How To Maintain A Healthy Weight Gain During Pregnancy?

The Fit Pregnancy Diet

Pregnancy phase is not that easy! Pregnancy nutrition is essential to keep healthy yourself while nurturing a healthy baby. Weight gain during pregnancy is common and weight gain during pregnancy is important to promote the growth and development of your baby and other factors including placenta, amniotic fluid, uterus, blood supply etc. Making healthy food choices and adopting a balanced diet during pregnancy is a must as it is the baby’s main source of nourishment

In this article, we would guide you on how to fuel yourself and your growing baby with a tasty blend of nutritious foods that can help you to attain a healthy weight gain, and pave the way for an easier and safe labour.

Stick to a Balanced Diet

When it comes to your diet, plan balanced meals. A diet with balanced macronutrient and micronutrient provides the right amount of fat, protein, vitamins and minerals providing the best chance for a healthy pregnancy and your baby will develop well.

Essential Vitamin/Nutrients

When you are pregnant, the need for certain nutrients such as iron, folate, iodine etc increases in your body. While these increased nutritional needs can be met by choosing a diet that includes a varied range of healthy foods, we don’t all get what we need from our food intake alone. Diet is the most important resource for proper nutrients but we don’t get all what we need from our diet alone and so during pregnancy, gynaecologists prescribe supplements with prenatal vitamins. The supplements should be taken as recommended.

Below are some healthy eating tips to help you follow a balanced diet

Nutrients	Sources	Benefits
Protein	nuts peanut butter cottage cheese beans	Helps in the growth of baby’s tissues, organs and brain Facilitates breast and uterine tissue growth during pregnancy. Increases blood supply
Folate	dried beans and lentils eggs nuts and peanut butter dark green, leafy vegetables	Reduces the risk of neural tube defects that affect the baby’s brain and spinal cord
Iron	dark green, leafy vegetables citrus fruits enriched breads or cereals lean beef and poultry eggs	Ensure that the enough oxygen is supplied to the mother and the baby.
Calcium	milk yogurt cheese low-mercury fish and seafood Tofu dark green, leafy vegetables	Helps in building baby’s bones and regulates your body’s use of fluids
Vitamin D	(UV)radiation from the sun is the best natural source of vitamin D Eggs, oily fish, margarine and milks enriched with vitamin D.	Boosts bone health and is essential for optimal pregnancy outcomes for mother and baby.

Foods You Should Stay Away During Pregnancy

It is important to understand what you should eat and what you should avoid during pregnancy. There are certain foods that should be avoided or at least minimise the intake during pregnancy as they contain certain chemicals that are harmful for both the mother and baby.

Here are a few foods that should be avoided

Foods and drinks with added sugar or artificial sweeteners as they are are high in calories and leads to unhealthy weight gain and gestational diabetes.

Fish containing high levels of mercury can be harmful to the developing foetus.

Avoid too much junk foods and go low on fats.

Undercooked food such as meat or eggs may lead to Listeria infection during pregnancy.

Limit caffeine intake and avoid alcohol as it may lead to misscarriage, still birth etc.

Exercise and Fitness

If you are medically able, being active and exercising benefits your physical fitness during pregnancy. Try to move your body a little everyday by doing simple exercise like walking, jogging, doing yoga, low impact dancing, aerobics etc. The benefits of exercising during pregnancy reduces discomfort including backache, constipation, improves sleep, boosts baby’s brain function, reduces the risk of gestational diabetes, balances mood and helps to maintain a healthy weight.

However, consult with our gynaecologists for exercise recommendations considering the health of mother and baby.

Why is healthy weight gain important for pregnant women?

Weight gain is much needed for a healthy pregnancy, but gaining a lot more weight than recommended may lead to delivery complications.

Gestational diabetes is one such condition where a woman without a previous history of diabetes develops high blood sugar. This may increase the risk of pre-eclampsia, depression and medical interventions at birth.

Obesity may also lead to complications such as blood clotting and preeclampsia

Mental health is equally important to physical health during pregnancy as pregnant women are prone to anxiety, depression, mood swings, panic attacks etc. Seek essential medical help if you find it difficult to cope up with your mental health