Hello, I'm Mrs. O'Neill.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is a continuation of our unit, all about intimate relationships, pregnancy, and parenting.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

So today's lesson is all about pregnancy.

So this lesson does cover aspects of sex education, and that might be a sensitive topic to you.

If so, we recommend checking with a trusted adult before starting or doing the lesson with the trusted adult nearby.

Let's make a start.

So in today's lesson, you're going to need an exercise book or a piece of paper, something to write on and something to write with like a pen.

Hopefully, you've already done today's introduction quiz, if you haven't just pressed a pause and you can head back and you can complete that now, before we start.

The first part of today's video lesson is going to cover keeping healthy during pregnancy and common difficulties.

We're going to look at the different stages of pregnancy.

The importance of partner and family support.

And we then going to cover mental wellbeing during pregnancy and then I will direct you too towards today's exit quiz.

One thing to say before we begin, today's lesson is for everybody.

For you the idea of having a baby might seem a long way off.

You might think you'll never be pregnant, maybe that's because of your sex or because it's something that you're not interested in now.

However, you will know people who are pregnant, and it may be that in your life sooner rather than later, you or a partner will be expecting a baby.

So the content of today's lesson is relevant for all, even if you might think it's not so relevant right now.

So let's look at some key words for today's lesson.

We're going to talk about gestation, the time between conception and birth.

We're going to talk about lifestyle, the typical behaviour, habits, tastes and attitudes of a person and link that to pregnancy.

And we'll be discussing mental wellbeing, which the World Health Organisation defines as, a state in which every individual realises their potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life and can work productively.

So to start you off, how many weeks in total is a full term pregnancy? If you're not quite sure, give it to guess, point to the screen, and let's have a look at the answer.

40 weeks.

A full term pregnancy lasts for 40 weeks.

Second question that relates to the first part of today's new information, thinking about lifestyle, which of these options on the screen now is not an aspect of a person's lifestyle? Would that be, how much alcohol somebody drinks, diets and exercise, a person's blood type, or whether somebody smokes tobacco or not? So one of those options is not about a person's lifestyle.

Point to the screen to the correct answer now.

Okay, are you there? Give it to gas if you're not quite sure.

So the answer is a person's blood type.

A person's blood type is something that we can't control, something you're born with, it's something that is nothing to do with how you live your life, whereas all three other aspects are aspects of a person's lifestyle.

They are controllable factors, certainly to some extent, although obviously there may be other things that link in with why somebody drinks alcohol or doesn't have the healthiest of diets.

But we would consider alcohol consumption, diets and exercise, and whether someone smokes tobacco or not to be aspects of a person's lifestyle.

So we're going now to consider how to keep healthy during pregnancy, and we're going to look at some common difficulties during pregnancy.

So this builds from what we were talking about just a moment ago, about lifestyle, what is going to be a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy? First of all, let's consider smoking drugs and drinking alcohol.

So do you smoke when pregnant? That can cause serious harm because it can be strict oxygen to an unborn baby.

Similarly, any illegal drug use in pregnancy, as well as being illegal in the first place can again have serious harm on an unborn baby.

Drinking in pregnancy can lead to longterm harm to the baby, with the more you drink, the greater the risk.

So smoking, drinking, and any illegal drug taking needs to be something that's very seriously taken into account if you or partner or somebody that you are close to is pregnant, there needs to be real consideration of how to stop, and there is support available from pregnancy services to assist with that.

Medicine.

So if you are pregnant or getting, if it's a partner or family members, someone you're close to who's pregnant, and they are taking prescribed medicine, before taking any medicine in pregnancy, before continuing with that, they should check with a midwife, doctor or pharmacist if it is suitable.

So not all medicines that we might buy over the counter for example, or that a doctor might prescribe are suitable if pregnant.

So we would need to check whether or not we could continue to take that medication if we know that we, or again, a close person to us, or a partner is indeed pregnant Exercise.

Women can keep up their usual exercise routines in pregnancy for as long as they feel comfortable.

Obviously after getting to being more heavily pregnant might not be comfortable to take part in particular kinds of exercise, in which case they obviously would need to listen to their bodies and would need to slow down.

But of course, a usual amount of exercise if comfortable should be absolutely fine.

And actually, keeping active during pregnancy can be really, really healthy.

Can actually reduce some of the risks we associate with later pregnancy if somebody has been able to keep active in the earlier months.

And diet to nutrition there's no need for a special diet during pregnancy.

It's important to eat a variety of foods, especially fruits and vegetables for essential vitamins and minerals.

It's really also perhaps worth saying that there are some foods that pregnant people need to avoid mainly because they just carry a higher risk of food poisoning, et cetera, there might be a nutrient that's not good for the baby in high doses.

But on finding out that you were pregnant, the midwife or the doctor will provide lots of that information for you just to make sure you knew what was safe to eat and to not eat.

So onto a task.

From the lifestyle traits and actions listed below, which should a pregnant woman starts doing, and what should she stop doing to keep herself and the baby healthy? So on the screen, as I've said, you will see several now different aspects of lifestyle traits or actions.

Categorise them please into stop and start.

Please pause the video, create your two lists of stop and start, and then press play when you're ready to resume.

Thank you.

So let's look at some potential answers.

You can see on the table below that I've labelled each of the aspects in the table with stop or start.

Illegal drug use, obviously it's illegal and it also can cause huge months of harm to unborn baby if illegal abuse continued throughout the pregnancy.

So that's something that's a pregnant person should stop.

Similarly, smoking.

It can restrict oxygen to the unborn baby, it needs to stop during pregnancy.

And again, there'll be help, within the pregnancy services on the NHS, there's help to stop smoking if needed.

Keeping active, something to start doing to ensure that you're getting some good exercise if pregnant.

Obviously as long as you're comfortable to keep yourself and the baby healthy and it actually reduces some risks later on in pregnancy if you've been active for as much as you can during those first few months.

Aiming to get vitamins and minerals from fruits and vegetables, something to start doing, a rich and varied diet with lots of goodness.

Taking all medication is normal.

Stop.

It might be that that medication is absolutely fine to continue with, well you just need to check with a doctor or a pharmacist.

Eating a variety of foods, something to start doing, that link to getting lots of vitamins and minerals, having that rich diet.

Usual exercise routines, start or continue.

And if you are somebody who regularly swim, regularly runs, there is nothing that says you need to stop doing that when you find out you are pregnant, unless you are uncomfortable.

And drinking alcohol.

Again, alcohol can have long-term, damage can cause long-term risk to an unborn baby.

It's something that pregnant people should really try to really minimise, ideally stopped drinking alcohol.

The evidence about the safe limits of alcoholic to drink when pregnant is not fully conclusive, there's still some disagreements about what is safe if any amount of alcohol is safe, therefore the advice is to ideally stop drinking alcohol altogether when pregnant.

So let's look at some common physical problems in pregnancy.

So the body has a lot to deal with during pregnancy, growing a whole new human being.

And there's many changes that can cause comfort or irritation, and these can vary from person to person.

Rarely there is any cause for alarm.

But if it's anything that somebody is overly concerned about, just a little bit unsure or uncomfortable about, consult a doctor or midwife and they can put your mind at ease or run some tests if need be just to make sure that everything is okay.

Some examples of common physical problems include: Crump, constipation, feeling faint, sickness or nausea, and you may have heard the term morning sickness as something that pregnant people can experience.

Sickness can actually continue throughout pregnancy and come occur at any time in the day.

Needing to urinate more often or incontinence, so problems on the toilet.

Skin and hair changes.

General tiredness, and swelling, particularly in the ankles, particularly later on in pregnancy.

So these are some really common physical problems during pregnancy.

So having considered those, having a look at four options on the screen now, which is not a common problem associated with pregnancy? Point to the screen now to the problem that is not something we commonly associate with pregnancy.

Okay, let's see if you right.

It's earache.

So it's not to say that somebody who's pregnant can't suffer from earache, but it's more likely that if they do, that's nothing to do with their pregnancy.

But needing to urinate more often, sickness and nausea, swollen ankles, are really common symptoms we associate with pregnancy.

Of course, all of those symptoms can happen to anybody at any time and don't necessarily equate to pregnancy.

So let's look at three different stages of pregnancy.

Pregnancy is divided into three clear sections.

The first section is the first 12 weeks or first trimester.

And by six weeks, the heartbeat of the foetus can actually be heard by a doctor or midwife or medical practitioner, using their specialist equipment, they can identify a heartbeat by six weeks.

By the end of week 12, the baby's bones muscles and organs have all begun to develop.

And on a scan, the foetus is a recognisable baby if you were to look at that image.

It's really common for the pregnant person to feel sick and tired during these first 12 weeks.

The phrase morning sickness is one that's really common and I'm sure that you've heard what's actually that feeling of sickness or being physically sick can take place at any time of the day during that first trimester.

So for some people, it's a difficult time.

As a general rule, certainly we need to remember everybody's different.

The second trimester generally is where pregnant people start to feel much better, have a surge in energy, feel better in themselves, start to feel well and healthy and enjoy that pregnancy a little bit more.

Usually, it's around the mid point of the second trimester that a baby will be felt in terms of its movements for the first time.

And those movements will become stronger as time progresses.

So the third trimester, from 27 to 40 weeks.

This is the time that the developing foetus will grow to its full size and it will put on significant amount of weight.

Its organs will become fully formed and developed ready for birth.

This stage can be really uncomfortable for some people who are expecting a baby, that's because of the baby's size, it can be the way that it's lying, it can be the way that it's pressing on certain organs inside the pregnant person.

Again, it can be quite a tiring period of time for the person who is pregnant, they may find it difficult to sleep, they may find it difficult to move, et cetera.

So let's consider the different stages of pregnancy with a matchup task, and let's see what you can remember.

So I'm going to ask you to pause the video again and I'm going to ask you too much up first, second and third trimester with the three different categories or definitions, features of pregnancy you see on the right of your screen.

So I'm going to ask you to press pause to complete the task and press play when you are ready.

Thank you.

Wonderful, thank you for rejoining me.

Should we see if you're right? So first trimester, we associate that with sickness, tiredness, but it's when the heartbeat will first be able to be detected as well by the medical professionals, whether that be in an ultrasound or by a doctor or midwife.

Second trimester, that surging energy and the time when at some point joining those weeks, and for the first time, the pregnant person will be able to feel the baby move.

And in the third trimester, the organs will have formed, and yes, the pregnant person will be feeling rather uncomfortable throughout, normally.

So, we've looked at some of the common concerns around pregnancy, things that can be quite tricky to deal with, and we've looked at the different stages of pregnancy.

Now let's consider how the support of partners and wider family, and that might include friends and include extended family too, why that's so important and how partners and families can really support somebody who is pregnant.

So I'd like you to consider, why do you think pregnant people need support? And how could you offer support to a pregnant partner or family member? So why do they need support, and how could you offer support? I'd like you to pause the video, jot down some ideas, then press play when done.

Thank you.

Wonderful! Let's have a look at some potential answers.

Why do pregnant people need support? So you may feel scared, unwell, uncomfortable.

They may need reassurance and they may need physical help with tasks that they're not able to complete for themselves, especially in those later stages of pregnancy, going to the shops and carrying bag.

So shopping might be difficult, might be nice if we could help with some of those tasks.

So how you could offer support to a pregnant partner or family member, listen, assist with jobs and tasks.

Offer care and understanding, and ask how you can help.

And that leads us onto mental wellbeing during pregnancy.

Many people expect to feel excited and happy during their pregnancy, but unfortunately, that's not always the case, because it's actually really common to feel very emotional during pregnancy.

And that's because of the hormonal changes that are going on, as well as obviously, the fact that there's a big life change about to come with the birth of a baby.

So it's natural to feel more stressed and anxious than normal during pregnancy.

If those anxieties and low mood are affecting day-to-day life, it's really important that the pregnant person speaks to a midwife, it's really common to feel that way, and a midwife is there to help.

It's important as a pregnant person not put too much pressure on themselves.

It's so important.

It's not going to be easy all of the time, and being pregnant is not a time where a person's going to feel happy all of the time.

So, shouldn't put pressure on themselves, and should be aware that this is a huge lifestyle change, and that there's lots of hormonal changes, and that's okay to not feel great all of the time during pregnancy.

So having considered what we've just talked about there, I would like you to pause the video and to copy and complete this paragraph, filling in the missing words.

To help you, the missing words are on the bottom of the screen, they are jumbled up.

So please, can you complete that task now.

Pause the video and press play when it's time to resume.

Thank you.

Wonderful! Hope that you've managed to complete that task.

Many people expect to feel excited and happy during their pregnancy, but it's not always the case.

Feeling emotional throughout pregnancy is common because of hormonal changes it's natural to feel more stressed or anxious than usual.

If anxiety or moods are affecting day-to-day life, a midwife can help.

Lots of people feel this way and your midwife is there to help.

Pregnant people should not put too much pressure on themselves.

So true or false, It's normal to feel emotional, stressed or anxious joined pregnancy.

Please point to the correct answer.

That is of course true, because pregnancy as we've said can be so difficult at times.

Some people expect to feel happy and excited, but it's just not always the case.

And see midwife if emotions or anxieties are affecting day-to-day life.

So final reflection, why is it important to always seek support and advice if you are a partner has concerns about pregnancy? Again, this reflection matches the last two lessons in this unit if you've completed those lessons too.

Because this theme of support is important, it's important that we know that if in our future we or partner or close family member or friend is experiencing any concerns about pregnancy, they know that support is out there.

Let's give advice, reassurance, and guidance.

How might that help a person to know that that support is there? Please keep that in mind in the future should you need to reflect on this again.

Please don't forget to complete today's exit quiz.

Thank you so much for joining me, and I hope that I'm going to see you in our next lesson, in this unit all about intimate relationships, pregnancy and parenting.

Have a wonderful day.

Goodbye.