My Pregnancy Essentials

When you find out you’re pregnant, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the masses of information out there proclaiming what you need in pregnancy. While I don’t want to add to the noise and overwhelm, I wanted to give my perspective on what I’ve found useful while pregnant. I’m currently writing this at 29 weeks pregnant, but I will keep adding to it as my pregnancy progresses into the third trimester, and I’ve definitely found different things useful.

I’m also going to cover some specific things I found useful or that I adapted for doing more outdoorsy things while pregnant - like wild swimming, hiking and a little bit of climbing - which of course won’t be relevant for everyone but some of which might help you.

Pregnancy Vitamins

When I found out I was pregnant, pretty much the first thing I did was buy some prenatal vitamins. These are actually an essential when pregnant as you need to ensure you are getting Folic Acid which helps with baby’s brain development. I opted for the Food-Grown Pregnancy vitamins from Wild Nutrition, which are on the pricier side but I knew they were a brand that I trusted. I also love the fact that you get the vitamins in a glass bottle and can then buy refills which come in paper bags (you can sign up for a subscription too so they send you a refill when you need them).

The vitamins contain Folic Acid as well as Vitamin D, magnesium, calcium and other important things that you need while pregnant. They are also supposed to help with nausea and maintaining energy levels, along with other pregnancy symptoms. I didn’t actually get any nausea which I’m not necessarily accounting to these vitamins, as it was probably a mixture of genetics and luck, but they may have helped a little!

Daily Walk

A daily walk out in fresh-air has absolutely been an essential for me while pregnant. Having a dog really helps as either my partner or I have to take Oslo for a walk every day twice a day, but even if you don’t have a dog, I’d really recommend a little stroll every day if you can. On days where I’m feeling tired or a bit ‘meh’, a walk always makes me feel better and has also been a wonderful time to connect with my partner; to talk about plans for baby, life and anything and everything else. I definitely haven’t had a consistent training schedule or anything like that while pregnant, but my daily walk has been a non-negotiable - sometimes it’s 20 minutes, sometimes it’s a few hours (much less frequent now!). There have probably only been two of three days throughout the last 6 months that I haven’t gone for a walk and there was probably a really good reason for that!

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth

Educating yourself on your birth options is really important when pregnant. Around the 20-week mark, I started considering and looking into more natural births, and decided I’d like to go for a home birth. I’m keeping myself very flexible to things changing but my aim is to have a wonderful, natural birth experience at home with my partner and our midwives. My friend, who also had an amazing home birth, leant me Ina’s May’s Guide to Childbirth and it’s been incredibly insightful as to the natural powers of women to birth children and the problems of increased intervention in hospitals. I’d really recommend it to all pregnant women, especially if you’d like to go down a more natural birthing route if you are able to do so.

Tummy Butter/Oil

I’m not particularly bothered by stretch marks, but if I can avoid them I will of course try! I’ve tried a few different stretch mark oils throughout my pregnancy, and can’t really say if any have been better or worse, but what I will say is that the evening ritual of rubbing oil on my belly is really lovely. Harvey, my partner, sometimes does it for me too which is a nice way for him to connect with baby every evening. I started off by using this one from Pai Skincare which is a two part system and smells and feels amazing. As it’s quite pricey, when that one ran out, I tried both the Tummy Rub Butter and Tummy Rub Oil from Mama Mio. I’d say I probably prefer the oil as it goes on easily and has lasted ages! My midwife actually told me that stretch marks are mostly hormonal so I may not avoid getting them, but as I say I really enjoy the ritual of rubbing my belly with butter or oil every evening.

Comfy Maternity Leggings

I was quite adamant early in my pregnancy that I didn’t want to buy any specific maternity clothing as I felt it would be a waste of money to have something for so short a time. Instead, I generally bought baggy items in my normal size or sized up so things would still fit me afterwards, just be a little oversized. One thing I did buy though was a pair of plain black cotton maternity leggings from ASOS and some of their jersey shorts. I use both for hiking, at home and pretty much everything else! They fit over the bump which I find more comfy and were really cheap. I know ASOS aren’t the best company in terms of sustainability, but I didn’t want to spend a fortune on a basic item and definitely don’t regret the purchase.

Pregnancy Pillow

Another thing I was pretty adamant that I didn’t need early in my pregnancy was a pregnancy pillow… But, then I hit the 28 week mark and started finding sleeping a little more uncomfortable and also began getting some back pain, so I caved and bought the BB Hug Me pregnancy pillow which comes highly recommended by so so many people. I justified the price by hoping I would use it for subsequent pregnancies and knowing it will also be useful for nursing. You can of course get cheaper pregnancy pillows but I decided to get one that came well recommended by many people, as well as being developed by Norwegian chiropractors!

For wild swimming: maternity/stretchy swimwear

I’ve really enjoyed swimming while pregnant. I’ve been doing a mixture of swimming at my local indoor pool, and swimming outside in the river near home. At about 20 weeks, my normal swimming costume didn’t fit me and I needed something stretchier or bigger. I actually acquired two different swimming costumes for pregnancy. The first was just a normal swimming costume from Speedo for lane-swimming that is probably 3 or 4 sizes bigger than my normal size. I found maternity swimming costumes not very sporty so just decided to size-up for lane-swimming. I also bought a really nice bikini from You Swim who are a brand that proclaim to make swimsuits that adapt to fit your body’s natural state of flux. I thought that sounded pretty good to buy something I could wear both during and after pregnancy. I wear this one for swimming outside when I’m generally just taking a dip or floating along and really love it so far!

For hiking: comfy walking trousers and walking poles

My XS Fjallraven Abisko Tights stopped fitting me very early on in my pregnancy, due to the boating and added water weight! So I very quickly started searching for some walking trousers I could wear for as far into my pregnancy as possible. I opted for these Montane Tucana Pants that I got from Cotswolds as they have a stretchy waistband and are so comfy. I’m now 29 weeks pregnant and they still fit me… just! But I do think that in a week’s time I’ll probably just stick to the cotton maternity leggings and Harvey’s waterproof trousers. I really like the Tucana pants, though, because I know I’ll still wear them after my pregnancy. They are genuinely the comfiest walking trousers I’ve ever had!

Another thing I’d really recommend if you want to hike while pregnant is walking poles. Your joints and ligaments become more flexible in pregnancy so poles will help stabilise you while also helping with the extra weight. At 29 weeks pregnant, I’m over 10kg heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight which really makes a huge difference. Poles, I’d say, are essential especially if going up hills on rocky terrain. I already owned a pair of poles so didn’t have to buy any. I have these from Black Diamond. My midwife also recommended wearing walking boots rather than trainers for joint stability, but I do this anyway.

Side note: I will probably write a whole post on hiking while pregnant at some point soon but just thought I’d also mention that a couple of other things I found essential were LOADS of snacks and having a big breakfast before a hike, plenty of water too and I’d also recommend an outdoor poo kit. Sorry if that’s a little too much information but I have honestly found that while pregnant, walking makes me need a number two and I absolutely have to go… so yes, wild poos have become essential. A little spade, some loo roll and a zip-lock bag for carrying your loo roll off the hill are all you need.

For climbing: maternity harness

If you decide you want to climb in your pregnancy, a maternity harness is essential for both comfort and safety! I haven’t actually done loads of climbing while pregnant but I did get a harness for the few times I have climbed in my second trimester. I got this one from Petzl which is the one most pregnant climbers recommend. It’s a full-body harness which means the weight is coming out of the legs and shoulders, rather than anywhere near your tummy, which is safe for both you and baby. I’ve really enjoyed the climbing I have done while pregnant and have found it a lot easier than hiking up mountains!

Hypnobirthing course

If you’re already pregnant, chances are you’d heard about hypnobirthing as a natural pain-relief for women in labour. I’ve recently started doing the Positive Birthing Company’s digital hypnobirthing course and am finding it so useful already. It’s also really reasonably priced at £39 and from what I’ve heard, is so worth it.

Australian Birth Stories Podcast

Though I live in the UK, I’ve been religiously listening to the Australian Birth Stories podcast every week and educating myself on all the different things that can happen in birth in order to know what kind of birth I want or don’t want. I’d love if there was a UK version of this, but even though it’s Australian I’m still finding it really useful and filled with some great advice. I first came across it as I listened to the birth stories of a couple of influencers I follow online (Elayna from Sailing La Vagabonde, Montana Lower and Elsa’s Wholesome Life all have episodes), but I’ve since gone on to listen to all the episodes from different women. It’s been very eye-opening!

That’s all for now, but I’ll definitely keep adding things as I progress through the Third Trimester and nesting mode has set in! Let me know if there’s anything that you found essential in your pregnancy.

Athena x