Nutrition during pregnancy

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

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:

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:

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:

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.