During pregnancy you need to make sure that your diet is providing you with enough energy and with the right nutrients for your baby to grow and develop, and for your body to deal with the changes taking place.

Follow these three simple steps:

Step 1: Eating more of the foods that contain nutrients that are good for your and your baby’s health

Step 2: Eating less of the foods that contain nutrients that can be harmful to your or your baby’s health

Step 3: Getting the balance right between the amount and types of foods you eat and the amount of activity you do to maintain a healthy weight

Also see our tips for dealing with morning sickness at the bottom of the page.

Step 1: Eating more of these foods

• fruit and vegetables - aim to eat some 5 times a day - at each meal, and as snacks – for fibre and general health
  
  
• fish - aim to eat twice a week, choosing oily fish at least once a week.  This is because they are a good source of omega 3 fats (but read below about fish to avoid).  Other goods sources of these healthy fats are rapeseed oil, olive or omega 3 rich spreads, omega 3 enriched eggs, omega 3 enriched milk, nuts and seeds. 
  
  
• wholegrains - beans, lentils, wholegrain cereals, wholegrain bread, wholegrain rice and pasta.  The fibre in these foods can help ease the bowel problems and constipation some women have in pregnancy, so try to have some every day.
  
  
• foods rich in iron such as red meat, pulses, bread, green vegetables, fortified breakfast cereals.  (Although liver contains a lot of iron, you should avoid eating it while you're pregnant).
  
  
• vitamin supplements - take a daily 400 microgram (mcg) folic acid supplement from the time you stop using contraception until the 12th week of pregnancy.  Folic acid has been shown to reduce the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Also take 10 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin D each day. If you receive Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance, you're entitled to some free vitamin supplements from maternity and child health clinics.
  
  
• milk and dairy foods - aim to eat twice a day for essential calcium and protein

Step 2: Avoiding or eating less of these foods

When pregnant you are at more risk of food poisoning, and some forms of food poisoning are dangerous to your baby, so food hygiene is really important.

• Don’t eat Camembert, Brie or chevre (a type of goats' cheese), or others that have a similar rind, and blue cheeses - these cheeses are made with mould and they can contain listeria, a type of bacteria that could harm your unborn baby. Live or bio yoghurts, Probiotic drinks, fromage frais, Creme fraiche, Soured cream and other cheeses (Hard cheese, such as Cheddar and Parmesan, Feta, Ricotta, Mascarpone, cream cheese, Mozzarella, Cottage cheese and Processed cheese, such as cheese spreads) are all fine
   
• Don’t eat any pâté, including vegetable. This is because pate can contain listeria
  
  
• Don’t eat any raw or partially cooked eggs, as they could give you salmonella food poisoning – watch out for home made mayonnaise, salad dressing, runny boiled eggs and custards. Well-cooked eggs, and shop-bought mayonnaise, ice cream, salad dressing are all fine
  
  
• Don’t eat any raw or undercooked meat because of the risk of food poisoning - make sure meat is cooked until it is piping hot all the way through and no pink meat is left.  Make sure ready meals are heated until they are piping hot all the way through. Always wash your hands after handling raw meat, and keep it separate from foods that are ready to eat.
  
  
• Avoid liver products and supplements containing vitamin A, as high leveles of vitamin A can be harmful to your baby
  
  
• Avoid eating any shark, swordfish and marlin, limit the amount of tuna you eat to no more than two tuna steaks a week (weighing about 140g cooked or 170g raw) or four medium-size cans of tuna a week (with a drained weight of about 140g per can). This is because these fish are high in mercury, which can be harmful to your baby.
  
  
• Have no more than two portions of oily fish a week. Oily fish includes fresh tuna (not canned tuna, which does not count as oily fish), mackerel, sardines and trout.  But remember that eating fish is good for your health and the development of your baby, so don’t avoid eating it completely (see step 1).
  
  
• Avoid eating raw shellfish, because of the risk of food poisoning. Well-cooked shellfish, including prawns are fine.
  
  
• Don’t drink too much alcohol – either stop altogether, or have no more than 1 or 2 units of alcohol, once or twice a week. A unit is half a pint of standard strength beer, lager or cider, or a pub measure of spirit. A glass of wine is about 2 units and alcopops are about 1.5 units.
  
  
• Don’t have too much caffeine – in coffee, tea, cola and energy drinks (and some cold and flu medicines). Too much caffeine increases the risk of the baby having a low birth weight, and of miscarriage. The maximum you should have is 300mg per day, which is 3 mugs of instant coffee (100mg each) or 3 cups of brewed coffee (100mg each) or 6 cups of tea (50mg each) or 8 cans of cola (40mg each) or 4 cans of energy drink (80mg each) or 8 (50g) bars of plain chocolate (50mg each) or 16 bars of milk chocolate (25mg each).So, a bar of plain chocolate plus 3 cups of tea, a can of cola and a cup of coffee in a day, would reach the 300mg limit.

Step 3: Maintaining a healthy weight

Different women gain different amounts of weight during pregnancy, but as a rule you should gain a minimum of 1 stone 1lb (6.8kg).  If you gain more than about 1 stone 11lb (11.4kg), you are probably putting on weight that is not helping your baby - unless you were underweight before pregnancy.

If you gain too much weight in pregnancy it can affect your health and increase your blood pressure. But it is important for your baby and you to be getting plenty of nutrition when you are pregnant, so it’s not a good idea to ‘diet’.  However, following our healthy eating advice below should help with slowing down excessive weight gain.

If you're concerned that you are gaining weight too quickly or too slowly, please get advice from your GP or midwife. 

Here is some general advice for maintaining a healthy weight gain:

• Eat regular meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus healthy snacks.
  
  
• Eat starchy carbohydrates at each meal – potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, etc.  If you are gaining weight too quickly you may need to cut down your portion sizes.
  
  
• Eat protein foods at each meal – meat, fish, eggs, cheese, beans or lentils, soya or Quorn.  Choose low fat versions unless you are not gaining weight fast enough.
  
  
• Fill up on plenty of nutritious fruit and vegetables
  
  
• Cut down on fatty foods, such as fried foods, chips, snack foods, crisps and full-fat spreads – unless you are not gaining weight fast enough.
  
  
• Cut down on sugary foods, such as sugary drinks, sweets and puddings.
  
  
• Keep as active as you can.
  
  
• If you are finding it hard to put on weight, try to make yourself eat small amounts regularly – have 6 small meals a day, and eat what you can manage, however little.  Drinking milky drinks, and adding olive oil and cheese to your food can help to increase the calories in what you do manage to eat. Get more advice from your GP or midwife or dietitian, if you are struggling to eat well.  Read more about eating to gain weight here.