Your Diet: Before, During and after Pregnancy

It is very important to maintain a healthy diet whether you are expecting or not. This is possible through following specified guidelines offered to you by your doctor, midwife or nutritionist. In addition to this doing internet searches and reading pregnancy material and manuals will take you through all you need to know to ensure you are on the right track with regard to your dietary needs.

You will hear quite often when you become pregnant that you will be eating for two when in truth and in fact that’s not the case. All that really needs to be seen to is your intake of calories be increased to an approximate 300 per day during pregnancy. I found that I wasn’t eating uncontrollably, but I did have a new found appreciation for certain types of foods. There were times when food that was tasty to me in the past became gag worthy and foods I had no interest in eating becoming my main staple. Through it all, I could not develop a pallet for cow’s milk. In that instance what I did was consume a lot of cheese and other dairy products which more or less made up for not drinking milk.

This may amuse quite a bit of you but there are instances when strict vegetarians end up craving meat. Tofu does nothing whatever to satisfy their cravings and for the remaining six months or so many have to give in and eat meat. As mothers and especially expectant mothers you need to know that what you eat provides food for you and your unborn child. As you should already know the expected amount that pregnant women put on averages at around 20 to 35 pounds.

You will need to ensure that there are extra servings of protein and vitamin in your diet. If you are uncertain of the foods rich in protein they include cheese, milk, yogurt, poultry, fish, meat, eggs, peanut butter, nuts, peas and beans. I have to stress however that there are certain types of cheeses not to be consumed by pregnant women and eating peanut is not entirely safe. Please consult your physician or GP to get a full run down on which cheese and nuts to avoid. From my own research the cheeses that should be avoided during pregnancy are the soft mould ripened cheeses which includes brie, camembert and your blue veined cheeses which includes your danish blue and stilton cheese. These cheeses are notorious for providing the perfect place for bacteria to grow. You may find the list of cheeses to avoid on any baby related website.

You will also need to be taking your folic acid tablets or folic acid within the first three months of pregnancy or as soon as you have found out that you are expecting. Folic acid tablets can be bought over the counter at your local pharmacy or chemist or online at Vitamin World It is extremely important as it helps in the prevention of the medical condition spina bifida which is an incomplete closure of the spinal chord and spinal column resulting in the child having great difficulty walking or not walking at all among other things. Folic acid may also be found in foods such as your lettuce, spinach, tomato juice, orange juice, fortified breakfast cereals and grains such as your corn flakes, in asparagus, broccoli and strawberries. I have not exhausted the list but this is just to give a working idea. You will also need to have an in take of iron. Some of you may be already taking iron tablets, but foods rich in iron includes chicken, beef, pork , fish, fortified cereals, eggs and kidney. Liver also has iron but I do remember reading that because it has a high concentration of iron women should avoid eating it. This of course you can discuss with your doctor.

After you’ve had your baby your diet should not change, nor should you think that you need not eat healthily. If there was ever a time to eat healthily it would have to be after the birth especially for the mothers who plan on breastfeeding. You do not need to eat for two, but you do need to ensure that you try as best as possible to eat the recommended daily amounts of your iron, vitamins and proteins to guarantee a healthy baby at birth and onward.