How many calories do pregnant women need each day?

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In order to provide adequate nutrients to help the fetus develop comprehensively, pregnant women need to eat enough and enough nutrients. However, to avoid being overweight or underweight, affecting your health, you should know how to calculate calories in your daily diet. So how many calories do pregnant women need each day?

1. Why do pregnant women need to monitor their daily calorie intake?

During pregnancy, pregnant women should have a reasonable diet to achieve a suitable weight, help the fetus grow to a healthy size. However, if calorie intake is not controlled, pregnant women can gain too much or too little weight, leading to serious health problems for both mother and baby:
Excessive weight gain during pregnancy increases the risk of the risk of developing gestational diabetes and high blood pressure in the mother; If the mother is overweight or obese during pregnancy, the baby after birth is also at risk of obesity and weight problems; Healthy weight gain makes pregnancy easier and easier. It also helps pregnant women to easily regain their normal weight after giving birth. Watch now: Diet to not gain too much weight during pregnancy

2. How many calories should pregnant women eat per day?

2.1. Adjusting nutrition according to each stage Depending on each stage, the daily nutritional needs of pregnant women also change differently. Specifically:
first 3 months of pregnancy: Even though you are pregnant, at this stage the fetus is quite small, only about the size of a pea, so pregnant women do not need to load more energy. Unless the mother is lacking in nutrients, additional nutrition is required; Second 3 months: metabolism increases, so the mother needs to add 300-350 calories/day. As the fetus grows larger, the need for calories increases up to 500 calories/day. Thus, the total energy intake per day can be from 2,300 to 2,500 calories. The last 3 months: this is the time when pregnant women need to adjust the weight of the entire previous period. If the mother has gained weight on the right schedule in the previous months (from 6-9kg), she can maintain a diet of 200-300 calories/day; If the mother is gaining weight quickly, it is necessary to calculate the calories in the diet, adjust the appropriate nutrition (for example, reduce starch, fat, increase green vegetables, fruits, white meat...) to provide nutrition to the fetus. 2.2. When to adjust daily calorie intake? Normally, the amount of calories provided for pregnant women will depend on:
Height; Body mass index (BMI) helps to assess how thin or fat a person is; Daily activities; Calories burned (due to exercise, housework...).

If pregnant with twins or triplets, or the pregnant woman's BMI belongs to the following groups, it is necessary to adjust the calorie intake each day:
Underweight: BMI = or <19; Overweight: BMI = or > 25; Obesity: BMI = or > 30; (Note: BMI is calculated by the formula: Weight / (Height x Height))
Example: You are 1.58 (m) tall, weigh 52kg, your BMI will be calculated by: BMI = 52 / (1.58 x 1.58) = 20.82. The mean BMI ranged from 19 < BMI < 25. So, you can already know how many calories a pregnant mother needs each day!
Watch now: Scientific nutrition for 40 weeks of pregnancy

3. How can pregnant women get enough nutrients without being overweight?

Pregnant women do not necessarily have to follow a special diet. It is more important to eat a variety of foods to balance the nutrients needed for both mother and fetus.
3.1. Calories in some common foods To know how many calories a pregnant mother needs, here is a table of nutritional content of some familiar dishes for pregnant women to refer to:
White rice: 200 calories/ 1 medium bowl; Beef roll with guise leaves: 841 calories/ 8 rolls; Fried fish: 169 calories/ 1 slice; Braised tilapia: 167 calories/ 1 fish; Braised spring rolls: 102 calories/ 1 slice; Chicken rotisserie: 300 calories/ 1 thigh; Roast Pork: 146 calories/ 1 plate; Stir-fried beef with onions: 132 calories/ 1 plate; Grilled ribs: 111 calories/ 1 piece; Amaranth soup: 22 calories/ 1 bowl; Spinach soup: 29 calories/ 1 bowl; Pumpkin soup: 29 calories/ 1 bowl.

3.2. Menu suggestions for pregnant women who do not gain much weight To avoid gaining too much weight during pregnancy, pregnant women need to ensure the following substances:
Starch: Every day should eat about 2-3 bowls of rice. Morning should eat bread or sweet potatoes; Meat: Pregnant women should eat a lot of meat, especially beef. Should eat alternately, alternating with other dishes; Fish: Each week should eat 2-3 fish meals with different processing methods. From stock, steam, boil, bake, cook soup or cook porridge. It is advisable to change a variety of fish such as: Driftfish, carp, tilapia, salmon,...; Vegetables: Every meal needs green vegetables. It is recommended to eat dark colored vegetables and fruits because they contain folic acid, which is very good for the development of the brain and nervous system of the fetus; Fruits: Can be eaten directly or pressed into juices, smoothies for main meals and snacks; Eggs: Although eggs are very healthy, pregnant women should only eat 3-4 eggs per week; Milk: Drink 2-3 glasses of fresh milk/day (equivalent to 1 liter of fresh milk) 2 hours after the main meal, should drink unsweetened milk to limit the risk of gestational diabetes ); Water: Should drink enough 2.5-3 liters of water per day, including forms such as: Milk, soup, soup and fruit juice... Pregnancy can sometimes make pregnant mothers crave nutrients. fatty and sugary foods. You should not eat too much or too strict, the best way is to balance nutrition between meals.
Currently, at the International General Hospital, there is a package maternity service, when choosing a package maternity service, pregnant women will be monitored and examined periodically with leading specialists. . Doctors will monitor and detect fetal abnormalities early, this is the great strength of Vinmec, which has carried out screening to detect fetal malformations very early and performed cytology intervention. Pregnancy offers many couples the opportunity to have a healthy baby. In addition, the doctors will also examine and advise on nutrition, how to prevent and treat some common diseases during pregnancy such as insomnia, gestational diabetes, urinary tract infections, etc. Painting affects the mother's health before and after birth.

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