Monday 14 January 2013

Having a healthy vegetarian baby.

So, after the hassle of arranging a vegetarian wedding we have a new challenge to face - a vegetarian pregnancy! I have to say that after the comments I get day - to -day, I was expecting to get a lot more grief about this but I have only really received one comment, and that was from my dad! When I told him I was pregnant he said "So, you're going to start eating meat now then, are you?", to which I replied with a simple "No", and that was that. Maybe people are too scared to mess with a hormonal woman!
I'll admit that I was a bit worried about getting all the nutrients that myself and my baby needed, but this was more because I have a history of borderline iron deficiency anaemia (this was BEFORE I stopped eating meat) and that fact that I couldn't face eating a lot of things for the first couple of months, than that fact that I am a vegetarian. I took vitamins for first few months, which I think most pregnant women do, veggie or not, but I really haven't changed my diet. It's pretty easy to get everything you need, but if you need any help, do what I did and stick this poster, available from Viva!,up in your kitchen. I am pleased to say that my bloods have all been fine, my weight gain has been normal and despite being in a high risk group for gestational diabetes, my glucose tolerance is completely normal too.
So, the moral of the story is that, regardless of what the "Where are you going to get your protein / calcium / iron from?" scaremongers might say, a vegetarian diet is perfectly healthy for expectant mothers, and their growing babies!

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