What Do I Need During The First Trimester of Pregnancy

What do you need during first trimester of pregnancy? Read our list of first trimester pregnancy essentials, along with the essential vitamins you’ll need during the first trimester, to help you feel prepared.

How Long is the First Trimester?

The first trimester lasts for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, which is roughly the first three months. The first trimester incorporates the time from the first day of your last period - the date the start of pregnancy is calculated from - up until the end of the 12^th week of your pregnancy.

During the first trimester it is likely that you will find out you are pregnant, start to experience early pregnancy signs and have your first medical appointments with a doctor or midwife. In the UK, the first NHS pregnancy ultrasound scan, which is known as the dating scan, usually takes place during this time, from around 10 – 14 weeks. You can read what to expect at your first scan here.

First Trimester Pregnancy Essentials

While there isn’t a lot you need during this time, there are some maternity essentials during the first trimester that will help you feel comfortable and relaxed.

Maternity Essentials During The First Trimester

Pregnancy Pillow

Sleep is important in early pregnancy, but this is also a time when you might find it more difficult to get to sleep and stay asleep due to the physical and hormonal changes happening to your body. This is where a pregnancy pillow can help. Pregnancy pillows in the first trimester offer support to your changing body and may help to alleviate any discomfort in your back or hips, when you are resting or trying to sleep. Your pregnancy pillow can be your new best friend – and should be top of your list of first trimester essentials.

A Healthy, Balanced Diet

A healthy, balanced diet wherever possible is a first trimester essential to help support you and your growing baby during this time. Healthy eating during pregnancy is no different to healthy eating at any other time – it’s just particularly important to ensure that you are eating enough of the essential nutrients, such as protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals.

A balanced diet includes a wide range of foods from 5 different food groups including fruit and vegetables, starchy carbohydrates, dairy foods, protein and a small amount of foods containing fat and sugar.

There are also various food items you should avoid during pregnancy – find out more about pregnancy foods to eat and avoid.

Water Bottle

It is important to stay hydrated during pregnancy. The NHS Eatwell Guide recommends that people should aim to drink 6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluid a day, but that you may need to drink more fluids if you're pregnant or breastfeeding.

Your water bottle is a first trimester essential that’s always by your side, and a handy reminder for you to drink more during the day.

Pregnancy Books Or Apps

Pregnancy books and apps can be valuable first trimester essential items by providing information about what’s happening to your body at each stage and help you track progress, symptoms and key dates. Emma’s Diary offers a free pregnancy app with ongoing pregnancy information and a milestone tracker to help you record key moments.

Pregnancy Journal

Love writing things down? You might want to keep a pregnancy journal, which you can start in your first trimester. Keeping a pregnancy journal is a handy way of recording your emotions, symptoms, feelings and thoughts on pregnancy. It can also feel like you are confiding in someone at a time when not everyone might be aware of your pregnancy, and it is a wonderful keepsake to look back on when your baby is here.

Comfortable Clothes

While you might not start to develop a definite baby bump during your first trimester, it is likely you will notice changes to your body, including bloating and tender breasts. All these changes can make you feel uncomfortable, so soft, comfortable clothes are key in the first trimester. Elastic waistbands are a must! You might also want to opt for wire-free bras, and try make sure you go for a bra fitting to check you are wearing the right size.

Items To Combat Nausea

During the first trimester, nausea and pregnancy sickness can be common at all times of the day, and not just in the morning. While there is no one remedy to combat pregnancy sickness, there are lots of simple things you can try that might potentially help you. These can include eating or smelling ginger or mint, wearing travel sickness bands and eating bland carbohydrates or salty food. Find out what works for you and make it a first trimester essential.

Make sure you speak to your midwife if you have any concerns about your pregnancy sickness.

Essential Vitamins During First Trimester

The following are essential vitamins and nutrients for during the first trimester, and beyond.

Folic Acid

Folic acid is an essential nutrient during the first trimester, and both before and throughout pregnancy - as well as playing a role in the process of cell division, folic acid also contributes to maternal tissue growth during pregnancy. The UK Department of Health recommends that all women take a daily supplement containing 400μg (micrograms) of folic acid when trying for a baby, and for at least the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, to help reduce the risk of Neutral Tube Defects (NTDs) such as Spina Bifida, in your baby.

Folic acid is an important B vitamin (vitamin B9) that plays a key role in the process of cell division, which is why it becomes particularly important in the very early days of pregnancy when cell division is at its most rapid.

Taking supplemental folic acid intake increases maternal folate status*. Low maternal folate status is a risk factor in the development of neural tube defects in the developing foetus. NTDs occur when the brain and spine fail to form properly during the first 28 days of pregnancy, before many women even realise that they are pregnant. It is for this reason that it’s so important that women increase their intake of folic acid BEFORE they try to conceive.

Folic acid is water soluble, which means that our bodies can’t store it very well. This is why you need to ensure that you’re getting a fresh supply of folic acid every day.

Read more in our posts about folic acid and the benefits of folic acid.

*The beneficial effect is obtained with a supplemental folic acid daily intake of 400μg for at least one month before and up to three months after conception.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is another first trimester essential, and is needed to help support the health of bones, muscles and teeth . The UK Department of Health recommends that everyone should consider taking a daily vitamin D supplement, this includes pregnant women and breastfeeding mums, particularly between the less sunny months of October and March.

Vitamin D occurs naturally in a few foods including oily fish, eggs and mushrooms. However, it is difficult to get enough vitamin D through food alone. The best source of vitamin D is summer sunlight on our skin, however, as well as the importance of keeping skin safe in the sun, it is hard to maintain this during the gloomy winter months. Read more in our posts about vitamin d, its benefits and how to get vitamin d from the sun.

Vitamin B9

Many experts now recommend that vitamin B12 is taken with folic acid at this time as it works very closely with folic acid. Research suggests* that taking a daily supplement of at least 2.5µg of B12 (the EU NRV) with your main meal, in addition to the recommended daily 400µg supplement of folic acid, should be considered.

Vitamin B12 is mainly found in animal and dairy produce, so B12 supplementation is especially important for women who are following vegetarian or vegan diets.

If you are currently following a vegan or vegetarian diet, read our posts on having a healthy vegetarian pregnancy and having a healthy vegan pregnancy.

* Addition of Vitamin B12 to folic acid supplements to optimise the prevention of Spina Bifida and other Neural Tube Defects, Professor John M. Scott, Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

Zinc

Another essential vitamin for the first trimester is zinc, which is beneficial before and during pregnancy, as it contributes to normal fertility and reproduction.

Iron

During the first trimester, and beyond, iron supports red blood cell formation and oxygen transportation around the body, plus iron, magnesium and niacin contribute to a reduction in tiredness and fatigue.

Pregnacare – A First Trimester Essential

All the above nutrients and more can be found in Pregnacare supplements, formulated by the Vitabiotics experts in nutrition to provide a range of important nutrients at carefully balanced levels for before, during and after pregnancy. Pregnacare during pregnancy supplements provide daily expert nutritional support including 400µg folic acid and 10µg vitamin D, as recommended by the UK Department of Health during pregnancy. Folic acid contributes to maternal tissue growth during pregnancy and vitamin D helps to maintain normal bones and teeth. Because Pregnacare is specially formulated for pregnancy, it does not include vitamin A which is not recommended for use during pregnancy.

Pregnacare provides added reassurance before, during and after pregnancy by helping to safeguard a range of important nutrients at carefully balanced levels for pregnancy, for example iron (which contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, helps make red blood cells and haemoglobin, and helps carry oxygen around the body), zinc (which contributes to normal fertility and reproduction) and iodine (which helps the body to produce thyroid hormones).

Our during pregnancy supplements range includes Pregnacare Original, Pregnacare Liquid, Pregnacare Gummies, Pregnacare Plus and Pregnacare Max. Read more in our ultimate guide to Pregnacare.

The content of this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional regarding any medical condition. While every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in the blog and to describe best generally accepted current practices we cannot accept any liability for errors or omissions or for any consequences from application of the information given.