The British Nutrition Foundation provides a wide range of detailed nutrition information for each stage of life and is pleased to announce the launch of a new section on their website dedicated to providing detailed information about pregnancy and weaning. The new website section is packed with vital information, provides a nutrition perspective to the different stages of pregnancy and weaning, with insight and advice as well as recipe suggestions, to make good nutrition easy and fun.
Some important areas covered include:
Most of a newborn baby’s skeleton is formed during the last 3 months of pregnancy and it contains between 20-30g of calcium. In addition, baby’s teeth are actually formed while in the womb. The body naturally adapts to use calcium more efficiently during pregnancy by absorbing more from food and losing less in urine. However, if calcium intakes are insufficient, you risk losing calcium from your own bones and teeth to provide for your growing baby, so it is especially important to get enough calcium when pregnant. Extra vitamin D is needed during pregnancy and when you are breastfeeding to ensure that both you and your baby are absorbing all the calcium your bones need. Many pregnant women are not aware that they should be taking vitamin D supplements of 10 micrograms each day throughout pregnancy. These are available via the government’s Healthy Start scheme. This is particularly important considering that there are many women in the UK with low vitamin D status. A lack of vitamin D during pregnancy can affect a child’s bone health long-term and may also have long term detrimental affects for mums whose own skeleton acts as a calcium reserve during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Essential omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids found in oily fish, nuts, seeds and vegetable and seed oils (e.g. rape seed oil, sunflower seed oil) and spreads made from these help to keep the heart healthy. For unborn babies, essential fatty acids perform an additional role, forming a major component of membranes in brain cells, the coating of nerve cells and of the retina of the eye, thus laying the building blocks for your baby’s nervous system and eyes to develop. Nature has a clever way of taking essential nutrients from the stores in a mother’s body to ensure that the baby’s growth isn’t impaired. But, in order to maintain these stores, mums need to make sure they are getting enough from their diet. In particular, a lack of omega 3 fatty acids (found in oily fish such as salmon, sardines and mackerel) has been associated with giving birth early and having a baby with a low birth weight.
An exercise regime, tailored for the stage of pregnancy, can be really beneficial for mum. It can help to keep the heart pumping and lungs healthy, prevent excess weight gain, reduce muscle pain and cramps, reduce swelling in the legs and feet; can help to keep mood swings in check; reduce risk of high blood pressure and gestational diabetes and may even help mums to have a shorter and easier labour! This, in turn, can benefit the unborn baby by reducing the risk of complications during birth.
