During pregnancy your body has special nutritional needs
that must be met. Because you are doing all the fetus,s digestion and
breathing. You will need more energy and thus must consume more calories. Your
body also needs to produce more blood to be able to circulate some through the
placenta. This means you will need more iron, protein, and folic acid. Growing
fetal bones require additional minerals, such as calcium and phosphorus. If you
already have a balanced diet, then it is a simple matter to add the extra
nutrients that are needed for the fetus.
Calories and Weight
Gain
Both your weight before you get pregnant and the amount of
weight you gain during pregnancy determine the baby’s birth weight. A woman of
normal weight before pregnancy should gain about 30 pounds during pregnancy.
Women who are underweight should gain more, about 34 pounds, and women who are
obese can gain about 20. Women carrying twins should gain as much as 40 pounds.
Recommended weight gains are based on your overall body mass, which is a
calculation of weight for height.
Women who are underweight during pregnancy are more likely
to have small babies. Babies who have a low weight at birth (less than 5.5
pounds) have a more difficult time adjusting to life outside of the uterus.
Proper nutrition and weight gain will help reduce the possibility of having and
underweight baby. (Labor is not made easier because your baby is small or
underweight. It is not appropriate to purposely gain less weight than is expected
and required in order to have a smaller baby)
If you gain weight as you should while you’re pregnant,
chances are that your baby will gain weight properly, too. You are not really “eating
for two” Though. The average woman will need to add only about 300 calories to
her daily diet when she becomes pregnant. This is only an average, however, and
your doctor will tell you whether you should eat more or less than this amount.
For example, a teenager (who needs to fuel her own baby’s growth as well as her
fetus’s), an underweight woman, and a woman expecting twins should eat more
than the average.
Women who are overweight can have problems during pregnancy,
too. Still, it isn’t good idea to try to lose weight while you are pregnant,
because you may deprive your baby of needed nutrients. It is best to try to
lose weight before you are pregnant and then again after birth. Women who are
overweight or who get very little exercise may be able to eat less than the
average.
Eating snacks during the day is a good way to obtain needed
nutrition and extra calories. It is best to pick snacks that have appropriate nutrients
and are not high in concentrated sugars or tats. This usually means that candy,
soda, and potato chips are of less value. Fruit, a slice of pizza, cereal,
yogurt, and ice cream are healthier snacks.
You may feel more comfortable, especially during the later
stages of pregnancy, eating small meals six times a day. To make these
mini-meals, just divide the number of servings of the basic foods needed each
day into smaller portions. Milk and a sandwich make with meat, Chicken, fish,
peanut butter, or cheese with lettuce and tomato make an excellent mini-meal.
Other ideas are milk and fresh fruits, fruit juices, cheese and crackers, raw
vegetables, and soup.
