Diet
Nov
23
Water
The most important thing about your diet is that you are drinking plenty. Try to have 2-3 litres of water every day. Water is the best choice! Stay away from soft-drinks and minimise tea and coffee. Herbal teas and watered-down fruit juices are an alternative to water. If at any time you are not able to keep fluids down you need to contact us.
Food
Try to eat healthily to ensure your baby will get the best possible start in life. Eat lots of vegetables, fruit and choose lean meat and wholegrain breads.
Try to avoid sugars as in sweets, cookies, cake, fizzy drinks, chocolate etc. Try to avoid starchy foods like white bread, potatoes (kumara is better) and pasta. Minimise coffee and tea.
Iron
Adequate iron levels are important for a healthy pregnancy and birth. The best iron source are meat, fish, poultry and seafood. But iron is also found in vegetables, legumes, nuts and grains. Vitamin C helps to absorb iron. Tea and coffee decrease iron absorption, so avoid having them with your dinner.
For a natural iron supplement try Floradix liquid (available at the supermarket).
We check your iron levels at least twice during your pregnancy with a bloodtest. If your iron gets too low, we can prescribe iron tablets.
No alcohol
We don’t know what level of alcohol is safe in pregnancy therefore the recommendation is not to have any alcohol at all.