Eating healthily during pregnancy will help your baby to develop and grow. You do not need to go on a special diet, but it's important to eat a variety of different foods every day to get the right balance of nutrients that you and your baby need.
- Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables because these provide vitamins and minerals, as well as fibre, which helps digestion and can help prevent constipation.
- Starchy foodsare an important source of energy, some vitamins and fibre, and help you to feel full without containing too many calories. They include bread, potatoes, breakfast cereals, rice, pasta, noodles, maize, millet, oats, yams and cornmeal.
- A higher intake of meat products such as beef or lamb includes haem iron, the most easily absorbable form of iron which during pregnancy, is vital for the baby’s growth and used to build new tissue for bones, muscles and organs.
- Dairy foods such as milk, cheese, fromage frais and yoghurt are important in pregnancy because they contain calcium and other nutrients that you and your baby need.
You may qualify for the Healthy Start scheme, which provides vouchers to pregnant women and families who qualify. The vouchers can be used to buy milk and plain fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables at local shops. You'll also get coupons that can be exchanged for free vitamins locally.