How much water should a pregnant women drink

Before we dive into the exact quantities of how much water should be drank during pregnancy, let's review some of the key benefits.

Benefits of proper pregnancy hydration:

Improved baby nutrient flow. Water to your body is like oil to a car's engine. A well oiled engine performs at its best since all the mechanics are lubricated and perform at their best. The same applies for the human body. As you consume nutrients, your body will transport them to your baby via fluids. Well lubricated nutrients provide easy flow and faster absorption. Thus, providing your baby with the best health and growth possible. With all the prenatal vitamins, exercise, and food nutrition goals you're pursuing, it's barely effective with poor water intake. Proper hydration helps transport and absorb essential nutrients into the baby's growing cells, faster.
Reduced pregnancy symptoms. It's no surprise to experience popular pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness, heartburn, indigestion, constipation, and body swelling. During pregnancy, your body performs at twice the speed it's used to so you will experience some results of that. Luckily, water provided great relief as it properly hydrates body mechanics and reduces these painful symptoms.
Prevent dehydration. Pregnant or not, lack of proper hydration causes headaches, cramping, dizziness. Developing a strong habit of consistent hydration throughout the day has everlasting effects on our bodies. With good training during pregnancy, you'll build a lifetime habit which will relieve many common discomforts.
Easier OB/GYN visits. Every time you visit the doctor, they will use an ultrasound machine which acts as a safe X-ray to create an image of your baby in your belly. Proper hydration provides more fluids for the body which improves the clarity of the ultrasound, thus creating a clearer image.

How much water exactly?

Great, so drinking water during pregnancy sounds like a good idea right? So then, how much water should a pregnant women drink?

Simply put, an average woman needs to consume 64 oz. of water a day minimum. This does not include water consumed from eating solid foods which contain water.

Since you're now feeding a growing baby as well, you'll need to increase that water intake by at least 50% to accommodate.

That said, a pregnant woman should consume at least 90 oz. of water per day. However, this can increase IF you exercise or spend time outside in heat. For every hour of fitness or exposed heat, it's recommended to add 8 oz. of water to your daily intake.

Average day = 90 oz.
Fitness day or hot day = 98 oz.
Fitness + hot day = 106 oz.

These are great safe minimums to meet to maintain healthy body hydration.

Important Tips

Consuming the correct quantity every day is the start. However, there are some important rules to follow.

Drink Hourly. Remember how you need to replace your car's oil every 10,000 miles? Well, same idea with pregnancy but on a much shorter scale. Your body is constantly performing and needs frequent, fresh fluids to perform at its best. If you chug water every 4 hours, you're not providing an even flow of nutrients which is disrupting the nutrient cycle in your body. Therefore, it's best to drink an 8 oz. glass every hour to ensure stable hydration throughout the day.
Don't drink too late at night. While drinking hourly is important, you need to turn off the tap eventually or you will be running to the bathroom in the middle of the night. We recommend stopping hydration at 9pm to ensure bathroom needs are met before a 10:30 pm bedtime.
Use a water tracking bottle. Keeping up with all the exact quantities and hourly deadlines can be challenging. That's why we invented BellyBottle, a water bottle for pregnancy! Features custom bottle sizes to meet daily intake needs, helpful hourly time markers which serve as a great reminder, and a fun sticker pack of weekly stickers. You can order yours today on Amazon, check it out here.