Key nutrients for pregnancy (Part 1)
Key Nutrients for a Healthy Pregnancy: A Guide for Mums-to-Be
Pregnancy is a time of both physical and emotional change. For many women pregnancy increases unwanted stress and anxiety, especially when it comes to the health and wellbeing of your growing baby.
Prenatal nutrition is about providing the essential building blocks for your baby’s growth and development while supporting your own health. Thanks to research we now know that what a mother eats during pregnancy has the potential to impact her child’s health later in life. So, if there was ever a time in a woman’s like to eat well, it’s leading up to and during pregnancy.
Why is Prenatal Nutrition Important?
For the mother:
Correcting Deficiencies Before Conception: Addressing nutrient deficiencies prior to pregnancy is crucial. Deficiencies can interfere with optimal conception and impact your ability to meet the increased nutrient demands of pregnancy, which are essential for your baby’s development.
Addressing Common Dietary Gaps: A study conducted by the University of Adelaide, surveyed the dietary patterns of 850 women across Australia. Results showed that no pregnant women were correctly following the Australian Dietary Guidelines on the consumption of the “core food groups” for pregnancy despite almost two-thirds of women believed the were eating the right diet.
Supporting the First Trimester: With morning sickness and food aversions being highly prevalent during the first trimester, focusing on prenatal nutrition allows you to build nutrient stores and minimise the risk of deficiencies as pregnancy progresses and nutrient requirements increase.
Managing Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG): For women with severe nausea and vomiting, oral intake can be significantly reduced, sometimes for the entire pregnancy. In these cases, nutrition becomes an essential tool for ensuring the baby receives some level of nourishment, even when supplements are not tolerated.
Improved Health Outcomes: Adequate prenatal nutrition reduces the risk of complications like preterm birth, gestational diabetes (GDM), preeclampsia, and maternal anemia.
Postpartum Benefits: Good nutrition during pregnancy supports sufficient energy levels, milk quality and supply, and reduces the risk of postpartum depression (PPD).
Setting Up Healthy Habits: Prenatal nutrition provides an opportunity to establish healthy eating habits and behaviours for the entire family.
For your baby:
Proper Foetal Development: A well-balanced maternal diet is essential for the growth and development of your baby, especially during the formation of the placenta, which takes two months to develop. The placenta plays a key role in nutrient exchange and the regulation of foetal growth.
Long-Term Health Benefits: Maternal nutrition has a lifelong impact on your baby’s health, proper maternal nutrition can reduce the risk of metabolic conditions like type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases for your child later in life.
The First 1,000 Days: A Critical Window of Opportunity
The first 1,000 days—spanning from conception to a child’s second birthday—are critical for shaping a child’s future health. During this time, the growing foetus and infant are highly adaptable yet vulnerable to environmental influences, including maternal diet and lifestyle.
Epigenetic Impact: Nutritional exposures during pregnancy, whether excessive or insufficient, can subtly alter the developing fetus's bodily structures and metabolic processes. These changes can have lifelong effects, increasing the risk of conditions like coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, renal disease, and even cancer.
Intergenerational Health: Emerging evidence shows that maternal nutrition during pregnancy not only affects the child but can also influence the health of future generations. To put it simply, as women we are born with all of our eggs. For women carrying girls, what you eat during pregnancy has the potential to influence your future grandchildren’s health. Pretty amazing!
Healthy Weight and Physical Activity: With rising concerns about excess weight gain during pregnancy, maintaining a healthy diet and physical activity level (PAL) is vital for optimal outcomes for both mother and baby.
Now for the good stuff - key nutrients for pregnancy.
1. Folate: Supporting Baby’s Neural Development
Why It’s Important:
Folate (vitamin B9) is essential for healthy neural tube formation (brain and spinal cord), cell division and DNA synthesis, which are critical during the rapid growth and development of your baby. Adequate folate intake reduces the risk of neural tube defects, such as spina bifida, by up to 70%.
Dietary and supplemental folate should be prioritised at least 3 months prior to conception, and this because the formation of the neural tube occurs early during gestation and closure occurs around 28 days (4 weeks gestation). This is often prior to women learning they are pregnant.
How Much You Need:
Preconception at least 400mcg/day of folic acid from supplements in addition to dietary sources.
Folate requirements increase during pregnancy to 600mcg/day. Requirements reduce slightly during breastfeeding to 500mcg/day.
Women at higher risk for NTDs and certain medical conditions may need increased folic acid.
Individualise advice is required for folic acid supplementation. Dose and form will vary among women, depending on your medical history. This includes women with the MTHFR gene mutation.
Good Sources of Folate:
Beef liver
Leafy greens like spinach and kale
Legumes such as lentils and chickpeas
Fortified cereals
Oranges and avocados
2. Iodine: Brain and Nervous System Development
Why It’s Important:
Iodine plays a crucial role in your baby’s brain and nervous system development. It also supports thyroid health and regulates metabolism for both mom and baby. Insufficient iodine levels during pregnancy can lead to cretinism (severe growth and cognitive impairment) or suboptimal learning abilities in children.
How Much You Need:
250-300mcg/day of iodine during pregnancy.
Sufficient iodine status is particular important in the first 14-16 weeks of pregnancy.
Excessive iodine can affect thyroid function, particularly in women with thyroid disorders such as Hashimoto's or Graves' disease. Iodine supplementation advice should be personally tailored.
Good Sources of Iodine:
Iodized salt
Seafood, such as fish and seaweed
Dairy products like milk and yogurt
3. Iron: Preventing Maternal Anemia and Supporting Oxygen Transport
Why It’s Important:
Iron is vital for making hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to your baby and the placenta. Iron deficiency anaemia during pregnancy can increase the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and maternal complications.
During pregnancy your body makes more blood to support the growing foetus and placenta. As your blood volume increases so does the amount of iron you need. If you don’t have enough dietary iron you can become short of red blood cells, which is called anaemia.
Iron absorption progressively increases throughout pregnancy as needs increase. Women should prioritise optimising their iron stores prior to conception. A supplement can be considered if or when a deficiency occurs.
A woman should enter pregnancy with stores of greater than 300mg/L if she is to meet all of her iron requirements throughout pregnancy. Sufficient iron intake is important during the final 10 weeks of pregnancy. During this time your baby will begin to build their own iron stores ready for the first 6 months of life.
How Much You Need:
Iron requirements increase from 18mg/day pre-pregnancy to 27mg/day during the second and third trimesters.
Women at higher risk of anaemia, such as those with previous iron deficiency, short pregnancy intervals, or poor diets, may need tailored supplementation.
Supplementation:
If your healthcare professional or dietitian recommends an iron supplement during pregnancy, here are a few things you should know.
Oral iron therapy will always be utilised first before considering an iron infusion. However, if required iron infusions are considered safe during pregnancy.
Consuming your iron supplement every 2-3 days is just as effective as taking your supplement daily. The only difference is reduced GI symptoms!
High doses of supplemental iron doesn’t always correlate to increased iron levels. It’s recommended to only take an iron supplement if recommended by your health professional or dietitian.
Certain iron supplements and too much iron (from supplements) can increase the risk of constipation. If you are suffering from constipation speak to your dietitian about whether you can reduce, swap or cease your iron supplement.
Good Sources of Iron:
Red meat (e.g., beef, lamb)
Poultry and fish
Plant-based sources like lentils, tofu, and fortified cereals (paired with vitamin C-rich foods for better absorption)
Maximising absorption:
Combine iron-rich ingredients with foods high in vitamin C. Foods like oranges, kiwi, capsicum and broccoli as can help to improve iron absorption.
Include animal protein (haem) with plant (haem) sources of iron, such as meat with beans -for example, beef and kidney beans in a chilli con carne.
Combine iron-rich ingredients with foods high in beta carotene. Foods like apricots, carrots and beetroot can also help to improve absorption.
Cooking plant based sources of iron like spinach and broccoli can increase the amount of iron you’ll be able to absorb.
Try to avoid caffeine during and directly after meals containing iron. Caffeine blocks iron absorption. This includes coffee, black and green tea varieties, matcha, soft drinks, energy drinks and cocoa/chocolate.
If taking calcium supplements, make sure to take these one hour before or after meals as they can interfere with iron absorption