Pregnancy is the foundation phase of a child’s growth. As we know, all the mother’s activities and emotions in pregnancy affect the baby’s growth in either positive or negative ways. The same applies to mum's food habits as well. Placenta absorbs all the nutrition from mother's bloodstream and transfers it to the baby's growing body. Hence, a well-balanced diet and optimum nutrition intake is crucial for essential development of your baby in the womb.

Diet dos and don’ts for mum-to-be

Dos

• Grandma’s secret laddoos top the list. These are full of essential ingredients that your baby needs for a healthy development, a must-have for your daily diet.
• Your baby loves the flavour of freshly prepared food, so do you. Why not consume every food within 4 hours of its preparation and cook something else for the next meal? You are pregnant, mum. You deserve the privilege of fresh food at every meal.
• Maintaining a food routine helps the baby anticipate when is going to get his next food. Jokes apart!  Eating small portions of food with different nutritional properties every two hours is recommended in pregnancy. This ensures that you include all the essential nutrients in your diet on a daily basis.
• Make sure that your diet consists of naturally sweet, unctous and moist food as these flavours are essential during pregnancy.
• Love seasonal fruits? We love them too. Grab on that cheeku, guava and mango and consume every seasonal fruit during every stage of your pregnancy. This will provide you adequate nutrition and also help you enjoy your favourite flavour, available just once in a year.
• We spoke about nutritious ways of satiating hunger. But what about hydration? You should consume 12 glasses of water everyday to maintain your hydration levels. Adequate water intake is must to maintain the fluid level in your body, which in turn affects the amniotic fluid level that surrounds your baby. 
  

Don’ts

• A big NO to industrial refined foods. These foods are all chemicals and nothing natural. These do not aid in a child's healthy development. Instead some of them might have ingredients harmful for pregnant women and her baby.
• Eating for two is just a myth. Eat in a limited amount as per your body’s demand. Do not overeat.
• Avoid excessive intake of salty and sour food. We aren’t telling you to quit panipuri. We’re only advising to control your intake for these 9 months. You’re free to consume it when your baby is out slurping through his apple puree while you focus on your panipuri.
• Can’t do without a strong cup of coffee? Please take a break, mumma. High caffeine consumption during pregnancy can result in low birth weight of the baby. Hence, limit your caffeine consumption to 200mg per day for a healthy young one.
• If you are an avid fan of burgers and samosa, you need to control your cravings for the good of your child. You should avoid junk and focus on nutritious food as much as possible.
• Do not consume refined sugar. Replace the sugar with natural sucrose like honey and jaggery, instead.
• Avoid eating meat and fish. If you can’t resist, make sure you buy it from a hygienic source with quality checked products.

Keep a check on all these do's and don'ts mum and ensure a well balanced nutritious diet for healthy growth and development of your little one.