During the period of intrauterine development, the baby’s body completely depends on the lifestyle of the expectant mother. If a woman does not experience nervous overload, gets full rest, and eats right, then the child feels protected. Particularly conscious young ladies switch to a proper diet even when planning a pregnancy. However, in most cases, questions about nutrition during the perinatal period arise after an event has occurred. Advice from gynecologists, nutritionists, and pediatricians will help you develop a personal menu.
Nutrition during pregnancy raises many questions. Firstly, the older generation advises “eating for two”, and women are afraid of gaining extra pounds. Secondly, hormonal changes in the body dictate new gastronomic preferences. Fearing harm to the child, the expectant mother is lost between “would I like to” and “can I?” Thirdly, the pseudo-medical advice on nutrition that is poured in abundance on women from social networks is confusing. How to choose healthy foods, safe cooking methods, and create a diet during pregnancy? Read our article.
Recommendation 1: stop taking medications
The most important rule for women in the first trimester of pregnancy is to avoid taking medications. The medications you took before pregnancy cannot be used in the first trimester of gestation.
In the early stages of pregnancy, the formation of fetal organs occurs, and any drug can negatively affect this process. Therefore, before you swallow a tablet, powder or syrup, think carefully and be sure to consult with your obstetrician-gynecologist. If you have any chronic disease that requires medication, you should also consult a specialist.
Breastfeeding for diabetes
Gestational diabetes is not an obstacle to breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is an indispensable way to achieve normal body weight and prevent the development of diabetes in the future for women who have had gestational diabetes. The longer breastfeeding continues, the lower the risk of developing diabetes.
Children born to mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus during pregnancy should be observed by appropriate specialists (endocrinologist, therapist, nutritionist, if necessary) to prevent the development of obesity and/or carbohydrate metabolism disorders (impaired glucose tolerance).
Given the high risk of developing gestational diabetes in the future, mandatory planning for subsequent pregnancies is necessary.
Recommendation 2: Avoid strenuous physical activity
Is it possible to play sports in the first trimester? Not only is it possible, but it is necessary! Exercising during pregnancy is the key to excellent mood, good physical shape, normal weight, absence of constipation and swelling. In addition, sports allows you to prepare your body for the upcoming birth.
If before pregnancy you did Pilates, yoga, or swimming, then in the first trimester of gestation you don’t have to give up your favorite activities. But it’s not worth learning new sports. Unusual exercises and loads for the body can negatively affect the course of pregnancy.
Heavy physical activity is prohibited in both early and late stages of pregnancy. For example, you cannot jump into water from a tower, ride horses, or go rock climbing. If you were previously into running, then during pregnancy it is better to replace running with brisk walking.
Nutrition for pregnant women
Rational nutrition is one of the main conditions for a favorable course and outcome of pregnancy and normal fetal development.
A pregnant woman's diet should be complete, that is, it should contain a sufficient amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and microelements. To replenish vitamin deficiency, berries, vegetables and fruits with pulp are very useful. You should not get carried away with citrus fruits, as they can provoke allergies in the mother and unborn child.
It is useful to eat black bread, bread with bran, etc. Cereals: buckwheat, rice, oatmeal, containing a lot of fiber, promote efficient intestinal function and prevent constipation, being the basis of proper nutrition for pregnant women.
Very often, during pregnancy, the mother experiences varying degrees of iron deficiency. Many even develop physiological anemia, which goes away after childbirth, but not all. To prevent anemia, it is useful to eat beef or veal liver, red meat, and bone marrow. Green apples are also useful, as in addition to iron they also contain vitamin C, in combination with which iron is absorbed much better.
Proper nutrition for pregnant women implies adequate compensation for the deficiency of proteins and other substances through high-quality food with an optimal ratio of the main components, frequent, divided meals, and the use of special vitamin complexes.
Body weight gain during pregnancy for women with normal weight should be 11.5 kg, for women with underweight 12.5 kg, for overweight women 10.5 kg.
Diet of a pregnant woman.
- hearty breakfast
- light second breakfast,
- hearty lunch
- less filling dinner
- 2 hours before bedtime, a glass of yogurt or kefir.
During the day, a pregnant woman needs to properly distribute the meals and products she eats. Meat, fish, eggs should be eaten in the first half of the day for breakfast and lunch, and dairy and vegetable products in the afternoon for afternoon snack and dinner.
Sample weekly menu for women in the second half of pregnancy
Monday:
First breakfast:
goulash with mashed potatoes, apple juice.
Second breakfast:
milk.
Lunch:
pea soup with minced meat, boiled fish with vegetable stew, compote.
Afternoon snack:
fruits or berries.
Dinner:
cottage cheese soufflé, cranberry mousse.
21h:
kefir.
Tuesday:
First breakfast:
curd soufflé, boiled egg, vinaigrette, rosehip infusion.
Second breakfast:
milk, bun.
Lunch:
borscht with minced meat and sour cream, boiled chicken with vermicelli, cranberry mousse.
Afternoon snack:
a glass of rosehip infusion, a bun.
Dinner:
low-fat cottage cheese.
21 hours:
kefir.
Wednesday:
First breakfast:
boiled fish with mashed potatoes, low-fat cottage cheese, milk.
Second breakfast:
protein omelet with sour cream, fruit juice.
Lunch:
pureed vegetable soup with sour cream, boiled tongue with oatmeal, fruits, berries.
Afternoon snack:
rosehip infusion, bun.
Dinner:
low-fat cottage cheese.
21 hours:
kefir.
Thursday:
First breakfast:
boiled fish with vegetable stew, low-fat cottage cheese, coffee with milk.
Second breakfast:
milk, bun.
Lunch:
rice soup with minced meat, boiled chicken with mashed potatoes, fruit.
Afternoon snack:
low-fat cottage cheese, cranberry mousse.
Dinner:
protein omelet with sour cream, tea.
21 hours:
kefir.
Friday:
First breakfast:
omelet with sour cream, fresh cabbage salad, coffee with milk.
Second breakfast:
milk, bun, low-fat cottage cheese.
Lunch:
potato fish soup, sausages with buckwheat porridge and salad, fruit jelly.
Afternoon snack:
fruits or berries, cookies.
Dinner:
low-fat cottage cheese, rosehip infusion.
21 hours:
kefir.
Saturday:
First breakfast:
boiled fish with mashed potatoes, milk.
Second breakfast:
herring with onions, vinaigrette, cranberry mousse.
Lunch:
pea soup with minced meat, boiled beef with carrot puree, compote.
Afternoon snack:
cookies, rosehip infusion.
Dinner:
protein omelet with sour cream, tea.
21 hours:
kefir.
Sunday:
Lunch:
wheat milk porridge.
Lunch:
fish soup, goulash with buckwheat porridge and salad, compote.
Afternoon snack:
cookies, cranberry mousse.
Dinner:
low-fat cottage cheese, tea.
21 hours:
kefir.
Remember!
- Sit down at the table, rested and in a good mood. It is necessary to chew food slowly and thoroughly.
- Prefer to eat fresh natural products that have undergone gentle culinary processing (boil and stew). Vitamins and microelements are preserved as much as possible in boiled and stewed food.
- Avoid foods that are too hot or too cold. The optimal food temperature is -37 degrees.
- Choose vegetables and fruits over high-calorie snacks. Limit your intake of sweets and salt.
- Avoid eating pickled, fried, smoked foods, rich desserts, strong meat broths, and products containing artificial preservatives, colors and flavors.
- Eliminate alcoholic drinks and carbonated drinks from your diet.
- Tea and coffee are drinks that are not recommended to drink during pregnancy. If a pregnant woman really wants tea or coffee, then you can drink either decaffeinated coffee or mild herbal and fruit teas.
Diet for edema and pathological weight gain.
Preeclampsia
is a late toxicosis of pregnant women, leading to serious consequences for the mother and child. Preeclampsia is manifested by a classic triad of symptoms: edema, proteinuria (protein in the urine), increased blood pressure.
Factors for the development of gestosis:
- Age (under 18 and over 30 years old);
- Pregnancy with more than one fetus;
- Heredity (women whose mothers suffered from gestosis);
- First pregnancy;
- Preeclampsia in previous pregnancies;
- The presence of extragenital pathology (obesity, arterial hypertension, renal and hepatic pathology, etc.).
Preeclampsia usually occurs after 34 weeks of pregnancy. If late toxicosis appears earlier than this period, starting from 20 weeks, it is more severe.
To prevent gestosis, the following measures are taken:
- organization of daily routine and proper nutrition;
- regular but moderate physical activity;
- frequent exposure to the open air;
- limiting salt intake;
- observation by an obstetrician-gynecologist throughout pregnancy;
- treatment, correction of chronic pathologies;
- rejection of bad habits.
When treating gestosis, measures are taken to normalize the activity of the nervous system, blood composition and circulation, improve metabolic processes, treat the walls of blood vessels, normalize blood pressure and water-salt balance.
It should be noted that it is impossible to relieve swelling with diuretics. This is due to the fact that essential mineral elements are removed along with urine.
For treatment to be effective, it is necessary to adhere to a regimen of rest, physical activity and nutrition.
Nutrition during gestosis plays a special role. The diet should be balanced with the obligatory presence of eggs, meat, and dairy products. You should not limit your water consumption, because... with its deficiency, the blood may be more viscous and thick. For normal water metabolism, you need to drink about 1.5 liters of fluid per day.
In the diet for gestosis, you should not greatly limit the consumption of salt, because this can also affect water-salt metabolism. You can consume approximately 5-8 grams of salt in foods during the day.
If there are certain indications, in the second trimester of pregnancy the doctor may advise the woman to have fasting days once a week.
Examples of fasting days during pregnancy.
Fruit day.
During the current day, you can eat about 1.5-2 kg of apples, as a salad or baked in the oven. You can add a couple of drops of olive oil and lemon juice to the apple salad. When baking, apples can be sprinkled with cinnamon.
Apples can be replaced with watermelon or any other fruit, depending on your taste preferences. Grapes, bananas and peaches are not suitable for these purposes.
Vegetable day.
During the day, you need to consume 1.5 kg of vegetables such as pumpkin or zucchini, dividing the entire amount of food into 5 equal meals. These vegetables enhance intestinal motility and help remove excess fluid from the body.
Protein day.
During the day, you need to consume 500 grams of lean meat (veal, chicken) or fish, boiled before use, without adding salt. Divide food into 5 meals. It is acceptable to consume 1 liter of low-fat kefir on this day.
Fermented milk day.
During the whole day, it is permissible to consume any fermented milk drink (kefir, fermented baked milk) in an amount of no more than 1.5 liters, as well as 600 grams of low-fat cottage cheese. Food must be divided into 6 meals.
Buckwheat day.
Boil 1 cup of buckwheat without adding salt and eat throughout the day with milk or kefir, up to 1.5 liters.
A fasting day during pregnancy gives good results, provided that all the rules for its implementation are followed.
But the same results can be achieved if you simply remove useless carbohydrates from your diet - baked goods and sweets, large quantities of pasta, carbonated drinks, sugar.
Obstetrician-gynecologist at antenatal clinic No. 14 Blinova A.F.
Tags: pregnancy
Recommendation 3: Avoid long flights
Perhaps in the first trimester of pregnancy you will want to go on vacation to distant countries. For example, to Cuba, Sri Lanka, Tanzania. Vacations in exotic countries are of course good, but your health and the safety of your unborn baby should come first!
During a flight, there is a very large pressure drop, and how your body will bear this load is anyone’s guess. It is likely that everything will go fine, but some problems are possible:
- exacerbation of toxicosis;
- frequent urge to urinate;
- increased fatigue;
- problems with the digestive system;
- dizziness.
In addition, during a long flight you will be constantly sitting. And prolonged sitting can lead to lymphostasis - swelling of the soft tissues. In this regard, it is quite reasonable to replace long flights with shorter travel routes.
Before your flight, be sure to go to an appointment with an obstetrician-gynecologist, who will assess your condition and accurately answer the question: can you fly or not. If you have certain health problems, flying is contraindicated for pregnant women. For example, air travel is prohibited if you have severe anemia.
When going on holiday abroad, do not forget that in many countries in Europe and Asia there is a risk of contracting measles and rubella. And if you did not have measles or rubella as a child or did not complete the full course of vaccination against them, then if you become infected, you will face serious troubles. For example, infection with rubella in the first trimester increases the risk of miscarriage by 4 times.
Coffee recipes for expectant mothers
There are many interesting ways to make coffee, and you don’t even need to go to a cafe, you can do everything in your kitchen.
Cappuccino
To prepare the most popular coffee treat you will need 1 tsp. natural ground coffee, 100 ml of milk, 50–70 ml of water, sugar and Turk.
- The milk must be heated strongly, but not allowed to boil, beat with an immersion blender or French press until a strong foam appears.
- Brew coffee in a Turk: heat the mixture of coffee and water until the foam rises, but do not boil.
- Pour the drink into a mug. Add sugar to taste.
- Pour the frothed milk into the glass. You need to pour exactly into the middle, then the liquid milk will be in the center and the foam will be at the top.
Cappuccino was invented by Italians
New Orleans style coffee - with chicory
You will need: 200 ml of water, 1/2 tsp. freshly ground coffee, 1/2 tsp. ground chicory, 30 ml milk. Preparation:
- Mix coffee and chicory in a pot, cover with cold water, and place over low heat.
- As soon as a head of foam appears, remove the drink from the heat, let stand for 1 minute, add preheated milk.
Coffee according to this recipe can be brewed in a Turk or prepared by pouring, that is, gradually pouring boiling water over it in a paper filter
Minimum caffeine, maximum milk - latte
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon ground coffee, 50 ml water, 150 ml milk, sugar.
- Heat the milk to 70 degrees (do not boil!), add sugar, beat with an immersion blender or French press and pour into a tall glass.
- Brew coffee in a cup, leave for 2 minutes.
- Carefully pour the coffee into the milk down the side of the glass, so that the layers do not mix.
- It is better to add sugar directly to the milk when whipping.
- You can put milk foam on the top layer and sprinkle it with cinnamon. Coffee is ready!
Video: making latte without a coffee machine
Recommendation 4: exclude spicy, salty, raw foods from your diet
The importance of proper nutrition in early gestation cannot be overemphasized. The growth and development of your unborn baby largely depends on how you eat. And there are a number of foods that pregnant women should avoid. These include:
- Spicy, salty, smoked foods that put a lot of stress on the liver and kidneys. During pregnancy, these organs already have a hard time. The liver experiences double load due to hormonal changes. In the kidneys in the first trimester, blood flow increases and glomerular filtration increases. Therefore, you should not additionally burden the liver and kidneys with poor nutrition.
- Blue cheese, raw eggs, meat; fish. These products may contain pathogenic bacteria. For the same reason, you should not consume raw milk. Even if you buy milk from a trusted store, it is better to boil it before use.
- Carbonated drinks, which negatively affect the functioning of the intestines, kidneys, and gallbladder, cause bloating and stool upset.
- Coffee. The allowed limit is one cup of coffee per day. Drinking more coffee can increase the muscle tone of the uterus and cause miscarriage.
- Alcohol. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy leads to oxygen starvation of the fetus, delaying its growth and development. Just 3-4 small doses of alcohol can cause alcohol syndrome in the fetus, leading to serious mental and physical abnormalities.
Third trimester - diet correction
From the 27th week of pregnancy, the female body begins to prepare for childbirth, and the baby begins to be born. At this time, gastronomic fads give way to heartburn, constipation, shortness of breath, swelling, and rapid weight gain.
A properly composed menu will help you adjust your well-being in the 3rd trimester. What should be done:
• Reduce the amount of protein foods. A protein surplus leads to kidney dysfunction and the accumulation of uric acid. • Avoid heartburn triggers - sour foods, black coffee, fried foods. • Replace 50% of animal fats with vegetable oils. They contain essential polyunsaturated acids Omega-3 and Omega-6, which are not synthesized by the body, but are needed for the absorption of minerals and vitamins. • Limit salty foods. Salt is the cause of edema, unstable functioning of the kidneys, heart, and blood vessels. • Set a limit on sweets. Simple carbohydrates quickly turn into extra pounds, causing flatulence, dyspepsia, and skin problems. • Eat more vegetables, fruits, berries, greens. Natural sources of vitamins provide energy and strengthen the immune system - this will come in handy during childbirth. Standards for KBJU: calories - 2900-3100, proteins - 100 g, fats - 75 g, carbohydrates - 400 g.
Recommendation 5: Do not wear tight clothes and shoes
In the first trimester of pregnancy, a woman's silhouette changes slightly. Because of this, many pregnant women continue to wear tight-fitting clothes to highlight their figure. However, even in the early stages of pregnancy, it is better to choose loose clothing that does not compress soft tissues, the abdominal area, and mammary glands. Wearing tight clothes can impair blood circulation, lead to lymph stagnation, cause fatigue, and increase the unpleasant symptoms of toxicosis.
What kind of shoes should pregnant women wear? Choose comfortable shoes with solid soles. During pregnancy, the center of gravity gradually changes, and when wearing shoes with heels, the load on the lumbosacral region increases.
If we talk about the cold season, it is better to replace shoes and boots that are very tight on the calf muscles or feet with looser shoes. As with clothing, this will help avoid poor circulation and lymph stagnation.
What should you not eat or drink?
There is no place for harmful foods in a properly composed diet for a pregnant woman. Throughout the perinatal period, the following are blacklisted:
• fast food; • flavored snacks; • hot sauces; • smoked meats; • products containing many preservatives; • alcohol.
The expectant mother is advised to limit the consumption of sausages, confectionery products, and sweet pastries. You also need to be careful with citrus fruits, strawberries, mushrooms, and coffee. It is advisable to exclude packaged juices, bottled tea, sweet cocktails, and soda from the grocery basket.
Dieting is difficult, but necessary. This will help minimize the harmful effects on the fetus, maintain pregnancy, improve well-being, avoid weight gain, and the development of gestational complications - preeclampsia, pyelonephritis, diabetes.
Recommendation 6: avoid hypothermia and overheating of the body
If before pregnancy you liked to take a steam bath or, conversely, plunge into an ice hole, then during pregnancy you need to reconsider your habits. Overheating and hypothermia are dangerous for the fetus, especially in the first trimester of gestation.
Hypothermia impairs blood circulation, which can cause fetal hypoxia. Also, do not forget that during pregnancy, immunity decreases, which means the risk of colds increases.
Overheating of the body in the early stages of pregnancy negatively affects the formation of the fetus and increases the risk of miscarriage. Therefore, in the first trimester of gestation it is better to avoid baths and saunas. In the second and third trimester, if there are no contraindications, you can visit the sauna and bathhouse.
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Recommendation 7: Do not use hair and nail dyes with toxic substances
Of course, even during the period of bearing a child, every woman wants to remain beautiful. Therefore, pregnant women often have a question: is it possible to dye your hair and get a manicure during pregnancy?
You can dye your hair during pregnancy, but you need to choose gentle organic dyes made from natural ingredients. Inorganic paints contain ammonia and other harmful substances that can cause allergies in a pregnant woman and increase symptoms of toxicosis.
The situation with manicure is more complicated. A manicure always begins with removing old nail polish. Remove varnish with acetone and other substances that have a very strong odor. This can cause an allergic reaction in you, even if you were not allergic to acetone before pregnancy. The thing is that during pregnancy, immunity decreases, which means the likelihood of allergic reactions increases. If you still decide to go to the salon for a manicure, then ask the master for a mask that will protect the respiratory tract from harmful substances.
For manicure, you should also choose gentle varnishes that do not contain toxic substances - phosphoric acids, acetone alcohols, formaldehyde.
The effect of coffee on the cardiovascular system
Caffeine causes blood vessels to constrict, which increases blood pressure. Accordingly, coffee is contraindicated for pregnant women with high blood pressure.
If the pressure is low, the woman feels lethargic, drowsy, dizzy, and sometimes it can lead to problems with coordination of movements and loss of consciousness. In such cases, coffee seems to bring relief: it helps to cheer up and concentrate.
But is it safe? After all, caffeine causes vasoconstriction in hypotensive patients. This includes the narrowing of the blood vessels of the placenta, which supply the fetus with oxygen. Hypoxia (oxygen starvation) is very harmful for a child.
Recommendation 8: Accept your pregnancy and your new role as “I am a mother”
In the first trimester of pregnancy, hormonal changes occur in the female body, which affects the functioning of the nervous system. In this regard, a pregnant woman may experience conditions and emotions such as tearfulness, anxiety, and excessive sensitivity. And some pregnant women even feel guilty before others for their whims over trifles, frequent emotional breakdowns.
Feelings of guilt are a negative attitude that must be gotten rid of. After all, such an emotion will cause you psychological discomfort.
Irritability in the early stages of pregnancy is nothing more than an attempt by the female psyche to fully realize and accept the fact of motherhood. And the sooner you accept your pregnancy and your new role as a mother, the sooner your calmness, good mood will return, and you will stop feeling guilty before others.
Why do you want 3-in-1 coffee during pregnancy?
There is almost no caffeine in the drink, but at the same time it has a rather concentrated aroma, which can somewhat deceive the brain. It seems that you are drinking coffee, but in fact, it does not give you energy, it is all a placebo effect. At the same time, the drink seems safer than natural coffee, because the manufacturer writes that it contains cream. And many people also like the sweet taste, as they crave sweets. But you need to understand that there is practically nothing natural in the drink, and in fact, it is completely harmful to the body.
