Pregnant and vegetarian

[Housewitch]

Hi everyone I am new here, just found out I am pregnant and haven't been able to speak to my doctor yet. I am vegetarian and I am not sure how this is going to affect my pregnancy.

I am looking to see what other peoples' doctors have told them about being vegetarian while pregnant as I can't find much advice anywhere else online. Is it OK to be pregnant and vegetarian? I want what is best for my baby so any advice that you have had from a doctor would be great, thanks xx

Of course it's fine! Just continue to eat healthily and your baby will have a great start. Congratulations!

I'm vegetarian and carried my daughter to term perfectly. I have never been as well as I was when pregnant. I ate normally but healthily but included in nuts for protein. I gained 2st total and dd was 7lb15. I did take the fish oil pregnacare vitamins which obviously aren't vegetarian but I felt that it was a sacrifice I was prepared to make for my baby.

I'm a vegetarian and have a DS and currently expecting number two. It's perfectly fine to stick to a vegetarian diet whilst pregnant. Just make sure you're getting plenty of iron from veggie sources.
I personally found I had overwhelming meat cravings in my last pregnancy (I normally can't stand the taste or texture of the stuff) but that doesn't happen to everyone.

Three vegetarian pregnancies, three healthy babies here :-)
Take your pregnancy vitamins and eat healthily. Watch your iron intake, lots of green veg will help keep levels up. I also have flax seeds to make sure I get omega 3. My midwife and I felt being vegetarian was a huge positive because it caused me to think about vitamins, food groups etc.
Congratulations on your pregnancy:-)

The doctor and midwife didn't even mention it as an issue to me (I'm veggie). A varied diet and the pregnancy multivitamin were all I needed.

If you're pregnant and vegetarian your tits will fall off.

It's absolutely fine. I would recommend pre-emptively taking iron tablets, though, as many vegetarians are low in iron - just standard strength to begin with.

Seriously though OP you'll be fine. Vast swathes of the world are vegetarian for generations and have healthy babies, there's nothing to worry about. Congrats on your pregnancy!

Another veggie here - I've got 2 DC. I made slightly more effort to ensure I included enough iron in my diet when pregnant and my iron levels through both pregnancies were good, other than that I just tried to eat reasonably healthily.

My midwife was utterly unfazed, just said to take normal pregnancy vitamins which is what they tell everyone.

Congratulations!

I am veggie, have a lovely healthy DS (also veggie)
Being veggie had no impact on my pregnancy whatsoever!

Absolutely fine.
Although I'm not vegetarian I only eat meat once a weeks as I don't like the texture of most meats. I had a healthy ds last year. I am 28 weeks pregnant at the Moment and have had no problems.

Congratulations by the way!!

Thank you everyone that has really put my mind at ease. I am not the healthiest veggie on the planet but I have to step-up my game now!

Congratulations! Absolutely no problem at all - no doctor or midwife has ever told me I should be eating meat. I did already have low ferritin levels before pregnancy so need to make sure to take iron tablets - maybe this is something you could get checked for? When you look at foods that have a lot of folic acid, most of them are vegetarian staples - lentils, chickpeas, spinach :-)

You will both be absolutely fine. Good varied diet, exercise, relaxation - that's all you need.

Remember that some poor women puke up every morsel of food snd drink for part or all of their pregnancies and have healthy babies.

Ask your doctor about Vitamin B 12.
Ask how much protein you should be getting and make sure you check to get the right amount every day.