Nutritional and Food Related Problems

It's very important to eat enough good food to satisfy your nutritional needs while you're pregnant; otherwise, you could put yourself and your developing baby at risk. Another danger can be eating food contaminated with bacteria that cause disease; examples are chicken or eggs contaminated with salmonella.

Malnutrition

You need to eat properly for your baby's sake. If you don't, there's a higher risk that you could miscarry or have a premature or low­birthweight baby, who will be more vulnerable at birth and later in life. (By the way, having a low birthweight baby does not mean labor will be easier.) Being poorly nourished yourself can also slow the growth of the placenta, and low placental weight is related to a higher infant mortality rate. Your baby's brain develops most rapidly in the last trimester of pregnancy (and in the first month of life after birth) so if you're undernourished, it can affect your baby's brain function.

A poor diet during pregnancy can continue to affect a child throughout his life, and may mean he's more likely to suffer such middle-age diseases as high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and obesity. If there's not enough nutrition getting through to your womb, the baby diverts what's available to those cells that are immediately important, and away from those cells that will not be important until later in life-in effect, your unborn baby trades a long life for short-term survival.

On the other hand, if you have enough good food and give birth to a good-sized baby, such a baby will be easier to care for, more vigorous, active, mentally alert, and less likely to suffer from colic, diarrhea, anemia, and infections.

Fresh foods are best, and if you can't afford them, the United States Department of Agricultue Food and Nutrition Service can help with subsidized food stamps. Avoid processed foods and those containing lots of additives, flavorings, and colorings.

Processed foods Many of these foods contain chemicals to improve flavor, nutritional value, and shelf life. As a general rule, it's best to avoid these, especially when you're pregnant-in particular, processed cheese and meats, cheese spreads, and sausages. Check the lists of ingredients on labels for additives, including food colorings and preservatives. Always make sure that you eat any packaged food well before its expiration date, and don't buy any foods that don't list their ingredients. It's also a good idea to avoid highly salted foods, particularly those containing monosodium glutamate (MSG), which can cause dehydration and headaches.

Preserved food Smoked fish, meat and cheese, pickled food, and sausages often contain nitrates. These can react with the hemoglobin in your blood and reduce its oxygen-carrying power, so they are best avoided.

Drinks Caffeine (in tea, coffee, and hot chocolate) is a stimulant, so try to cut back on them when you're pregnant. The tannin in tea interferes with iron absorption, so drink organic herbal teas instead. Soft drinks always contain sugar or sweeteners, so limit your intake of them. Mineral water is fine.

Food Hazards

Some foods can be contaminated with large enough numbers of bacteria to cause illness, particularly in vulnerable people-such as pregnant women and babies.

Listeriosis Foods that can contain large numbers of listeria bacteria include soft cheese, unpasteurized milk, prepackaged coleslaw, cooked chilled foods, pates, and meat that hasn't been properly cooked. Listeria bacteria is normally destroyed at pasteurizing temperatures, but if infected food is then refrigerated, the bacteria may continue to multiply. For this reason, you shouldn't eat chilled food after its expiration date. Listeriosis can spread through direct contact with infected live animals, such as sheep. Symptoms are flulike: a high temperature and aches and pains, and also sore throat and eyes, diarrhea, and stomach pain. An unborn child affected through his mother's blood may be stillborn, and listeriosis may be a cause of recurrent miscarriage.

Salmonella Infection with salmonella is often traced back to contaminated eggs and chicken meat, so avoid foods that contain raw eggs. Cook eggs and chicken well, and choose free-range eggs and fowl. Symptoms, including headache, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, shivering, and fever, develop suddenly from 12-48 hours after infection and last two or three days. If the infection spreads into your bloodstream, you'll need to take antibiotics.

Toxoplasmosis This common infection can be picked up by eating raw or undercooked pork or steak, or by coming into contact with the feces of infected cats and dogs. Don't dispose of your cat's and dog's feces unless you wear gloves and wash your hands in disinfectant immediately afterward.

Dysentery This disease is carried in the feces of an affected person. It causes dehydration, severe diarrhea, and abdominal pain, and is dangerous for pregnant women. Amoebic dysentery is rare outside tropical areas, but bactenal dysentery is more common. It's usually passed on when an infected person fails to wash his or her hands properly after going to the bathroom and then handles food.