Diet and health in pregnancy

During your pregnancy a GP or midwife may advise you to take certain supplements. These vitamins are intended to supplement, not replace a healthy diet. Vitamins and minerals can be found in their natural state in everyday foods and these foods should be part of your daily diet, alongside the recommended supplements.

Morning sickness
Not everyone experiences morning sickness during pregnancy but if you do tend to, then you may find the following tips helpful:

Relief from morning sickness

• Nausea is often made worse by an empty stomach so don't avoid eating if you feel nauseous
• The tastes and smells of some foods can set off feelings of sickness. Sticking to bland, non-greasy foods such as baked potatoes, pasta and milk puddings may help
• Eat small, frequent meals, high in carbohydrates and low in fat
• Keep a light snack, such as a cracker by your bed and eat it before getting up in the morning or if you wake in the night. This helps prevent sickness
• Remedies containing ginger may be helpful. Try taking root ginger or ginger capsules, ginger tea, or ginger ale
• Drink plenty of fluids, but avoid caffeine and alcohol to prevent dehydration

Food Cravings
You may experience food cravings during your pregnancy, which may result in you craving the most unusual combination of foods. Whilst it's ok to have a little of what you fancy, you should be careful not to over-indulge in high fat, high sugar and high salt foods that lack essential nutrients - no matter how tempting large servings of these foods may be! Some healthy, nutritious snacks include:

• low-fat yoghurts and fromage frais
• hummus with wholemeal bread or vegetable sticks
• fruit including fresh, tinned in juice or dried fruit such as raisins or apricots
• unsweetened breakfast cereals or porridge

Pregnancy and weight
Different women gain different amounts of weight, but according to experts it's best to try not to put on more than 10-12.5kg (22-28lb) over the whole of your pregnancy. Too much weight gain can affect your health and increase your blood pressure, but equally it's important that you don't diet. It's best to gain weight slowly and steadily during your pregnancy.

A GP or midwife may have special advice for women who weigh more than 100kg or less than 50kg.

Myth: Diet during your pregnancy so that you don't have trouble getting back to your pre-pregnancy weight
It's important that you stick to a healthy, balanced diet throughout your pregnancy and do not attempt to diet or cut out any food groups. This could make you ill or harm your developing baby.