During your pregnancy, if you eat a varied and balanced diet, your baby will have all it needs to be healthy. Here are some helpful tips for developing good eating habits.
Off - Limits
Dairy Products
- Raw (unpasteurised) milk cheese (e.g. French brie, camembert, roquefort, Swiss gruyere)
- Commercial grated cheese (e.g. tasty mozzarella)
Fish & Fish Eggs
- Smoked Fish (smoked salmon, etc.)
- Raw fish (sushi, carpaccio, ceviche)
- Surimi (imitation crab)
- Taramasalata, lumpfish roe, caviar
- Stingray, shark (flake), swordfish
Shellfish & Crustaceans
- Raw Shellfish (oysters scallop crudo, etc.)
- Raw crustaceans (prawn tatare, etc.)
Meat
- Smoked and dried meats and products (raw ham, salami, etc.)
- Meats and dishes slow-cooked at low temperatures (rillettes, pates, foie gras, etc.)
- Raw or marinated meats and dishes (carpaccio, steak tartare, rate duck breast, etc.)
- Liver (calf's liver etc.)
Eggs
- Raw eggs an dishes containing raw eggs (home-made mayonnaise, home-made ice cream, home-made chocolate mousse, etc.)
- Semi-cooked eggs and dishes that contain them (e.g. soft-boiled eggs, chocolate lava cakes)
Drinks
- Alcohol (in drinks, but also in dishes such as flambeed crepes, baked Alaska, rum baba)
- Energy drinks
Allowed
Dairy Products
- Pasteurised milk cheeses (check on the packaging): feta, mozzarella, gouda, havarti, cream cheeses
- Medium-hard to hard cheeses: parmesan, pecorino, comte (French gruyere), emmental
- Cooked (not just melted) cheeses
Fish
- Tinned tuna, salmon, ocean trout, trout, flounder, herring, mackerel, hake (cooked)
Meat
- Cooked meats (cooked ham, sausages, meat in general)
Eggs
- Egg products (e.g. mass produced ice cream, mass-produced chocolate mousse)
- Cooked eggs and dishes that contain them (hard-boiled eggs, quiche, cakes, etc.)
Fruits & Vegetables
- Cooked vegetables
- Cooked fruits
Eat in Moderation
Fish
- Orange roughly (deep sea perch) catfish, bonito, eel, mullet, skate, tuna (cooked)
- Cooked shellfish (mussels, oysters, etc.)
- Cooked crustaceans (prawns, crab, etc.)
- Cooked smoked fish
Meat
- Offal (except liver)
Fruits & Vegetables
- Raw vegetables
- Herbs
- Raw fruit
- Soy
Drinks
- Sparkling water
- Tea, coffee
- Herbal teas
- Sodas and soft drinks
How Much Weight Should You Gain While Pregnant
Your pregnancy BMI (Body Mass Index) determines your weight gain recommendations. Your BMI is calculated by multiplying your weight in pounds by 703, then dividing by your height in inches squared. Or you can download a BMI app and do the calculations. You can search "adult BMI calculator" at cdc.gov, or use the chart below.
Your Pregnancy Mood Swings
Expectant dads share a lot more than the birth of their bundle of joy with their partner. Long before that bundle arrives, you may share in many of the symptoms, including pregnancy mood slumps, which are surprisingly common for expectant dads. Fluctuations in your hormones can play a role, but feelings factor in as well. Almost every dad-to-be, just like most moms-to-be, experiences a host of conflicted feelings in the months leading up to life’s most major changes, from anxiety to fear to ambivalence to a crumbling of confidence.
If You Get Sick
Maybe you were expecting some of the usual pregnancy symptoms while you’re pregnant. Like morning sickness, heartburn, and fatigue. Maybe you weren’t expecting to come down with a cold. Since your normal suppression of your immune system (so your body doesn’t reject your baby as “foreign”), makes you an easier target for germs. Not to mention it can be twice as uncomfortable when you’re sick for two, and so many of your regular remedies may need to stay on the shelf for now.
Back-to-Back Pregnancies
Are you expanding your family a little sooner than expected? Having another pregnancy before you have fully recovered from the last pregnancy , can be hard enough without adding stress. Although closely spaced pregnancies can take a physical toll on a mom-to-be who has just became a mom, there are a lot of things you can do to help your body be up to the challenge of back-to back- pregnancies.