Diet During Pregnancy
6:07 AM
A healthy diet and good nutrition during pregnancy ensure that your baby gets the best start possible. The best diet is a balanced one that provides ample amounts of protein, carbohydrate, and healthy types of fat, as well as vitamins and minerals. While you will probably be taking a prenatal multivitamin to ensure that you get the basic requirements, vitamin-packed, fresh foods will help your baby get the best start in life.
Fruit and vegetables in pregnancy
Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables because these provide vitamins and minerals, as well as fibre, which helps digestion and prevents constipation.
Eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day – these can be fresh, frozen, canned, dried or juiced. Always wash them carefully.
Cook vegetables lightly in a little water, or eat them raw but well washed to get the benefit of the nutrients they contain.
Protein in pregnancy
Sources of protein include:
- meat (but avoid liver)
- fish
- poultry
- eggs
- beans
- pulses
- nuts
Eat some protein every day.
Choose lean meat, remove the skin from poultry, and cook it using only a little fat. Read more about eating meat in a healthy way.
Make sure eggs, poultry, burgers, sausages and whole cuts of meat such as lamb, beef and pork are cooked all the way through. Check that there is no pink meat, and that juices have no pink or red in them.
Try to eat two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily fish such as salmon, sardines or mackerel. Find out about the health benefits of fish and shellfish. There are some types of fish you should avoid in pregnancy.
What Vitamins Do I Need During Pregnancy?
The Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) for pregnant women, established by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council, act as a baseline for determining vitamin and mineral requirements. These are suggested levels of vitamin and mineral intake intended to prevent nutrient deficiencies without risking overdoses and side effects.
- Calcium - it is important to have a healthy daily intake of calcium. Dairy foods, such as milk, cheese, milk and yoghurt are rich in calcium. If the mother is vegan, she should consider the following calcium-rich foods, calcium-fortified soy milk and juices, calcium-set tofu, soybeans, bok choy, broccoli, collards, Chinese cabbage, okra, mustard greens, kale, and soynuts.
Warning: Do not take megadoses of vitamins during pregnancy. Your baby is susceptible to vitamin toxicities and is likely to be even more sensitive to these toxicities than you are. Stay within 100-300 percent of the RDA for individual vitamins and minerals.
How many meals should I eat during pregnancy?
Even if you're not hungry, chances are your baby is, so try to eat every four hours.
Sometimes morning (or all-day) sickness, food aversions, acidity, or indigestion make eating difficult.
Try eating five or six small meals each day, instead of three large ones. Your baby needs regular sustenance, and you need to keep up your energy levels, so try not to miss meals.
Eating high-fibre and wholegrain foods will help to keep you feeling full, and will be more nutritious, too.
Foods to avoid during pregnancy
- Soft mould-ripened cheese, such as blue-veined cheese, Brie or Camembert. There is a risk of listeriainfection. Listeria is a group of bacteria that can cause potentially fatal infections to pregnant women and their babies.
- Any type of pate, be it vegetable or meat based - the risk here is also of listeria infection (listeriosis).
- Uncooked or undercooked ready-prepared meals. It is crucial that ready-prepared meals are cooked through until they are piping hot. The risk of listeriosis exists, as well as infection from other pathogens.
- Raw eggs, including any foods with raw or partially-cooked eggs in them. Eggs must be well cooked through. The risk here is of salmonellosis (salmonella infection).
- Uncooked or partially cooked meat should be avoided. Make sure it has cooked right through.
- Gardening - wear gloves and wash hands afterwards. There is a parasite in the soil that can cause an infection, called toxoplasmosis, which can harm the unborn baby. Cat feces may also have this parasite; so, use gloves when cleaning the cat litter.
- Uncooked shellfish - there is a risk of bacterial or viral contamination which can cause food poisoning.
- Mercury in some types of fish - shark, swordfish and marlin should be avoided, or kept to an absolute minimum. They are at the top of the food chain an can have high levels of mercury. Many experts say that tuna should be limited to one serving per week.
- Empty calorie foods - cakes, biscuits, cookies and candy should be kept to a minimum. They are high in sugar and fat, have little nutritional content, and may undermine a pregnant woman's efforts at maintaining a healthy body weight.
Should pregnant women avoid caffeine?
If a pregnant mother consumes too much caffeine during her pregnancy, there is a raised risk of giving birth to a low birth weight child, which can lead to health problems later on. There is also a higher risk of miscarriage. Many foods and drinks contain caffeine, not just coffee. Examples include some sodas (fizzy soft drinks), energy drinks, chocolate and tea. A number of cold and flu remedies also contain caffeine. A pregnant woman should talk to her doctor, nurse or pharmacists before taking a remedy.
Most health authorities around the world say that coffee does not need to be cut out completely, but should not exceed more than 200 mg per day. A standard mug of instant coffee contains 100 mg of caffeine, a mug of filter coffee 140 mg, a mug of tea 75 mg, one can of coke 40 mg, an energy drink can 80 mg, a 50 g bar of milk chocolate about 25 mg, and a 50 g bar of dark (plain) chocolate about 50 mg.
How much weight should a woman gain during pregnancy?
It is considered normal to gain 10 to 12kg (22 to 26lb).
For practical reasons the pregnancy is divided into three periods:
- the first period runs from week 0 to 12 where it is normal to gain 1 to 2kg (2 to 4lb).
- the second period runs from weeks 12 to 28 in which it is normal to gain 300 to 400g (10 to 14oz) a week.
- the third period runs from weeks 28 to 40 and it is normal to gain 1 to 3kg (2 to 6lb) a month.
It is not necessary to be obsessive about your weight during pregnancy. Many obstetricians have stopped weighing women other than at their first visit because the information is of little use in detecting problems with the mother or her baby.
However, excess weight gain is probably best avoided since most women will want to return to the same dress size within a few months of delivery.
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