Can Pregnant Women Diet? – Diet is generally done to maintain ideal body weight or prevent weight gain. Then can this program be done by pregnant mother? What is the danger if the mother goes on a diet while pregnant? Come see the explanation below.
Before getting pregnant you might think about your own health. What you do will only have an effect on yourself. However, it’s different after you get pregnant. When pregnant, apart from yourself, you must also pay attention to the baby you are carrying. You must now provide nutrition to two people at once, not only yourself but also the baby you are carrying. Because like that, during pregnancy you are advised to eat nutritious foods that can meet the nutritional needs of you and your little one.
However, there are still many women who feel afraid of gaining weight during pregnancy. They think it will be difficult to lose weight again after giving birth. Many mothers are wondering, can pregnant women diet?
What you do during pregnancy will certainly affect the baby you are carrying. Because like that, during pregnancy you have to be more careful about what you are going to do. We recommend that you consult your doctor first about anything you will do to keep your pregnancy and baby healthy.
Well, here is an explanation for pregnant women on a diet that you can see.
Can Pregnant Women Diet?
It’s different before pregnancy, during the period pregnancy you need more nutrition. It’s not just you who have nutrition fulfilled, because the baby you are carrying must also have nutrition fulfilled to support its growth and development. During pregnancy, you are not allowed to go on a diet to lose weight. In addition to reducing body weight, by dieting during pregnancy you will lack a variety of nutrients needed to support your pregnancy.
Diet by reducing food portions during pregnancy is not only dangerous for yourself, but also dangerous for the development of the baby you are carrying. By doing a diet during pregnancy you and your future baby will not get the intake of folic acid, vitamins, iron, and other important minerals that are certainly needed for your pregnancy.
If pregnant women consume healthy food and drinks, increasing body weight is not a problem. The weight gain you experience indicates that your pregnancy is going well. Even during pregnancy, pregnant women are advised to eat regularly even though they are not hungry yet. It is important to eat three meals a day and eat healthy, nutritious snacks or snacks. You need to remember, when you are not hungry, it does not mean that the child in the womb is not hungry either.
During pregnancy you will feel various kinds of complaints such as nausea and vomiting, dizziness, lazy eating, experiencing indigestion and so on. If so, then you can eat smaller portions, but more often. The food consumed must also be considered. Eat foods that are nutritious and make you full.
Foods that can and should not be allowed during pregnancy
Folic acid is an important nutrient for pregnant women. Folic acid is beneficial for the growth of placental cells and the baby you are carrying. Adequate folic acid can help reduce the risk of preeclampsia, heart problems, and neural tube defects, which are birth defects that occur in the brain and spinal cord.
Knowing that a weight loss diet is not recommended during pregnancy, it would be better if you eat healthy foods that are beneficial for both you and the baby you are carrying. Some of these foods are recommended during pregnancy, such as cooked salmon, eggs, sweet potatoes, nuts, whole grains, cheese, milk, spinach, colorful fruits and lean meats.
Knowing the importance of folic acid for pregnancy, it is recommended that you consume folic acid at least a month before you start a pregnancy program.
You should avoid drinks and foods such as for example dairy products, namely, cheese, yogurt and milk and fruit juices that were not previously pasteurized, undercooked or undercooked eggs and meat, processed meat, alcohol, coffee, raw fish or fish that are high in content. mercury.
You can consult a doctor if you have applied the right diet but are gaining excess weight.
If during pregnancy the pregnant woman does not get good nutrition, then baby will have the impact. If the mother does not eat well during pregnancy, it will cause the death of the fetus or newborn, impaired growth and development of the baby in the womb, the baby has neurological disorders or low birth weight.
Ideal Body Weight During Pregnancy
During pregnancy, one of the changes experienced by the mother is body weight. Increasing body weight is necessary to support the development of the baby in the womb. In every pregnant woman, weight gain is not the same, because it depends on your body mass index, and your weight before pregnancy.
Based on a study states that pregnant women who weigh more than predicted during pregnancy, will tend to give birth to babies weighing more than normal body weight. In fact, this situation will have a high potential for complications, both for the mother and the baby.
Well, based on the Institute of Medicine, the recommended normal weight gain is as follows:
- If the mother’s weight is below normal or the BMI is below 18.5, then the mother must gain about 12.7 to 18 kg.
- If the mother’s body weight is normal with a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9, then the mother should gain about 11.3 to 15.8 kg.
- If the mother’s weight is above normal body weight or with a BMI of 25-29.9, then the mother must gain weight of about 6.8 to 11.3 kg.
- Meanwhile, if the mother’s body weight is initially overweight or with a BMI above 30, then the mother must gain weight of about 5 to 9 kg.
However, if you are pregnant with twins, the following body weight is recommended:
- If the mother’s initial body weight is normal, then the mother should gain about 16.7 to 24.5 kg.
- If the mother’s initial body weight is above normal, then the weight that must be increased is around 14 to 22.6 kg.
- If the mother’s body weight is initially overweight, then the weight that must be increased is around 11.3 to 19 kg.
Diet When Pregnant
You can adopt a healthy diet during pregnancy. Healthy food intake is beneficial for the fetus and mother who is pregnant. You can try to eat frequently but eat small portions. As your pregnancy progresses, there will be less and less room for food in your stomach. Well, you can start with the following tips.
- We recommend that you choose foods that are rich in fiber such as wheat, nuts, vegetables, rice and fruits.
- You also have to make sure your daily intake contains enough vitamins and minerals for you and the baby you are carrying.
- You should consume at least 3 servings that are rich in iron, a total iron content of about 27 mg per day. You can meet the needs of this iron content in foods such as spinach, cereals and meat.
- During pregnancy you need 220 mg of iodine for fetal nerve and brain development. You can get iodine from foods such as yogurt, cheese, milk, salmon, shrimp and roasted potatoes.
- You can eat at least 1 food that is high in vitamin A, vitamin C and foods rich in folate per day
. - Eating small portions will allow you to eat foods with a wide variety of nutrients.
You do not worry about gaining weight while you are pregnant because it is important for the health of the baby you are carrying. If you are underweight during pregnancy, chances are you gave birth to a baby with a low birth weight. Even so, you also don’t gain excess weight because it will increase the risk of the baby experiencing health problems.
The Dangers of Underweight Mother During Pregnancy
Underweight or low weight during pregnancy is certainly dangerous for both the mother and the baby in the womb. Here are some of the dangers of underweight mothers during pregnancy, both for fetuses and pregnant women.
Danger To Fetus
If the mother is underweight before pregnancy, it will increase the risk of miscarriage during the first trimester. This is due to a lack of folate and iron in the mother’s body. That is why iron and folate are needed for pregnancy.
- Low body weight during pregnancy is likely the baby born will have a low weight too.
- Babies are at high risk of being born prematurely.
- Lack of nutritional intake will cause the growth of the baby in the womb to experience obstacles.
- If the baby is born with low birth weight, it will increase the risk of infection, as well as other diseases such as heart disease or diabetes.
- Risk of caesarean delivery or vacuum.
In fact, some studies suggest that there is an increased association with maternal weight when pregnant with the risk of the baby dying before the age of 1 year.
Danger for Mother
Not only for the fetus you are carrying, underweight during pregnancy is also dangerous for pregnant women. If you lack nutrition during pregnancy, your body will take up the nutritional reserves in the body to provide the baby with the nourishment it needs. Here are the dangers of low weight during pregnancy for mothers.
- During breastfeeding, the milk supply will decrease.
- Mothers have a risk of developing osteoporosis and anemia.
- If you are underweight during pregnancy, it will make it difficult for you to breastfeed.
Thus, during pregnancy the mother is not allowed to go on a diet. You don’t need to worry about weight gain during pregnancy if it is within normal limits, because it indicates that the baby you are carrying is healthy. Knowing like that, so that your baby is healthy until he is born, you should avoid diets. It is better for you to fulfill your nutritional needs and the baby you are carrying so that during pregnancy you stay healthy and the growth and development of your little one is maintained. That is an explanation of whether pregnant women are on a diet. Hope it is useful.
This article is reviewed by Midwife Pevi Revina sTR. Keb
