Ask Our Experts: Food and Pregnancy

I’m in my second trimester and I’m still feeling sick all the time, resulting in me not eating much. This worries me as I feel that my baby is not getting proper nutrition. What should I do?

The ‘pregnancy sickness symptoms’ still can persist for some people even until the late pregnancy; this is due to the changes of the hormonal levels in the body. However, most pregnant women overcome the problem in the 2nd trimester and enjoy their ‘honeymoon’ phase after that.

Getting sufficient energy & nutrients have become a challenge for women suffering with pregnancy sickness. “Small-frequent meals” are always the strategy that we guide pregnant women to practice. Start your day with a healthy, lower in fat but higher in protein breakfast. Eg. Give yourself a bowl of mixed grain cereals with dried fruit/ nuts, added with a glass of low fat milk and followed by a small bun for your morning tea seems like a good light breakfast choice. For women who like traditional meal, can either choose a bowl of noodle soup to start the day or 2-3 slices of toast with egg/ tuna, but remember, not to take fried noodle or fried rice to start your day. That will cause the digestive system to start the work with ‘heavy load’ in the morning, taking longer time to digest all the food taken.

Eating every 3-4 hours can help to meet your energy & nutrients needs. Due to the limited quantity that you are able to take, please choose food that is high in quality. You can have a night drink before your sleep if possible, to replenish the nutrients losses during day time.

Check with your doctor, as long as baby is growing in size and weight every month, baby should be fine. Monitoring your own weight gain is also another way to ensure that you are getting sufficient energy and nutrients.

I don’t like and can’t tolerate the smell and taste of milk and other dairy products, how can I add calcium to my diet during pregnancy?

Before pregnancy, our calcium requirement is 800mg/day. During pregnancy, Calcium requirement is 1000mg/day. To meet sufficient Calcium requirement a day during pregnancy, we need to take at least 4 servings of dairy products or calcium rich food. Calcium and vitamin D are important during pregnancy in order to prevent further losses from your bones and sufficient supply to build the needs for fetus during pregnancy. For women who have lactose intolerance or dislike milk products, soy milk can be a good option. Besides that, green leafy vegetables, sardine, toufu, grains and broccoli are also good source of Calcium. To meet up adequate daily calcium requirement, sometimes calcium supplement is recommended.

Is it okay for me to consume artificial sweeteners during my pregnancy?

Not advisable unless really needed. If the reason for taking artificial sweetener is to reduce sugar intake, then, it will be more advisable to control your overall carbohydrates intake instead of only replacing your sugar with artificial sweetener.