Pregnancy diet

[leah3]

Hey everyone,

I’d really like to hear from those who ate a lot of junk food during their pregnancy and how their babies turned out? (Did it have any ill effect)

only reason I ask is because my diet isn’t the best. I can’t stand vegetables, never been able to and unfortunately can’t even force them down so they’re out of the question. I try to eat 2-3 pieces of fruit a day. I only drink water. For dinners I generally eat frozen crap and a takeaway once or twice a week. I snack on crisps and biscuits a little throughout the day.

my weight is completely fine and baby is doing well. I think my diet could be worse but could definitely be better. I’m also taking prenatals everyday.

please let me know :)

I wouldn't overthink it. I ate nothing but bagels my first trimester as my morning sickness was too severe. I'd keep eating some fruit, taking your prenatal shower - and just make sure you're eating enough to get through pregnancy x

Don't worry, I had a terrible diet during pregnancy. Baby is fine. Try to get some good stuff in when you can. Spinach is the easiest veg to sneak into food. Great in lasagne or added to a smoothie. I guarantee you won't taste it

Try to avoid high fat foods, this means the crisps and greasy/fried takeaways if you can.
A maternal high fat diet alters the expression of roughly 50 genes involved in neurodevelopment of the baby .
"A maternal high-fat diet (HFD) during pregnancy and lactation changes the level of proteins associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) "

Full paper here if you want to read it

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8467420/

Try to buy less processed foods.

Sure it does if you're a rat 🐀

Not sure I would get too worked up about a rodent study tbh. Eat as best you can, but if your dairy products have to be cheese strings or milk shakes, or your vitamin c comes from eating mountains of potatoes, your baby will be fine. It might take a toll on you or make you fell like crap though

i ate ok during my pregnancy- I normally eat a really strict healthy diet and I let it slip in pregnancy. I felt fine & baby is healthy no issues BUT boy do I regret it now… my body is unrecognisable and I feel like a big flabby mess. I’m 6 month post baby and feel awful about it still.. so if you are in good shape I would do my best to save it as much as possible if it’s important to you! For me that’s been the worst part of having a baby & maybe the hardest part aswell to be honest. If I don’t get it back in the next 12 months I think I’d honestly consider surgery. So if you’re active/fit I’d advise trying to keep it up as much as you can! Good luck xox

Most people I know have a horrendous diet during pregnancy for a lot of different reasons! Be kind to yourself. The most likely reason for a larger baby is gestational diabetes or genetics.
My boys were 9lbs4oz and 9lbs13oz. I didn't have GD, however, I weighed 7lbs13oz at 37 weeks so I think it was genetics that did it for us 🙈

Make a banana milkshake and add some baby spinach to it before blending. You can't taste the spinach and it's instant iron and goodness.

dont mean this to sound snooty but why is your diet so bad? Is it food aversions, time, lack of inspiration etc? I have to be honest and say it sounds pretty unhealthy although it’s unlikely to significant affect the baby. How many weeks are you?

This is in rats and studies gene expression levels. It's clinically irrelevant.

OP, many pregnant women end up with a v restricted diet due to sickness and babies continue to be born in times of famine. If you can't eat veg then just keep taking your vitamins.

When I was pregnant with my first, I didn't watch what I ate in the slightest. I was pretty fit and in good shape beforehand, regularly exercising and generally ate well. It alllllll went out the window when I found I was expecting DS1! Stopped exercising and just ate whatever I wanted. Which was mainly sausage sandwiches and McDonald's breakfasts. No issues whatsoever with me or my now 2.5 year old. He was born a healthy 7lbs.

Currently pregnant again with DC2 (14 weeks), and I'm trying to make a conscious effort to eat well and exercise a few times a week. Mainly so I don't feel massively sluggish as I have a 2.5 year old to run around after!

I really wouldn't worry about it too much.
Congrats OP 😊

As if you could do such a study in humans. It would never pass the Ethics board.... so yes it is an animal study. Everyone is free to ignore or consider it. Or read the 1000s studies on humans in Pubmed.

The OP asked about impact of junk food on baby development and detailed a few items in her diet (crips, takeaways, ....). Impact goes well beyond obesity predisposition and gut dysbiosis, it has the potential to affect brain for life.

going Against the grain here but I am very interested in nutrition and personally I believe small changes can have a very positive impact. for example nuts like walnuts have been linked to higher intelligence in babies (Assuming you don’t have an allergy of course) and also the right omega 3s helpful etc. It doesn’t have to be just veg that is helpful .

a little known nutrient called choline is helpful too for example as it can help your child’s cognitive health for the rest of their life from what I’ve read and help their memory and even stave off alzeimers when they grow up studies suggest (its richest source seems to be in egg yolks and we have greater need of it during pregnancy and breastfeeding ).
So whilst I wouldn’t worry about it as baby can still thrive I think it’s very positive to introduce any good things you can . Fish oils may help against allergies and also help prevent post natal depression too . A magnesium and vitamin B6 deficiency can trigger morning sickness if that’s helpful to know too , this is simply from my research so it’s worth doing your own to check sources / check whether studies are peer reviewed.

Thank you everyone! Appreciate everyone’s comments.

Of course I do try and eat healthier but it’s really hard. I tried to force some things down at the start of my pregnancy but this would make me almost throw up every time :(

Honestly, babies are parasites and will take all the goodness from what you eat. Its more likely it'll be you that suffers.
I had an awful diet with DD1, was mega sick and lived off beige food - she was a healthy 7lb 15oz however I definitely had more brittle nails and hair and felt worse for it. DD2 and this pregnancy I've managed to eat a bit better and feel much better for it x

How can you hate every single vegetable when they're so varied?

@Garman dont know, I just don’t? Lol. Can’t help what I don’t like 🤷🏽‍♀️

@Loulou1712 thank you ☺️ I try to make up for it with fruit, natural yoghurt and whatever else I can stomach x

Thanks to everyone who has replied… though if people are going to try and make me feel bad for my diet, I’d rather you kept those comments to yourself. I’m asking about people who’ve been in similar situations to me. Of course I’d LOVE to eat 100% healthily and give my baby the best start. Trust me, I’ve tried!!! It ended up making me feel sick and dread eating so it would have been a very miserable 9 months for me. I’m not picky on purpose, I genuinely cannot stand it. I suffered terrible nausea and aversions until I was about 18 weeks so just glad to even be able to stomach anything …

I'm quite rubbish with vegetables and only really eat about 3. However in both pregnancies (currently 13 weeks with second baby), I haven't managed a single vegetable in the first trimester because of struggling with hyperemesis. Even later on in my first pregnancy I found veg (among a lot of other things) extremely difficult to eat without gagging or vomiting. My 13 month old is absolutely fine and scans are showing that this baby is growing nicely too. Smoothies with hidden spinach - as mentioned above - is a brilliant idea too! Good luck

Wrong emoji at the end, sorry!

@scramblesontoast thank you love! Ah that’s sh*tty with the sickness you’re having :( I had terrible nausea way into second trimester and really struggled so can’t imagine having it severely. What kind of things are you able to stomach? X

Read Why love matters by Sue Gerdhart or Expecting Better by Emily Osher. They both talk about the babies brain development and attachment and there is a lot about the impact of the mothers diet on the babies relationship with food as they get older, especially in adulthood. It’s interesting to read and might help you to make some choices you’re able to.

Hi Op,
Unfortunately you always will get some negative comments on MN, this is how it is.

It's great you are taking your prenatal vitamins, it makes a difference. If you can, try to swap your takeaways for some home cooked meals and healthier snacks ,but don't worry your baby will be just fine. Xx

I’d try and find the goodness in whatever you can. Pregnancy has totally changed my diet due to nausea etc so I understand the struggle. Do any of the ready meals you eat count towards one of your five a day? M&S do a lovely veggie lasagne which is two of your five a day, but I understand that might not be an option for you. Fruit juice is an easy one to stomach for most people.

Have a browse in the supermarket for ideas like soups or dried fruit snacks that you might like. Pregnancy is very hard and for some people they never struggle with food aversions or nausea so fail to understand issues like this. Forcing yourself to eat certain foods just isn’t possible in some cases. I know if I tried to eat broccoli in the first trimester it just made me sick. Not everyone will understand or be kind so be kind to yourself :)

Horrible isn't it! I'm still really struggling with most things to be honest. Basically surviving on smoothies, ice cream, cereal and really boring sandwiches! My 1 year old has a far superior diet to me!!!

I wouldn’t worry too much although do make sure you’re taking vitamins to make sure you’re getting enough of the key nutrients.
Something to think about now though is what are you going to do in a years time? In five years time? You’re relying on all this crap food now, but what will your child eat? It’s all well and good saying you might cook separate meals that are more nutritious, but children learn from example too. Are you going to be able to eat together? Do you think your child will want to tuck into a healthy home made tea when you’re sat with them eating a frozen pizza? Are you just going to eat separately most of the time?
Children who don’t see good examples of healthy eating at home are at a much higher risk of obesity. If your snacking on biscuits and crisps throughout the day, they will want to do the same. I can see this becoming a bigger problem further down the line, rather than now. I understand it must be hard when you really can’t stomach any veg - but I would start moving away from the crap freezer food and takeaways and see what vaguely healthy meals you might be able to cook properly that you would enjoy.