1. Keep your weight under 180 pounds prior to pregnancy and 200 pounds while pregnant. There have been studies showing that patients starting pregnancy at higher weights show increased rates of cesarean section (Nuthalapaty, Rouse, & Owen, 2004).
2. Control any medical problems prior to becoming pregnant. If you are a patient with diabetes or high blood pressure, prior to pregnancy make sure those medical issues are within normal prior to becoming pregnant.
3. Educate yourself. It has been shown that women who participate in some sort of prenatal education class have lower rates of complications and better pain control.
4. Stretch and Meditate. This may be the hardest thing to fit into your busy life, but yoga, meditation, or some sort of relaxation technique is a good way to clear your mind and strengthen your body. Getting the mind and body together for this journey is an integral part towards becoming an effective parent. Yoga can help strengthen your pelvic floor making the second stage of labor and subsequent recovery easier and faster.
5. Age matters. Since the question is blatant towards keeping the pregnancy low risk then it should be noted that there are higher risks when the pregnant woman is at the far ends of the age spectrum. Teen pregnancies and women of advanced maternal age (> 40 years old) have higher risks of infants with low birth weight, chromosomal anomalies, and the mother’s themselves are at higher risks for miscarriage. There is no perfect age, and this is not to say that women at the ends of the age spectrum should not become pregnant. One must simply realize that these pregnancies are slightly higher risk.
