Nutrition and Exercise During Pregnancy

Healthy eating is vitally important during pregnancy to provide your baby with what it needs to grow and be healthy. Pregnant women need 300 extra calories per day, and these should come from healthy food choices such as:

• Fruits and vegetables

• Whole grain breads and pastas

• Non-fat or low-fat milk products

• Low-fat protein sources

It is important to eat breakfast every day, even if it is only a slice of dry whole grain toast to start the morning. Eating high-fiber foods will help prevent constipation. If heartburn becomes a problem, eat small meals more often, and avoid spicy and fatty foods. There are also some foods and beverages you should avoid during pregnancy, including the following:

• Alcoholic beverages

• Fish that may contain high levels of mercury

• Soft cheeses such as feta, brie and goat cheese

• Ready-to-eat meats unless they are cooked until steaming hot

• Raw fish

• Undercooked meat or poultry

Your dietician or doctor can give you a full list of foods to avoid as well as any vitamin supplements you should be taking. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical each day. Choose activities that are unlikely to cause injury. Drink plenty of water during exercise.

Introduction

Healthy eating and exercising are important for a healthy pregnancy. This health education program will give you tips on eating and exercising during pregnancy.

Eating Healthy

The following are 12 tips to help you eat healthy during pregnancy.

1. Eat breakfast every day. If you feel sick to your stomach when you first wake up, choose dry whole-wheat or whole-grain toast, even before you get out of bed. Eat the rest of breakfast (fruit, oatmeal, cereal, milk, yogurt, or other foods) later in the morning.

2. Eat high-fiber foods. Whole-grain cereals, vegetables, fruits, beans, whole-wheat bread, and brown rice, along with drinking plenty of water and daily physical activity can help prevent the constipation that many women have during pregnancy.

3. Keep healthy foods on hand. A bowl of apples, bananas, peaches, oranges, and grapes makes it easy to grab a healthy snack. Fresh, frozen, and canned fruits and vegetables make healthy and quick additions to meals, as do canned beans.

4. If you have heartburn during pregnancy, eat small meals more often. Also, eat slowly, avoid spicy and fatty foods (such as hot peppers or fried chicken), drink beverages between instead of with meals, and do not lie down right after eating.

5. If you have “morning sickness” (hyperemesis), talk with your health care provider. You may need to adjust the way you eat and drink, such as by eating smaller meals more frequently and drinking plenty of fluids. Your health care provider can help you deal with morning sickness while keeping your healthy eating habits on track.

6. Certain foods and beverages can harm your baby if you eat and drink them while you are pregnant. Ask your health care provider for a complete list of foods and beverages to avoid. Generally, you should not consume alcohol. Instead of wine, beer, or liquor, drink apple cider, tomato juice, sparkling water, or other nonalcoholic beverage.

7. You should not eat fish that may have high levels of mercury. Do not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish during pregnancy. Eat no more than 12 ounces of any fish per week.

8. You should not eat soft cheeses such as feta, brie, and goat cheese and ready-to- eat meats including lunch meats, hot dogs, and deli meats. These foods may contain bacteria called listeria that are harmful to unborn babies. Cooking hot dogs, lunch, and deli meats until steaming hot can kill the bacteria and make these meats safe to eat.

9. You should not eat raw fish such as sushi, sashimi, or ceviche and raw or undercooked meat and poultry. These foods can contain harmful bacteria. Cook fish, meat, and poultry thoroughly before eating.

10. You should not drink large amounts of caffeine containing beverages. If you drink lots of coffee, tea, or soda, check with your health care provider about cutting back on caffeine. Instead, try decaffeinated versions of your favorite beverages, or warm low-fat /fat-free milk, or sparkling mineral water.

11. Sometimes pregnant women crave something that is not food, such as laundry starch or clay. Talk to health care providers if you have such a craving.

Healthy food choices like fruits, vegetables, whole-grain breads and pastas, non-fat or low-fat milk products, and low-fat protein sources, such as lean red meat, poultry without the skin, and beans will help your body do a good job of keeping both you and your baby healthy. You should also take a prenatal vitamin that contains folic acid every day. Talk to your doctor to ensure all of your diet meets the nutritional needs of pregnancy.

Exercising

Almost all women can and should be physically active during pregnancy. First talk to your health care provider, particularly if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, anemia, bleeding, or other disorders, or if you are obese or underweight.

Whether or not you were active before you were pregnant, ask your doctor about a safe level of exercise for you. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, if not every, day of the week.

Moderate physical activity during pregnancy:

1. Helps you and your baby gain proper amounts of weight.

2. Reduces the discomforts of pregnancy, such as backaches, leg cramps, constipation, bloating, and swelling.

3. Lowers the risk of gestational diabetes

4. Boosts mood and energy level.

5. Improves sleep.

6. Helps with an easier, shorter labor.

7. Assists faster recovery from delivery and return to a healthy weight.

The following are the 5 steps for safe exercise during pregnancy:

1. Choose moderate activities unlikely to injure, such as walking, water aerobics, swimming, yoga, or using a stationary bike.

2. Stop exercising when you start to feel tired and never exercise until you are exhausted or overheated.

3. Drink plenty of water.

4. Wear comfortable clothing that fits well and supports and protects your breasts.

5. Stop exercising if you feel dizzy, become short of breath, feel pain in your back, experience swelling or numbness, feel sick to your stomach, or your heart beats too fast or at an uneven rate.

Here some tips to start on an exercise program.

1. Go for a walk around the block or through a shopping mall with your spouse or a friend.

2. Join a prenatal yoga, water aerobic, or fitness class, and let the instructor know you are pregnant before beginning.
3. Follow an exercise video for pregnant women.

4. At your gym, community center, sign up for a fitness session for pregnant women.
5. Standup, stretch, and move at least once an hour, if you sit most of the day, as well as during commercials when watching TV.

Things to Avoid

For you and your baby’s health and safety, it is best to avoid the following during your pregnancy:

1. Being active outside during hot weather.

2. Steam rooms, hot tubs, and saunas.

3. Certain yoga poses or other activities that call for lying flat on your back after the twentieth week of pregnancy.

4. Contact sports such as football and boxing that might injure you.

5. Sports like tennis or basketball that make you jump or change directions quickly.

6. Horseback riding, in- line skating, downhill skiing, and other activities that can result in falls.

Conclusion

Even before you become pregnant, exercising and good nutrition are important to your well being. However, as you become pregnant, you have to do some changes in your eating and exercising habits to accommodate pregnancy.

As a pregnant woman, you need more of certain vitamins, minerals, and proteins including calcium, folic acid, and iron. You need to rest and try not to over do it.

While you are pregnant, you might not be able to do everything you did before you became pregnant. If you already have a healthy diet, you might only need to make a few adjustments to ensure you are receiving everything you need during pregnancy.

Talk to your doctor to make sure you are getting everything you need for a healthy pregnancy.