Eating when Pregnant. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner for Two

The moment you know that you're expecting a baby, food can become a major concern. What should you be eating and how much? Lurking at the back of your mind may be the worry you might put on too much weight, but of course, pregnancy most definitely isn't a time for slimming.

Research shows that if you restrict what you eat not only will you be depriving your growing baby of vital nutrients, preventing him from growing properly, there's also an increased risk of miscarriage and neonatal death. Studies also show that underweight women have three times more chance of having a low birthweight baby. It can be hard following this advice if you've spent most of your pre-pregnancy being careful about what you eat. But the big difference is that now you're eating not just to sustain your own life, butthat of your unborn baby, so it's vital to eat healthily to ensure your body has all the important vitamins and minerals it needs.

Every day, make sure that you eat something from the major food groups: carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice), fresh fruit and vegetables, protein-rich foods (meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, pulses) and fats.You'll need to eat at least five portions a day of fruit and vegetables and this can include fruit juices or smoothies. Protein is essential for energy and it's also a good source of iron. You'll find it in lean red meat,chicken, fish, eggs and pulses such as beans and lentils. Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines is rich in essential fatty acids, which help your baby to grow and develop properly.

Make sure you get plenty of fibre from wholegrain breads, cereals, rice, pasta and pulses (as well as fruit and veg) - it helps prevent constipation. Calcium is essential for mums-to-be and vital for your baby's teeth and bones. You can get this from dairy products: milk, cheese and yoghurt (but not butter).

Don't forget to drink plenty of fluids - eight to 12 glasses is about right -water milk, juice and soup all count, but not tea, coffee or drinks with caffeine. Be careful of your caffeine intake as it is a stimulant: it increases your heart rate, which in turn affects your developing baby. Caffeine is also a diuretic and can interfere with the absorption of certain nutrients. Research is inconsistent about the effects of drinking more than five cups of coffee a day, but most experts agree that pregnant women shouldn't drink more than 300mg of caffeine daily -four cups of coffee or six cups of tea, while many suggest women limit their intake to one or two cups of coffee daily. But remember caffeine is also in chocolate and some "energy" drinks. If you're a caffeine addict, try switching to herbal teas or fresh fruit juices.

The Department of Health advice on alcohol is to drink no more than one to two units (a unit is one glass of wine or 300m1 of beer) once or twice a week, although some experts recommend abstaining completely. Excessive alcohol - more than 10 units a day - is associated with poor mental and physical health in babies.
If you aren't eating properly, it may be worth taking a pregnancy supplement but avoid standard supplements as these may contain too much Vitamin A, which can be harmful to your baby. If you're a vegetarian, a well-balanced diet should give you all the nutrients you need, but if you're a vegan, you may need to take calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B12 supplements.

Don't forget folic acid, an essential B vitamin that helps prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida. The Department of Health recommends that women who are trying to become pregnant or who are pregnant should take a 400mg folic acid supplement daily from at least three months before conception and for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. It's also important to eat folate-rich foods - oranges, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, green beans and sprouts, milk and dairy products.

You may need to take an iron supplement, but sometimes iron tablets can cause constipation, so a liquid iron drink may be better. Ask your doctor or carer for advice.
Eat to satisfy your appetite - never go hungry or skip meals. But you don't need to eat for two - you don't actually need much more until late pregnancy, and then only an extra 1,200 kilojoules a day - the equivalent of about two to three slices of bread.

A steady weight gain in pregnancy is healthy. If you eat according to your hunger, your weight will probably increase by about 3.5kg during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy and then by about 0.5kg a week until the end. This makes a total gain of around 12.5kg. But you can gain anything from almost nothing to up to 23kg and still have a perfectly healthy baby.

A lot depends on your metabolism and how active you are. If you're underweight you'll probably put on more weight, and if you're overweight you should put on less.
If you were overweight at the start of your pregnancy, then try and put on as little weight as possible until the last three months. Putting on too much weight during pregnancy puts you at an increased risk of complications such as high blood pressure, pregnancy‑ related diabetes or pre-eclampsia.

If you're overweight, you're also unfortunately more likely to develop varicose veins and to suffer from breathlessness and heartburn. But this is not the time to go on a diet. Eating properly is vital now and even overweight mums should aim to put on around 6kg while they're expecting a baby.

If you were underweight before you became pregnant, eating properly is just as crucial to you, particularly during the first 12 weeks, when your baby's body and major organs are formed. And if you smoke, it's important to cut down on that, too, as smoking is a major contributor to low birthweight.If you have any worries about your weight, talk to your GP or carer. They can arrange for you to see a dietitian who can advise on healthy eating in pregnancy.

You'll be weighed at your first antenatal or booking-in appointment, and usually at each subsequent appointment, as it's important to keep an eye on any sudden weight changes. If you particularly notice you're putting on weight rapidly in the last three months of pregnancy, alert your carer or doctor as it may indicate acute fluid retention, a possible symptom of pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening condition unique to pregnancy.