For the first 3 months, the diet of a pregnant woman should include food rich in iron, folic acid and foods high in calcium.
Folic Acid :
- Folic acid helps prevent certain birth defects.
- Folic acid works if taken before and during early pregnancy.
- Take a daily multivitamin with 400 micrograms of folic acid.
Folic acid is a B vitamin that helps a baby’s neural tube to grow healthy during pregnancy. The neural tube will become a baby’s brain and spinal cord. But if the neural tube doesn’t close the way it should, it can cause a very serious birth defect called a neural tube defect (NTD).
The good news is that folic acid can help prevent neural tube defects. But it only works if taken before getting pregnant and during the first few weeks of pregnancy, often before you even know you’re pregnant. Since nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, it's important that all women (even if they're not trying to get pregnant) get the right amount of folic acid.
The best way to get enough folic acid is to take a multivitamin with 400 micrograms of folic acid before pregnancy and eat a healthy diet.
2 servings of dark green leafy vegetables (1 serving = approximately 1 cup)
- collard
- turnip
- spinach
- lettuce
- cabbage
2-3 servings of fruit (1 serving = approximately ½ cup)
- orange
- strawberry
- lemon
- mango
- tomato
- grapefruit
- kiwi
- melon
3 serving of whole grain (1 serving = approximately ½ cup or 1 slice)
- bread
- cornmeal
- cereal
- oatmeal
2 servings of legumes (1 serving = approximately ½ cup)
- split peas
- red and white kidney beans
- black beans
- navy beans
- black-eyed peas
- chick peas (garbanzo beans)
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