---
title: "Pregnancy guides: care, symptoms and warning signs"
description: "From a positive test to labour: antenatal care, scans, food and medicine safety, common discomforts, and the symptoms that need help straight away."
url: "https://myruva.co/learn/topics/pregnancy"
language: "en-GB"
---

# Pregnancy guides: care, symptoms and warning signs

What usually happens at each stage, what’s safe to eat and take, and which symptoms mean calling your midwife or maternity unit now.

- [After a positive test: the first weeks](https://myruva.co/learn/first-weeks-of-pregnancy): How to arrange your pregnancy care, get ready for your first appointment, and get help with early symptoms. Includes when to get help, with UK and US notes.
- [Alcohol, smoking and caffeine in pregnancy](https://myruva.co/learn/alcohol-smoking-and-caffeine-in-pregnancy): Clear advice on alcohol, smoking, vaping and caffeine, with practical support and how UK and US guidance differs. Includes when to get help.
- [Antenatal care: what’s usually offered](https://myruva.co/learn/antenatal-care-by-region): Compare NHS appointments, US prenatal care planned around you and WHO contacts, with ways to plan visits and get help in between.
- [Common pregnancy discomforts](https://myruva.co/learn/common-pregnancy-discomforts): Practical help for heartburn, constipation, piles, aches, cramps, swelling and sleep, and signs that you need care soon.
- [Food safety in pregnancy](https://myruva.co/learn/food-safety-in-pregnancy): Which foods need care, why preparing them properly matters, and how UK and US advice differs for cheese, meat, eggs and fish.
- [Gestational diabetes](https://myruva.co/learn/gestational-diabetes): Who is offered a test, how gestational diabetes is managed, and the follow-up checks to arrange after the birth. Gestational diabetes often has no symptoms.
- [Going past your due date and induction of labour](https://myruva.co/learn/going-past-your-due-date-and-induction): What going past 40 weeks means, when induction is offered in the UK and US, how it's done, how it can feel and what you can choose.
- [Infections in pregnancy that can affect your baby, including group B strep](https://myruva.co/learn/infections-in-pregnancy-including-group-b-strep): How group B strep testing differs between the UK and US, signs of infection in a newborn, and which infections to tell your midwife about early.
- [Labour: signs, stages and when to call](https://myruva.co/learn/labour-signs-stages-and-when-to-call): Spot possible signs of labour, understand the stages, and know when to call your maternity team without waiting for a timing rule.
- [Medicines in pregnancy](https://myruva.co/learn/medicines-in-pregnancy): How to go through your medicines with a pharmacist or doctor, including the different advice on paracetamol and acetaminophen.
- [Mental health in pregnancy](https://myruva.co/learn/mental-health-in-pregnancy): Depression, anxiety and fear of giving birth: what support can look like, reviewing medicines, and where to get urgent help.
- [Planning for birth: choices to think about](https://myruva.co/learn/birth-planning-choices): Think about where to give birth, pain relief, support, and decisions about induction or a caesarean, while leaving room for change.
- [Pre-eclampsia and high blood pressure in pregnancy](https://myruva.co/learn/pre-eclampsia): Why blood pressure and urine checks matter, symptoms that need urgent help, and care during pregnancy and after birth. Includes when to get help.
- [Pregnancy and work: your rights in the UK and US](https://myruva.co/learn/pregnancy-and-work-rights): General information, not legal advice: antenatal appointments, changes at work, maternity leave, pay and US protections.
- [Pregnancy scans and screening tests](https://myruva.co/learn/scans-and-screening-tests): What scans, blood screening and diagnostic tests look for, how UK and US offers differ, and the choices you can make. Scans can’t find every health condition.
- [Pregnancy sickness and hyperemesis gravidarum](https://myruva.co/learn/nausea-and-hyperemesis-gravidarum): What can help with sickness in pregnancy, how severe sickness is treated, and when to get help for dehydration. Includes when to get help, with UK and US notes.
- [Pregnancy symptoms that need help](https://myruva.co/learn/pregnancy-warning-signs): Which symptoms need emergency help, a call to your maternity team now, or advice today, with UK, US and local contacts. Includes when to get help.
- [Staying active in pregnancy](https://myruva.co/learn/exercise-in-pregnancy): How to adapt exercise during pregnancy, which activities to avoid, and the warning signs that mean stop and get help. Includes when to get help.
- [Stillbirth and losing a baby later in pregnancy](https://myruva.co/learn/stillbirth-and-later-pregnancy-loss): When a baby dies later in pregnancy: the birth, time with your baby, tests, your body afterwards, paperwork, grief and where to find support.
- [Unplanned pregnancy: your options](https://myruva.co/learn/unplanned-pregnancy-your-options): Continuing a pregnancy, adoption or abortion: practical next steps, how access differs by place, and questions about privacy.
- [Vaccines in pregnancy](https://myruva.co/learn/vaccines-in-pregnancy): Whooping cough, flu, RSV and COVID advice by region, including recent changes and questions to ask your maternity team. Includes when to get help.
- [Vitamins and supplements in pregnancy](https://myruva.co/learn/vitamins-and-supplements-in-pregnancy): Folic acid, vitamin D, iron and iodine: what the advice says, how it differs by country, and what to check on the label.
- [Your baby’s movements](https://myruva.co/learn/baby-movements): Getting to know your baby’s pattern of movements, why a change needs a call straight away, and how UK and US advice on counting differs.