Key points:
- Healthy weight gain during pregnancy is essential for both the baby’s development and the mother’s overall health.
- An excess or lack of weight can increase the baby’s risk of obesity or premature delivery.
A nutritious diet during pregnancy is essential for the proper development of the fetus. Deficiencies of micronutrients such as calcium, iron, vitamin A, or iodine can cause complications, endangering the life of the mother and the baby.
For this reason, weight control is a very important issue if you are pregnant. An inadequate diet with insufficient weight will increase the risk of premature delivery, low birth weight, and probably congenital conditions, and excessive weight can cause obesity during adolescence and adulthood.
Therefore, it is recommended, during pregnancy and after childbirth, to follow a diet with the foods and quantities necessary for an optimal food intake, in addition to multiple micronutrient supplements that contain iron and folic acid.
Adequate prenatal control will not only guarantee the mother and the baby’s health but will also help monitor changes in weight and diet at each stage of pregnancy. To promote a healthy diet, your doctor will recommend:
- Include at least one food from each group in each meal of the day.
- Vary the foods that are selected at each meal.
- Have three major meals, that is, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and two snacks: one mid-morning and one mid-afternoon.
- Avoid foods such as coffee, soft drinks, and everything that contains caffeine, instead you should substitute for plenty of water.
Exercise
In general, performing moderate physical activities during pregnancy is highly recommended, since it has a great influence on the health and well-being of the mother, especially when prenatal control indicates that it is a normal delivery. Although exercise usually decreases from the second trimester and only a small number of pregnant women reach the recommended level of physical activity during pregnancy.
Exercising will help you have fewer problems during natural childbirth, since it will improve your abdominal and vaginal function. Some data indicate that even acute fetal distress is reduced for those mothers who perform physical activity during pregnancy.
At ABC Medical Center’s Obstetrics Center, we can provide you with specialized care. Contact us!
