Pregnant ladies, beware of your diet!

Pregnant ladies, beware of your diet!

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Nourishment is essential for all living creatures, and is
particularly important to have a proper diet for expectant
mothers. Careful and proper diets are suggested for pregnant
mothers for their own health and to ensure the babies' proper
growth.

However, due to insufficient information on nutrition or fear
of becoming fat, there are still a few women who continue their
often-unbalanced eating patterns. Others, thinking of eating for
two, opt to eat more than their bodies require.

Endang Darmoutomo, a nutritionist with the Siloam Gleneagles
Hospital in Karawaci, Tangerang, said an improper diet might
jeopardize the pregnancy.

"It's true that pregnant women have to eat for herself and her
baby but it doesn't mean they have to double their consumption,"
she said.

The normal weight gains during pregnancies varies from an
average of 12 kilograms (kgs) to 15 kgs for average-sized women,
seven kgs to 12 kgs for obese women, 14 kgs to 20 kgs for
underweight women and 17 kgs and 22 kgs for those expecting
twins.

Endang said the weight addition includes 500 grams of milk
glands, 600 grams for the placenta, three kilograms to 3.5
kilograms for the fetus, a kilogram for the uterus, a kilogram of
the amniotic fluid in which the baby will grow, 1.5 kilograms of
blood and 1.5 kilograms of extra cell fluid.

To achieve healthy weight gain, a mother's caloric intake
will be gradually increased. Generally, in the first trimester
caloric intake should go up from 50 to 150 calories per day,
while the second and third trimesters, it should be increased to
between 200 and 350 calories.

Such a diet plan is essential to ensure an average of one
kilogram of weight gain during the first trimester, five
kilograms for the second and six kilograms for the third
trimester.

"Excess caloric intake will be accumulated as fat in the
mother's body," Endang said.

A pregnant woman must eat a balanced diet, comprising all the
food groups, to ensure that adequate nutritional needs are
properly fulfilled.

For the food, apart from extra calories, ensuring sufficient
protein (0.8 gram to 1 gram of protein per kilogram body weight),
fat, carbohydrates and minerals (including folate, zinc, iron,
calcium, magnesium, among others) intake is also important.

"When these requirements are not fulfilled, the baby will rob
the mother's nutrient supply to meet his daily need," Endang
warned.

Women with nausea -- which can be caused by hormonal
imbalances during pregnancy -- or a loss of appetite can fulfill
their nutritional needs by increasing milk intake from two
glasses daily to three or four glasses per day.

Morning sickness can also be soothed by adjusting eating
patterns and this includes eat smaller portions of balanced meals
but more frequently (five meals daily).

Mothers are suggested to avoid fatty foods, hot and spicy
foods (chili stimulates the stomach to work faster and would
prompt nausea). They are also encouraged to eat light crackers or
drink a glass of orange juice, and not to skip breakfast because
the accumulated gastric juice may trigger nausea. It is also
recommended to increase the intake of vitamin B (preferably with
your gynecologist's consultation).

Endang said pregnant women are particularly prone to anemia
due to zinc deficiency and hemorrhoids because of extra pressure
in the lower abdominal area that affects blood circulation.
Hemorrhoids are preventable by consuming plenty of fruits,
vegetables and water as well as doing at least 30 minutes of
exercise several times a week.

"During exercise, the muscles constrict and it helps pump the
blood through the veins to improve circulation. Walking is the
best exercise," Endang said.

Pregnant women, she added, must limit their sodium intake (as
it may increase blood pressure and can cause swelling). They also
need to avoid food they are allergic to and alcohol which could
hamper the circulation of the oxytocin hormone that stimulates
the contraction of the uterine muscle and the secretion of milk.

Expecting mothers also need to avoid drinking coffee as it can
rob the body of calcium and tea because its tannin helps the
absorption of micronutrients.

"Many Indonesian women believe in jamu (traditional herbal
medicine) but it is advisable to stop drinking those during the
pregnancy," said Endang, explaining that ingredients used to make
jamu are not clearly mentioned and how they are dried and
processed are not described.

As for lactating women, they need about 300 to 500 additional
calories with 1.5 to 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body
weight per day. As for their normal water intake, it should be
about three liters to ensure adequate milk production.

"If this need is not fulfilled, the milk glands will not
produce sufficient, good quality breast milk to feed the baby six
times a day," she said.

In the first few days, the breastmilk is usually secreted in a
small quantity and is called colostrum, which contains a large
amount of protein and antibodies that protects the baby against
infection before they get immunization injections, she said.

Normal breastfeeding periods range from four months (of
exclusively breastmilk) to two years.

Therefore, expecting mothers are encouraged to consult with
their gynecologists and nutritionists about dietary needs to help
them when they are expecting, so as to avoid any problems.