What do eat when pregnant

You can use the Eatwell Guide to get the balance of your diet right. It shows you how much of what you eat should come from each food group to achieve a healthy, balanced diet. You do not need to achieve this balance with every meal, but try to get the balance right over a week. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables because these provide vitamins and minerals, as well as fibre, which helps digestion and can help prevent constipation.

Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day — these can include fresh, frozen, canned, dried or juiced.

Always wash fresh fruit and vegetables carefully. Find out what counts as a portion of fruit or vegetables. Starchy foods are an important source of energy, some vitamins and fibre, and help you to feel full without containing too many calories. They include bread, potatoes, breakfast cereals, rice, pasta, noodles, maize, millet, oats, yams and cornmeal. If you are having chips, go for oven chips lower in fat and salt. These foods should make up just over a 3rd of the food you eat.

Instead of refined starchy white food, choose wholegrain or higher-fibre options such as wholewheat pasta, brown rice or simply leaving the skins on potatoes. Choose lean meat, remove the skin from poultry, and try not to add extra fat or oil when cooking meat. Read more about eating meat in a healthy way. Make sure poultry, burgers, sausages and whole cuts of meat such as lamb, beef and pork are cooked very thoroughly until steaming all the way through.

Check that there is no pink meat, and that juices have no pink or red in them. Try to eat 2 portions of fish each week, 1 of which should be oily fish such as salmon, sardines or mackerel. Find out about the health benefits of fish and shellfish.

There are some types of fish you should avoid when you're pregnant or planning to get pregnant, including shark, swordfish and marlin.

When you're pregnant, you should avoid having more than 2 portions of oily fish a week, such as salmon, trout, mackerel and herring, because it can contain pollutants toxins. A message has been sent to your recipient's email address with a link to the content webpage.

Your name: is required Error: This is required. Your email: is required Error: This is required Error: Not a valid value. Send to: is required Error: This is required Error: Not a valid value. Overall, aim for a balanced diet, with an appropriate blend of all the 5 food groups: vegetables and legumes breads and cereals milk, yoghurt and cheese meat, poultry, fish and alternatives fruit Aim to drink plenty of water every day — most town water contains fluoride, which helps your growing baby's teeth develop strong enamel.

Fruit and vegetables Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables because these provide vitamins and minerals , as well as fibre, which helps digestion and prevents constipation. Starchy foods carbohydrates Starchy foods are an important source of vitamins and fibre, and are satisfying without containing too many calories.

Protein Foods containing protein help the baby grow. Dairy Dairy foods such as milk, cheese and yoghurt are important because they contain calcium and other nutrients that your baby needs. Instead, choose from the following nutritious snacks: sandwiches or pitta bread filled with grated cheese, grilled chicken, mashed tuna, salmon or sardines and salad salad vegetables, such as carrot, celery or cucumber low-fat yoghurt hummus with bread or vegetable sticks ready-to-eat apricots, figs or prunes vegetable and bean soups unsweetened breakfast cereals, or porridge, with milk milky drinks or unsweetened fruit juices fresh fruit baked beans on toast or a baked potato Foods to limit When you are pregnant, you should reduce your intake of: foods that are high in sugar, such as chocolate, biscuits, pastries, ice-cream, cake, puddings and soft drinks.

Sugar contains calories without providing any other nutrients, and can contribute to weight gain, obesity and tooth decay foods that are high in fat, such as all spreading fats including butter , oils, salad dressings and cream. Fat is very high in calories, and eating more fatty foods is likely to make you put on weight. Having too much saturated fat can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which increases the chance of developing heart disease.

Whether you are planning a pregnancy , already pregnant or breastfeeding , not drinking is the safest option as alcohol can harm your unborn baby Preparing food safely Wash fruit, vegetables and salads to remove all traces of soil, which may contain toxoplasma, a parasite that can cause toxoplasmosis , which can harm your unborn baby. Wash all surfaces and utensils, and your hands, after preparing raw meat — this will help to avoid toxoplasmosis and other infections such as listeria, campylobacter and salmonella.

Store raw foods separately from ready-to-eat foods to prevent contamination that leads to food poisoning from meat such as salmonella, campylobacter and E. Use a separate chopping board for raw meats. Heat ready meals until they're piping hot all the way through — this is especially important for meals containing poultry. Learn more about safe food preparation.

Back To Top. Call us and speak to a Maternal Child Health Nurse for personal advice and guidance. Fortified cooked cereals Iron Fortified cooked cereals have more iron than oatmeal. Fortified ready-to-eat cereals Fiber, iron, calcium and folate Look for a whole grain cereal.

Some can be eaten dry as a snack. Green and red peppers Vitamins A, C, and folic acid Add to pizza or eat raw as a snack. Low-fat milk and yogurt Calcium and protein Make your own smoothie by blending fruit, milk and yogurt. Pizza Calcium, protein and vitamins Add a lot of veggies, skip the pepperoni and sausage, and get a whole-wheat crust.

Popcorn Fiber Go easy on the butter and salt. Spinach and romaine lettuce Vitamins A, C, and folic acid These have more vitamins and minerals than iceberg lettuce.

To make the additional hemoglobin in this blood, the body needs more iron. Also, if anemia develops later in the pregnancy, there is a higher risk of the person losing blood when they give birth. The following foods are rich sources of iron:.

There is no known safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy. It is safest to drink none at all. Alcohol in the blood passes to the fetus via the umbilical cord, and too much exposure to alcohol can seriously undermine fetal development.

Also, there is a risk that the baby will develop a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. This can result in vision or hearing problems, issues with attention, and low body weight, among other complications. Consuming too much caffeine during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage, fetal development issues, and a low birth weight.

A caffeine intake as low as — milligrams mg per day could have a negative effect on fetal development. The underlying reasons for this remain unclear. Many foods and drinks other than coffee contain caffiene. Examples include some sodas, energy drinks, chocolate, and teas.

Some cold and flu remedies also contain caffeine. A doctor, nurse, or pharmacist can provide more guidance about which medicines are safe. We give more information below. However, these are only recommendations. A doctor can can provide specific targets for each person based on their health. A person needs more of almost all the water- and fat-soluble nutrients during pregnancy. As a result, medical professionals recommend taking prenatal supplements before, during, and after a pregnancy to support health and recovery.

A well-rounded prenatal supplement contains all the necessary nutrients. These include , but are not limited to:. A person can shop for prenatal supplements here. A pregnant person should be consuming 27 mg of iron per day.

Most people can get enough from a healthy diet. However, supplements can help. According to the World Health Organization WHO , a person should consume mcg micrograms of folic acid per day up to the 12th week of pregnancy.