Vitamins and minerals

During pregnancy most women take a prenatal vitamin supplements as it can be difficult to get the required vitamins and minerals from their diet, especially if morning sickness and nausea have interrupted regular eating habits.

If your pregnancy was planned, you may already be familiar with folic acid, an important B vitamin that can help prevent neural tube defects, cleft lip and cleft palate. For this reason it is recommended to take folic acid for several months before conception and also during the first three months of pregnancy. You can also get folic acid by eating various foods such as green vegetables, orange juice, rice, peas, and lentils.

Because your body will be producing more blood during pregnancy, an extra three or four pounds to be exact, it’s important to ensure you are getting enough iron in your diet. Iron absorption can be decreased by drinking coffee or tea, but is enhanced by vitamin C, so it is best taken with fresh orange juice.

If your prenatal vitamin supplement does not have the required amount, ask your doctor about an iron supplement. Good food sources of iron include spinach, broccoli, strawberries and even wholegrain breads.

Calcium is another important element of your pregnancy diet. It is required not only to maintain your own bone density, but also to provide for the development of your baby’s bones and teeth. A proper diet will provide most if not all of the calcium, but prenatal vitamins make up for any short-falls in the needed amounts.

Other reasons for which calcium is required are: it helps to prevent high blood pressure; it’s required for blood clotting, for muscle contractions and even for nerve signal transmission. Food sources of calcium include milk and other dairy products, tofu, leafy vegetables and fish such as sardines and salmon.

Zinc is also important in your pregnancy diet, as it is needed for cellular replication and to help ensure a healthy birth weight of your baby. Most diets contain enough zinc, which is found in eggs, corn, peas, meat and seafood.

The other important vitamins in your pregnancy diet include vitamins A (which will come from your diet but do not eat liver or pate), B, C, D, and E (which will come from your healthy diet and your prenatal vitamins).

Magnesium, which is needed to balance hormones and to help in the absorption of some vitamins, is important, as is selenium and phosphorus.