Pregnancy Tips: 5 Nourishing Foods for a Happy, Healthy Mother & Baby

​During pregnancy, it is more important that ever to keep your body in as good a condition as possible: taking care of yourself with plenty of rest, keeping your stress levels down and aches and pains to a minimum with pregnancy yoga and eating fantastically nourishing foods that are beneficial to both you and your baby.
 
‘Eating well’ throughout your pregnancy does not mean that you should never treat yourself to whatever naughty snack you fancy (trust and listen to your body and give in to those cravings, within reason!), but it does mean that you should be taking the time to consider which foods you can be including in your diet to make sure that both you and baby are getting the very best nutrition possible.

Scrap the idea of sad salads from your minds – beneficial food can be really delicious too! Here are 5 nourishing foods for a happy, healthy mother and baby that you’ll really enjoy:

Coconut

​Coconut really is a super-duper superfood, particularly for pregnant women and unborn bubbas. Providing fatty acids to boost your baby’s brain development (and to perhaps help with your own baby-brain too!); long-lasting energy that doesn’t ‘spike’ like a sugar rush; healthy calories for balanced weight gain and loads of amino acids, lauric acid, vitamins and minerals to support healthy hormone balance, fight germs and even prevent yeast infections.
 
After each of the Lotus Bud Yoga for Pregnancy sessions, all of you lovely pregnant mummies-to-be will get to enjoy a luxurious and comforting hot chocolate, made with coconut milk, raw dark chocolate and just a little dash of sugar. This is the perfect way to indulge your sweet tooth in a way that is actually really good for your health!

Dates

​If you’ve not already heard the buzz about eating dates whilst pregnant, you’re about to have your mind blown. According to a 2014 study in the Journal of Midwifery and Reproductive Health, it is possible to snack your way to an easier and faster labour! Yes, you did read that right.
 
The results of this study showed that women who consumed 6 dates per day for the four weeks leading up to their due date were:
 

• Significantly more dilated
• More likely to go into labour spontaneously
• More likely to have intact membranes upon admission
• Pleasantly surprised by a shorted first stage of labour
• Less likely to use pain medication

 
If that’s not enough to get you stock-piling this sweet fruit, then maybe you’ll be swayed by the fact that they’re also high in fibre, potassium, magnesium, vitamin K and folate, all of which combat many common pregnancy ailments.

Berries

​Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries…all the berries! They’re among the highest foods in antioxidants and a fantastic pre-biotic food too, meaning healthy digestion and a cast iron immune system.
 
Berries are also low in sugars, making them the fruit of choice for mums at higher risk of gestational diabetes, and high in folate for your baby’s development.

Dark Chocolate

​Another reason you can enjoy your post-yoga hot chocolate guilt free is that dark chocolate (the real, un-processed sort containing 70% or more cacao) is a powerful superfood.
 
Higher than even the aforementioned berries in antioxidants and known for improving circulation and digestion – if you’ve got a sugar craving, make this your treat!

Avocados

A study published last year in the journal ‘Nutrients’ examined the benefits of avocados for pregnant women: and there were many!
 
The write-up stated:

​ “Avocados are unique among fruits and vegetables in that, by weight, they contain much higher amounts of the key nutrients folate and potassium, which are normally under-consumed in maternal diets.

Avocados also contain higher amounts of several non-essential compounds, such as fibre, mono-unsaturated fats, and lipid-soluble antioxidants, which have all been linked to improvements in maternal health, birth outcomes and/or breast milk quality“.
 
Better yet – they’re excellent for munching on if you’ve got morning sickness too! Try them on wholegrain toast with salt, pepper and a bit of lemon for a stomach settling breakfast.