Health Topic

Pregnancy

Taking care of your health while you're pregnant will help give your baby a healthy start. Learn about prenatal care, nutrition, and staying fit during pregnancy.

Reviewed Reviewed by a registered pharmacistGeneral information

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Pregnancy

You're going to have a baby! It's an exciting time, but it can also feel a bit overwhelming. You may have a lot of questions, including what you can do to give your baby a healthy start. Taking care of your health while you're pregnant will help your fetus develop into a healthy baby. To do that, it's important to:

  • Have regular visits with your health care provider. During prenatal care visits your provider checks your health and carefully monitors your pregnancy until you deliver a healthy baby. And if there are any health problems, your provider can find them early. Getting treatment right away can cure many problems and prevent others.
  • Eat healthy and drink plenty of water. Good nutrition during pregnancy includes eating a variety of: Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Whole grains
  • Lean meats or other protein sources
  • Low-fat dairy products

Your body will keep changing as your fetus develops until your baby is ready to be born. It can be hard to know whether a new symptom is normal or could be a sign of a problem. Check with your provider if something is bothering or worrying you.

It sits within Women, Pregnancy and Reproduction and Female Reproductive System.

The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Pregnancy

42,886 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

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Symptoms

Diagnosis and Tests

Prevention and Risk Factors

Living With

Related Issues

Clinical Trials

Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Pregnancy. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Pregnancy, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.