Nutrition for Vegetarian Mothers to Beby Pattie Hughes | More from this Blogger 16 Feb 2009 07:00 PM Vegetarian women often hear gasps when people learn they are pregnant and intend to continue a vegetarian diet. Many women hear warnings about malnutrition for both mother and baby. Sometimes the warnings even come from nurses, doctors and other medical professionals. It is possible to have a healthy pregnancy, healthy baby and maintain a vegetarian diet. While it does take more effort to ensure a balanced diet for a vegetarian, it is far from impossible. An important key is to include a large variety of food sources to help provide a wide range of nutrients and vitamins. You will need to monitor your diet to be sure you are getting enough protein, calcium, fats, iron, zinc and other nutrients. Pay particular attention to nutrients often found in meat, such as protein and iron. Your doctor or midwife can be a valuable resource for dietary information or can refer you to a nutritionist, if there are any concerns about your diet. Getting enough calories is another consideration, although this is generally less of an issue for vegetarian mothers who include eggs, cheese and other dairy products in their diets than for vegan mothers. In either case, it is important to get enough calories to maintain a healthy weight gain. The recommended weight gain varies, depending on a variety of factors, such as your weight before pregnancy and the trimester of your pregnancy. Here is a fun online calculator that tells how many extra calories you need in each trimester of pregnancy. Your doctor and nutritionist will likely advise you to take a prenatal vitamin. This helps to cover the bases, but needs to be accompanied by a healthy and well balanced diet. Ask your doctor or midwife about additional supplements that may be recommended, based on your individual diet. Related Articles: The Importance of Calcium for Your Pregnancy Learn more about Pattie Hughes  Pattie Hughes is a freelance writer and mother of four young children. She and her husband have been married since 1992. Pattie holds a degree in Elementary Education from Florida Atlantic University. Relevantpregnancy tags User Comments Bounty2009 (90) 25 Feb 2009 07:03 AMThanks for the advice, it is so hard to be a vegetarian throughout pregnancy, whilst ensuring you are eating healthily for the both of you - i'm 32 weeks now and its not been easy. I found a great article here with lots of information here about healthy eating and nutrition in pregnancy http://www.bounty.com/Articles/Prima/Your%20safe%20and%20healthy%20eating%20plan.aspx Its got dos and donts for eating when pregnant so I really hope people will find it is helpful as i did! xxx Discuss this article
|
Pregnancy categories |
