ADEQUATE NUTRIENTS IN PREGNANCY:
Healthy diet plays a very vital rolls for both mothers and baby through out gestational period, what ever the mothers consumes will be the source of nourishment to the both of them, it is recommended that mothers to-be diet should include all verity of healthy food and beverages.
- Calories intake: Pregnant women should increase their calories from the first trimester to the third trimester by 200-300 kcals/day according to the mothers BMI before pregnancy, women with higher BMI need less calories for weight gain than women with lower BMI before pregnancy's, foods like whole grain cereals and vegetable, good fat, unsaturated fat, milk and diary product will boost the calories of the pregnant woman for example if a woman needs 2000kcals before pregnancy's then it should be 1200-1300kcals at the first trimester, 2400-2600kcals at the second trimester and then 2600-2800kcals at the last trimester, a cup of milk after every diet,50gm of date, small apples and a cup of fruit or vegetable juice can increase the calories to meet up the recommended calories requirement.
- Folic acid: Folic acid also known as folate in food is a B vitamin (vitamin B9), it plays a very vital roll in proper development of baby's brain and spinal cord (neural tube), it is recommended for a woman before getting pregnant to take up to 400mg of folic/day for at least one month before becoming pregnant and then increase the amount of folic/day during pregnancy, this recommendation will reduce the risk of neural tube defect in baby's such as anencephaly (poor development of the brain, skull and spinal cord or baby will be born without brain) and spinal bifida (partials paralysis and poor musculoskeletal development in baby's), foods such beans, millet, green vegetables, lean meat.
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Gestation