100+ Things Every Child-Bearing Catholic Woman Should Consider
Pregnancy is one of the most extraordinary vocations God gives to a woman. It is a time of profound transformation—physical, emotional, and spiritual. As Catholic mothers, we approach this season with reverence, discernment, and deep trust that God made us for birth, no matter our size, and accompanies us in every contraction, every uncertainty, and every moment of joy.
Below are 100 things—prayerful, practical, nourishing, and deeply human—to consider as you walk this sacred path.
(All health choices should be discussed with a licensed healthcare provider, doctor, or midwife, especially during pregnancy.)
A Catholic Birth Foundation
Pray daily. Invite the Holy Spirit into your pregnancy.
Offer your motherhood to Our Lady. Consecrate your baby to her Immaculate Heart.
Ask your favorite saints to intercede—St. Gianna, St. Anne, Bl. Fulton Sheen, St. Joseph.
Journal letters to your baby—a spiritual keepsake for life.
Build a prayer list for labor and ask friends to intercede for you.
Talk with your husband about your hopes and fears. Marriage deepens profoundly in this season.
Discuss parenting roles, values, and family culture before the baby comes.
Choose a midwife, OB, or doula who respects your Catholic values and your birth preferences.
Take a Catholic or Christian birth class to prepare body, mind, and soul. CPR, car seat checks, and a Dad’s class are also recommended.
Read about dressing with dignity and preparing your heart for motherhood. Purchasing modest, loose-fitting dresses supplies a flexible wardrobe, for times when you're pregnant or not.
Establish peaceful routines—evening prayer, quiet mornings, gentle reading.
Create a “labor cave” in your home: soft lighting, scripture, images of Mary, praise music.
Go on dates—even a simple picnic—with your husband.
Prepare spiritually for labor as a participation in Christ’s redemptive love.
Baptize your baby as soon as reasonably possible.
Know how emergency baptism works: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
If miscarriage or stillbirth occurs, know that the Church offers free compassionate burial options.
Hold fast to the truth that every human life is sacred. Abortion is never a moral option.
Read Catholic birth meditations—Scripture, psalms, hymns to anchor your heart.
Invite God into every appointment, every decision, every moment.
Nourish The Body
Eat nutrient-dense meals —vegetables, fruits, quality proteins.
Eat liver 2-4 oz per week.
Eat oily fish 1-2x per week.
Eat lots of grass-fed, free-range meat and butter.
Aim to include healthy fats (avocado, olive oil, coconut oil). Red raspberry tea with 2 tbsp of coconut oil daily.
Enjoy eggs for protein and choline.
Include iron-rich foods and get iron levels checked before supplementing.
Bone broth can be soothing and nourishing.
Eat balanced meals. No “naked” carbs - cloth in fat, fiber, and protein.
Eat within 30 minutes of waking to stabilize blood sugar.
Limit microwave usage and step away when in use.
Going vegan or a vegetarian is not recommended.
Avoid excessive sugar, soy products, caffeine, and highly processed foods.
Choose high-quality dairy, preferably raw (consult your medical provider).
Stay hydrated—filtered water, lemon water with Redmond’s salt, and herbal teas approved by your provider.
Ginger tea, ginger chews, or bone broth may ease morning sickness.
Support gut and vaginal health with fermented foods (yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, beet kavass).
Take a daily probiotic, with your provider’s approval, to prevent GBS. Eating onions and garlic also helps.
Talk with your provider about prenatal vitamins—preferably with real folate.
Take a spoonful of fermented cod liver oil (FCLO) daily (do not additionally take DHA supplements, pick one or the other).
Eat balanced snacks—nut butter, cheese, fruit, seeds.
Enjoy simple, home-cooked meals rather than packaged foods.
Plan postpartum nutrition just as intentionally as pregnancy nutrition.
Dad should eat well, too, even before conception.
Stock the house by week 37—nourishing meals, easy snacks, hydration.
Avoid flu shots, alcohol, drugs (including prescription if possible), synthetic vitamins, and smoking of any kind.
Movement & Rest
Walk daily for circulation and emotional well-being.
Stretch gently—cat-cow, hip circles, birth ball movements.
Learn pelvic floor awareness—some need strengthening, others need relaxation.
Practice deep breathing (4 in, 6 out) to calm the nervous system. Place an ice cube in your hand and practice breathing/coping mechanisms.
Slow dance with your husband—connection + movement.
Sleep when your body asks for it.
Side-sleeping (especially left) is often recommended in late pregnancy.
Avoid overheating—extremely hot tubs, saunas, and scalding showers.
A gentle massage with coconut oil or lotion can reduce tension and connect you to your changing body.
Visit a chiropractor or massage therapist trained in prenatal care.
Expose belly and breasts to the sun for 5-10 minutes a day.
Rest: lean into and enjoy each Sabbath day.
Understand fetal positions and how movement can help the baby descend.
Use a birth ball daily—hip circles, figure-eights, swaying.
Aim to gain about 30 lbs over the course of the pregnancy.
Don’t recline. Keep good posture throughout the pregnancy, tucking the pelvis under stacked ribs and relaxed shoulders.
Handling Pregnancy Symptoms
For a facial cleanser, use raw honey (1 tsp) with warm water, or use a Konjac sponge.
For a toner, use 1 part ACV and 2 parts distilled water, swipe over face after cleansing.
For oily skin, moisturize with castor & jojoba oil.
For dry skin, moisturize with castor & avocado oil.
For normal/combo, moisturize with castor & sunflower seed oil in equal parts.
For skin spots, use tea tree oil, or lemon juice and hydrogen peroxide in equal parts, or Milk of Magnesia - apply and wash off in the morning.
For a nice skin mask, use steel cut oats and honey - apply to skin, sit for 5 minutes, and rinse with cool water.
For stretch marks, eat gelatin and drink bone broth. (You may not avoid them as they are usually genetic)
For a belly button rash, use grandpa’s pine tar soap.
For hemmroids, sit for 10-15 minutes in a sitz bath, apply coconut oil to the area, use Tucks witch hazel, magnesium citrate, and a squatty potty.
For swelling, use compression leg warmers.
For leg cramps or restless legs, consume potassium and magnesium, and stretch.
A Safe, Peaceful Home Environment
Choose organic or natural fibers for clothing and bedding when possible.
Select baby items (clothing, bedding, toys) made of cotton, wool, or bamboo.
Wash baby clothes in fragrance-free, chemical-free detergent.
Avoid strong chemicals and heavy scents during pregnancy.
Check cleaning and bathing products for toxicity levels with GreenGuard or EWG.
Filter drinking water and bathing water, if possible.
Choose low-VOC or natural paints if painting a nursery, and let someone else paint with the windows open.
Check furniture for tipping hazards.
Keep cords, strings, and heavy items away from the baby’s sleep area.
Baby-proof the house with socket and furniture corner covers.
Move all chemicals and dangerous objects to locked cabinets up high.
Turn off Wi-Fi at night to reduce digital clutter in your home.
Keep screens and EMFs away from babies, and avoid holding devices close to your belly.
Choose a firm sleep surface for baby’s safe sleep.
Room-share for the first months for safer sleep and easier breastfeeding.
Create a peaceful, uncluttered space for postpartum healing.
Purchase a nursing bra, a changing pad/table, an over-the-bed bassinet if not co-sleeping, and a car seat. Everything else is likely extra for now.
Preparing For Labor
Read about the physiology of birth. Knowledge brings peace.
Decide where you will labor and give birth: home, birth center, or the hospital.
Wear loose organic cotton clothing, especially underwear, during maternity.
Purchase a maternity pillow, slip-on shoes, cotton maternity underwear, and nightgowns. The waistless, the better.
Practice coping exercises (like the ice cube test) with your partner.
Create a birth playlist—Gregorian chant, Taizé, instrumental praise.
Prepare Scriptures or quotes to meditate on during contractions.
Pack a birth bag by week 37: loose clothes, rosary, healthy protein and fat-rich snacks, toiletries, music, flameless candles, prayer cards, birth plan, slip-on shoes, underwear, maxi pads, meals for the husband.
Pack baby’s essentials—hat, onesie, blankets, non-toxic diapers, wipes, olive oil (for meconium).
Avoid getting an ultrasound, unless something seems very wrong (consult your medical provider or midwife).
Skip induction, epidurals, and c-sections (50% performed are not needed) if possible - ask lots of questions as to why someone wants it done.
Plan for postpartum care: witch hazel or cooling pads, sitz bath spray, nipple cream, peri bottle, oil diffuser.
Discuss pain relief options with your medical provider.
Talk with dad about how he wants to participate and how he can support you. He has a big role in the birth.
Consider a birth photographer or videographer if it brings you joy.
Prepare a “labor binder” with preferences, prayers, supplements, medical history, an advanced directive, and general information.
Count baby’s movements daily starting around the third trimester.
Practice gentle nesting—cleaning, organizing, cooking, resting intentionally.
Apply diluted lemon juice to nipples daily, 1 month before breastfeeding.
Be okay with going over 40 weeks. Trust the baby will come when it is ready.
Find a pediatrician.
Keep having sex.
Treat yourself to something fun and special.
Download a contraction counting app - contraction timer, fullterm.
Do perineal massage starting around week 36, only if having a hospital bed birth (consult your medical provider or midwife).
Eat 6-8 dates per day starting at week 36. Larabars are a great daily source.
During Labor
Invite the Lord into your labor.
Understand that birth unfolds uniquely—remain flexible and prayerful.
Avoid amniotic or any other internal screenings.
No continuous fetal monitoring. Intermittent instead.
Practice open-mouth breathing—it softens the jaw and helps pelvic relaxation.
Use vocalization—low tones, hymns, or moaning can help your body open.
Kiss your husband.
Labor in water, if available, to reduce tension.
Consider using a Rebozo.
Change positions in labor every 30 minutes.
Don’t push until you feel the fetal ejection reflex. Even then, let the uterus do the pushing.
Precious Moments After Birth
Hold your baby immediately if possible.
Delay routine interruptions unless medically necessary.
Skin-to-skin with mom and dad stabilizes the baby’s temperature and heart rate.
Wait until the cord stops pulsing to have it clamped.
Birth the placenta (vs someone pulling it out) and make sure it is intact.
Encapsulate the placenta for later consumption, if desired.
Skip circumcision.
Wait a few days to wash the baby. The external layer (vernix) is good for the baby’s skin and health.
Breastfeed if you are able—the first milk is precious for the baby’s future health.
Empty one breast before giving another — the hindmilk is richer in fat than the foremilk.
Babies should get sun for 5-10 minutes a day to help produce vitamin C.
Don’t lather the baby in sunscreen, cover with clothing, and hats after the allotted sun exposure time.
Don’t vaccinate the baby (or wait as long as possible).
Ask for lactation support early if needed.
Protect your postpartum rest—at least six weeks of gentle healing.
Accept help with meals, cleaning, and childcare.
Visit a pelvic floor therapist postpartum.
Focus on bonding—sing, talk, read, cuddle.
Take postpartum photos even if you feel tender or tired—you’ll treasure them.
Do not rush back into chores or exercise.
Eat warm, nourishing foods and stay hydrated.
Let healthy people hold and kiss your baby. The mother’s body detects germs on the baby and creates antibodies against them in the breastmilk.
Guard your heart from comparison—your story is unique.
Keep up these habits in postpartum for your own good health, and to lay a good foundation for the next child.
Return to prayer whenever overwhelmed.
Give thanks for your baby every day.
Know that God chose you and your husband for this child. He made your body capable, your heart ready, and your vocation holy.
“In finding out that you are pregnant, you are able to be freed, liberated from the tyranny of yourself in this tiny world in which you were the most important. You are free to love and give and sacrifice. And that holy grace will make you something altogether different. You will be shaken, humbled, and broken. And it will make you a mother.”
