Eating for Two: The Pregnant Woman’s Diet

Pregnant women have special dietary needs. They need to follow a healthy diet not only for their body, but more importantly for the development of their unborn child. The expression eating for two plainly describes this need for greater nutrient intake during pregnancy. Some women unfortunately interpret this as gorging on as much food as they can stomach. While pregnant women are expected to gain a certain amount of weight during pregnancy, it can be dangerous to gain too much weight from eating too much food. Eating for two does not mean increasing one’s food intake, but refers to improving the quality of one’s diet. What pregnant women must keep in mind is that the baby is not as big as a full grown adult, so his/her dietary consumption is greatly different.

Pregnancy is governed by several complex processes that require women to increase their body’s supply of vitamins and minerals in order to meet the demands of an expanding blood supply, the growth of maternal tissues, a developing fetus, loss of maternal tissues at birth and preparation for lactation. Nutrient deficiency may lead to problems during pregnancy, and these can generally be averted...