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Home › Articles › Nutrition › The Time Is Now

The Time Is Now

10 Tips to Keep Healthy During Your Pregnancy

By Jennifer Lacey

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Pregnancy takes every mother-to-be on an emotional and physical journey filled with ups and downs, so it is of the utmost importance to stay healthy. Here are a few tips to stay on the road to a healthy delivery.

Nine Months of Healthy Eating
Pregnancy is not an excuse to overeat. According to the March of Dimes, an expectant woman needs only 300 extra calories per day in order to support her unborn baby's growth and development.

"A well-balanced diet and a daily prenatal vitamin are usually sufficient to supply the extra nutrients required for pregnancy," says Dr. Marguerite Lisa Bartholomew, maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif. "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends between 6 and 11 servings of complex carbohydrates (bread, non sugar cereal, pasta); three to five servings of vegetables; two to four servings of fruit; three servings of dairy; and two to three servings of proteins per day. Fats, oils and sugars should be used sparingly."

Sensible Weight Gain
Dr. Marjorie Greenfield, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case School of Medicine, director of obstetrics and gynecology for the Dr. Spock Company and author of Dr. Spock's Pregnancy Guide (Pocket, 2003), says that the, "ideal weight gain is 25 to 35 pounds during the pregnancy, with 7 to 10 pounds in the first half of the pregnancy, and a half pound a week after that. Many women tend to gain more than that, and women who start off their pregnancy being overweight can probably gain slightly less and still do well."

One of the biggest obstacles that a pregnant woman faces with an excess amount of weight gain is risk for serious medical conditions. "Excess weight gain can lead to excessively large babies, with some increase in the risk of complications of childbirth," says Dr. Greenfield, who adds that a mom-to-be may also experience a struggle in losing the weight after she has given birth.

Time to Take Your Vitamins

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