"Congratulations! You are pregnant." Those are the words that almost every woman hopes to hear. Now, do you ever have questions! Perhaps the most important question is, what is the proper way to eat for me and my developing baby. For starters, you need to add 300 calories to your diet. Make sure you spend your calories wisely. Now is not the time to eat lots of junk food. You need a balanced diet that has all the nutrients that your baby needs. Calcium, Iron, and Folic Acid are three very important things that your baby needs to grow well. Let's start by discussing Calcium. This is a substance your baby needs to grow healthy teeth and bones.
In light of how important calcium is to your baby, you need to get 40% more calcium than you normally take, perhaps more if you weren't getting adequate calcium before pregnancy. So what does 40% more calcium mean? About 1000 mg daily. That may seem like a lot, but you would be surprised at how many of the things you normally eat contain calcium. Foods like low fat dairy products, cereals, green vegetables, and dried beans all have a nice supply of calcium. You can also take a calcium supplement.
Pregnant women should also take an iron supplement, because anemia is a dangerous yet common problem during pregnancy. Eating lots of red meat, dried fruits, and various other foods like that can help get you the 27-30 mg needed.
According to the Center for Disease Prevention and Control, all pregnant women need a good supply of folic acid. This will prevent many tragic birth defects such as spina bifida. Several good sources of folic acid are rice, pasta, spinach, and whole grain breads, just to name a few.
In addition to all this, pregnant women need to stay well hydrated. This will help prevent some of the annoyances of pregnancy and more serious things, like preterm labor.
It is very important that a woman is very careful about her health, as she is eating, drinking and breathing through two, not just one. She needs to be very careful about food poisoning. Here are some things that a pregnant woman should avoid. Raw meat, uncooked beef, uncooked poultry, and raw eggs are just a few.
Also, they need to be aware that raw milk and unpasteurized cheese can carry listeria. There is quite a list of sea food that needs to be avoided because of the mercury content. The mercury level can be so high in some fish that it could harm the baby.
Finally, drugs, alcohol, and caffeine need to be eliminated. Not only can these cause birth defects, but at birth the baby may show withdrawal symptoms. You are making choices now for two not just one. Make your choices wisely.
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