‘You are what you eat’ – or so that old adage says; and there is a lot of truth in many of the old phrases and this one is particularly true! Nutrition during pre-conception can really help contribute towards a healthy baby and ideally needs to be paid attention to for the three months prior to conception – a developing baby leaches all the nutrients from its mother’s stores, not from what she is eating during the first trimester. Life-style changes may also need to be made to help achieve a positive pregnancy test!
Nutrition is not based on a daily intake of food, but over a period of time – more like one to two weeks, so everything I have written is just a guide and it won’t matter too much if your diet balances out over a few days, rather than eating everything on a daily basis. If you try to apply the following guidelines during pre-conception, they will not only help to get your body into an excellent state of ‘haemostasis’ (good health) but may help reduce pregnancy related complications.
With a good, well-planned diet you can meet all your nutritional needs; most women however don’t have the time or energy to commitment to this. A good all-round supplement, designed for pregnancy can help ensure you are meeting your vitamin and mineral requirements.
‘Pregnacare’ is the leading brand of supplement and has been specifically designed to support mothers during pre-conception, pregnancy and breastfeeding and contains the recommended amounts of folic-acid which evidence shows reduces the incidence of spina-bifida.
‘Healthy swimmers(!)’ increase the likelihood of conception, and many men have a diet which is low in ZINC, an essential mineral that aids the development of healthy sperm. It may be worth men considering a Zinc supplement, or it can be found in:
This is the one area that changes from year-to-year on DoH guidelines! The current thinking is that the occasional unit during pregnancy is safe and that occasional unit when breastfeeding will not affect breast-milk considerably.
Alcohol however, can significantly reduce fertility in both men and women; it slows sperms mobility down, increases blood-pressure and can have an overall affect on a woman’s basic fertility level. Reduce alcohol intake to just a couple of units a week – everything in moderation!
Smoking can again affect fertility in both men and women, and increases the risk of problems with placental implantation – the placenta being the most important organ to support a healthy pregnancy.
Begin by reducing your daily cigarette in-take in half and wean yourself off them if you can. You know the health risks of smoking – and these apply to growing babies too! Seek additional support if you need help giving up; some people find hypnotherapy helpful, the government runs a smoking cessation scheme and your GP can direct you to further local support schemes.
If you don’t already exercise and lead a sedentary life-style, now is a good time to change that! There is no need to take up long-distance running, but some gentle exercise such as yoga, swimming or long walks will improve your overall fitness which can lead to an easier, healthy conception and pregnancy.
The current recommendation for eating 5 portions of fruit and veg a day is an interesting one; if you do a little research and dig a little deeper you will find that this figure was in fact made up as part of a marketing campaign. Try to increase your daily intake to a level that you can work with.
A daily portion of green leafy vegetables (chard, kale, spinach etc) will actually provide many of the essential minerals and vitamins that we require. When choosing fruit and veg go for bright coloured varieties such as peppers, oranges (citrus is essential), tomatoes etc as these are high in vitamins and anti-oxidants.
When cooking, add garlic and onions to your food as these naturally boost your immune system.
(NB: The ‘Healthy Start’ scheme enables pregnant women entitled to benefits to exchange their milk-tokens for fruit and veg. Ask your midwife for further information.)
Protein is needed to build cells and muscle so is essential in a good diet. You should aim to include a portion of protein at every meal and as a snack: protein fills you up for longer than carbohydrates do, so you are less likely to overeat and gain too much excess weight in pregnancy. Protein also reduces swelling and oedema, as it removes excess fluid from the cells and may help to reduce pregnancy complications such as high blood pressure. Vegetarians should pay particular attention to ensuring they eat enough ‘complete proteins’.
Protein sources:
There is much confusion around nuts in pregnancy: if you have no family history of eczema, asthma or general allergies and you are not allergic to nuts, then nuts are generally considered safe to eat in pregnancy (although it is suggested to avoid peanuts), however cashew nuts, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts etc provide an excellent source of protein and are a good alternative to crisps for a handy snack, providing good, sustained energy.
The western diet as a whole generally contains too much carbohydrate, and in particular too much refined/processed carbohydrates. We do not need the volume of carbohydrates that we currently eat, and we can gain this ‘fuel food’ from good, ‘whole’ sources (see below). Processed and refined carbohydrates (white bread, pasta, sugary cakes and biscuits and most breakfast cereals) offer no or little nutritional value, but instead cause a huge energy-slump after the sugar rush, leaving you feeling tired and lethargic and importantly they also increase the risk of gestational diabetes – a complication of pregnancy that is on the increase. Choosing the whole grain option will naturally increase fibre in your diet helping to alleviate constipation, and will increase natural energy levels in the early postnatal period.
Whole grain sources:
Salt is actually an essential part of our diet that our body needs to work efficiently. Salt is added to many foods which is why guidelines suggest that we reduce our dietary intake. However, if you are eating an excellent diet of nutritious whole food that excludes processed/packaged food then you will need to add salt to taste to your food (and a proper salt such as Maldon sea salt – not your free running table salt). You do need to be completely honest with yourself here though, and do not add salt if your diet does consists of lots of pre-packaged (sauces, crisps, frozen meals etc) foods.
During early pregnancy, iron levels can really suffer. Iron is essential and iron-deficient anaemia can leave a pregnant woman feeling exhausted and very low iron levels can be a worry during the birth. Taking a good iron supplement such as Floradix (really magic stuff full of vitamins and minerals too) or Spatone will keep your iron in tip-top condition.
Iron Sources:
In the past women were forced to consume vast amounts of milk to ensure they met their calcium requirements! Calcium is of course essential for the formation of bones and teeth and stores are used rapidly during the early weeks of pregnancy as the developing fetus does all of its bone formation. Luckily, some sources of calcium are also high in protein so you can easily increase your calcium intake whilst increasing your protein too!
Calcium sources:
This group of vitamins are essential for a healthy nervous system, helps metabolise carbohydrates, fats and proteins and also maintains healthy nails, hair and skin, and can reduce leg cramp and nausea associated with pregnancy.
B-Vitamin sources
Omega-3 essential fatty acid is essential for your baby's developing eyes and brain; supplements made from the liver of the fish, such as cod liver oil, contain the retinol form of vitamin A and need to be avoided altogether during conception and pregnancy. However, fish oils not derived from fish livers contain lots of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), and is an excellent source.
If you eat a varied range of foods, including some oily fish, you may not need to supplement your diet, as you'll be getting plenty of DHA, along with other nutrients which you wouldn't get from taking supplements alone. Aim to eat no more than two portions of oily fish a week (as there is evidence that there may be high levels of pollution in some fish) and avoid shark, swordfish and marlin.
Sources of DHA
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