What do I need to know about going vegetarian regarding being pregnant and feeding my children?

[SpeedyGonzalez]

We're cutting our meat intake to twice a week and the rest of the time will eat veggie/ vegan. We're having loads of beans and pulses, plus dark green leafy veg occasionally and cheese/ eggs during about half of the week. Is there anything I need to be aware of in terms of our nutritional needs?

Also, if anyone can recommend a good website/ book I'd appreciate it!

TBH it sounds like you have all bases covered there - meat twice a week and dairy/eggs half the week, plus healthy vegetarian food the rest of the time, means you are unlikely to go short on anything.

The best book I have read on this is Vegetarian Baby which covers pregnancy as well.

I really reccommend anything by Amanda Grant

Thanks for your help! And fab to know that I'm already doing all the right things. I did suspect that after re-reading my OP, but it's always useful to have it confirmed.

I don't want/ need a meal planner, what I'm after is more of a guide to understanding vegetarian nutrition, so the Veggie Baby book looks like it might be just the ticket.

Thanks again!

Hi, the vegetarian society website is very good with good links too

erm, nothing. meat is not a necessary part of your diet.

if you're feeling a bit iron lacking, green leaved veg, cheese etc do well.

Whole grains are a Good Thing too, as they provide more nutrition...brown rice, wholemeal bread etc

A really good cookbook is 101 Veggie Dishes (GoodFood). It has loads of easy to cook family-type dishes using basic ingredients.

I've got the Amanda Grant vegetarian pregnancy and baby book and it's a bit faffy in terms of recipes but very good on the nutrition side of things.

Oooh, we do the whole grains thing, purple .

Edgar - the thing about meat/ meat products is that we absorb nutrients more easily from them as they're higher up(or is that lower down?!) the food chain. The nutrients get easier to digest the further along the food chain you go. So while meat may not be 'necessary', it's certainly very useful!