Certainly you must know the risks of smoking or drinking alcohol during pregnancy, but did you know some everyday habits may also harbor potential harm? To help ensure your healthiest pregnancy possible, we offer this list of dos and don'ts from Suzanne Trupin, M.D., clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign.

Don't sit all day. Unfortunately, sitting is one of the worst positions for your circulatory system, so about once every hour you should stand up and walk around. The best bodily position from a circulatory standpoint is lying on your left side, but the second best is standing, says Trupin.

Do adjust your exercise routine. For the first three to four months of pregnancy, you can continue your preferred form of exercise at the same level that you maintained before you became pregnant. Trupin's one caution: If running, skating or inline skating is your sport of choice, your center of mass will be shifting and your sense of balance may be disrupted. According to Trupin, for most women it is best to abandon these types of activities at around four to five months into your pregnancy. Obtain your doctor's approval before continuing your exercise routine.

Don't wear knee-high socks. As their name suggests, knee-highs constrict your leg just below the knee, and constriction in that area has a nasty tendency to encourage blood clots, says Trupin. Stockings or normal socks are safer choices.

Do watch your vitamin intake. Trupin has just four words of advice: stick to the RDA. Over consumption of even benign vitamins and minerals, such as C, A or K or calcium, can result in your child having withdrawal symptoms or birth defects. When you are calculating how much supplementation you need, remember to take into account the approximate amount of each vitamin that you get from your daily food intake. Remember, you still need .4 mg of folic acid for prevention of neural tube defects.

Don't get into a hot tub. If a pregnant woman's core body temperature is raised above 104°F, rates of miscarriage have been found to double or even triple, says Trupin. Warm baths are just fine, however, so lean back and relax.

Do limit you sugar consumption. More mobile than most substances, sugar moves easily across the placental membrane, so when you decide to indulge in an extra piece of chocolate cake, you are also feeding it to the fetus. In order to combat this bombardment of sugar, the fetus will begin producing large amounts of insulin, which could result in a later predisposition to hypoglycemia.

Don't get a perm. For the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, Trupin recommends foregoing any chemical treatments to your scalp, as the chemicals are absorbed through your skin and can be communicated to the developing embryo. The first 14 weeks are especially crucial, as it is during that time that all the major fetal organs are formed. After these first three or four months, the risk to the fetus declines, but you may want to stay on the safe side and avoid any scalp treatments for the entire nine months.

Do avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight. During pregnancy, exposure to the sun is more likely to cause a condition known as chloasma, which is just a medical term for brown splotches on the skin. If you've ever experienced any skin discoloration while on the Pill, you are at an elevated risk for this condition and should take extra precautions. You may want to protect your skin with a sunblock or UV-protected hat when you go out in the bright sunlight. Once they arrive, these splotches may fade but they will never really go away.

Don't forget to wear your seat belt. Some women worry that wearing a seat belt may cause abdominal trauma that could hurt the fetus. While this is a slight possibility, remember that if you choose not to wear your seat belt, your chances of being injured in a car crash are significantly increased; and if you are injured, so is the fetus.

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