When your friend, sister or other relative is pregnant, this can be really exciting, especially if you’re going to be an auntie or godmother. However, though you are pleased for her, you know that having a baby is going to change her life, and your relationship, and neither of you are going to happily give up on the amazing fun you’ve always had together. However, you still want to help her navigate this amazing and complicated experience, and there are ways in which you can do just that.
Family wellness is a big responsibility, which is something your friend is now worrying about. Apart from this, she also has to look out for her own wellness and the wellbeing of the baby right now, and may need to make big lifestyle changes to accommodate this need. Even if you’ve been pregnant yourself, everyone is different and she may be doing or going through different things than you did, but that doesn’t mean that helping a friend, sister or daughter to have a healthy pregnancy and baby has to hard. Both of you can benefit if you give her a little bit of help.
Help her with simple things, like the shopping, as carrying a heavy bag on top of carrying a baby is hard work, and you could help your friend whilst toning your arms. Also, help her to quit smoking and cut drinking by doing it too. This is good health advice anyway, but the social aspect of drinking and smoking is what makes it hard to quit. Make it a fun mission to find an amazing non-alcoholic beverage to enjoy together.
Also, your friend needs to get active, preferably by walking, for 150 minutes a week to keep her and her baby healthy. If you join her, you’ll motivate her, get some exercise and have an excuse to spend more time together just the two of you before the baby arrives. You can use this time to talk through any worries she might have, or to help keep her mind off of things. Finally, why don’t you try healthy foods together? You can make an evening of trying exotic options, and once you find a favourite of hers you can make a few batches and freeze them for when the baby’s here and she’s too busy for cooking. Not only can this time strengthen you both, and your relationship, but making these changes also reduce your friend’s risk of postnatal depression later.
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