Healthy Pregnancy

For many women, pregnancy may be the first time they really begin to examine their health habits and question how their diet affects their body. Knowing that their children are directly affected by the foods they eat suddenly makes good nutrition seem much more important than it used to seem. Most women are even willing to give up foods they like or adopt new habits to ensure the health of their babies. But what happens after pregnancy? Is your health any less important once you are no longer carrying a baby inside of you?

I’d like you to view your pregnancy as a time to make changes for the better—lasting changes that you can take with you into your life as a mother after pregnancy. If you can learn to eat healthier for your baby, why not continue eating healthier for yourself? Not only will long-term changes help you live a longer life free of disease, but it will ultimately benefit your children and your family to have you in the best health possible. Some of the information in this book applies specifically to pregnancy. But the overall approach to a healthy lifestyle can apply anytime in your life. In the last chapter, I’ll explain some of the ways you can apply good eating habits to your life after pregnancy and thereby lower your risk of chronic disease and health problems in the future.

Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies

It’s important to realize that many of the factors that can lead to pregnancy complications and poor health in babies are largely outside of women’s control. These include genetics, poverty, lack of adequate health care, violence, drug or alcohol addiction, and exposure to environmental toxins and pollutants. In addition to the personal choices we make about our health, social and environmental factors have a great impact on our health and our children’s health. In spite of our singular wealth and resources, the United States ranks twenty-eighth in the world in infant mortality, largely because of our disparities in health care along racial and socioeconomic lines. These tips can reach only a subset of women, and it can address only the factors under their control. We also need good support services and outreach programs to give resources, education, and access to good nutrition to all women. Every society has an investment in the health of its citizens. Helping women stay healthy benefits their health as well as the health of our next generation of children.


Tips during pregnancy: Pregnancy by the week and supplements during pregnancy