Tips for a healthy pre-pregnancy diet, ovulation, fertility, pregnancy care, lactating mothers and miscarriage

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If you’re planning to get pregnant, eating a healthy, balanced diet will help you stay well throughout pregnancy and be good for your baby’s health.

Nutrition is about eating food that gives your body what it needs to stay healthy and work properly. The main nutrients your body needs are proteins, carbohydrates, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals.

Nutrition and fertility
What you eat can affect your chances of getting pregnant, but the full picture is not very clear-cut because it is hard to separate diet from other factors. What we do know is that the best foods for getting pregnant are the same as those for general well-being: whole grains, healthy fats and proteins.

The best advice is to:

choose wholegrain high fibre foods (such as bread, with seeds, brown rice and pasta) instead of white processed foods (white bread, rice and pasta
eat more fruit and vegetables, including lentils and beans
avoid saturated ‘bad’ fats, such as fried foods, pastry, biscuits, pies and cakes.
eat more unsaturated ‘good’ fats, such as avocados, nuts, oily fish and seeds
avoid sugary food and drink, such as sweets, biscuits, cakes and fizzy drinks.
Reaching the ideal BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 and staying active also helps with fertility.

If you have no periods or your periods come only occasionally you may not be ovulating (releasing an egg from your ovary). This is a cause of infertility. Having a portion of full-fat dairy every day (such as milk or yoghurt) has been shown to help with this. It may linked to the higher oestrogen levels in full fat dairy foods compared to low-fat.

Men, nutrition and fertility
Men can also improve the chances of a pregnancy with diet because sperm quality is affected by diet. The foods that have a good effect on fertility are like those that help with women’s fertility.

Diets high in processed meat (such as bacon and sausages), alcohol, caffeine, red meat, saturated fats are linked to low quality sperm.
Diets rich in fruits, vegetables, wholegrains and fish are linked to better sperm quality.
Eating a portion of walnuts a day was shown to help with sperm motility (ability to swim).

Nutrition and pregnancy
Your diet before pregnancy will affect your baby’s development in the womb and their health in the future. If your diet has a lot of saturated fat and sugar before and during pregnancy, your children will be more likely to suffer from high blood pressure and weight gain themselves later on in life.

Making changes now can also prevent pregnancy problems. A diet that leads to a high BMI in pregnancy has a higher risk of pregnancy problems.

Do I need pre-conception supplements?
If you are trying to get pregnant eating a healthy, varied diet will help you to get most of the vitamins and minerals you need.

There are many branded pre-pregnancy vitamins available in pharmacies and supermarkets. These are not harmful but folic acid is the only extra supplement everyone needs if you’re trying to get pregnant. It is often cheaper to buy this separately.

If you are vegan, talk to your doctor to make sure that you are getting enough nutrients for a healthy pregnancy.

Folic acid
All women need to take folic acid tablets before getting pregnant to build up the level of folic acid in their body to give maximum protection to the baby against neural tube defects such as spina bifida. It is almost impossible to get enough folic acid through your diet to give the most protection.

Most women should take 400mcg of folic acid every day for two months before trying for a baby and continue until you are 12 weeks pregnant.

You will need a higher dose of folic acid tablets. If you have diabetes or epilepsy, or if you are a smoker or heavy drinker.

Find out more about folic acid and planning to have a baby.

Vitamin D
Vitamin D in pregnancy is important for the development of strong bones. Some women are at greater risk of vitamin D deficiency and could also benefit from a vitamin D supplement of 10mcg a day before and during pregnancy. These include women:

of South Asian, African, Caribbean or Middle Eastern family origin
who get less sun on their skin (for example spend less time outside or cover up most of the body when outside)
who eat a diet low in vitamin D, such as vegan diets
with a BMI above 30.
If you’re planning to have a baby you are advised not to take any herbal or homeopathic products.

Do not take any supplements containing vitamin A, such as liver or fish oil. High doses of vitamin A can affect the development of the baby in the womb.

Caffeine
Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, some soft drinks and energy drinks. Having more than 200mg of caffeine a day (two mugs of instant coffee a day or one mug of filter coffee) is harmful to a baby in the womb so it is safer to avoid caffeine as soon as you stop contraception.

Too much caffeine can also increase your risk of miscarriage. This applies to both women and men.

200mg is two mugs of instant coffee a day or one mug of filter coffee.

You can reduce your caffeine intake by:

drinking decaf tea and coffee
having other drinks, such as water or fruit juice (just be wary of your sugar intake)
avoiding energy drinks, which contain very high amounts of caffeine
avoiding sports drinks with caffeine
Chocolate contains caffeine too, so include this when you work out your daily allowance using our caffeine calculator.

Anaemia (low iron in the blood) and planning for pregnancy
Anaemia is a blood condition due to lack of iron. It can lead to:

tiredness and lack of energy
shortness of breath
noticeable heartbeats (heart palpitations)
pale skin.
If you have anaemia it needs treatment before you get pregnant. A blood test will show if you are anaemic.

Iron deficiency anaemia is treated with iron supplement tablets. You may be advised to eat more food with lots of iron in it, such as:

green leafy vegetables, such as watercress and kale
cereals and bread with extra iron in them (fortified)
meat
Pulses (beans, peas and lentils)
What is a healthy diet for pregnancy?
A healthy diet for pregnancy is the same as a healthy diet for life.

Base meals on starchy food (such as bread, rice, pasta, potatoes), choosing wholegrain options where possible
Eat foods with lots of fibre, such as fruit, vegetables, oats, beans, peas, lentils.
Eat at least 5 portions of different fruits and vegetables each day (3 vegetable if possible)
Don’t over-eat. For the first two trimesters of pregnancy there is no need to eat more than what's recommended for pregnant women
Try not to skip breakfast, choosing sugar-free cereals if you have cereal.
Be mindful of portion sizes of meals and snacks and how often you eat.
Avoid saturated ‘bad’ fats, such as fried foods, pastry, biscuits, pies and cakes.
Eat more unsaturated ‘good’ fats, such as avocados, nuts, oily fish and seeds.
Avoid sugary food and drink, such as sweets, biscuits, cakes and fizzy drinks.
Try to avoid too much ready-prepared food too. The chemical preservatives, colourings, and flavourings added to these can affect the nutrients in the food.