7 Major Nutrients You Need To Have a Healthy Pregnancy and Postpartum

During pregnancy, and after, especially if you breastfeed, your nutrition and what you eat becomes all the more important.

Not only are you eating for yourself, but you're also eating for the full-term growth and development of your baby.

Vitamins and minerals play a predominant role in keeping you and baby healthy, and in many different ways.

They support the healthy normal functioning of your body, produce your hormones, promote adequate energy levels and stable mood, provide the building blocks for your baby's organs and tissues, and contain antioxidants that protect you and baby against the effects of chemicals that may pose a threat to your health.

And, so much more.

In this article, I'll uncover SEVEN major nutrients that support a healthy pregnancy and postpartum.

1. Protein and Amino Acids

Protein and amino acids provide the nutrients your body needs to grow and repair muscles and other tissues. During pregnancy, protein and aminno acids are the building blocks for your baby's DNA, cells and body.

Expansion of your body's blood volume and tissue growth require greater amounts of protein and amino acids. Generally, most pregnant women need over 80 grams or protein per day.

Animal-based foods, such as organic meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products are high in protein. Beans provide a moderate amount of protein too.

If you're eating a vegan or vegetarian diet, and consuming only plant protein, it can be difficult to reach your protein requirements.

Be mindful of this so that you can plan accordingly.

2. Iodine

During pregnancy and breastfeeding, your thyroid activity and therefore iodine requirements, are increased.

Iodine is needed to make you and your baby's thyroid hormones and to regulate the healthy development of your baby's brain and nervous system. Sufficient thyroid hormone is needed for your baby’s rapid brain growth that happens in the first 1,000 days of life.

Thyroid hormones are also important for your baby's coordination, alertness, and its five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.

Low iodine levels in pregnancy can cause hypothyrodism.

Symptoms of hypothyrodism in pregnancy and postpartum are extreme fatigue, depression, hair thinning, swelling and poofy-red face, a hoarse voice and feeling cold often.

This is why iodine is formulated into my natural prenatals, my Prenatal & Beyond supplement.

3. Iron

Like iodine, your body's requirement for iron increases when you're pregnant because you need extra iron to provide the blood needed for both you and baby.

Getting enough iron can prevent you from feeling tired, exhausted, having poor concentration and brain fog.

Your body, as your baby's host, is responsible for providing blood, oxygen and nutrients to your baby. And, because iron is crucial for the production of oxygen-transporting hemoglobin in your red blood cells, it's necessary to get adequate amounts, especially during pregnancy.

Iron prevents anemia, premature delivery, low birth weight, developmental delays, and cognitive impairment. 

You can find natural bioavailable iron in my Pregnancy Tea, and Prenatal & Beyond supplement.

4. Folate

Many studies have proved that sufficient amounts of folate can help reduce the risk of neural tube defects, such as spina bifida in babies, by up to fifty percent.

In these defects, the embryonic neural tube doesn't close properly during the first weeks of pregnancy, leading to incomplete development of baby's brain and spinal cord. 

Natural folate helps the neural tube close. This is why taking a quality supplement rich in natural folate before conception and throughout pregnancy is wise.

I should remind you that all folate supplements are not created equal. There is a huge market of synthetic folate, "folic acid" being targeted to pregnant women. Even doctors are prescribing women this unatural version. Don't fall for it!

Read my article Natural Folate vs. Folic Acid, Fertility & Pregnancy for more education and awareness.

You can find natural bioavailable folate in my Pregnancy Tea, and Prenatal & Beyond Multivitamin.

5. Vitamin C

There are many studies that associate low blood levels of vitamin C during pregnancy to preeclampsia. This is because vitamin C prevents the buildup of cholesterol in your blood and helps to remove waste, which both contribute to high-blood pressure.

More, vitamin C is needed for your immune system, prevents your baby from getting infections, wound healing, tissue repair, to help your body produce collagen and develop your baby’s bones and teeth.

Some studies reveal that Vitamin C deficiency can cause mental impairment in newborn babies as well.

Vitamin C is water soluble and your body cannot store it, so you need to have a fresh supply of this nutrient everyday through the food you eat and supplementing if you need.

You can find natural vitamin C in my Pregnancy Tea, and Prenatal & Beyond Multivitamin.

6. B Vitamins

B vitamins, which you’ll often hear referred to as the vitamin B complex, are particularly important aspects of your nutrition during pregnancy, especially vitamins B2, B3, B6, B9 (folate), and B12.

These five specifically help minimize the risk of birth defects, nervous system issues, as well as relieve common pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting.

The entire B complex of eight vitamins plays a crucial role in your energy levels, metabolism, strength and health while your baby is developing. For you and baby, they help the brain, nervous system and neurological functions by regulating the synthesis of myelin and fatty acids.

7. Vitamin K

During pregnancy, you need to be sure that you're preparing your body for childbirth, a healthy labor, delivery and postpartum recovery. You want your body to recover well.

Vitamin K helps reduce postpartum hemorrhaging in childbirth, treat blood clotting problems, and prevent neonatal hemorrhaging in newborn babies.

Another important role of Vitamin K is that it assists with the formation of proteins in the liver. As I mentioned earlier, during pregnancy the need for protein in your body increases because fetal growth depends on the supply of proteins.

Vitamin K helps the protein formation process, which enables you, the mother, to give birth to a healthy child.

You can find natural vitamin K in my Prenatal & Beyond Multivitamin.

In Closing...

Proper nourishment before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and after, safeguards your own health and contributes to your baby's normal development.

While a healthy diet and eating real whole food is your first line defense. Truth is, it can be hard to get the proper amounts of these nutrients through diet alone. This is why supplementing with a real quality prenatal is important.

Looking for a quality prenatal vitamin? Go purchase my prenatal mulitvitamins packed with bioavailable iodine, iron, vitamin C, folate, vitamin K, vitamin E and several B vitamins.

Be Well and Take Care,

- Shavonne