You should eat a balanced and healthy diet which include food rich in proteins such as milk, fish, eggs, meat and poultry; starchy food for example rice, bread and potato and include a lot of vegetables and fruits in your diet too. In addition, you should also take foods that are rich in folic acid such as spinach, asparagus, broccoli, beetroot, chickpeas, soybeans, tofu, salmon, orange juice, avocado and fortified cereals.

Even though a healthy balanced diet is the best way to get the essential nutrients that you require during pregnancy, it is good to supplement your diet with prenatal vitamins as majority of us due to perhaps our hectic modern lifestyle are unable to eat a good balanced diet and often skipped meals. Supplementation taken prior to pregnancy on a daily basis ensures that you have the right amount of nutrients even before embarking on a pregnancy.

Prenatal vitamin supplementation maybe advised by your doctors to cover any possible deficiency of minerals in your diet.

This is one of the most important vitamin supplements to take and most likely would be included in your prenatal vitamin. It is a water-soluble vitamin B. It should be taken 3 months prior to pregnancy until the 12^th week of pregnancy to help prevent neural tube defects in your baby. The neural tube develops into the brain and spinal cord. Spina bifida is the most common neural tube defect where the lower part of the spinal cord fails to close leading to paralysis and lifelong disabilities. It is recommended to take at least 400 mg of folic acid pre-pregnancy which could help reduce spina bifida by up to 70%. However, those women with previous history of a child with neural tube defect, epilepsy and diabetes will require a higher dose by 4mg.

Calcium is important for your circulatory, muscle and nervous system to function well. In addition, it helps to build strong bones and teeth for your developing baby. It is recommended that women taken at least 1000 mg calcium a day when considering to get pregnant. You could get your calcium intake from dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese. Those who does not eat dairy products or are lactose- intolerant could get your calcium from other sources such as tofu, calcium-fortified breads or cereals, sardines and salmon.

The effect of alcohol is dose-related where it could lead to birth defects, growth problems, mental retardation and abnormal behavior development. As we do not know the exact amount that could perhaps lead to adverse effect on the fetus, it is best to avoid alcohol altogether especially in the first three months of pregnancy.

Caffeine has several adverse effects that may be harmful during pregnancy. It is a stimulant which could lead to increase blood pressure and heart rate not only the mother but also the fetus as it crosses the placenta. In addition, it is associated with delayed pregnancy and miscarriages in moderate amount. It is best to start cutting back on caffeine even before pregnancy to prevent cravings later on. Beware that caffeine is not only found in coffee but also tea, chocolate and soda. Please refer to the section on Caffeine and Pregnancy.

In the USA, artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharin and acesulfame K are approved for usage as sugar replacements and is considered safe during pregnancy. However, those patients with phenylketonuria (PKU) should not take aspartame.

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