Water is the single best thing to drink during pregnancy, and you need more of it than usual. The general recommendation is 8 to 10 glasses per day, with an additional 300 milliliters (roughly one extra glass) starting in the second trimester to match the increase in calories your body needs. Beyond water, several other beverages can help you meet your nutritional needs, while a few should be limited or avoided entirely.
How Much Water You Actually Need
A useful rule of thumb is 1 to 1.5 milliliters of water for every calorie you consume. On a 2,000-calorie diet, that works out to 2 to 3 liters of fluid per day. Since most pregnant women add about 300 calories starting in the second trimester, your fluid needs go up accordingly. That puts the practical target at roughly 2.3 to 3.3 liters, or about 10 glasses.
You don’t have to get all of that from plain water. Soups, fruits, and other beverages count toward your total. But water should be the backbone because it carries no sugar, no caffeine, and no additives. If you find plain water boring, adding slices of lemon, cucumber, or berries can make it more appealing without adding meaningful sugar.
Signs You’re Not Drinking Enough
Dark yellow urine is one of the quickest checks. If your urine is pale or straw-colored, you’re generally well hydrated. Other early signs of dehydration include a dry or sticky mouth, headache, constipation, and dizziness. Pregnant women are especially vulnerable because blood volume increases significantly, and the body simply demands more fluid to support that change.
Dehydration during pregnancy can also trigger Braxton-Hicks contractions, which feel like a tightening across your abdomen. These are usually harmless, but they can be alarming. If drinking water and resting doesn’t ease them, or if you notice very little urine output, rapid heartbeat, or extreme thirst, that’s a sign of severe dehydration that needs prompt medical attention. Overheating is another common signal that fluids are too low.
Milk and Calcium-Rich Drinks
Your calcium needs during pregnancy are around 1,000 milligrams per day, rising closer to 1,200 milligrams in the third trimester when your baby’s skeleton is rapidly mineralizing. A full-term baby’s skeleton contains roughly 30 grams of calcium, and three-quarters of that is deposited in the final three months. Cow’s milk is one of the most efficient ways to get calcium, with about 300 milligrams per cup.
Fortified plant-based milks (soy, almond, oat) can work if dairy doesn’t agree with you, but check the label to make sure they’re fortified with both calcium and vitamin D. The recommended vitamin D intake during pregnancy is 15 micrograms (600 IU) per day, and it plays a direct role in helping your body absorb calcium. Calcium-rich mineral waters, those with more than 150 milligrams of calcium per liter, are another option if neither dairy nor fortified alternatives appeal to you.
Coffee, Tea, and the Caffeine Limit
Moderate caffeine intake, defined as less than 200 milligrams per day, does not appear to be a major contributing factor in miscarriage or preterm birth. That 200-milligram ceiling is roughly one 12-ounce cup of brewed coffee. A standard cup of black tea contains about 40 to 70 milligrams, so two or three cups of tea generally stay within the limit, but keep track if you’re also having chocolate or a soda that contains caffeine.
The easiest way to manage this is to pick one caffeinated drink per day and make it count. If you’re a two-cup coffee person, switching your second cup to decaf keeps you well under the threshold.
Herbal Tea: What’s Safe and What’s Not
Not all herbal teas are created equal during pregnancy. Peppermint tea is generally considered safe and can help with nausea, though excessive consumption is discouraged in early pregnancy because it has mild properties that could theoretically stimulate menstruation. In practice, a cup or two a day is not associated with harm to mother or baby.
Ginger tea is another popular choice for morning sickness and is widely regarded as safe in moderate amounts. Red raspberry leaf tea, often marketed as a pregnancy tea, falls into a “use with caution” category. There’s a case report of a woman who developed low blood sugar after consuming it at 32 weeks. If you want to try it, save it for late pregnancy and keep the quantity modest.
Chamomile tea is one to skip. It has been associated with adverse outcomes including constriction of a key blood vessel in the fetal heart. Herbal tinctures (the concentrated liquid extracts sold in small dropper bottles) should also be avoided because they contain high concentrations of active compounds plus alcohol as a carrier.
Fruit Juice: A Little Goes a Long Way
Fruit juice provides vitamin C, but it’s also a concentrated source of sugar. It takes several pieces of fruit to fill one glass of juice, and because the fiber is stripped out, the sugar hits your bloodstream quickly. This matters for pregnancy because your body is already working harder to regulate blood sugar, and excess sugar intake increases the risk of gestational diabetes.
If you enjoy juice, treat it like a small serving of fruit: about four ounces (half a cup) at a time, and not more than once or twice a day. Choose 100% juice rather than juice cocktails with added sugar. One important safety note: always choose pasteurized juice. Unpasteurized juice and raw cider can harbor Listeria, and pregnant women are 10 times more likely to develop a Listeria infection than the general population. If you buy fresh-pressed juice from a farm stand or farmers market, bring it to a rolling boil for at least one minute before drinking.
Electrolyte Drinks and Morning Sickness
Morning sickness, especially when it involves repeated vomiting, can drain your body of both fluids and electrolytes like sodium and potassium. An electrolyte drink can help restore that balance faster than water alone. Sports drinks are generally safe during pregnancy, but many are loaded with sugar. Look for low-sugar electrolyte powders or tablets that dissolve in water, or try coconut water, which is naturally rich in potassium.
If morning sickness is so severe that you can’t keep any fluids down for more than a day, that crosses into territory where you may need medical support. Persistent vomiting can lead to a condition called hyperemesis gravidarum, which sometimes requires intravenous fluids to correct dehydration.
Diet Sodas and Artificial Sweeteners
The available evidence does not suggest that common artificial sweeteners cause adverse effects during pregnancy when consumed in moderate amounts. Aspartame, sucralose, and stevia have all been evaluated, and none showed increased risk of birth defects or preterm delivery in the studies available. Health Canada and the FDA both consider them acceptable during pregnancy within established daily limits.
For context, a 60-kilogram (132-pound) person would need to drink more than 12 cans of diet soda sweetened with aspartame in a single day to exceed the acceptable daily intake. That said, diet soda still has no nutritional value, so it’s fine as an occasional substitute for sugary drinks but not as a replacement for water or milk. One exception: women with phenylketonuria (PKU) should avoid aspartame entirely, since it breaks down into phenylalanine.
Alcohol: No Safe Amount
There is no known safe amount, no safe time, and no safe type of alcohol during pregnancy. That includes wine, beer, and liquor. The CDC is unambiguous on this point: every pregnancy responds differently to alcohol exposure, and some babies may experience lifelong effects while others may not, but there is no way to predict which pregnancies are vulnerable. The only way to eliminate the risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders is to avoid alcohol entirely from conception through delivery.
A Practical Daily Approach
Keeping it simple works best. Start your day with a glass of water, carry a bottle with you, and aim to refill it throughout the day until you’ve hit 8 to 10 glasses. Add one or two servings of milk or a fortified alternative to cover calcium and vitamin D. If you want coffee or tea, keep it to one caffeinated serving. Use juice sparingly, choose pasteurized options, and reach for electrolyte drinks when nausea makes plain water hard to tolerate.
Pregnancy increases your fluid needs gradually, and your thirst will often guide you in the right direction. The color of your urine is your best real-time feedback: pale yellow means you’re on track.