Vitamins: what mom needs

In pregnancy you do not need to eat more than usual, but you need to eat better to nourish the baby in a healthy way and be able to supply him with all the essential microelements.

It is often said that in pregnancy you have to eat for two. Nothing could be further from the truth. The energy required by the growing baby is in fact modest (300-400 Kcal more per day) and all carbohydrates, fats and proteins not immediately necessary translate into an unnecessary weight gain, unfavorable for mother and fetus.

Instead, it is important to eat well following a varied diet to nourish the baby in a healthy way from conception and be able to supply him with all the macro and micronutrients essential to support his growth.

What are the important micronutrients in pregnancy? Not many, but very precious: folic acid (vitamin B9) first of all; but also vitamin B12, especially if the mother is vegetarian; iron together with vitamin C in case of deficiency or tendency to anemia; iodine for the development of the nervous system of the unborn child; vitamin D, along with calcium, for the baby’s bones.

Let’s see in what foods they can be found:

Folic acid: for everyone, always

Folic acid, or vitamin B9, is a vitamin of primary importance throughout pregnancy for the well-being of both the baby and the mother.

Its correct intake is essential to prevent neural tube defects (in particular, the “spina bifida”) and congenital cardiovascular malformations in the fetus. Supplementation with folic acid also seems to reduce the risk of complications that can affect women in the gestational period, such as preeclampsia (pregnancy hypertension).

Given the benefits of folic acid in pregnancy widely documented by decades of clinical use and its proven harmlessness, in some countries (United States, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Chile) it has been decided to fortify some foods of greater consumption with this vitamin to ensure an optimal constant intake for the whole population.

In Italy, the Ministry of Health recommends to all women of childbearing age who do not exclude the possibility of having a child or in any case starting at least one month before conception to regularly take a supplement with no less than 400 mcg of folic acid per day.

Iron and vitamin C, if lacking

Another useful supplement in pregnancy concerns iron, important to prevent or correct anemia conditions in the mother and reduce the risk of low birth weight of the baby.

The guidelines suggest setting the daily intake, from conception, to 30 mg per day (half of which derive from food), simultaneously integrating vitamin C and citric acid, to promote intestinal assimilation.

Since the increased concentration of iron in the blood can reduce the body’s ability to use zinc and copper, supplements designed for pregnancy generally involve the association of all three of these elements.

However, specific supplementation should only be used in case of ascertained iron deficiency, therefore on medical indication and after slightly increasing the consumption of meat, the primary source of readily usable iron.

In this regard, it should be remembered that foods rich in iron should not be associated, in the same meal, with too many vegetable fibers or bran (which hinder absorption) and that spinach is not an adequate source since the iron contained in them is assimilated only minimally by the intestine.

Vitamin B12, sometimes

To allow the correct general and neurological development of the baby it is essential that the mother also meets her daily requirement of vitamin B12 (cobalamin), which tends to increase during pregnancy.

To require specific supplementation, with supplements or enriched foods (for example, breakfast cereals) are mainly women who follow a diet poor in foods of animal origin (strict vegetarians).

Iodine

Un’adeguata assunzione di iodio è molto importante durante la gravidanza per prevenire danni del sistema nervoso centrale nel nascituro. Per assicurare il normale sviluppo del bambino, la quantità di iodio raccomandata in gravidanza aumenta e corrisponde a circa 250 mcg (a fronte di un fabbisogno di 150 mcg per la popolazione generale adulta).

Gli studi ci dicono che la quantità di iodio assunta con la dieta non è sufficiente a soddisfare il fabbisogno raccomandato. Per questo motivo anche il Ministero della Salute consiglia (non solo alle donne in gravidanza ma alla popolazione generale) di limitare il consumo sale ma di preferire sempre quello arricchito di iodio.

Calcium and vitamin D more often

For the needs of the mother it would not be strictly essential to increase the intake of calcium, since the increased need due to the presence of the fetus is satisfied by the more efficient intestinal absorption that occurs during pregnancy.

A supplement of this mineral, combined with vitamin D, is however recommended to support the growth of the child’s bones and allow him to build a healthy and resistant skeleton.

Calcium and vitamin D must always be taken together: not only because vitamin D is essential to allow the calcium that arrives in the intestine to be absorbed, but also to ensure its correct metabolism and its insertion into the bone tissue.

The integration of these two elements is especially important in women who for strict vegetarianism, allergies or food intolerances do not take adequate quantities of dairy products and in those who are little exposed to the sun.

But even those who follow a varied and balanced diet should evaluate with their doctor the opportunity of targeted supplementation since epidemiological studies conducted in recent years have reported that states of partial vitamin D deficiency are much more widespread than one might think, even in the general population.