There is perhaps no other time when a committed vegetarian woman is more likely to start eating meat than when she becomes pregnant. If you thought friends and family worried about your diet before ("Are you sure you're getting enough [fill in the blank]?") get prepared for the onslaught of queries you'll face when you've got a little veggie bun in the oven.

But rest easy and feel confident that with a small amount of planning you can easily meet the nutrient and energy requirements of your growing body and the little one inside you on a completely meatless diet. Because most health care providers are not trained in vegetarian nutrition, they may be reluctant to play ball. Share this information with your doctor or midwife and work out a nutritious meal plan together.

Knock your nutrition out of the ballpark with these tips:

• Snack on apple slices with a tablespoon of your favorite organic nut butter or carrot sticks and hummus dip. Combining raw fruits and vegetables with dips or sauces can make them more palatable – and more nourishing! Be adventurous and try something different, like cashew or almond butter.
• Folate, or folic acid, helps prevent birth defects, especially in the first few weeks of pregnancy when women don't usually know they are expecting. It is now added to many commercial baked goods and flours, but in order to get the full recommended dose of 600ug per day during pregnancy, consider some of the following dietary sources: dark leafy greens, whole grains, orange juice, baked goods made with enriched flour, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans and fortified cereals.
• Trade in your white bread and rice for whole-wheat bread and brown rice, and choose oatmeal over processed, high-sugar cereals. Whole grains are packed with nutrients (including protein) that are lost in the preparation of more highly processed grains, and the fiber will no doubt do you good as well.
• A woman's protein needs increase during pregnancy by about 20 percent, but this is really the least of your worries. Did you know that most North American women already consume enough protein daily to meet the needs of a pregnant woman? Focus instead on eating 300 extra calories per day from a wide variety of whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and fresh fruits and vegetables. There is no need to combine foods to create complete proteins as was once thought – your amazing body does that for you automatically when you consume a balanced and varied diet.
• If, like many women, you experience constipation, snack on prunes, raisins and dried apricots, which are also packed with iron. Carry a baggy with trail mix including these nutrition powerhouses with you wherever you go. Other good sources of iron are green leafy vegetables, beans and legumes, dried fruits, blackstrap molasses, bran flakes, sea vegetables, nuts and seeds.
• Lucky for you, a woman's body actually absorbs and retains calcium more efficiently during pregnancy. Avoid caffeine, which interferes with calcium absorption, and consider adding these good sources of non-dairy calcium to the menu: broccoli, almonds, tahini (sesame seed paste used in sauces and dips or spread on toast), sesame seeds, kale, sea vegetables, fortified orange juice and calcium-processed tofu.
• You'll need vitamin D to help your body absorb all that calcium and for the formation of your baby's bones in utero. Your body will make all the vitamin D that you need with adequate sun exposure (one hour, three to four times per week), but since your needs during pregnancy double, it's safer to make sure you have a dietary source of this nutrient. Vegetarian sources include egg yolks, fortified dairy products and many soy and rice milks.
• If you're vegan (don't consume eggs or dairy products) it is critical to add a source of vitamin B12 to your diet. According to Reed Mangels, a registered dietitian with the Vegetarian Resource Group, a vegan mother cannot rely on her body's stores of B12 for her growing baby but must supplement her diet with fortified foods like nutritional yeast (delicious sprinkled on popcorn), soymilk, meat analogs (vegetarian meat substitutes) or breakfast cereals.
• Include walnuts, ground flaxseeds or flaxseed oil in your diet every day for your dose of omega-3 essential fatty acids, which play an important role in the development of the retina and brain and maintenance of the central nervous system. Avoid fish, which is often the recommended source of these oils, to avoid pesticide and mercury consumption.

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