Maintaining Proper Nutrition While Pregnant

To maintain good health, a person must maintain a good nutritional status, whether they are pregnant or not. However, when a woman becomes pregnant, she must be cognizant that what she eats will affect the health of her unborn child. One of the best things a pregnant woman can do for her unborn child is to eat nutritious meals.

Planning meals should be based on a woman’s pre-pregnant weight. If a woman was overweight, underweight, or was of normal weight, calories should be taken into consideration in lieu of this fact. The doctor will inform her of how many pounds she should gain or lose. The woman should heed the doctor's advice because excess weight will make it difficult to get into good physical shape after the baby is born.

During pregnancy, a woman should not go on a strict diet because it may cause a deficiency in essential nutrients, such as calcium, folic acid, iron, and other vitamins and minerals. This would have an impact on both the mother and the unborn child. A vitamin is usually prescribed to make sure the mother and the unborn baby are getting all the required nutrients.

A pregnant woman should eat foods based on the five food groups:

• Whole grains, white bread, rice, and pasta
• Vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, peas, carrots, spinach, romaine lettuce, kale, sweet potatoes, and winter squash.
• Fruits such as oranges, cantaloupe, strawberries, bananas, and apples
• Meat, fish, dry beans, eggs, nuts, meat alternatives
• Milk, yogurt and cheese

Women who are strict vegetarians should talk with their doctor because they do not usually eat from all five groups. Foods from each group should be consumed each day because each food group provides certain nutritional benefits.

Since a pregnant woman will be eating for two, a few extra calories may need to be added to their diet as the pregnancy progresses. However, meaningful calories should be added instead of “empty calories,” such as soft drinks, candy, potato chips, and such.

Foods that should be avoided or limited dramatically:

• Caffeinated beverages such as coffee, teas and some soft drinks
• Fish should be limited to about two servings a week
• Chocolate

Foods that should be totally avoided:

• Raw seafood such as oysters or sushi
• Milk and cheeses that have not been pasteurized
• Undercooked meat and poultry

Women who develop gestational diabetes, have diabetes, are anemic, or have delivered low-birth-weight babies in the past, might need to seek the advice of a registered dietitian.

A pregnant woman who eats nutritious meals, watches their weight, gets a moderate amount of exercise, avoids stress as much as possible, gets an adequate amount of rest, and keeps a positive attitude; increases their chances of delivering a healthy baby. Consulting with a doctor is very important in order to ensure pregnant women are taking healthy measures. They will be the best resource to provide advice. Never hesitate to ask questions even if they seem silly—questions about diet, exercise, pain management medicine, cord blood banking, or even circumcision. Doctors know what is best for each individual woman.

By following the doctor’s advice it will help make a smooth transition from pregnancy into motherhood. This is a time of excitement as a woman prepares to be a mother!

“Katie Moore has written and submitted this article. Katie is an active blogger who discusses the topics of, motherhood, children, fitness, health and all other things Mommy. She enjoys writing, blogging, and meeting new people! To connect with Katie contact her via her blog, Moore From Katie or her twitter, @moorekm26.”