Pregnancy is an important time to eat smart, since the caloric requirement of pregnancy only increases by about 300 calories per day. Pregnancy is the time in your life when you need to pay particular attention to your health, exercise and your exposure to stress. Healthy eating helps ensure that the baby will have a healthy birth weight and will not be born with infections or other problems, reduces the risk for premature birth, builds up fats and fluids for use during breastfeeding, and reduces the risk for complications during pregnancy. Women who are underweight prior to pregnancy should gain a little more, and overweight women, a little less. For women whose BMI is normal, the recommended weight gain over the course of the pregnancy is 25 to 35 pounds. Pregnant women should consult a physician or midwife if they have questions about how much weight they can expect to gain on a week-to-week basis during pregnancy.

Nutrition during the preconception period, as well as throughout a pregnancy, has a major impact on pregnancy outcome. There is also a direct correlation between ethnicity, age, marital status, and educational status with increased negative pregnancy outcomes, such as low birth weight. Recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy are based on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) definitions of prepregnancy BMI range. Few studies have included women in their first trimester, so the importance of first-trimester weight gain on pregnancy outcome is unclear. Poor weight gain during pregnancy is associated with prematurity, low birth weight, and small for gestational age.

Traditionally, caloric requirements during pregnancy have been estimated to be around an additional 300 calories per day. However, this must be adjusted for physical activity and pre-pregnancy weight for the recommended number of servings of food groups). To meet weight-gain recommendations, a woman with a low pre-pregnancy BMI and a high activity level would require more calories than a woman with a high pre-pregnancy BMI and a sedentary lifestyle. Exercise is considered healthful for most pregnant women, who should be encouraged to continue to exercise at pre-pregnancy levels. Beginning any new exercise program during pregnancy, and, if medically advised, should avoid certain activities.

Food cravings during pregnancy are common and are not cause for concern, provided other nutrient needs are met and weight gain is in the target range. Gestational diabetes is associated with high prepregnancy BMI and excess pregnancy weight gain.

How much water do I need to drink during pregnancy. In order to satisfy the fluid requirements of pregnancy, consume at least six to eight eight-ounce glasses of water every day, in addition to juices. Fluid consumption affects all aspects of pregnancy.

It is very important to gain the weight if you want a healthy baby with no complications during the pregnancy and delivery. Everybody knows that women who keep themselves away from good nutrition during her entire pregnancy tend to have smaller, sickly babies who will require intensive hospital time and will have a higher risk of problems including neonatal death. It’s important to realize that normal weight gain during a pregnancy is not laying down as much maternal fat stores as one may think. Women who are gaining too much weight during pregnancy should follow the guidelines for healthy eating: avoid foods that do not have nutritional value and consult your midwife or dietician.

It is normal for a woman, body mass index between 20 and 27, to gain between 25 and 35 pounds during pregnancy. If you are obese with a body mass index more than 29 you may gain 15 pounds during pregnancy. If you are approximately 20 pounds or more above your desirable weight before pregnancy, a weight gain of 24 pounds is recommended.

It is therefore important to eat nutritious and balanced meals that help to maintain your weight gain during pregnancy. The rate at which women gain their pregnancy weight varies among different women, so do not worry unless it is extreme, either too much too soon or too less for a longer period of time.

Increased risk of pregnancy related complications such as cesarean deliveries and diabetes are of growing concern to public health officials. Only your doctor can tell you what your healthy pregnancy weight is. Maybe it’s better for you to maintain your current weight (and stop gaining), rather than actually trying to lose weight during your pregnancy.

An excessive weight gain during pregnancy, however, has an insulin resistant effect, just like the hormones produced by the placenta, and will make your blood sugar level higher. This in turn will cause the baby to get a higher than normal blood sugar and cause the baby to increase its body weight. Babies that are born to mothers who have too high blood sugar levels are at risk for increased complications at birth and are more likely to require additional medical treatment right after birth.

Pre-pregnancy weight chart

How Should I Eat During My Pregnancy?

As with any pregnancy, it is important to eat the proper foods to meet the nutritional needs of the mother and baby. The daily need for calories increases by 300 calories during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. The need for protein also increases throughout pregnancy. Most vitamins and minerals are also needed in larger amounts during pregnancy. To make sure you get enough Folate (a water soluble B vitamin critical during pregnancy) and iron. Your obstetrician will probably recommend a particular prenatal vitamin to take during your pregnancy. Obstetrician’s now are recommending that women who are considering getting pregnant start taking prenatal vitamins at least two months before trying to conceive.

Other Nutritional And Non Nutritional Considerations

There is no known safe level of alcohol that can be consumed during pregnancy. The Surgeon General’s office warns: Women who are pregnant or even considering pregnancy should avoid alcohol completely and should be aware of the alcohol content of food and drugs. Salt restriction is no longer routinely advised during pregnancy. Recent research shows that during pregnancy the body needs salt to help provide the proper fluid balance. If taken regularly, along with a balanced diet, you will be getting all the vitamins and minerals needed during your pregnancy. During pregnancy you need 1200 mg calcium daily to build the baby’s skeleton without drawing from maternal calcium stores.

Like it or not, pregnancy weight gain is inevitable. Gaining the right amount of weight during pregnancy can support your baby’s health – and make it easier to shed the extra pounds after delivery. It is not necessary to “eat for two” during pregnancy.

Your pregnancy may not progress the same as the information found here. The information here is based on the average pregnancy. If you have any concerns about your pregnancy, we advise you to contact your doctor. Tracking your weight during pregnancy is a good way to monitor the progress of you and your baby. It is important to gain weight at a steady pace throughout pregnancy. If a woman does not gain weight throughout pregnancy, complications such as a low-birth weight infant or premature delivery could occur. Babies who are born to mothers who do not gain more than 20 pounds are often considered small for gestational age (SGA), meaning they may have been malnourished during pregnancy. Women who are underweight during pregnancy tend to eat low-calorie foods and not enough protein.

Why is weight gain important during pregnancy? The extra weight you gain during pregnancy provides nourishment to your developing baby and is also stored for breastfeeding your baby after delivery. The amount of weight you should gain depends on your weight before pregnancy. You should gain: 25-37 pounds if you were a healthy weight before pregnancy. 28-40 pounds if you were underweight before pregnancy. 15-25 pounds if you were overweight before pregnancy.

Most women gain four to six pounds in the first trimester, and then average a pound a week in the second and third trimesters. Try to gain slightly over a pound a week in the second and third trimesters. It is ok for your weight gain to fluctuate a little from week to week. This means you should put on one pound every two weeks in the second and third trimesters. The majority of the weight will be fairly evenly spread over the last two trimesters, about a pound a week, with a little more at the end. That translates into about 1 1/2 pounds a week in the last two trimesters.

Let’s look at what needs to happen to stay healthy during pregnancy. Remember, weight loss during pregnancy can be dangerous.

Eating Healthy Before and During Pregnancy is very important for you and your baby. Pregnancy weight gain is a healthy process that you need not worry about, as with proper exercise and adhering to a nutritious diet you may lose it in no time after delivery. Pregnancy weight needs careful attention as it influences the health of the mother as well as that of the child.

Your practitioner will also use your weight gain as an indicator of baby’s growth and in looking for potential problems. It’s true that you need extra calories from nutrient-rich foods to help your baby grow, but you generally need to consume only 100 to 300 more calories than you did before you became pregnant to meet the needs of your growing baby. Be sure to eat a variety of foods to get all the nutrients you and your baby need. Eating Healthy Before and During Pregnancy is very important for you and your baby. Your baby’s growth and development depend on it.

Where is all the weight coming from? Here is a sample break down of the pregnancy weight gain:

• Baby: 7 to 8 pounds
• Larger breasts: 1 to 3 pounds
• Larger uterus: 2 pounds
• Placenta: 1 1/2 pounds
• Amniotic fluid: 2 pounds
• Increased blood volume: 3 to 4 pounds
• Increased fluid volume: 2 to 3 pounds
• Fat stores: 6 to 8 pounds

Putting on the pounds, it would be easy to add calories to your diet with junk food, but this won’t give your baby the nutrients he or she needs. Pregnancy nutrition: Healthy eating for you and your baby Pregnancy nutrition: Foods to avoid Pregnancy nutrition: Essential nutrients when you’re eating for two Pregnancy and fish: What’s too little — or too much. During pregnancy it is important to “baby your baby and your body” with nourishing foods. Doctors usually recommend supplements of folic acid and multi-vitamins to ensure the healthy development of the baby.

In general, you should gain about 2 to 4 pounds during your first three months of pregnancy and 1 pound a week for the remainder of your pregnancy. If you are expecting twins you should gain 35 to 45 pounds during your pregnancy. This would be an average of 1 1/2 pounds per week after the usual weight gain in the first three months. An average, healthy woman usually gain between 25 to 35 pounds during her pregnancy. Gaining 40 pounds or more during pregnancy nearly doubles the risk of having a baby who weighs 9 pounds or more, in turn increasing the health risks to mother and baby, according to a new study.

In fact, in recent news about pregnancy weight gain in women who are obese (BMI above 29), it is being said that not only do they not need to gain a lot of weight, but a neutral gain and even a loss may be perfectly acceptable for these patients. Thus it is important to set goals and monitor your progress during the different trimesters. To keep your pregnancy weight gain on target, your health care provider may offer suggestions for boosting caloric intake or scaling back as needed. The rate at which women gain their pregnancy weight varies among different women, so do not worry unless it is extreme, either too much too soon or too less for a longer period of time. We will create individual pregnancy weight gain forecast range based on your pre-pregnancy weight and current weight and then re-evaluate it throughout your pregnancy. Moreover you will be able to compare your own pregnancy weight gain to the ‘expected’ weight gain level observed in other pregnancies.