Find out which foods are best to eat during pregnancy, how much you should eat during pregnancy and which foods pregnant women should avoid.

When you’re pregnant you certainly don’t need to eat for two, but you do need to make sure you’re getting enough essential nutrients for your baby to develop healthily – and avoid certain foods that may be harmful. Read on to find out how.

What women eat during their pregnancy not only has a direct effect on their own health, but also on the development and wellbeing of their baby. The nine months of pregnancy before the big arrival is a unique time and it’s vital mums use their pregnancy to give their unborn child the best possible start in life. Yet over a quarter of women don’t change their diet at all during pregnancy, possibly leading to insufficient nutrition and becoming underweight – a risk factor for miscarriage and underweight babies.

Pregnancy Tips: Do Pregnant Women Really Need to Eat For Two?

On the other hand, many women overeat during pregnancy, filling up on fatty, sugary and salty junk food that does their unborn child far more harm than good. Studies show that overeating and being overweight in pregnancy often leads to babies with an undesirably high birth weight, high blood pressure and even obese kids later on. In fact, pregnant women need eat only around 200 extra calories a day, and that’s only in the final month or two. Read more: Overweight Pregnancy Can Lead to Fat Kids.

Read on to get more food savvy with our helpful pregnancy dos and don’ts – and make those extra 200 calories you need during pregnancy count!

Pregnancy Facts: What Should I Eat When I’m Pregnant?

Foods to Eat During Pregnancy: Apples are full of healthy vitamins and antioxidants to keep you and your baby healthy, plus they can even protect your unborn child from developing asthma and other allergies in the future. Read more: Pre-birth Apples Could Prevent Asthma.

Foods to Eat During Pregnancy: Calcium. Research shows pregnant mothers to be don’t get nearly enough. 'A low calcium diet can cause women to experience insomnia, irritability and leg cramps and may also be linked to high blood pressure,” says food and health writer Christine Bailey. “Pregnancy induced high blood pressure is a serious complication that can put both mother and baby at risk.' Pregnant women should up their calcium intake by eating dairy products, but also through nuts and seeds, dried fruits, oily fish with bones, beans and pulses. Yoghurt, a food high in calcium, also helps combat morning sickness and nausea as it is easily digestible and full of vitamins and minerals. But remember to stick to the low fat options, so you get the health benefits without the calories. To find out more: Pregnant Women Need More Calcium.

Foods to Eat During Pregnancy: Seafood. It’s the primary source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for your baby’s brain and heart to develop healthily, and research shows women who eat plenty of it during pregnancy have children with better brain function and learning abilities. Pregnant women are often advised to limit their seafood intake during pregnancy to avoid trace contaminants of toxins like mercury, but in fact research shows that the risk is negligible, while avoiding seafood risks your child having a lower IQ and problems with social development. Eat oily fish like salmon, sardines, trout and mackerel, ideally at least 2-3 times a week during pregnancy. Experts also believe that omega 3s prevent cancer, especially breast cancer. Another random fact: eating anti-inflammatory oily fish protects your child from future allergies, especially asthma and eczema! Still worried about mercury and toxins? Avoid eating shark, swordfish, tilefish and Spanish mackerel and you’ll be fine. Not keen on seafood? Snack on omega-rich foods like nuts, walnuts, canola, flax and hemp seeds instead – a quarter of a cup equals one serving. Read more: Seafood Boosts Brain Development of Unborn Babies.

If you decide to take a supplement during pregnancy, be careful not to confuse Omega 3 acids with Omega 6. Omega 6, linked to a western diet and found in foods like baked goods, eggs, margarine and meat, is great in moderate quantities – but chances are you’re getting too much already, and excessive intake is actually linked to breast cancer. Fatty fish is also a great way to get your vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiencies are widespread among pregnant mothers, and without it both mother and baby risk insufficient bone density, type 1 diabetes, asthma and even schizophrenia! A newborn’s vitamin D supply is entirely reliant on its mother, and a deficiency could also result in rickets.

Foods to Eat During Pregnancy: Iron. Iron helps your cells to make haemoglobin which transports oxygen to and from cells. It is vital for energy production and a lack of iron can lead to fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite and anaemia. It can also affect the growth and development of your baby.

Foods to Eat During Pregnancy: Whole Wheat is high in healthy fibre, and may even prevent your child from developing breast cancer in later life. To read more, Fibre Essential in Pregnancy.

Foods to Eat During Pregnancy: Folic Acid is a vitamin found in vegetables, and many pregnant women don’t get enough. But it’s so important that the Food Standards Agency has even recommended to UK Health Ministers the introduction of fortification of either bread or flour with folic acid to prevent miscarriages, cot deaths and lifelong disability caused by pregnant women not having enough in their diets. Folic acid also prevents depression, releasing “feel good” chemicals in the brain.

Harmful Pregnancy Food Information: What Foods Should I Avoid During Pregnancy?

Foods to Avoid During Pregnancy: Junk Food. Not only does junk food contain empty, unhealthy calories with no nutritional value, but recent research has found that it also increases your child’s risk of obesity, overeating, diabetes and heart disease in the future! Eating junk food during pregnancy actually causes the foetus to develop a taste for junk food, making it more difficult for them to control their appetite and make healthy eating choices in the future. Plus, the evidence is mounting that a high fat diet during pregnancy increases your child’s risk of developing cancer, especially breast cancer. Read more: Fatty Foods While Pregant Leads to Obese Kids.

Foods to Avoid During Pregnancy: Caffeine. Experts believe that excessive caffeine during pregnancy leads to a greater risk of premature births and underweight babies. But the research is inconclusive, with some research, including the largest and most thorough study to date, finding no link between caffeine and development problems at all. The best bet is probably to cut back on caffeine anyway – it certainly doesn’t offer any health benefits, and the last thing you need when you’re pregnant is to be dehydrated and lying awake at night. Find out more, Caffeine May Not Harm Pregnancy.

Foods to Avoid During Pregnancy: Rare meat. Eating undercooked, raw or cured meat during pregnancy is the main risk factor for the common parasite infection - toxoplasmosis - which can lead to brain damage in your unborn child. Unpasteurised milk is another risk factor.

Drinks to Avoid During Pregnancy: Alcohol. Everyone knows that drinking during pregnancy can damage your baby’s brain development, leading to learning and behaviour problems and worse. Current government guidelines state that pregnant women should stick to 4 units of alcohol a week, and no more than 2 in one sitting. But research shows that even light drinking – less that a glass a day – can reduce your child’s motor skills, attention span, memory and cause hyperactivity. And that’s true even for the early months of pregnancy, when many mothers believe drinking is safe. There is even some evidence, although more research must be done, to suggest that drinking during pregnancy may also increase your offspring’s risk of breast cancer in later life. The upshot? There’s no safe level of drinking during pregnancy – and there’s no safe time to drink. To read more, click here: Even Moderate Alcohol Harmful During Pregnancy.

Foods to Avoid During Pregnancy: Soya. Unfortunately, this one is anything but clear. Some experts claim that soya is dangerous or even toxic for pregnant women, believing that it causes cancer and sexual problems, affecting matters such as sperm count. Others are not so sure, with some studies finding that it actually prevents cancer. But while the truth remains unclear, it’s better not to risk it.

Are you pregnant? Or is your partner, mother or sister pregnant? Did you have any strange food cravings during pregnancy? Share your thoughts, views and experiences on pregnancy with other users using the Comment on this Article box below. Plus, to keep up to date with all the latest pregnancy health news and lots more health tips on diet, healthy eating and more, sign-up for the monthly KeeptheDoctorAway Newsletter below.