Eating a balanced diet during pregnancy

Pregnancy does not require a special diet, it is more about including a variety of foods that is nutritious to mother and child. A balanced diet helps the baby develop and grow healthily. Taking supplements is another way to ensure that you get all the needed minerals and vitamins.

The following are the benefits of eating a balanced diet when pregnant:

• Increases your energy: a balanced diet provides nutrients and calories needed to strengthen your muscles and organs. Eat every three to four hours to keep yourself energised.
• Good for your baby: the baby gets everything needed to develop healthily. It helps your baby’s brain, bones and organs develop well. It also reduces the risk of low birth weight.
• Makes you sleep better: vitamin B, calcium, iron amongst other nutrients are good for sleep. A balanced diet improves the quality of sleep during pregnancy.
• Reduces birth defects: some birth defects are caused by lack of nutrients. An example is a defect to the spinal cord caused by folic acid deficiency. A balanced diet ensures that your baby gets all the minerals and vitamins they need.
• Improves your immune system: a balanced diet helps your body fight diseases or infections.
• Reduces anaemia: the amount of iron in your blood may reduce when you are pregnant. Including iron-rich foods in your diet (e.g. beans, meat, spinach 'efo') help keep your iron levels up and adequate throughout the pregnancy.

A balanced diet is one that contains a variety of foods providing the necessary nutrients. You can do this by including the following in your diet:

• High fibre foods like beans, whole-meal bread, and (brown) rice.
• Proteins like meat, fish, chicken, eggs, and beans.
• Healthy fats like olive oil, vegetable oil and nuts.
• Iron-rich foods like spinach 'efo', beans, liver, fish and meat.
• Calcium-rich foods like dairy products (e.g. milk, cheese).
• Folic acid food such as beans, spinach ‘efo’ and pumpkin ‘ugwu’.
• Vitamin-rich food like carrots, sweet potato, spinach, orange and pineapple.

Avoid alcohol, limit caffeine and drink lots of water. 

A healthy pregnancy needs a balanced diet. It is beneficial to the mother and baby. It is not about eating a lot of food but it is about the quality of what you eat. Include a variety of foods so you are sure you are getting the needful. Doing this ensures that you are healthy and your baby develops properly.