Pregnancy Diet & Recipes for a Pregnant Woman

There is no special diet and recipes for a pregnancy. You should eat a healthy diet that gives all the nutrients to help your baby develop and grow.

Remember that the food you eat is the main source of energy for your baby growing inside. A pregnant women should know that she is not only responsible for herself, but also for the unborn child inside her. The child's physical and mental development after birth will have a influence of anything seen, thoughts and the food eaten by the pregnant woman.

1. There is no special diet for a pregnant women, but eating a healthy balanced diet that gives all the nutrients (see nutrition chart & guide) for your baby to develop and grow is recommended.
2. For the first 3 months, the diet of a pregnant woman should include food rich in iron, folic acid and foods high in calcium. You may take iron and folic acid tablets if you are pregnant or lactating.
3. Pregnancy Nutrition
   Foods to avoid during pregnanacy
   Foods for pregnant women
   Morning sickness
   Unborn child complexion
   Conceive a boy or a girl
   Diet for new mothers
   Post pregnancy exercise
   How to prevent stretch marks

   Folic Acid & Birth Defects

   Women should get enough folic acid before and during the pregnancy to prevent major birth defects involving baby's brain or spine, according to Canadian researcher Louise Pilote of McGill University, Montreal as reported in the British Medical Journal, May 2009.
4. Fortifying flour products with folic acid may cut the number of babies born with congenital heart disease, the most common of all birth defects.
5. In the next 3 month (i.e.3 to 6 month pregnancy), the woman needs extra protein and calcium. Look for foods with high protein.

6. Pregnancy & Weight Gain

   Most women gain between 10-15 kgs, but too much weight gain should be avoided. However, the weight gain during pregnancy will vary according to your pre-pregnancy weight. According to the experts, an overweight woman is advised to gain only 7 kg (15 pounds) and an underweight woman to gain up to 18 kg (40 pounds).
   For this, limit on too much fat and sugar in your diet.
   The authors of this web site know a case of a pregnant woman to whom doctors told that the baby growth was a bit less during the 7th month of pregnancy. This woman started taking a lot of ghee (mainly saturated fat) on rotis, almond halwa and sooji halwa. This resulted in a rapid weight gain by the woman, while the baby inside grew at the normal rate. It is a misconception in India that a pregnant mother should eat fatty foods for the baby to grow.

   The pregnant woman should eat a healthy balanced diet.

7. Do Not Eat For Two

   Many pregnant women wrongly think that they should eat for two. Note that you need only 200-300 extra calories daily in pregnancy, i.e. a cup of reduced fat milk or yogurt and a medium orange. This is because your body actually absorbs more nutrients from food you eat during pregnancy.
   Researcher Alison Stuebeworking at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found that pregnant women should avoid eating for two since too much weight gain is linked with complications at birth. Pregnant women who eat fried foods and dairy products and food for two are more likely to gain as much as 35 pounds.
   Women with vegetarian diets and eating more monounsaturated fat found in olive oil and nuts in early pregnancy are half as likely to gain an unhealthy amount of weight.

Recipes for Pregnant Women

You can find healthy recipes for pregnant women in different sections of recipes page at low calorie recipes. The recipes have not been listed specifically for pregnant women, but you can select based on the above nutrient requirement.

Other Diet Topics