Clinical Nutrition Manual

1.2. NUTRITION CARE DURING PREGNANCY AND LACTATION

Energy and Protein

Dietary intake during pregnancy should provide the energy that will ensure the full term delivery of a healthy newborn baby of adequate size and appropriate body composition by a woman whose weight and body composition are consistent with long-term good health and well-being. The ideal situation is for a woman to enter pregnancy at a normal weight and good nutritional status. The energy requirement of pregnant woman is determined by several factors. These include the need to ensure adequate growth of the fetus, placenta and associated maternal tissues; to provide for increased metabolic demands of pregnancy in addition to maintaining adequate maternal weight, body composition and physical activity throughout gestational period as well as sufficient stores of nutrients for lactation. Special consideration must be made for women who are under or overweight when they enter pregnancy. A proper dietary balance is necessary to ensure sufficient intake for adequate growth without drawing from the mother’s own tissues to maintain her pregnancy.

The increased energy needs during lactation is imposed by additional demands and needs for adequate milk production and secretion. The additional demands correspond to the energy cost of milk production. Fat stores accumulated during pregnancy may cover part of the additional energy needs in the first few months of lactation. The average energy requirement for normal women is 2150kilocalories per day. Table 1 below shows recommended energy and protein requirements for women during pregnancy and lactation.