here - Health Promotion Agency

1 Your health
in pregnancy
FURTHER READING
The Food Standards Agency
publishes some useful leaflets,
including Eating while you
are pregnant and Thinking of
having a baby.
Contact:
Food Standards Agency
PO Box 369
Hayes UB3 1UT
Tel. 0845 606 0667
www.food.gov.uk
In Northern Ireland Folic acid:
one of life’s essentials is available
free from your doctor, clinic or
pharmacist, or can be accessed on
the website
www.healthpromotionagency.org.uk
For more information on food
safety and hygiene, visit the Eat
well, be well website at
www.eatwell.gov.uk
This chapter describes some of the things you should think about
to make sure you and your baby stay healthy during pregnancy.
W HAT SHOULD YOU EAT?
A healthy diet is an important part
of a healthy lifestyle at any time,
but particularly if you are pregnant
or are planning a pregnancy.
Eating healthily during pregnancy
will help your baby develop and
grow and will help keep you fit
and well. You don’t need to go
on a special diet, but make sure
that you eat a variety of different
foods every day in order to get
the right balance of nutrients
that you and your baby need.
You should also avoid certain
foods to be on the safe side.
There’s no need to ‘eat for two’ when
you are pregnant. It’s the quality not the
quantity that’s important. With a few
exceptions you can continue to eat all
the foods you enjoy (see Take care with
some foods, pages 11–12). Eating
healthily often means just changing the
amounts of different foods that you eat
rather than cutting out all your
favourites. The eatwell plate illustrates
the mixture of different foods you need
in your diet and the proportions you
should eat. This is illustrated below.
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