Healthy Food for Pregnancy
Eating for two doesn’t mean eating twice as much food, but it should mean making your food work twice as hard.
While you’re pregnant, your body protects and nurtures your baby. You can provide the essential nutrients your baby needs by eating a healthy pregnancy diet.
Your pregnancy diet not only supports your additional energy requirements (and satisfies those pregnancy cravings), but it also importantly fuels your baby’s growth and development. Make every kilojoule count by choosing nutrient-packed foods, in other words get more bang for your kilojoule buck. Focus on developing a pregnancy food chart that includes healthy pregnancy foods, with more of the good stuff – from the 5 food groups - proteins, vitamins and minerals, fibre, healthy fats, complex carbs and fluids, and less of the ‘not so necessary’ stuff – sweets, juices, high salty snacks.
In this article, learn:
- What a healthy pregnancy diet looks like and the foods to eat during pregnancy, including the recommended servings of each food group;
- about which pregnancy vitamins and minerals are important and their effects on you and your baby’s health;
- what a healthy weight gain during pregnancy looks like;
- top tips for your pregnancy diet; and
- the answers to commonly asked questions about pregnancy food and pregnancy vitamins.
If you have any questions or special dietary requirements, talk to your healthcare professional to get tailored advice on your nutritional needs during pregnancy. If you are coeliac and are on a gluten-free diet, you can check out our guide on Eating Gluten-Free During Pregnancy to help guide you and your diet.
Watch this video to learn more about healthy meal and snack ideas to add pregnancy vitamins, minerals, and variety to your pregnancy diet.
What does a healthy pregnancy diet look like?
These food group guidelines are an easy way to get started on a healthy pregnancy diet. Of course, your beginning weight, height, age, stage of pregnancy and the number of children you are carrying will determine how many kilojoules and how much and what type of foods to eat during pregnancy.
To get plenty of essential nutrients, eat a little of everything from the five food groups. Try for five serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit per day.
For more information on appropriate serve sizes, take a look at the NHMRC Australian Dietary Guidelines.
Vegetables and legumes/beans
Fruits
Grain and wholegrain foods including breads, cereals, potatoes, rice and pasta
Milk and dairy products
Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds
Fats and oils
Sweets
Drinks
Salt
Physical activities
What nutrients, vitamins and minerals are important during pregnancy?
Pregnant women have increased nutritional needs (Nutrient reference values for Australia and New Zealand)
Here is a quick reference table which summarises what the key nutrients do and in which foods to find them.
| Nutrient | For | From |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | Important for growth and development of muscles and bones | Meat, fish, eggs, cheese, dairy |
| Carbohydrates | Supplies energy | Pasta, rice, bread, cereal, legumes, potatoes |
| Omega 3 DHA Fat | Important for baby’s brain and eye development | Fish, supplements |
| Probiotics | Contribute to a healthy gut flora | Probiotic product, such as probiotic yoghurts, supplements |
| Vitamins | For | From |
|---|---|---|
| Folic acid | Reduces risk of foetal neural tube defects | Dark green leafy vegetables, dried beans, avocado, fortified breads and cereals |
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) | Important for energy production and carbohydrate metabolism | Wholemeal products, fish, nuts, seeds |
| Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) | Important for transport of iron and nervous system function | Dairy products, fortified breads and cereals, leafy green vegetables |
| Vitamin B12 | Important for red blood cell formation and nervous system function | Fish, meat, poultry, dairy, eggs |
| Vitamin C | Important for immune system, collagen synthesis | Citrus fruit, kiwi fruit, broccoli and sprouts |
| Vitamin A | Important for skin structure and visual function | Carrots, spinach (as beta-carotene), meat, full cream dairy products |
| Vitamin D | Building strong bones and teeth | Sunlight exposure on the skin, fish, eggs yolks |
| Vitamin E | Protects cells against free radical damage | Wheat germ/canola/olive oils, egg yolks, leafy green vegetables |
| Minerals and trace elements | For | From |
|---|---|---|
| Calcium | Important for bone and teeth formation | Milk, cheese, dairy products, bony fish, tofu |
| Magnesium | Regulates energy metabolism, nerve transmission, muscular contraction | Nuts, green vegetables, legumes |
| Iron | Important for oxygen transport and blood formation | Meats, fish, poultry, spinach, lentils |
| Iodine | Production of thyroid hormones and brain function | Iodized salt, seafood, bread |
| Selenium | Antioxidant, maintenance of hair and nails | Seafood, poultry, eggs asparagus |
| Zinc | Cell division, immune system | Meat, poultry, fish, brown rice |
Top tips for your pregnancy diet!
1. Eat foods that satisfy you
2. Eat breakfast
3. Allow yourself one or two balanced snacks per day
4. Drink water
5. Eat fibre to keep you regular
6. Ensure you’re getting enough
7. Feed yourself Calcium for bones and teeth
8. Pump up your Iron
9. Eat the freshest food you can
10. Indulge yourself a little
What does a healthy pregnancy weight gain look like?
Weight gain varies from one woman to the next and what is right for you will be based on whether you began your pregnancy as underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese. Your doctor can advise you on the healthiest path for you. Weight gain during pregnancy can influence the weight of your baby at birth; remember that an extra large baby is not healthier than a baby born of average weight. Read more here.
While it does take energy to develop a healthy baby, that energy can come the food you eat, or from your existing weight stores. A mum-to-be does not need to eat twice as much. During your pregnancy, your energy demands will increase over time. There is no need to change your energy intake during the first trimester, then in the second trimester your energy needs will increase by 1400 kilojoules per day and 1900 kilojoules per day in your last trimester. However, this can be different for you, depending on your starting weight, so it’s always good to ask your healthcare professional what is right for you.
To put this into perspective, the average adult should be consuming around 8700 kilojoules per day. So these additional kilojoule requirements in the 2nd and 3rd trimester means you don’t need to double your diet – it’s just eating a little more.
Having twins? Learn about eating for three.
Sources
https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/adg (Accessed 1st June 2022)
https://www.nrv.gov.au/nutrients (Accessed 8th July 2022)
NHMRC NRVs. Available at https://www.nrv.gov.au/dietary-energy.
Australian Dietary Guidelines. Available at Healthy Eating When You’re Pregnant or Breastfeeding | Eat For Health.
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