Diwali is round the corner, and everywhere we can sense the fever of festival gripping up. This festival of lights brings in the charm of newness. Be it our house, the clothes, or delicacies; everything gets a novel touch. This festive time becomes all the more important when you happen to be pregnant. You get immense care and attention from all the family members and are even exempted from undertaking heavy chores during this period of time.

However, there are certain tips you must keep in mind so as to ensure the health and safety of you and the baby growing inside. Get to enjoy the festival to its fullest without staking your health. 

Celebrating Diwali During Pregnancy: Some Good to Know Tips

Being pregnant doesn't mean you have to abstain from enjoying the festival. You can join in the festivity, enjoy puja, and fireworks as normal by keeping in mind the below mentioned few things:

• Dress comfortably and wear a supportive footwear. It would be better to choose for the cotton clothes as synthetics have the tendency of catching fire easily. 

• If there are still some decorations left to be done, avoid decking up places which you can't reach out without a support. 

• Don't lift or carry any sort of heavy object.  

• Avoid lighting fireworks that require running to a safer distance prior to explosion. Go easy with the hand-held sparklers. 

• You can possibly try to celebrate Diwali with diyas, and lanterns rather than the fireworks and crackers. 

• While touching the feet of elders, bend the knees down rather than the back. And if your bump is large, we are sure elders won't mind if you simply greet with folded hands.

Diwali Feasting During Pregnancy: Know What's Safe to Eat

You can't think of Diwali sans the mouthwatering delicacies and sweets. But now that you have to be a bit conscious of what you are eating, the following tips would be of great help:

• Eat less and in frequent intervals instead of having big meals in one go. This will prevent you from the common pregnancy complains such as indigestion, acidity etc. 
   
• Go easy with your sweet eating spree. The sugar content can trigger acidity and thus you must control your cravings for them. 

• While eating out or at a Diwali fair, always check for hygiene of the food and place. At this stage, you tend to be extremely prone to infections so don't take any risk.

• Also check for your caffeine intake while drinking and eating. You should only consume up to 200mg of caffeine a day, which is considered safe for a pregnant woman.

Protecting Your Unborn Baby from Firework Pollution  

Though there is no evident fact available that elaborates on the effect of firework pollution on pregnancy but as we know, pollution in general is also quite harmful. So when enjoying the crackers around, take care of the following tips so that there is no risk to your baby from the pollution of the fireworks: 

• Avoid crackers at your place. Better celebrate the festival with diyas and lanterns.

• Ensure that the doors and windows of your house are fully closed, when maximum of the firecrackers are lit.  

• If you have to go out during the peak firecracker busting hours, it would be better to wear a mask so that you don't inhale the harmful pollutants.

• Try maximum to stay indoors. This way you will have ample of rest and pollution will be kept at bay. 

Protecting Your Unborn Baby from Firework Noise

Busting of firecrackers not just pollute the air but it even builds up too much of noise. This noise is quite harmful for the would-be-mother as it can insinuate stress and tension in the mother in the week ahead; thereby preventing her from taking enough rest. Take care of the following to beat the Diwali noise: 

• Keep the windows and doors of your house shut so as to keep out maximum noise.

• Try and protect the ears using cotton balls. 

• Don't be very near to the firework explosions

• If you can't resist the temptation of using fireworks, better choose the ones that don't produce loud noises. You can opt for fountains, hand-held sparklers, and the spinning (chakra) fireworks.

Just be a little cautious and enjoy the festival of lights to the fullest. Take care of yourself and the baby. Have a Happy & Safe Diwali!!