Nutrition During Pregnancy - Essay Example

NUTRITION DURING PREGNANCY Name: Institution: Educational resource The importance of this education resource is to give pregnant women an outline of their nutritional requirements, dietary planning, recipe modification and food safety. Attached is a model educational resource. Rationale The attached educational resource is a flyer that outlines the importance of good nutrition during pregnancy. It describes the importance of a balanced diet, food safety, weight and nutritional management, food labels, dietary plans and meal plans. It also explains the importance of changing eating habits and recipe modification. The design of the educational resource is meant to make it interesting and conspicuous. The colours used are to attract the attention of pregnant women so that they can pick up and read the flyer. The illustrations are also attention grabbing and this entices an individual to become interested in the educational resource. The pictures placed on the left illustrate what is being explained on the right. With this arrangement, the pictures will remind the reader of the information even months after reading the flyer. The two page flyer is to be printed on both sides of one paper thus it will be easy to pick up and carry around yet it contains a lot of helpful information. The information contained in the educational resource is as follows: Nutritional Management Nutritional management during pregnancy is important because the growing fetus depends on maternal nutritional stores and nutrient uptake during pregnancy for optimal growth and development. This information is important for the mother since good nutrition ensures that the baby gets all the nutrients they need to grow before birth (Wing, 2011). Weight Management Proper weight management is also included in the educational resource. Proper weight management during pregnancy is vital as it decreases adverse risks on the baby. Heavy babies are a cause for concern because death rates rise as birth weight increases above the normal range of birth weight. It’s imperative to maintain the appropriate gestational weight gain during the entire period of pregnancy in order to achieve an optimal birth weight (Borne, 2012). Diet Plan A balanced diet is essential for a healthy pregnancy. To avoid dehydration and constipation that is common during pregnancy, it is critical for pregnant women to drink ample amounts of fluids especially water so as to support the blood volume increase that occurs during pregnancy (Haid, 2011). This information was added to inform the mothers on the right foods to eat for proper nutrition. The following nutrients are extremely important during pregnancy and they were mentioned in the resource. 1. Foliate. Foliates prevent Neural Tube Defects such as spina bifida occulta, anencephaly and encephalocele (Glusmann, 2011). A 500 micrograms daily supplement of foliate in the diet during the first trimester is recommended. Foods rich in foliate are vegetables (such as broccoli, Brussels’ sprouts, asparagus and cauliflowers), fresh fruits (such as bananas, strawberries and oranges), legumes (such as peas, lentils and soy beans), wholegrain breads, fortified breakfast cereals, oats, and nuts (Prech,2011). 2. Iron. Pregnancy increases the body iron requirements due to increased haematopoiesis in the mother and fetus. Sources of haem iron include red meats (such as beef, kidney and lamb), chicken, liver and fish (Haid, 2011). 3. Iodine. Iodine is essential for hormone production and fetal brain development. Excellent sources of iodine include eggs, sea food, iodized salt and dairy foods. Most pregnant women in the Occident need an iodine supplement of 100-200 micrograms per day which is normally included in the multivitamin supplements (Kuop, 2011). 4. Calcium. Calcium is essential for proper bone morphogenesis in the fetus and the mother. Calcium sources include dairy foods such as cheese, milk and yoghurt while non-dairy sources include salmon, calcium-fortified soy drinks, soy cheese, soy yoghurt, sardines, tofu, tahini and almonds (Kuop, 2011). 5. Vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential for proper fetal and maternal bone metabolism. Women who have minimum exposure to sunlight need 10 micrograms supplements of Vitamin D daily or foods rich in vitamin D such as sea foods, eggs, margarine and vitamin D fortified milk (Kuop, 2011). 6. Omega 3 fats. Omega 3 can be obtained from foods rich in omega 3 fats; this includes fishes such as mackerel, sardines, herrings, salmons and tuna. Supplements are not recommended (Kuop, 2011). 7. Multivitamins. Multivitamins supplements support a healthy pregnancy and should be taken a month before pregnancy and during the entire pregnancy period (Haid, 2011). Creating a Balanced Diet For a pregnant mother to watch her weight and maintain her nutritional intake simultaneously, she has to eat a balanced diet. A balanced diet ensures that all the food consumed has nutritional roles to play and no excess calories are taken in to control the weight. The educational resource gives the steps of creating a balanced diet and also provides a sample meal plan that can be easily implemented and is budget friendly (Prech, 2011). Food Labels The importance of reading food labels to know their nutritional content is included in the educational resource. It is very important for a pregnant mother to know what nutrients she requires. With this information, she can shop wisely. Every pregnant mother should ensure that she reads the labels of all the food items she buys. She can be able to pick out what is right and what is not (Haid, 2011). Food Safety to Prevent Infections during Pregnancy Food safety is very important during pregnancy as the mother’s immunity is reduced. A pregnant woman is prone to various infections such as: 1. Listeria infections Listeria infection harms unborn babies and it’s implicated in still births. Pregnant women should avoid processed foods which are not adequately heat-treated, food that has been stored for a long period and food that has been subjected to poor hygiene (Lauer, 2011). 2. Toxoplasmosis Toxoplasmosis results from consuming raw or undercooked meat. Hence, the importance of observing appropriate food hygiene practices (Lauer, 2011). Conclusion Nutrition during pregnancy involves nutritional management, dietary planning, recipe modification and change of eating habits. These factors influence weight management and therefore affect the outcome of the pregnancy. Budgetary concerns must be addressed during nutritional management and dietary planning. This information is very essential for every pregnant woman thus it was contained in the educational resource. References Baret, Suzanne (2011). FLH 451 Human Nutrition during Prenatal Life. New York, NY. University of British Columbia. Bermudez, I. (2011). Influence of the Nutrition on Gestation. Physiology 5 (1), 14–16. Borne, D. (2012). Fetal origins of adult disease: epidemiology and mechanisms. Journal of Clinical Pathology 53, 822–828. Glusmann, A. (2011). A decreasing rate of neural tube defects following the recommendations for peri-conceptional folic acid supplementation. Acta Pediatric 94 (11), 1538–42. Guyen, T. H. (2011). Evaluation of ultrasound-estimated size of fetus. Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 14 (1), 23–28. Haid, B. (2011). Multiple-micronutrient supplementation for pregnant women. Cochrane Database System (4), 150-170. Kuop, T. (2011). Serum levels of vitamin D metabolites, calcium, iodine, and Iron in Finnish women throughout pregnancy and in cord serum at delivery. Human Nutritional Clinic 40 (4), 287–93. Lauer, N. H. (2011). The Complete Book of Prenatal Nutrition New York, NY: Fawcett Columbine/Ballantine. Laura, H. (2011). Staying Healthy During Pregnancy, The Nemurs Foundation 3, 65-75. Stevens, R. E. (2011). Decline in prevalence of neural tube defects because of folic acid supplementation. Pediatrics 107 (4), 577–83. Prech, H. (2011) Prenatal Development of Human Motor system. Handbook of brain and behavior in human development 4, 415–418. Ream, K. (2011). Food and pregnancy. A prospective study. Journal of Reproductive Medicine. 27 (6), 321–327.  Theroux, E. (2011). Eating for pregnancy. Journal for Family Health Care 17 (2), 45–9. Wage, W. (2011). Nutrition and Fetal Development, 2nd Edition. Philadelphia, PA: W. B. Saunders. Wing, Y. F. (2011). Nutrition during Pregnancy in Canada. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Americana 84 (10), 934–938. Read More