Your Nutrition (Week 18)


Iron is important during pregnancy; about 30mg a day is required to meet the increased needs caused by the increase in blood volume. Your baby draws on your iron store to create its own storage for the first few months of life. Most prenatal vitamins contain sufficient iron to meet your needs. If you must take supplements take it with a glass of orange juice or grapefruit juice to increase its absorption. Avoid drinking milk, coffee, tea or colas when taking iron supplement or eat iron rich foods. They prevent body from absorbing iron it needs. If you feel tired, have problems concentrating, suffer from headaches, dizziness or indigestion or if you get sick easily, you may have an iron deficiency. An easy way to check is to examine the insides of your lower eyelid. If you are getting enough iron, it should be dark pink. Your nail beds should be pink too. Only 10-15% of iron you consume is absorbed by the body. Your body stores it properly but you need to restock it daily to maintain the stores. Foods that are rich in iron include chicken, red meat, organ meats (kidney, liver, heart), egg yolks, dried fruit, spinach, kale and tofu. Combining a vitamin C food and an iron rich food ensures better absorption by the body. A spinach salad with orange juice is a good example. Your prenatal vitamin contains about 60mg of iron. If you eat a well balanced diet and take your prenatal vitamin daily, you will not need to rely on supplements. Still, discuss with your doctor if you have any concerns.