Healthy eating and physical activity are part of a healthy pregnancy. These resources can help you learn about staying healthy before and during your pregnancy.

Eating well is important for your health and the health of your baby. Find out how foods and a multivitamin with folic acid and iron can help you get the nutrients you need:

• Baby’s Best Chance: Eating Well for Pregnancy (PDF, 3.3MB)
• Healthy eating when pregnant and breastfeeding (Government of Canada)
• Pregnancy: Vegetarian diet
• Pregnancy and folic acid (folate): Preventing neural tube defects (HealthLinkBC File #38c)
• Iron and your health (HealthLinkBC File #68c)
• Iron in foods (HealthLinkBC File #68d)
• Caffeine during pregnancy 

The risk of getting food-borne illness increases with pregnancy. Follow food safety precautions for pregnancy to ensure you and your baby stay healthy. Learn more about food safety during pregnancy:

• Foodborne illness during pregnancy
• Food safety for vulnerable populations (Government of Canada)

Physical activity during pregnancy is beneficial and safe for both you and your baby. Benefits include decreased risk of pregnancy complications (such as gestational diabetes and gestational hypertension) and fewer newborn complications (such as large for gestational age). Physical activity during the postpartum period (first year after delivery) is also beneficial and safe for you and your baby. Benefits include decreased symptoms of postpartum depression and improved sleep quality and cardiorespiratory fitness.

Learn about the right amounts of physical activity you should get during pregnancy and the postpartum period and medical restrictions to physical activity during these periods:

• 2019 Canadian Guideline for Physical Activity throughout Pregnancy
• Get Active Questionnaire for Pregnancy
• Exercise during pregnancy
• 2025 Canadian Guideline for Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour & Sleep Throughout the First Year Postpartum
• Get Active Questionnaire for Postpartum

Weight gain is a natural part of a healthy pregnancy. Being active and eating well can help promote healthy weight gain. Learn more:

• Baby’s Best Chance: Weight Gain in Pregnancy (PDF, 360KB)
• Pregnancy: Healthy weight gain

Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that happens during pregnancy. Find out how healthy eating and physical activity can help:  

• Gestational diabetes (PDF, 846 KB, Diabetes Canada)
• Gestational diabetes: Counting carbs
• 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy (Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology)