Many women who become pregnant worry needlessly about gaining weight and how they will ever recover their figures after the baby is born. Some are so concerned about this that they actually try to slim while they are pregnant. It cannot be emphasized enough how dangerous this can be. When you are pregnant you need extra, not less, calories in order to stay fit and well and to have a healthy baby.

This does not mean that eating for two implies eating enough for two people and helping yourself to double portions of food. However, it does mean that you have to improve the quality of what you eat. It has been estimated that during the first three months of pregnancy you will need an additional 150 calories daily – this equates to approximately two extra slices of very thinly buttered whole meal bread. And during the next six months you will need 350 extra calories every day – approximately the same as 50g/2oz salted nuts. So you can see that you need not eat enormous amounts of extra food.

The important thing is to concentrate on high- quality, nutrient-rich food which is often low to medium in calories. Avoid the low-quality, high- calorie foods that put on unwanted weight and have little or no nutritional goodness – for example, cakes, candies, sweets, buns, cream, pastries, sugar, biscuits and chocolates. You will get all the calories and nutrients you need from eating less fattening fresh vegetables, fruit, whole-grain cereals, lean meat, fish, poultry, beans, pulses, milk, eggs and low- to medium-fat cheeses and yoghurts.
In the past many doctors encouraged women to restrict their weight gain deliberately and to eat less than usual. This was because they believed that a high weight gain may be linked with toxemia, a term that embraces those disorders in later pregnancy where there is increased fluid, swelling and high blood pressure. However, new scientific research shows that the women most likely to become toxemic are those on poor diets which are high in processed foods and low in nutrients, and those who try to restrict their weight gain.

These women are more inclined to have low-birth weight babies, to have longer, more difficult labors and to suffer hemorrhages. Even their babies may be at risk and have a bigger chance of being retarded or handicapped in some way, or having a lower IQ score in later childhood.

If you restrict your own weight gain during pregnancy, you are more likely to have a smaller baby. After all, your baby can only get the food and nutrients she needs to grow and develop that you provide. Babies weighing in at 71b or more are generally healthier, stronger and even more intelligent than smaller babies, especially those of 51/21b or less.

The average weight gain during the whole of pregnancy is about 281b. Mothers who put on this much weight and eat a healthy, nutritious diet tend to have bigger, healthier babies and fewer complications. Usually the baby’s weight increases proportionately to the mother’s weight gain. If you breastfeed your baby afterwards and do the problems. To show you how the extra weight is all accounted for, look at the chart.

You can see that only one-third of the total weight gain is actually accounted for by an increase in fat and fluid in your own body. The rest belongs to the baby and its life support system which you will shed anyway at birth; your enlarged breasts which will reduce after breastfeeding; increased blood volume will gradually be discounted after birth as will the enlarged uterus.

This example is obviously only an approximation, and weight gain and how it is made up will vary from one woman to the next. Fluid retention in particular may account for a large gain in some women. Don’t be alarmed if this happens to you – it usually disappears soon after delivery.

Of course, the ideal amount of gain will also be influenced by your pre-pregnancy weight. If you are underweight at the time of conception, it may be beneficial if you gain quite a lot of weight while eating a highly nutritious pregnancy diet. On the other hand, if you are very overweight when you become pregnant you may not need to gain so much weight as long as your baby receives all the nutrients that are vital for her growth and development.

The best thing is just to eat a healthy, varied diet which does not contain too many high-fat, sugared and convenience foods. Regular antenatal exercises, walking and swimming will help tone up and firm muscles and problem areas and prevent superfluous weight gain. One way of checking whether you are gaining too much weight in unwanted places is to measure your upper thighs. This thigh measurement

Eating healthily can be easy and fun. Fruit is full of vitamins and minerals so try some of the different kinds available in shops and markets. For a change follow some of these recipes, using fruit in nutritious and tasty, but low-calorie. Puddings. It is also easy to vary your fiber intake as there is a wide range of different breads, rolls and cereals to choose from.

However, try to select bread that has not been baked with addititives. Well, many doctors think that a pregnant woman should gain about 101b in the first 20 weeks, and then a steady weight gain of about lob per week for the next 20 weeks up to birth, making a total of about 301b. Of course, not everyone conforms to this perfect norm and you should not be unduly worried if your weight fluctuates a little and you gain more one week than you do another. You may even find that some weeks you don’t gain any at all. You will be weighed whenever you visit the doctor or clinic and they will check that everything is OK and that there is nothing to worry about.

Pregnancy is not a time for counting calories and restricting your weight. However, although some weight gains of, say 28-351b is healthy; it is not a good idea for your health or your looks to put on excessive weight. High-calorie foods that provide little nutritional goodness should be cut out altogether or eaten only as occasional treats – for example, biscuits, cookies, chocolate, sweets, cream, steamed puddings, cakes, buns, doughnuts and the like. Remember, too, that some savory foods can be very fattening and aren’t particularly good for you – French fries, potato crisps, processed sausages and most fried foods. Always grill meat and fish in preference to frying them – the calorie count will be lower and the end-product healthier. Here are some recipes for enjoyable cakes and desserts, which are nutritious and really do you good. Although some efforts have been made to restrict calories, they should not be eaten in large quantities and should be regarded as treats rather than everyday fare. The healthiest dessert you can eat is fresh fruit or yoghurt; and the best snacks are raw vegetables, nuts and seeds. However, if you have a naturally sweet tooth, the recipes here may help make your pregnancy diet more bearable.

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