A woman is a creator, the creator of life. Just the thought of this gives rise to goosebumps, right? The whole process of it is overwhelming right from when you start planning a family until the end of time. you? Putting your baby first and above everybody else is present in the blood of each mother. But what about you then? Why haven’t you given your health as much importance? Maybe now is the time to learn and understand that it is most crucial for a woman to take care of herself at all times and mostly, once the baby-making journey starts.

As soon as you break the news of you carrying a little baby inside of you to your close friends and family, it is almost like you become the most important person for everyone around you. Everybody starts taking care of you as though you suddenly came to existence. All through the nine months, nobody else is given as much priority as you. Once your baby is born, priorities shift. That’s when you need to step up and take care of yourself too. You need to always look after yourself because if you don’t, who else will?

Food and nutrition at such times is very crucial. Right from the time you conceive until the time that your baby is old enough, you have to give special attention to your eating habits and routine in general. In this article, you will learn all about what kind of food and drinks should go inside your body from the time you find out about your pregnancy until your baby is no more a toddler which means, this article will clear educate you about the food and drinks schedule for:

Pregnant women

Breastfeeding/Lactating women

Mothers of toddlers

Food and Drinks for Pregnant women

There is not much that you need to avoid during this time. You can eat whatever you feel like! Well, almost. There are certain things that are banned during pregnancy like papayas as they cause a lot of heat in your body. This heat could lead to a miscarriage and therefore, papayas are a big no-no during pregnancy. Pineapples too aren’t advised as they contain enzymes that may alter the texture of your cervix that can give way to certain premature contractions. Where papayas and pineapples are inappropriate, bananas are super-saviours. They can be your instant snack or you can even turn them into a milkshake or a smoothie by adding cherries along with the bananas. High mercury fish, undercooked or raw fish, meat and eggs, organ meat, too much caffeine is also not recommended during pregnancy. Smoking and alcohol too, needless to say, are just not allowed inside your pregnancy schedule.

Ideally, your day needs to begin with a glass of milk followed by heavy breakfast. You can have anything healthy for breakfast, just not junk. You need to remember that since you have a tiny little baby growing inside of you, you need to make sure that your diet is enough to give the needed nutrients to your baby too. In order for your baby to receive adequate oxygen, your diet needs to contain about twice the amount of iron as non-pregnant women. Your breakfast can have anything made from eggs, spinach dishes like spinach pancakes perhaps or even spinach in your omelets, oats in any form- you can try oats idlis and oats dosas with chutney and sambar, you will not be disappointed. You can also have a burrito bowl full of vegetables. Using dairy products as much as possible in your cooking is beneficial as you need about 1000 mg of calcium a day for your baby’s bones to be stronger. Almonds, tofu, granola and porridge can help you fill your stomach and give your baby what the baby needs.

You can also gulp in some juice like probably watermelon juice with some black salt and chaat masala. This could be your perfect summer cooler drink. During winters, you can consider ragi and wheat porridge made with ghee and jaggery.

Pregnant women need to make sure to eat as much fresh food as possible. If you feel there is some sort of a strange smell emerging from the food, feel free to eat something else. Try to avoid packaged and junk food as much as possible. Junk food isn’t easy to ignore because of course, there’s nothing more attractive than junk and especially when you are pregnant. Try and keep it balanced. Start your day with liquids if your body isn’t directly ready for solids. Follow your instincts and body’s call. Avoid force-eating. Make sure that you have 5 meals instead of a proper 3 meal schedule if you have any kind of fatigue or vomiting. Drink as much water as possible. Where papayas aren’t allowed during almost the whole of pregnancy, surprisingly, they are the best fruit to eat once your final month starts. Why is that?