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What are the additional nutritional needs of pregnant women?
Even prior to pregnancy and during the very early stages of pregnancy, it’s very important to have a balanced nutritional plate. The caloric requirements of the body increase to about 300 calories a day all throughout pregnancy. And breast-feeding requires an additional 500-calorie increase on top of that.
In early pregnancy, nutrition has a big impact on fetal development. Amazingly, the body compensates and takes the fats, carbohydrates and proteins from whatever you give it, but if you have a healthier, balanced diet there are fewer problems in development. There’s an increased need of folic acid this has been in the media for quite a while. Studies have shown that folic acid actually decreases spinal problems and genetic problems.
Since nutrition is so critical, especially during the early stages of pregnancy, women need to actually start on prenatal vitamins even before conception, and to continue that all the way through pregnancy. But it’s very vital in the very early stages of pregnancy, during the first four to eight weeks of early fetal development.