Fluid and water plays a great role in maintaining health during pregnancy. Not just for the mother herself, but also for the baby inside. In this article the importance of water is explained from how much water intake is necessary to the types of fluid to consider.

How Much Water to Drink When Pregnant?

It is necessary to know that as a pregnant woman, you need more fluid intake to keep you hydrated. A daily share of 8 (or more as it varies to the person) 8-ounce glasses water every day can be enough to keep you on the track. That will be equal to 64 ounces of fluid per day. If, however, you engage in physical activities, add one 8-ounce glass of water for every hour of light activity. Water, most especially during pregnancy, plays a great role as it helps in digestion, excretes toxins from the body and in facilitating the absorption of essential nutrients to the cells and transports vitamins and minerals to the blood cells. The “nutrition-packed” blood cells then would flow to the placenta where it reaches the baby.

Still, there are other things to consider as “fluid” such as caffeine, tea, cola, alcohol and juice should be taken with caution. Please be reminded of the following facts:

• Sweetened drinks like juice have extra calories which can’t be consumed too much.
• Caffeine, along with teas and colas, are best to be limited as it raises the risk of miscarriage, smaller babies and longer pregnancy, according to studies of year 2008. Caffeine doesn’t really have to be completely neglected during the time of pregnancy, but it is much better when the amount of caffeine consumed would be no more than 200mg a day.
• Alcohol on the other hand, should COMPLETELY be avoided, compared to caffeine, alcohol is much risky.

In summary, 8-12cups of fluid a day or 64-96 ounces would already be a good treat for the body and to the baby and water is the best liquid intake on all kinds of situations. More water intake would even have better results as your body would retain less. This is very important in the last trimester wherein more water intake is needed so as to avoid lesser pain during contractions that can trigger preterm labor and some common pregnancy problems.

How to Monitor Water Consumption

How much water to drink when pregnant can be the common issue of fluide intake during pregnancy; after that, you may want to know how to monitor water consumption. The need for more fluids for the body without the dull taste of water can be solved by adding little flavor such as lemon and other flavoring. A pregnant woman can confirm whether the amount of fluid she takes each day is enough by checking her urine which must be light yellow in color. If peeing less than usual and the color of the urine is in dark yellow, then drink more water than required because it could be a sign of dehydration. A cup of water in the morning and a bottle of water on-hand or in bag is a good way to be reminded of your daily dose of fluid.

Why Do You Need to Drink Plenty Water During Pregnancy?

After figuring out the question: how much water to drink when pregnant, you must know why it is necessary to drink 8-12 glasses of water.

• For the mother. The delivery of the nutrients taken by the body to the baby is being performed by water. Water also keeps your urine diluted which processes from cleansing your kidney and helping the digestive system in removing excess such as poop. Drinking water during pregnancy also keeps the body’s cooling system to run smoothly despite the heat and releases sweat thus, makes you feel comfortable; feeds your skin; helps you from being swollen or puffy.
• For the baby. The importance of drinking the right amount of water during pregnancy isn’t just for the woman, but also for the baby’s amniotic fluid.
• Dehydration could lead to preterm labor. The contraction that will occur during pregnancy is a reminder to keep feeding your body with H2O. A thought from Dr. Furman himself (A family Physician specializing in nutritional medicine) is that “dehydration can promote the release of antidiuretic hormone from the kidney to preserve water excretion, which in turn promotes oxytocin, leading to premature contractions”.