Essential Nutrients for a Healthy Pregnancy

Yay - you’re pregnant! Now that you know you’re pregnant, you might start to feel overwhelmed by what nutrients you need on a daily basis for your body to handle the extra demands of pregnancy – nourishing both yourself and your growing baby. No need to stress though! I’ve broken down pregnancy nutrition into 3 easy steps.

1. Get a Blood Test

It’s wise to get a blood test at the beginning of your pregnancy to see what vitamins you are deficient in. Key nutrients will be tested via blood draw at your first doctor or midwife appointment and they will let you know if you’re deficient in anything.

2. Incorporate Prenatal Nutrient Dense Foods

You’ll want to understand which foods are high in those vital pregnancy nutrients so you can incorporate them into your diet regularly. See the below guide:

Key daily nutrients during pregnancy + food to support your body and baby:

• Folate/Folic Acid (600 mcg) - legumes, green leafy veggies, eggs, beets, citrus fruits, asparagus, nuts/seeds 
• Iron (30 mg) - shellfish, spinach, legumes, red meat, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, turkey, broccoli, tofu, dark chocolate
• Vitamin D (600 IUs) - sunlight, wild-caught salmon, sardines, cod liver oil, tuna, eggs, mushrooms
• Calcium (1000 mg) - seeds, beans, lentils, almonds, rhubarb, amaranth, edamame, figs, dairy 
• Choline (200-400 mg; 300-600 mg 3rd trimester) - eggs, salmon, cauliflower, broccoli
• Vitamin B-12 (2.6 mcg) - eggs, nutritional yeast, Shiitake mushrooms, nori
• DHA (200 mg) - salmon, herring, sardines, sea bass, shrimp, lobster, rainbow trout
• Zinc (11 mg) - red meat, shellfish, legumes, hemp seeds, cashews, eggs, dark chocolate

3. Supplements

Supplements ensure that you get all of the nutrients you need to support a healthy pregnancy in case you're not absorbing them directly from your food. However, you should prioritize getting your vitamins from your meals. Always talk to your provider about using prenatal supplements and ask for their recommendations. But here are my prenatal vitamin recommendations:

• Smarty Pants Gummies - Prenatal Multi
• Thorne Research -Basic Prenatal

*Note: While the prenatal gummies are higher in sugar, they can be easier on some people's stomachs. Do whatever is best for you!

Remember: Your body is smart and knows what you need so make sure to listen to it! If your body is craving something it probably means that you're lacking a nutrient, so eat it.

If you are looking for more pregnancy support on nutrition and exercise, sign up for my FREE 5 Day Movement for Mamas-to-be Challenge! You’ll get access to 5 days of safe, effective prenatal workouts. Plus once you’ve completed the challenge, you’ll get a BONUS Prenatal Nutrition Guide and a special discount to the Little Adapts By Jax app where you can access my Nutrition + Fitness Prenatal Program! These programs are not offered through or associated with Birthly LLC.

You got this, mama!