Nutrition for pregnant women: Eating for two does more harm than good!

How often do pregnant women utter the words “Oh, but I’m eating for two!, while tucking into a large double cheese burger? While this may sound like the right thing to do, it’s not. Ideal nutrition for pregnant women, does not include eating for two. In fact, this does more harm than good.

Eating for two an excuse to have bigger meals

While many pregnant women may use “eating for two’ as an excuse to have huger meals, it’s best to know that overindulging might lead to some complications during pregnancy.

“Pregnant women might be eating for two, but this does not mean you need to eat twice as much as you normally would. Overeating might lead to excessive weight gain for you, it also puts you at risk for other pregnancy complications”, Dr Nicola Rains, a general practitioner at NHC Health Centres.

300 more calories per day

You may sometimes feel so hungry you could eat two horses. You should certainly be increasing the amount of certain nutrients, but you need about 300 more calories per day, if you are at a healthy weight. This will increase to about 450 more per day in your third trimester.

Too much weight affects you physically

Dr Rains :“Gaining too much weight during pregnancy affects you physically, increasing pain in your legs and your back. It also increases your risk of developing gestational diabetes, heartburn, high blood pressure and may affect your baby’s weight”.

Gestational diabetes and heartburn

Gestational diabetes is when your body is not able to make or use insulin properly during pregnancy, leading to an increase in blood sugar levels. This type of diabetes can affect the developing baby during pregnancy as well as during delivery and for a short while thereafter.

Heartburn also becomes an issue, more especially if you’re further along your pregnancy. The baby crowds out the digestive tract and puts more pressure on your intestines and stomach. Eating more than normal only worsens the heartburn and indigestion.

Absorbing too many calories also affects your baby’s weight. When you gain too much weight, it’s likely that you will give birth to a larger baby. This can result in the need for an assisted vaginal delivery or a higher rate of caesarean section when there is disproportion and prolonged labour and/or foetal distress.

Sue Scharf, dietician at NHC :“Eating healthy is even more important when you’re pregnant, because what you put in your body feeds both you and your baby. Your baby is dependent on you for getting enough nutrition.”

“Remember that while pregnant, your baby’s health and growth are related to what you eat. When you are tempted to help yourself to another place of rice and chicken, remember that you are eating for a baby and not a full-size adult. It is all about quality over quantity” says Dr Rains.