During pregnancy, a balanced nutritional intake is necessary to meet the needs of both the mother and the baby. Moreover, the golden period of child growth and development which is also known as the First 1000 Days of Life starts from the pregnancy. This period is very influential for the future of your little one. If your child's nutrients are appropriately met, they will reach their potential height, have a good immune system, have optimal brain development, and prevent the risk of degenerative diseases. On the other hand, if the child's nutritional needs are not appropriately met, the child is threatened with developmental delays, lower immune function, to have less than optimal learning abilities, and a higher risk of being exposed to degenerative diseases.
Women's nutritional needs during pregnancy differ from nutritional needs when they are not. The question is, does it means pregnant women need to eat more food? What kind of foods should be consumed? Come and let's check this article out to find what needs to do be done to implement balanced nutrition guidelines for pregnant women!
- Consume More Food
During the pregnancy, we do need to increase the portion of food. However, keep in mind that increasing the portion of food is not the same as consuming twice the portion of the food. Remember, the nutritional needs of an infant is different from the nutritional needs of an adult. Although weight gain in pregnancy is normal, excessive weight gain and when the mother is obese, the pregnancy will be riskier. On the other hand, it will also be dangerous if the mother does not gain weight during pregnancy. Therefore, maternal weight gain needs to be monitored.
In general, according to the Indonesian Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA), pregnant women in the 1st trimester need an additional 180 kcal of energy, while pregnant women in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters require an additional 300 kcal of energy.
- Consume a Variety of Foods
Pregnant women need to consume a variety of foods because each food has different nutritional advantages. During pregnancy, mothers need macronutrients such as protein and micronutrients such as iron, folic acid, calcium, and iodine to meet the nutritional needs for mother and baby.
Protein, iron, folic acid, calcium, and iodine play a role in the growth and development of your baby's cells and tissues. Therefore, it is important to consume animal protein, blood supplement tablets as a source of iron, green vegetables and beans as a source of folic acid, green vegetables, nuts, and milk as a source of calcium, and seafood as a source of protein and iodine.
The fulfillment of iron needs also reduces the risk of low birth weight baby and bleeding during childbirth, while adequate calcium consumption prevents pregnant women from risk of pre-eclampsia.
- Limit Salt Consumption
The limitation of salt consumption is done to prevent pregnancy hypertension which can increase the risk of fetal death.
- Drink More Water
Water will improve blood circulation in your little one by helping the production of amnion and increasing blood volume. Therefore, pregnant women need to drink water 8-12 glasses or about 2-3 liters of water every day.
- Limit Coffee Intake
During pregnancy, mothers are advised to limit their coffee intake to a maximum of two cups of coffee per day. Even so, it would be better if pregnant women do not consume coffee at all. This is because caffeine consumption in pregnant women can cause the mother to experience an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, to increased urination which can result in dehydration. Coffee consumption can also interfere with iron absorption and can affect the growth and development of the fetus, given the little one's metabolism is not perfect yet.
Those are the five tips for implementing balanced nutrition guidelines for pregnant women. Keep reading Fitie for the latest nutrition and health articles!
Sources :
Kementerian Kesehatan RI. (2014). Pedoman Gizi Seimbang. Jakarta: Kementerian Kesehatan RI.
Kementerian Kesehatan RI. (2019). Angka Kecukupan Gizi yang Dianjurkan untuk Masyarakat Indonesia. Peraturan Menteri Kesehatan Republik Indonesia Nomor 28 tahun 2019. Jakarta: Kementerian Kesehatan RI.