Good food in pregnancy does not have to be expensive or imported. What matters is variety, enough of it, and the iron and folic acid tablets from your clinic.
You do not need special foods to eat well in pregnancy. You need a little more than usual, and as much variety as you can manage from what is grown and sold around you.
Build each day from four kinds of food
- Foods that give energy — the staples you already eat: maize, rice, plantain, cassava, cocoyam, yams, potatoes.
- Foods that build the body — beans, groundnuts, eggs, fish, meat, milk, egusi and other seeds.
- Dark green leaves and vegetables — huckleberry leaves, bitterleaf, pumpkin leaves, okra, carrots, tomatoes.
- Fruit — pawpaw, mango, oranges, pineapple, avocado, bananas, whatever is in season.
Try to have something from each group every day. If money is short, beans with dark green leaves and a staple is a strong meal.
Iron and folic acid
Your body needs much more iron when you are pregnant. Too little causes anaemia, which leaves you weak and makes bleeding at birth more dangerous. Food alone is rarely enough, which is why the World Health Organization recommends a daily iron and folic acid tablet throughout pregnancy. These are given at antenatal visits. Take them every day, and tell your health worker if they upset your stomach rather than stopping them.
Everyday habits that help
- Drink clean water through the day.
- Eat smaller meals more often if you feel sick or full quickly.
- Use iodised salt in your cooking.
- Wash your hands before preparing food and before eating, and cook meat, fish and eggs well.
- Avoid alcohol and tobacco, and do not take medicines or herbal remedies without asking a health worker first.
- Sleep under a treated mosquito net every night.