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 throughout pregnancy is beneficial and safe for both you and your baby. Canadian guidelines outline the optimal amount of physical activity individuals without contraindication should get to achieve health benefits. These benefits include lowered risk of pregnancy-related illnesses (such as depression and gestational diabetes), increased or maintained physical fitness and reduced risk of excessive weight gain. Learn about the contraindications to and recommendations for physical activity during pregnancy and assess whether you should get health care advice before being physically active. 

• 2019 Canadian Guideline for Physical Activity throughout Pregnancy
• Get Active Questionnaire for Pregnancy
• Exercise during pregnancy

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)