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Eating healthy while pregnant
What to eat, what to avoid during your pregnancy
Eating healthy while pregnant is especially important, even if you always follow a healthy diet.
A good diet can safeguard against health problems during pregnancy and also helps your baby to have good health right from the start.
There’s no need to eat for two when you’re pregnant. A better strategy is to have several small meals spread out through the day.
Making sure you eat healthy during pregnancy involves cutting down on processed foods.
Eat loads of fresh foods to get plenty of the essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients your body needs while you are pregnant.
EATING HEALTHY WHILE PREGNANT: SICKNESS AND CRAVINGS
Four out of five women experience sickness – not necessarily in the morning – during the first 12-14 weeks of pregnancy. For most women, the nausea eases after the first trimester, once the placenta is more developed and can take over hormone production. Fewer than one in 200 women experience severe sickness, which can lead to dehydration and needs medical treatment.
You may find that you have a strange, metallic taste in your mouth in the early stages of pregnancy, and that foods taste different or unpleasant. The taste or smell of foods or drinks you loved pre-pregnancy – coffee is a common one - can make you feel nauseous.
To ease feelings of nausea:
eat little and often
carry food with you, if you find that eating helps quell sickness
avoid rich, spicy, fatty or acidic foods
try ginger, which can help relieve sickness – in biscuits, tea, crystallised or freshly grated and added to cooking
take lots of fluids but cut down or cut out caffeine or alcohol
You might also develop cravings for particular foods. Sometimes these are healthy ones, like juicy fruits, and you can eat them freely.
Often a craving will stop as suddenly as it started. If you crave something really unhealthy, eating small amounts, once or twice a day won’t ruin your healthy eating diet in pregnancy, and will make you feel better.
EATING HEALTHY WHILE PREGNANT: WHAT TO EAT
You only need an extra 300 calories a day in the third trimester, so don’t overdo it. Have small, frequent meals, and to get the range of minerals, vitamins and other nutrients you need, include these foods:
Complex carbs keep blood sugar stable and provide useful fibre (fiber) which can improve digestion and help prevent constipation: wholegrain bread and cereals, pulses, fresh vegetables.
Protein is vital in pregnancy to nourish your growing baby. Choose lean meat and poultry, preferably organic, beans and lentils, fish, dairy products (low fat versions) and freerange eggs.
Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines and herrings, seeds, pulses, beans and nuts contain unsaturated fats which are essential for your developing baby’s brain and eyes.
Have five or more portions of fruit and veg every day, and select from a range of colours. This is a good way to ensure that you get enough of the antioxidant vitamins C and E, which may reduce the risk of eclampsia.
Get a good supply of iron from leafy green veg like spinach, pulses and seeds, dried fruits, and iron-enriched breakfast cereals. Absorption of iron is improved if you eat these along with foods high in vitamin C, like fresh fruit.
For calcium, eat low fat dairy products, dried prunes and fortified soya milk.
Pregnant women need 400mcg of folate each day, to lower risk of miscarriage and birth defects. It’s hard to consume this much through diet alone, so health professionals recommend you take a folic acid supplement pre-conception and during the first trimester.
As well as following these guidelines for eating healthy while pregnant, make sure you read on, for a list of what foods to avoid, for a really healthy diet in pregnancy.
EATING HEALTHY WHILE PREGNANT: WHAT TO AVOID
Some foods have been shown to be potentially harmful to your baby during pregnancy. Here’s what to cut out:
Unwashed veg and salads – listeria, E-coli
Blue cheeses and varieties made from unpasteurised milk
Dishes made with raw or undercooked eggs - salmonella risk
Tuna and swordfish (no more than twice a week) – may contain mercury
Liver and liver pate - high vitamin A which could harm the foetus
Raw or very rare meat, and raw fish or shellfish - toxoplasmosis or salmonella
Alcohol – can affect foetal development. Some experts recommend cutting it ou completely to be safe. The Food Standards Agency (UK) suggests having no more than 1-2 units of alcohol (one glass of wine, half a pint of beer) once or twice a week.
