read
Foods to avoid in pregnancy
Cheese, meat, eggs, fish, coffee and herbal teas: what to avoid in pregnancy, what is safe to eat and why.
4 min read