Eating a healthy diet while pregnant can be difficult when frequent hunger and midnight cravings manifest themselves. Luckily, being pregnant requires that you eat some added calories, though eating double your current caloric intake, or "eating for two," is a bit excessive. Weight gain is essential to pregnancy, and your care provider should monitor how much you gain to keep you on a healthy track.
Significance
Eating a nutritious, well-balanced diet that reaches your required caloric needs is essential in providing you the energy and strength you need to get through the demands of pregnancy. Your diet also determines the nutrition your growing baby receives in the womb and affects how healthy your child is at birth. Not eating enough calories puts you at risk for preterm delivery, infant malnourishment and low birth-weight.
First Trimester
In your first trimester, you do not need to add extra calories to your diet. At this point in your pregnancy, your baby does not require as many calories and nutrients to grow or develop. It is common for women in their first trimester of pregnancy to actually lose a few pounds due to morning sickness. While you should not try to lose weight, this type of initial weight loss is not dangerous. Throughout your pregnancy, make sure you are seeing your physician regularly to monitor your weight loss and gain and to track the overall health of your pregnancy.
Second and Third Trimesters
Generally, during the second and third trimesters, you will need to increase your caloric intake by 300 calories daily, according to the American Pregnancy Association. As your pregnancy progresses, your baby will grow quickly and will be larger, needing extra calories and plenty of nutrition. It is important to make sure those extra 300 calories, as well as the rest of the calories in your diet, come from nutritious sources such as fruits, vegetables, healthy dairy products, whole grains, nuts and seeds.
Pregnant with Twins
Being pregnant with twins and other multiples is cause for eating more than what a single baby would require. Your physician will determine how many calories you need to eat. Overall, a pregnant woman carrying twins who was in a normal weight range before pregnancy needs to gain between 37 and 54 lb. A woman who was overweight needs to gain 31 to 50 lb., and if she was obese prior to pregnancy, she needs to gain 25 to 42 lb., according to MayoClinic.com.
References
- American Pregnancy Association; Pregnancy Nutrition; October 2008
- American Pregnancy Association; Eating for Two When Over/or Under Weight; October 2008
- KidsHealth from Nemours: Eating During Pregnancy
- University of California San Francisco Medical Center: Eating Right During and After Pregnancy
- MayoClinic.com; Pregnancy Weight Gain: What's Healthy?; Mayo Clinic Staff; May 2011
