I know when I was expecting, I spent a lot of time trying to find my new favorite websites for discounts, deals and great content. Whether you just found out you are pregnant or are delivering soon, these are the best pregnancy websites that you must discover as a first-time (or even second or third time) mom.
Here are my favorite sites from the well-known sites to the hidden gems out there that can really help save you money or make that pregnancy and delivery just that much better.
Disclaimer: We may be compensated through the affiliate links in this post, but all opinions are our own. Read more here.
Best Pregnancy Websites for First-Time Moms
What to Expect, Baby Center, American Pregnancy, The Bump – Great Health Resources
These four sites are going to be your go to for all things medical. American Pregnancy specifically is a great place to find quality information and you can subscribe for their free week by week pregnancy newsletter. Once you have a confirmed due date, type it in to some fun pregnancy apps.
The What to Expect App is filled with articles, tips and a video each week on baby’s growth. I absolutely loved watching their weekly videos and seeing what fruit or vegetable baby would be next. My partner and I would also watch it together each week. A lot of my family also downloaded it and had fun being “included” in my pregnancy.
Baby Center and The Bump also have similar apps so make sure to download all of them. I also relied on the community boards for each birth club in Baby Center whenever I had a question that I wanted other moms’ opinions on. It is also just a great way to feel like you are not doing this whole pregnancy thing alone. I also love Baby Center for information and data on names.
Baby Gaga – A guilty pleasure
A site I like a lot for names is Baby Gaga. The site also stays up to date on celebrity pregnancies and babies. Not essential at all but was a guilty pleasure of mine.
Mama Natural – The Queen of Natural Pregnancy and Natural Birth
Once you are pregnant with everything you do, you think twice about because you now need to know how it will affect baby. In addition to avoiding alcohol, harmful chemicals and sushi, I really wanted to know how to have a natural healthy pregnancy. As you approach your due date, you might even want to know how to have that natural birth you always wanted.
Where do you start? The best place would be Mama Natural, a popular blog that has a free natural pregnancy weekly email series. Her birth course is also top notch for those who want to have a natural birth and are open to the idea of an online childbirth class.
Erica Ziel – How to Get your Groove On
In addition to being healthy and having a natural pregnancy, I would get serious about prenatal fitness. Being active during pregnancy has so many benefits for you and baby. However, you might not be able to do the same type of fitness as before. Some exercises can be dangerous for baby depending on what trimester you are on. For example, you don’t want to be on your back since it can hurt circulation.
Additionally, some exercises will actually result in it making it harder to get that pre-pregnancy body back. An example would be crunches which will increase your risk of diastasis recti. This is when your ab muscles split and don’t close making you look pregnant post-partum.
I found it hard to find a good prenatal fitness program. There were none available locally. An awesome one to check out is Erica Ziel. It’s online so you can do it completely from home. Bonus is you will probably have a less weight to lose once baby arrives.
New Leaf Wellness – Your New Favorite Mom Food Blog
Speaking of losing that baby weight, eating healthy is a must.
You don’t know it yet but finding time to prep meals particularly dinner will become very challenging. The first time this cookbook will be game changing is during pregnancy. That last month before baby arrives should be spent prepping meals freezer style. Then when baby arrives, you can spend those rare free moments getting that much needed shower instead of prepping dinner.
And let’s be honest, mom life stays busy so learning how to prep freezer meals while you still have time during pregnancy is a must. It is a skill that you will be so thankful to have for years to come. Kelly’s blog and Freezer cookbook is the ultimate resource in this area. If you are new to freezer meal prep, check out Alli’s guide to freezer prep.
Pulling Curls – Another Great Birth Preparation Tool
There are a lot of fantastic blogs by labor and delivery nurses and one of my favorites is Pulling Curls. Her articles have great content and if you are near your 3rd trimester make sure to get the free course lesson on “What to come in for and third trimester testing”. It will cover everything you might need testing for like stress tests on baby and all the reasons to call or go in.
Kelly MOM and La Leche League – Fantastic Breastfeeding Resources
Kelly Mom is my absolute go-to for all things breastfeeding and don’t wait till baby arrives to start learning. Explore their site and start learning about breastfeeding. They also have a Facebook page where you can post questions so be sure to do so. Knowledge is success when it comes to breastfeeding.
La Leche League is another great resource for breastfeeding. They have free support groups all over the country. Be sure to check their site and learn about the group in your area. This way when baby arrives you already have support and know when and where to go. You can also stop by at your local group before baby arrives and start learning or ask any questions you have.
Amazon Family, Amazon Registry, MyRegistry and BabyList – Your go-to for Baby Gear and Registries
Before becoming pregnant, I already shopped a lot on Amazon. Now, we also use Amazon Family. It allows you to save big on diapers. I love ordering diapers online. Hauling those big boxes home with a baby from the store is just too much of a hassle.
I think most know about Amazon Registries. I had an Amazon Registry for my baby shower, which was great since a lot of people have Prime and even my grandparents are very familiar with Amazon. It includes a welcome box and a completion discount which are nice bonuses.
However, I didn’t want just Amazon. There are so many adorable baby items on Etsy and other sites, but I didn’t want to send out multiple links for my baby shower. What I should have done was use MyRegistry to group all of my registries. This way I could have just used this one at my shower and given my guests more options than just Amazon.
I could have also used BabyList for a registry. Babylist is your go-to for reviews on all things baby. You will also be able to read great round-up articles there that compare all of the major strollers, wraps, carseats and more.
Stitch Fix – Rock your bump in style
I love getting things in the mail so a company that sends you clothing picked out by a stylist sounds awesome to me. However, that is not why I include this here. Maternity, post-partum and nursing items are hard to find and typically very expensive. Therefore, I went through Stitch Fix. I asked for items I could wear early on in my pregnancy that weren’t “maternity” that would also be great for post-partum and nursing. Once you have your baby, shopping is challenging but I needed clothing that was easy to nurse in and that would fit my post-partum body.
Getting items that worked for both maternity and post-partum saved me money. You can also pick a price point with Stitch Fix so the items you get are in your budget.
Wayfair – Cute Nursery Items at a Great Value
While you have probably heard of Wayfair, you might not realize that it carriers a lot of nursery furniture. And it’s absolutely adorable, comparable to Pottery Barn but at a more reasonable price. The more important reason on why I include Wayfair is that they have amazing customer service.
If you don’t like it or if the item comes damaged, just call and they will take care of it. They will also honor a sale or discount if you notice one after you have ordered. Personally, in my opinion that matters to me a lot when I am shopping for big ticket items.
MomSmartNotHard – Giveaways, Giveaways and More Giveaways
I couldn’t complete this list without adding ourselves because we love mamas-to-be! In addition to writing content for you, like our free weekly bump emails with how to prepare tips each week of your pregnancy, we also work hard to reach out to companies to get you free products. We almost always have a giveaway going. Recently we gave away a DockATot and a $100 credit to Figure8 Moms. Follow our Instagram to know what the current giveaway is and also to enter.
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Dr. Trina Fitzpatrick is a wife, mom, blogger, and a breastfeeding advocate. She is the co-author of the Week-by-Week Bump Smart Course, the Nesting Planner and the Breastfeeding Handbook. She attributes her success at breastfeeding her own children into toddlerhood with working with lactation consultants in the hospital in the early stages and on a weekly basis afterwards. By writing at MomSmartNotHard, she educates mamas-to-be on all things pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. Read more about Trina.
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