Nutritional Needs During Pregnancy Taking the right amount of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and fluids are important during pregnancy. Having a healthy and balanced diet will increase the chances of no birth defects, and a “favorable long-term health outlook for mother and infant” (Grodners ppt). …show more content…
Increasing protein by 71 grams a day is recommended to allow for the growth and maintenance of tissues within a woman’s body. Calcium, iron, and folate are the main important minerals to have a healthy baby. Calcium should be increased to 1000 mg a day to assist with the growth of fetal bones and teeth, and prevents a mother’s bone from deteriorating. (Edelman). It is recommended by the Research Data Alliance (RDA) that iron should be increased by 30 mg to prevent anemia, and produce more blood to help the growth of the baby, as well as maintain the amount of blood of the woman. The RDA also recommends that a woman should increase her folate to 600 micrograms a day to prevent neural tube defects (Edelman). Prenatal vitamins are usually prescribed to pregnant women to “help cover any nutritional gaps in [a] mother’s diet” (WebmMD), but the vitamins do no cover all nutritional concerns. Having a healthy diet, and taking prenatal vitamins are both factors to a successful …show more content…
Throughout her pregnancy, she gained 20 pounds and is now 30 weeks pregnant. It is recommended that a woman should gain 25-35 pounds while pregnant, and since Pam is already is already 7 ½ months pregnant, she should have gained about 15-25 pounds. Her weight is currently at a normal range for 30 weeks in and should gain at least 5-15 more pounds within the next 10 weeks. If Pam were to gain excessive weight while pregnant, she could potentially cause excessive fetal growth and “in conjunction with maternal gestational diabetes (GDM) or hyperglycemia” (Bowers). Since Pam is already maintaining a healthy weight, it should be recommended that Pam does light exercises and stray away from junk food and opt for a more nutritional diet. Pam stated that one of her concerns was having a pre-term labor again, and if she wants to prevent that from happening exercise can help reduce that chances. There was even a case study in the USA that showed “protective effect of physical activity against pre-eclampsia with reduced odds between 30% and 80%” (Kuhrt). Since Pam still smokes, has a stressful job, and is a mother of 3 children it is possible her blood pressure may be high. Pre-eclampsia is having high blood pressure while being pregnant and “is associated with increased risk of preterm birth, neonatal intensive care unit admissions and fetal death” (Kuhrt). Although Pam is at a normal healthy