Prenatal Nutrition
By: Taylor Kelley
Healthy Foods For Each Food Group....
Vegetables:
- Carrots
- Sweet Potatoes
- Pumpkin
- Spinach
- Cooked Greens
- Tomatoes
Fruits:
- Cantaloupe
- Honeydew melon
- Mangoes
- Prunes
- Bananas
- Apricots
- Oranges
- Red or pink grapefruit
Dairy:
- Fat-free or low-fat yogurt
- Fat-free milk (skim milk)
- Low-fat milk (1% milk)
- Calcium-fortified soymilk (soy beverage)
Grains:
- Fortified ready-to-eat cereals
- Fortified cooked cereals
Proteins:
- Beans and peas
- Nuts and seeds (such as sunflower seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts, peanuts, and peanut butter)
- Lean beef, lamb, and pork
- Oysters, mussels, crab
- Salmon, trout, herring, sardines, and pollock
Recommended Serving Sizes
- breads: 1 slice of bread, 1/2 English muffin, 1/2 hamburger bun, 1/2 bagel, 1 tortilla
- pasta: 1/2 cup cooked
- rice and other grains: 1/2 cup cooked
- cereal: 1 ounce ready-to-eat cereal, 1/2 cup cooked
- oils: 1 tablespoon
- fatty plant foods: about 15 nuts, 1 tablespoon nut butters, about 20 medium olives, 1/3 of an avocado
- raw: 1 piece or 1 cup
- canned or cooked: 1/2 cup
- dried: 1 ounce
- juice: 6 ounces
- 3/4 cup cooked
- about 15
- poultry: 3 ounces
- fish: 3 ounces
- eggs: 1
- milk: 1 cup
- cheese: 1 ounce
- yogurt: 1 cup
- soy milk: 1 cup
- calcium fortified orange juice: 1 cup
- tofu: 3 ounces
- 3 ounces
- occasional treats
Nutritional Needs....
The maximum calorie intake for an expecting mother is between 2200 and 2900 a day. However, you should try to stay away from calories that are considered to be "empty calories", which are calories that come from sugars and excess fats. Try to make choices that include low fat items and contain low sugar.
Prenatal Vitamins & Folic Acid
The most popular of prenatal vitamins is folic acid. This is a prenatal vitamin that ensures that the fetus is getting all of the nutrients and vitamins that are required for the organs to completely develop. You can get folic acid anywhere including your local drugstore. A pregnant woman needs between 0.6 and 0.8 mg of folic acid. You should start taking the folic acid whenever you are trying to get pregnant. If you find out you are pregnant and you have not been taking folic acid you should start right away.