Nutrition

 

Some comments on nutrition during pregnancy

 

Pregnancy is an excellent opportunity to concentrate on improving your eating patterns. Proper nutrition in pregnancy helps contribute to better outcomes for both mother and baby. We will answer your questions about nutrition to the best of our ability as midwives. If you have special dietary considerations, we would be pleased to refer you to a dietician.

 

Your Diet:

Your baby grows best when your blood sugar remains on a relatively even level throughout the day. The best way for you to eat during pregnancy, therefore, is to divide the food that you would normally eat in three meals a day into six portions (e.g. breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, late evening snack).This does not mean adding snacks over and above your regular meals, but taking something from your regular meal and eating it later as a snack (for example, a piece of fruit, or raw vegetables).

You can use your pregnancy food guide to organize your meal planning. As your baby and uterus become larger during the last half of pregnancy, you will find that "grazing" is also the most comfortable way for you to eat.

 

Supplements:

We do not recommend routine iron supplementation during pregnancy. Evidence does not suggest that healthy pregnant women derive any benefit from iron supplements. We will monitor your lab values during pregnancy and recommend supplementation if it is needed. If you wish to take a prenatal supplement, please discuss it with us. Please remember that a prenatal supplement is not a substitute for eating well during your pregnancy.

We do recommend that you eat adequate amounts of iron and calcium-rich foods during pregnancy. We have listed foods rich in iron, and non-dairy sources of calcium on the food guide we have given you. To enhance the absorption of the iron in your food, it is helpful to remember the following points:

 

• Iron is best absorbed when eaten with foods high in vitamin C, or acidic foods.
• Cooking in cast-iron pans will increase the iron content of your food.
• Taking large amounts of antacids will hamper the absorption of iron; if you have heartburn, please talk to us about alternative methods of coping with it.
• Calcium supplementation will also interfere with iron absorption, so if you are taking supplementary calcium, do so at a different time than when you are eating iron-rich foods.
• Tannic acid, caffeine and phosphates in caffeinated teas, coffee and soft drinks also inhibit both iron and calcium absorption. It is good to minimize the use of these beverages during pregnancy.
• You need protein in adequate amounts to grow your baby, and enough calories to keep from "burning" protein for energy needs.
• In terms of energy, you require 100 additional calories/day in the first three months of pregnancy, and 300 additional calories/day during the rest of pregnancy. During breastfeeding, you will require 450 calories/day over your non-pregnant requirements.
• Your fluid needs increase during pregnancy as well, to accommodate the expanded blood volume that occurs at this time. We strongly recommend that you meet those increased needs by drinking water, rather than the many fruit beverages that are available on the market today. Similarly, it is best to eat more vegetables than fruits, in planning your pregnancy diet. Vegetables contain more nutrients than fruits, and less sugar.
• Do not restrict your salt intake during pregnancy. Adequate salt is necessary to help maintain the expanded blood volume we mentioned earlier.
• Avoid eating any one food to excess during pregnancy. There is evidence to suggest that eating large amounts of any one food may contribute to food allergy or sensitivity in the baby. A well-balanced diet with a variety of foods is best, and will be more likely to meet all your nutritional needs.