Thinking About Getting Pregnant?
One important step you can take to help ensure a healthy pregnancy is to consider your weight before even getting pregnant. Obesity has major effects on placental, embryonic, and fetal growth. Obese mothers are more likely to have large for gestational age (LGA) babies than lean moms, no matter how…
Congratulations on Your Pregnancy!
My first recommendation would be to find a doctor or midwife with whom you can comfortably talk and who makes nutrition a priority. Don’t be afraid to call several offices and ask, “Dr Smith, how does your belief about nutrition affect your practice?”
What is a healthy pregnancy weight gain?
I remember talking to an elderly family member who related to me the pregnancy diet advice she received from her mother-in-law. “You are eating for two now!” Wanting to be a good mother (don’t we all?) she diligently doubled her food intake – and then had a terrible time attempting…
Can I continue to eat a vegetarian diet during pregnancy?
Yes, you can. Here are some guidelines.
A Pregnancy Menu For You and Your Baby
How do you choose a menu that will benefit you and your baby? Googling the phrase “healthy pregnancy diet” returns more than two million responses. Even reputable groups like the USDA and Harvard School of Public Health disagree. Where do you start?
Treating Nausea and Vomiting
According to researchers, over 70% of women suffer from nausea during early pregnancy. Despite the name “morning sickness,” pregnancy nausea happens throughout the day for many women. It is most common in the first trimester but 13% of women had nausea past their 20th?eek of pregnancy.
What About Seafood?
Seafood is a great, healthy choice for expecting mothers. It’s both high in protein and naturally low in saturated fat as well as being high in omega-3 fatty acids. Adequate levels of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA has been linked to increased intelligence in children. One study indicated that fish…
FDA Updates Recommendations for Fish Consumption in Pregnancy
On July 2, 2019 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated their recommendations for fish consumption for pregnant women. Here’s what’s changed – and what hasn’t.
Things to Avoid in Pregnancy
Many of these articles are about things that you?hould?at. The focus of?his?rticle is about things that you should either limit or eliminate entirely from your diet.
Pregnancy and Cholesterol
Cholesterol levels usually drop somewhere around 4 weeks post partum. Most labs recommend waiting 6 weeks post partum to test cholesterol. As you discuss your risk factors with your physician, weigh the pros and cons of waiting 4-6 weeks after delivery to be retested before making a decision about medications.
Wash Those Veggies!
Pregnancy is a time when many women (and their partners) think about pesticides on fruits and vegetables. Are they dangerous to our unborn child? Does washing the produce do any good? Should I use some type of special wash? Should I buy organic? Is it worth it?
Breastmilk, the Healthiest Diet for Babies
As a site dedicated to the best in food and nutrition, we HAD to address the issue of breastfeeding. While we respect a woman’s right to choose formula, just as we respect her right to eat spaghetti from a can, we can’t honestly recommend either as first choice nutrition. (See…
What Does that Broccoli Do for My Baby?
All of us have days when we would rather have a tall cappuccino than a spinach salad. Holding up a glass of milk and saying, “Here’s to you, baby; I’m building your bones!” can be a great motivator. This article mainly includes nutrients that are challenges to a number of…
Vitamin D Supplements in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
Browse any health website or magazine and you are likely to see something about vitamin D. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that is essential for the absorption of calcium and for bone health. It is also important for cell health, the immune system and neuromuscular function. Recent studies…
New Research Affirms Individualized Vitamin D Supplementation for Pregnant Women
While we know that Vitamin D levels which simply prevent rickets are not adequate to provide optimal health, we are continuing to explore exactly how much vitamin D supplementation is beneficial. There is controversy among scientists over this issue. Some researchers and professional groups now recommend 75 nmol/L and perhaps…
Breastfeeding: Developing a Future Gourmet
In other articles we have covered how breastmilk is excellent nutrition for your baby, but this site isn’t only about nutrition. It is about food that tastes great! Babies, like their parents, appreciate wonderful flavors. Breastmilk provides a variety of flavors that may influence baby’s palate for years to come.
What to Do About the Flu
You know that it is flu season and in addition to the seasonal flu, you need to be aware of H1N1 (“swine flu”). You may or may not know that pregnant women who get the flu are more likely to be hospitalized or have complications than non-pregnant women.
Gestational Diabetes
About halfway through your pregnancy, you are likely to have a “glucose tolerance test” to test for gestational diabetes. What is this condition and why do we test for it?
Decreasing the Risk of Gestational Diabete
Women who are obese are more likely to develop gestational diabetes (GDM) than women with normal weight. Losing weight before becoming pregnant can help decrease your risk of developing GDM.
Keeping and Storing Breastmilk
Most doctors and mothers would agree that breastmilk is the best diet for a newborn. But what if you aren’t going to be with your baby 24 hours a day? Many women choose to express (pump) milk for their babies.
Breastfeeding: A Woman’s Health Issue
Most of our readers are aware that breastfeeding is THE standard for good infant nutrition and that it has many health benefits for babies. You may or may not be aware that her breastfeeding choice may significantly impact a woman’s future health.
Eating During Labor
Many hospitals currently restrict food intake during labor. A few hospitals allow laboring women to have only ice chips, others allow clear liquids only. These policies are based on work by Dr. Mendelson in the 1940s that indicated that under general anesthesia there was a possibility of acidic stomach contents…
Probiotics and a Decreased Risk of Gestational Diabetes
You know that yogurt helps to supply your daily calcium, but can it decrease your risk of gestational diabetes? Possibly. “Probiotics”, those friendly bacteria in yogurt, miso, cottage cheese, aged cheese, kimchi, and other foods have been discussed in everything from research journals to commercials for “active” yogurt.
What is a Healthy Pregnancy Diet for Obese Women?
In previous articles we have discussed the value of reaching a healthy weight before planning a pregnancy. However, life doesn’t always go according to recommendations. If you are overweight or obese and pregnant, what does a healthy diet look like for you?
Does Iron Intake Matter?
The RDA (recommended dietary allowance) of iron for pregnant women is 27 mg daily, compared with 18 mg for non-pregnant women. During pregnancy a women not only increases her own blood supply, she also gives her baby the iron needed to support his growth before birth and gives him supplemental…
One Fish, Two Fish… Full Term Birth?
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that pregnant women eat fish up to two times per week. Fish is a great source of protein, it is a heart healthy fat for moms and may be important for baby’s brain development. Fish can be great sources of vitamin D…
Best Early Nutrition Provides Lowered Disease Risk
Those who have read this column for any length of time are already quite aware that?reastfeeding is GREAT nutrition for babies,?now that it helps protect baby from infections, know it?ecreases the mother’s risk of disease?nd are aware that?om’s nutritious, varied diet can help develop baby’s sense of taste?hen they eat…
Folic Acid and Language Development
Adequate folic acid, a B vitamin, can reduce the risk of birth defects such as spina bifida and other neural tube birth defects. The concept that women should have adequate folate pre-conception and in the first weeks of pregnancy was an early message in modern public health. This led to…
A Mediterranean Diet, Pre-Pregnancy, Helps Prevent Birth Defects
Researchers evaluated the quality of a woman’s diet using both the Mediterranean Diet Score (encouraging legumes, grains, fruit, nuts, vegetables, fish, more monounsaturated fat than saturated fat and cautioning against over use of dairy, meat, and sweets) and the Diet Quality Index (which follows the USDA’s plan of encouraging grains,…
There is No Substitute for a Healthy Diet
You have probably heard that taking folic acid supplements help reduce birth defects? Yes and No. There is very good evidence that adequate folate (the nutrient in food) and folic acid (the equivalent substance in supplements) does decrease the rate of neural tube birth defects such as spina bifida.
Honest Healthy Diets for Babies
For many years doctors told pregnant women, “Infant feeding is your choice; your baby will be fine with either breast milk or formula.” This advice was still given long after research showed the value of breast milk to infants and the health benefits of breastfeeding to the mother.
Exercise for New Moms
Resuming exercise as soon as appropriate after birth can benefit new moms. Exercise can help a woman recover from birth more quickly and make her more resilient in learning new parenting skills and dealing with night-time feedings. Exercise can help mothers return to a healthy weight in a timely manner.…
Vitamin D and Gestational Diabetes
Several new studies have indicated that low Vitamin D levels in early pregnancy are associated with a higher risk for diabetes during pregnancy. We have known for some time that Vitamin D is important for bone growth and normal nerve functioning because of its role in calcium absorption and helping…
Great News About Breastfeeding
The CDC released some great news this week.? From 2000 to 2008 the percentage of mothers who initiated breastfeeding increased over 4 percentage points.?
Peanuts and Pregnancy
Research tells us that 70% of allergies are identified at the child’s first known exposure to the food and that food allergies require previous sensitization. In the past, this led some experts to recommend that women avoid nuts during pregnancy.
Iodine supplements – should you take them?
For many years the best source of iodine for many Americans was iodized salt. The amount of iodine in salt varies but is about 142 micrograms in 1/2 tsp. However, many of our readers have stopped using table salt, use it sparingly, or may use sea salt which often is…
Prevent Gestational Diabetes with a Mediterranean-style diet
It is common for pregnant women to ask about certain nutrients such as calcium or B vitamins. At one point research focused on individual nutrients and their role in a healthy mother and baby. However, the reality is that we don’t eat “calcium” or “vitamin C,” we eat food.
Healthy Communities Breastfeed Babies
Last week the NIH released their ranking of the healthiest and unhealthiest states at America’s Health Rankings. Obesity levels do play a role in ranking, but other measures of nutrition are not specifically addressed in the ranking. Does nutrition make a difference in the health of the state? It does…
Breastfeeding FAQ
Many women express this concern, but it is extremely rare that a woman can not make enough milk for her child. Almost all of the women in my practice that were having problems with milk supply either had problems latching the baby (positioning at the breast) correctly or had been…
Pregnancy – a time to be ACTIVE!
Exercise provides many health benefits to all of us, but there are extra benefits for pregnant women. Exercise helps keep weight gain at appropriate levels. It may help prevent gestational diabetes. It decreases problems with constipation, which also helps avoid hemorrhoids. It certainly helps you feel better. Physicians debate whether…
Fried Foods and Gestational Diabetes
Need an additional reason to avoid going through the fast food drive through for French fries?
Iodine supplements – should you take them?
You may have seen on the news recently that the Council for Responsible Nutrition has recommended that all pregnant and breastfeeding women take a supplement that includes 150 micrograms of iodine daily. They further encouraged supplement manufacturers to include this amount of iodine in any supplements designed for pregnant or…
Pregnancy Weight Gain Guidelines: Do We Need New Ones?
Current recommendations for pregnancy weight gain were established by the Institute of Medicine in 1990. They recommend that
Clearing the Air
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued a recommendation to providers to support perinatal smoking cessation. We encourage our readers who are pregnant or would like to become pregnant to stop smoking. We would also like to encourage their partners and families to stop smoking as well.
National State Health Ranking, Compared with Percentage of Mothers Breastfeeding and Duration
