HND4151: NUTRITION DURING PREGNANCY AND LACTATION

Healthy eating is important during pregnancy. Good nutrition is needed to meet the added demands on your body as well as those of your growing baby.

Eating healthy while you are pregnant may take a little extra effort, but it will have major benefits for you and your baby. If you already eat a balanced diet, all you have to do is add a few extra well-chosen calories. If you have not been eating a healthy diet, pregnancy is a great time to change old habits and develop healthy new ones.

An unborn child needs a healthy and well-nourished mother to grow properly. Therefore, a mother needs to gain weight during pregnancy to help nourish her growing baby. Women who do not gain enough weight often have babies that weigh too little (low birth weight). A baby weighing less than 2.5 kg has an increased chance of both physical and mental health problems. It may also suffer more from infection and malnutrition compared with babies of normal weight.

Breastfeeding mothers need to pay careful attention to their diets as well. Healthy eating also includes knowing how much you should eat. Pregnant women used to be told to “eat for two.” This is still true to a point.

We now know that you cannot just eat twice as much as you normally do. Finding a balance between getting enough nutrients to fuel the baby’s growth and maintaining a healthy weight is important for your and your baby’s future health. A pregnant woman who has a body mass index (BMI) in the normal range before pregnancy needs, on average, only about 300 extra calories a day—the amount in a glass of skim milk and half a sandwich. If you are pregnant with twins, you will need 600 extra calories per day.

Nutrients are the building blocks of the body. Important nutrients include proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. When you are pregnant, you not only need to maintain your own body with nutrients, you also need to support the growth of your baby. Getting enough nutrients during pregnancy safeguards your own health and contributes to your baby’s normal development.

There is increasing evidence that a high body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy, excessive weight gain and inadequate nutrition during pregnancy increase the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and may have negative effects on the duration and outcome of pregnancy. Underweight and overweight newborns are exposed to intrauterine programming, with a corresponding risk for the development of metabolic disease in their lifetime.