During pregnancy, your developing baby needs energy, vitamins and minerals in order to maintain life, grow and develop. For this reason, your pregnancy nutrition is of utmost importance, particularly as you enter your second trimester. During this time, your baby starts to grow very fast and nutrient requirements increase.
Eating Well
Most obstetricians recommend that given the option, you should eat a nutritious diet starting from the beginning of your pregnancy, if not before. In reality, however, this is not an option for many women. It's common for women to become pregnant without realizing it until several weeks into the pregnancy. Further, early pregnancy nausea may curtail your attempts to eat well. Many women even lose weight early in pregnancy.
Second Trimester
Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz, in their book "You: Having A Baby," note that a baby's nutrient requirements are minimal, particularly with regard to energy needs, during the first trimester. By the end of the first trimester, your baby is still less than 1 lb. in weight. Growth begins to accelerate during the second trimester.
Energy Needs
Most pregnant women need to gain 25 lbs. to 35 lbs. to support a healthy pregnancy. Ideally, you'll space out this weight gain over nine months, but some women lose weight early in pregnancy and have to make it up later. Drs. Roizen and Oz suggest that if your obstetrician recommends you gain an average amount of weight, you should consume about 200 to 300 extra calories each day from your second trimester on in order to support this weight gain.
Foods
The foods you pick to eat become very important during the second trimester; your growing baby only requires you to eat a few hundred more calories each day than usual, but his vitamin and mineral needs are quite high. As such, you should pick foods that are high in nutrients and low in added sugars and fats, notes Dr. Miriam Stoppard in her book "Conception, Pregnancy and Birth." Fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and plant-based oils fit this description.
Vitamins
Most obstetricians prescribe a prenatal vitamin at your first prenatal visit. However, if you didn't take a prenatal during your first trimester, it may be worth discussing taking one with your doctor starting during the second trimester. This is because your body will start to run out of crucial nutrients -- such as iron -- that you and your baby need. Dr. Raymond Poliakin, in his book "What You Didn't Think To Ask Your Obstetrician," notes that a prenatal provides insurance for times when you can't eat the vitamins and minerals you and your baby need.
References
- "You: Having A Baby"; Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.; 2009
- "Conception, Pregnancy and Birth"; Miriam Stoppard, M.D.; 2008
- "What You Didn't Think to Ask Your Obstetrician"; Raymond Poliakin, M.D.; 2007
