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Nutrition During Pregnancy
Nutrition is not only important to your unborn baby but is also important to your current and future health status. Eating the right foods during pregnancy is important for you and your unborn baby. Your developing baby depends on you to provide the quality and quantity of food needed for a healthy start in life. Your unborn baby depends totally on you for nourishment. A well balanced diet is composed of a wide variety of foods chosen for their energy value and the nutrients they provide. A balanced and varied diet can supply you the protein, vitamins, and minerals needed to help form a healthy baby and to protect your own health as well.Food Guidance for Pregnancy
Energy
Energy needs during pregnancy are currently estimated to be the sum of total energy expenditure of a nonpregnant woman plus the median change in total energy expenditure of 8-kcal/gestational week plus the energy deposition during pregnancy of 180 kcal/d. Because total energy expenditure does not change greatly and weight gain is minimal in the first trimester, additional energy intake is recommended only in the second and third trimesters. Approximately an additional 340 and 450 kcal is recommended during the second and third trimesters, respectively.Protein
Additional protein is needed during pregnancy to cover the estimated 21 g/d deposited in fetal, placental and maternal tissues during the second and third trimesters. Women of reproductive age select diets containing average protein intakes of 70 g/d, a value very close to the theoretical need of 71 g during pregnancy.Vitamins and minerals
The assessment of vitamin and mineral status during pregnancy is difficult because there is a general lack of pregnancy-specific laboratory indexes for nutritional evaluation. Plasma concentrations of many vitamins and minerals show a slow, steady decrease with the advance of gestation, which may be due to hemodilution. However, other vitamins and minerals can be unaffected or increased because of pregnancy-induced changes in levels of carrier molecules Selected vitamins and minerals that are likely to be limiting or excessive in the diets of pregnant women and their association with pregnancy outcome are briefly discussed. Placental transport of vitamin A between mother and fetus is substantial, and recommended intakes are increased by 10%. Low maternal vitamin A status is inconsistently associated with intrauterine growth retardation in communities at risk for vitamin A deficiency. Dietary supplementation with vitamin A or -carotene is reported to reduce maternal mortality by 40% but to not affect fetal loss or infant mortality rates.Supplementation of 10 ?g (400 IU)/d in affected women lowered the incidence of neonatal hypocalcaemia and tetany and maternal osteomalacia whereas higher amounts (25 'g/d) increased weight and length gains in infants postnatally.
The recommended intake for folate during pregnancy is 600 'g/d. It will be important to evaluate the extent to which folic acid fortification increases intake of reproducing women, decreases neural tube defects and affects growth and development of the fetus.