Aim for:
- Fruit / vegetables / salad – five portions a day, well washed and peeled
- Carbohydrates – three or four portions wholemeal bread / cereal / potatoes / rice / pasta
- Protein – two portions well cooked meat / poultry / fish and/or eggs / pulses / nuts
- Dairy – one pint milk / yoghurt / hard cheese
- 10mcg of vitamin D each day is advised throughout your pregnancy and if you breastfeed.
- 400mcg of folic acid is advised each day until you are 12 weeks pregnant.
Foods to avoid:
- Mould ripened soft cheese (e.g. Brie, Camembert etc) and blue veined cheeses
- Meat – rare and uncooked meats, liver, pate, Parma ham
- Fish – marlin, swordfish and shark, and limited fresh/tinned tuna
- Eggs – raw and undercooked eggs (e.g. in homemade mayonnaise, some desserts and soft ‘dippy’ yolks)
- Ice cream – ‘Mr Whippy’ style ice cream
- Caffeine – No more than 200mg a day (e.g. two mugs of coffee or three mugs of tea)
- Avoid fizzy ‘energy’ drinks e.g. Coke, Red Bull
- Do not take vitamin A supplements as too much could harm your baby.
There is no clear evidence to say that eating peanuts in pregnancy or while breastfeeding will affect the chances of your baby developing a peanut allergy. Please ask your midwife if you would like more information.
Resources on other sites:
Healthy Start vitamins and why you need them
Healthy Start vitamins contain appropriate amounts of the recommended vitamin supplements for pregnant and breastfeeding women, and children aged from six months old.
Department of Health
Vegetarian pregnancy, vegetarian babies
Useful information to support a healthy pregnancy for vegetarian mothers
Vegetarian Society
