Congrats! You’re pregnant – so now what?!
You bought an at-home pregnancy test, peed on the stick and now it says you’re pregnant. Hooray! Whether you’ve waited a long time to see those lines or it’s a complete surprise, there’s a baby on the way now so here’s what you need to do next.
1. Make a doctor’s appointment
While most over-the-counter home pregnancy tests are around 99 percent accurate, the first thing you should do is get your pregnancy confirmed by a medical professional. Make an appointment with your local GP as soon as you can. At the appointment, they will conduct their own urine pregnancy test, give you your expected due date, walk you through some of the next steps regarding pregnancy health and what check-ups you’ll need, plus answer any questions you might have.
2. Tell your partner
Chances are you told your partner the minute the test showed you were pregnant, but if you haven’t already shared the good news then now is the time. If you don’t have a partner then choose someone else to tell, such as a good friend or family member. This is a time where you will need all the love and support you can get.
3. Take care of yourself
Even before you’ve had a chance to see a doctor it’s wise to immediately put a bunch of healthy habits in place, such as the following:
- Quit cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs
- Cut back on caffeine
- Avoid certain foods like raw fish, unwashed vegetables and anything not cooked or heated through thoroughly
- Eat nutritious meals and drink lots of water
- Get plenty of sleep and regular exercise
4. Do your research
Get a few baby books or jump online to educate yourself about what you can expect during your pregnancy and beyond. It’s also a great idea to sign yourself up to online community groups, such as motherhood forums and parenting websites (like Babyology!).
Pregnancy can be very overwhelming, so it’s never too early to surround yourself with knowledge, or access to advice and support from other mums and experts.
5. Start planning
Having a baby is a huge, life-changing event. There’s a lot to think about so the earlier you start getting organised the better. This includes choosing a doctor or hospital, deciding when you’re going to tell your work, budgeting for what baby items you’ll need, working out a financial plan for when the baby arrives, making a nursery at home, investigating childcare options available to you, and more.
6. Decide when to tell friends
You might be keen to tell the whole world that you’re pregnant the minute you run out of the bathroom, pee stick in hand. However, it’s best to at least wait until it’s been confirmed by a doctor before you shout it from the rooftops because it is possible to have a false positive or encounter a faulty pregnancy test (that pesky 1 percent!).
Many women also choose to wait until they’ve passed the three month mark to tell extended family and friends. The reason for this is that the likelihood of miscarrying after the first trimester is significantly reduced, plus in most cases any genetic conditions or medical complications will have been identified by then (if scans and blood tests such as the Harmony Test have taken place).
However, this choice is entirely up to you, and some women are happy to share their exciting news as early as possible – that way, if the worst should happen, at least they have the support of family and friends.
So even though you may be excited, you might want to slow down and have a think about when the best time to announce your pregnancy really is.
7. Celebrate!
Pregnancy is such a blessing so even if you’re keeping the happy news close to home in the early stages, it doesn’t mean you still can’t celebrate! Look into booking a relaxing babymoon holiday, buy a baby name book, or simply treat yourself to a long sleep-in or big piece of cake. You’re pregnant – you deserve it!
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