Many people believe that pregnant women must eat “for two”, in other words, twice the usual amount. However, this is not true!
What is more important is a health diet with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, milk, dairy products and high-quality fats. Drink a lot, preferably water or unsweetened tea. Do not go on a diet and do not fast, not even for religious reasons. Diets and fasting cures are unhealthy for pregnant women.
Important for the healthy development of your baby are:
- Folic acid: in spinach, broccoli, egg yolk, tomatoes, bananas
- Iron: in meat, black pepper, cinnamon, parsley, beans, peas, lentils, sesame, poppy seed, nuts
- Iodine: Use iodised salt!
- Calcium: in milk, dairy products, cabbage, broccoli, leek, fennel
Discuss all your questions with your doctor and read the following information:
Frequently asked questions during pregnancy
- Sources of vitamins and minerals
- SVA
- Well accompanied - Vienna Early Aid
- Eating well from the beginning
- BVA
- FEM Women's Health Centre
- Geburtsinfo - Informationsfolder 2020
- Weight gain during pregnancy
- Vienna Union of Hospitals
- Semmelweis Women's Clinic at Rudolfstiftung Hospital
- City of Vienna General Hospital
- تشخيص ما قبل الولادة الفحوصات في فترة الحمل – اتخذي قرارات عن علم ودراية
- Pre-natal diagnostics - specialist pre-natal tests
- Prenatal tanı Gebelik döneminde muayeneler
- All legal guidelines for Mother-Child Passport Ordinance
- Pre-natal diagnostic testing during pregnancy
- Childcare money in conjunction with mother-child passport
- Pränatal-Diagnostik. Untersuchungen in der Schwangerschaft
- Mother-child passport examinations (help.gv.at)
- Rudolfsstiftung Hospital Outpatient Clinic for Plastic and Reconstructive Gynaecology
- ÖGK
- Orient Express women's advice centre
- Women's helpline against male violence
- https://www.hebammen.at/eltern/schwangerschaft/hebammenberatung/
- Violence against women
- Advice centre for women, Vienna Women's Refuge Society
- Vienna Intervention Service against violence in the family
- Midwifery services covered by the Health Insurer
- Gesundheitszentrum - Favoriten
- 24-hour women's emergency hotline
- Geburtsinfo Wien, Informationsfolder, 2019
- Health Centre - Vienna Mariahilf
- Midwife counselling in mother-child passport
- Mother-child passport (BMG)
- Health Centre - Vienna Centre
- Mother-child passport (WGKK)
- Health Centre - Vienna North
- Emergency social psychiatric services
- Crisis intervention centre
- Sucht- und Drogenkoordination der Stadt Wien
- Wilhelminen Hospital specialist outpatient clinic for perinatal psychiatry
- Movement during pregnancy
- Netdoktor
- Tips for coping with light nausea
- FAQs in pregnancy
- Netdoktor
- Brochures: Pregnancy and drugs
- Netdoktor
- FSW mobile early intervention
- Smoke-free hotline brochure
- Baby's first spoonful (Turkish)
- Netdoktor
- Self-insurance when caring for a disabled child
- Smoke-free hotline
- Netdoktor
- Dialogue - individual help with addiction
- Sport in der Schwangerschaft
- Netdoktor
- Disabled children
- Vienna Addiction and Drugs Coordination
- Sucht und Drogen Koordination Wien
- Ringelröteln in der Schwangerschaft: Risiko - NetDoktor.at
- Pregnancy - infection through food
- Post-partum depression - I should really be happy - guide for mothers
- Eating properly during pregnancy
- Netdoktor
- Baby's first spoonful
- Frequently asked questions during pregnancy
- Netdoktor
- Frequently asked questions about nutrition during the breastfeeding period
- Proper nutrition from the beginning
- Netdoktor
- Nutrition workshops in the breastfeeding period, and complementary food for babies
- Basic food information table for pregnant women
- Netdoktor
- Breastfeeding - a good start
- Employee representation
- Netdoktor
- Virtueller Amtshelfer
- Netdoktor
- Maternity protection conditions (help.gv.at)
- Eine Auszeit für Ihr Baby. Information zu Alkohol und Rauchen für werdende Mütter
- Fred, der Exbärte ('the Exbeart') – video guide for parents
- Help.gv.at - Schwangerschaft von Jugendlichen
- Netdoktor
- Netdoktor
- Further information on anonymous birth
- Young Mum
- Home birth costs
- Stillen
- Teenager und Schwangerschaft | Gesundheitsportal
- Netdoktor
- FEM Women's Health Centre South
- Legal framework conditions for termination of pregnancy
- Netdoktor
- Early 'premature' discharge tariffs
- Safety tips for women and girls (German)
- YoungMum - Betreuung für schwangere Teenager
- MA57 24-hour emergency hotline info folder
- 24-Stunden Frauennotruf
- The Austrian Food Pyramid for Pregnant Women
- Netdoktor
- Outpatient birth
- City of Vienna family midwives (German)
- A good start in life (Turkish)
- A good start in life (English)
- Search for a doctor - practice plan
- A good start in life (German)
- Netdoktor
- Workshop dates: Nutrition during pregnancy
- Ein guter Start ins Leben (Englisch)
- When a baby arrives - important tips for pregnancy and birth (Turkish)
- Financial support for termination of pregnancy
- When a baby arrives - important tips for pregnancy and birth (German)
- MA11 parents' fitness programme
- Federal Ministry of Finance
- Federal Ministry for Families and Young People, Family Service
- Help.gv.at
- MA 57 - Advancement of Women and Co-Ordination of Women's Issues
- Gynmed Outpatient Clinic for Abortion and Family Planning
- MA 11 – Department of Young People and Families
- MA11 parent-child centres
- Children's co-insurance
- BKK Wiener Verkehrsbetriebe
- Childcare financial support
- Maternity care conditions (employee representation)
- Girls' counselling for sexually abused girls and women
- Vienna Social Info
- Family midwife offers
- SVB
- Midwife centre
- MA15 family midwives
- Stillbirth
- Austrian Family Planning Association
- When a baby dies
- Search for a midwife
- Vienna Social Services mobile early intervention and family support
- VAEB
- VenusMed
- Vinzenz Group
Foodstuffs that pose a risk and taboos during pregnancy
During pregnancy a woman’s entire body goes through changes. Thus, the immune system, in other words, the body’s defence, can be weakened. Therefore, infections can sometimes be more complicated than usual during this period and can pose a risk for the health of the mother and the unborn child.
Therefore, prevent this from happening by observing two things while cooking and eating:
- During preparation and storage of foodstuffs, pay attention to extremely careful hygiene.
- Avoid the so-called foodstuffs that pose a risk.
Foodstuffs that pose a risk include:
- Raw milk & raw milk products
Avoid raw milk or boil it before use.
Avoid raw milk products. You will recognise this from the label „produced with raw milk“.
Remove the cheese rind and do not eat any spreadable cheese (for example, Tilsiter, Quargel) or soft cheese (for example, Camembert).
- Fish, meat & eggs
CAUTION! Avoid high-fat predatory fish such as tuna, swordfish, halibut and pike. These types of fish are often contaminated with heavy metals.
Heavy metals can also be found in offal. Therefore, also avoid offal.
Avoid raw and half-raw fish and seafood, such as sushi, oysters and the like.
Also avoid smoke and pickled fish, such as smoked salmon, Gravlax.
Do not eat any meat, any sausage or any eggs that are raw or not completely cooked. For example, this includes carpaccio, beef tartare , rare and medium steak, salami, Kantwurst, Landjäger sausage, raw ham, smoked meat, bacon, soft boiled eggs, fried eggs or meals with raw eggs like home-made tiramisu and the like.
- Drinks
Avoid alcohol and nicotine. So far no scientific study has been able to prove that even small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy are not harmful. Therefore: Hands off alcohol! Also pay attention to pasties, sweets or cooked sauces that could contain (residual) alcohol!
As a precautionary measure, only drink a few caffeinated drinks. A maximum of 2 to 3 cups or coffee or 4 cups of green or black tea are permitted. Caution! Iced tea, cola drinks, iced coffee, drinks with guarana, many energy drinks and the like also contain caffeine!
To be safe, avoid freshly squeezed and not heated juices made of fruit and vegetables at juice stands and in restaurants.
Do not consume any drinks that contain quinine, for example, tonic water, bitter lemon and the like.
Discuss all your questions with your doctor and read the following information:
- Frequently asked questions about nutrition during the breastfeeding period
- Pregnancy - infection through food
- Basic food information table for pregnant women
Addictive substances
During pregnancy avoid all forms of alcohol, smoking and drugs!
Alcohol
Do not drink alcohol during pregnancy! Even small amounts can permanently harm the unborn child. Alcohol acts like a poison on the nerves and the brain and is thus one of the most common reasons for malformations in children.
Discuss all your questions with your doctor and read the following information:
Smoking
Do not smoke during pregnancy and avoid rooms, in which people are smoking! Cigarettes contain nicotine and almost 5,000 chemicals. All these substances can cause serious harm to your baby. Pregnant women that smoke often experience premature births and miscarriages. Children from smoking mothers frequently develop asthma, allergies, lung infections, bronchitis and other diseases. Even the risk of sudden infant death is greater.
Discuss all your questions with your doctor and read the following information:
- Smoke-free hotline
- Netdoktor
- Eine Auszeit für Ihr Baby. Information zu Alkohol und Rauchen für werdende Mütter
Drugs
Do not consume any drugs or intoxicants during pregnancy! Drugs can cause serious harm to the development of your child and in the worst case, lead to miscarriages or still births. If you have addiction problems, do not be ashamed but speak to your doctor. You can also turn to centres that specialise in addiction counselling.
Discuss all your questions with your doctor and read the following information:
- Brochures: Pregnancy and drugs
- Smoke-free hotline brochure
- Dialogue - individual help with addiction
- Vienna Addiction and Drugs Coordination
Medicines
Some medicines are dangerous for pregnant women and their babies. If you need to take medicines on a regular basis, please inform your doctor that you are pregnant immediately. Even if you get ill now and need to take medicines, please inform the doctor about your pregnancy. When buying medicines in a pharmacy, always inform them that you are pregnant.