If you want a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby, then you need a better paradigm for how you eat during your pregnancy and postpartum.
Is this a body shaming thing?
Absolutely not! In fact, the reason I don't really like the idea of eating for two or any form of "dieting" in pregnancy is because of my own history of disordered eating. So much of disordered eating continues during pregnancy and adds a weight of mental stress to expecting moms. Also, lots of disordered eating has roots in a vilification of macro nutrients. Macronutrients are fats, carbohydrates and proteins. The human body needs all three to thrive, villifying macronutrients harms both mom and baby. Another reason is that the concept of eating for two is associated with a change in calorie consumption. Now, generally they say your calorie needs increase in the first trimester slightly and then 300 calories more in the second and third trimester. This is true--but the form those calories come in can make a big difference in fetal development and child health, preterm birth, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and the mother's birth experience and interventions.
This is about improving your outcomes and baby's health.
Eating to optimize your prenatal health is focusing your food around nutrition. Understanding that your body and your baby need not only calories–but almost more importantly the micronutrients in a whole foods diet.
I’m an advocate of the latter, because we have SO MUCH EVIDENCE that mothers and babies are nutrient deficient, despite eating fortified grains and taking prenatal vitamins. There are hundreds of research studies that other countries have put into public policy to change the guidelines for prenatal nutrition. Yet moms in the US are not getting enough folate, choline or iron to have healthy pregancies and healthy babies.
This is why I offer a prenatal nutrition mini-course to my digital doula clients in Sage Mama Maternity, so that you can take actions–right away– to improve your health with the foods you eat.
Can't I just keep eating the same and take prenatal vitamins?
No, not really. Prenatal vitamins are designed to be a safety net for gaps in nutrition. Only TWO micronutrients are recommended by ACOG and those are iron & folic acid. The problem is, the iron typically added to prenatal vitamins usually causes constipation and isn't well-absorbed. The folic acid that's in most prenatal vitamins is synthetically derived and is not well-absorbed my most folks and actually creates a folate deficiency in women with the MTHFR gene mutation because their bodies cannot synthesize the folic acid into folate.
I personally used a food-based prenatal vitamin in my first three pregnancies and became anemic by 27 weeks. Then I was spending $40 a month taking liquid iron and herbs for the rest of my pregnancy and continued postpartum. In my fourth, fifth and six pregnancies I switched to a food based multi-vitamin and a food based b-complex. In these pregnancies, I never became anemic even after a hemorrhage during my miscarriage. If you're interested in my supplementation protocol for those pregnancies, click here.
To learn how to optimize your prenatal nutrition, join Sage Mama Maternity.
You're probably so excited about welcoming your baby into your home, if you're like most moms you're probably flipping through a few books, you've download some apps, and listening to your friend's and family's experience. You're probably doing your part to be a star patient for your doctor or midwife.I totally get that, and this is actually a problem because you're going to get you varied, sometimes conflicting advice that might not even work for your circumstance, and here is the kicker: lots of time's it not evidence-based guidance.
Instead of that, I want to offer you that working with a doula from your first trimester through your postpartum time is actually going to give you what you really need: cohesive information, expert guidance and the emotional support that every new mom deserves. It's like having an a doula in your pocket (or purse if that's where you keep your phone)
Hiring a Digital Doula is the best way to have a positive experience during your pregnancy, birth and postpartum. I would love to be your digital doula.
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