Pregnant Women | Nutrition For Mother And Baby

The babies inside each pregnant woman are considered parasites because they feed on whatever their host feeds on. This means, each pregnant woman should consider a diet for two. It will be best if another 10kcal is added to the diet in during the first trimester of the pregnancy and another 300kcal on the 2nd and 3rd trimester. Sometimes, a few biscuits a fruit and a yogurt before going to bed is enough. Also, a daily prenatal supplement is usually a recommendation.

A woman’s calcium level may greatly decrease because of the presence of the baby. It will be very helpful to eat calcium rich foods and drinks like milk.

Important Minerals And Vitamins For Pregnancy

Iron

This nutrient is essential for the maintenance of the blood supply for the baby inside the mother’s placenta. Most of the women’s stored iron is not enough to support the increased requirements during pregnancy, iron supplements are also being recommended during the last two trimesters, usually at 30 mg. it is also recommended that you increase your iron rich food intake to avoid iron deficiency anemia. Dried fruits, whole-grain bread, lean red meat, poultry, fish, and cereals which are iron fortified are only some of the foods that will help you increase your iron levels.

Calcium and Vitamin D

As I have mentioned earlier, a woman’s calcium level is at its lowest when she is pregnant. This is because the calcium for the baby’s bones and teeth are being extracted from the mother. Depending on your age, certain amounts of calcium and vitamin D are also recommended for pregnant women. Calcium supplements may also help if calcium intake is insufficient. So it will be most helpful to include calcium and vitamin D rich foods in a pregnant woman’s diet.
FolateFolate, also known as folic acid, is essential to increase the maternal blood volume and therefore decrease the risk of baby NTD or Neural Tube Effects. Diet alone will not provide you with enough folate. Pregnant women should therefore start taking folate supplements for the first three months of pregnancy.

Cautions

Seafood - Only at most 2 servings of fish per week are recommended. Also avoid fish with high mercury such as Tilefish, King mackerel, Shark and Swordfish.
Herbal Tea – some herbal teas are safe to drink even during pregnancy. These include lemon balm, orange peel, ginger, citrus peel, and rose hip teas. It will be best to avoid chamomile tea.
Caffeine – some authorities advice only 3 to 4 cups of coffee a day, however, some like the US Department of Health suggests to completely avoid it.
Artificial sweeteners – use them moderately

Submitted on August 14, 2009