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Pregnancy Care – One Point Medical

You’ve missed a period and/or have a positive home pregnancy test.
What next?

Early pregnancy is the time to:

  • START folic acid and iodine supplements (if you haven’t already, see Planning a Pregnancy page)
  • QUIT smoking
  • ABSTAIN from alcohol
  • There is no known safe level of alcohol consumption for pregnant women. The Australian Guidelines advise that the safest option is for pregnant women to drink no alcohol at all
  • EAT healthily, make sure you have enough nutrients in your diet to sustain your needs and those of your baby, especially iron and calcium (see fact sheet on healthy eating for pregnant women for more detail)
  • FLU INJECTION
    • pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to influenza infection, ask your doctor about the best time to have a flu shot
  • TALK to your doctor about what model of care you would like for your pregnancy your options include:
    • “ Shared Care” with your GP and nearest public obstetric hospital
    • “Shared Care” public/private model
    • Private Obstetrician
    • Midwife Care at your nearest public obstetric hospital

What’s a healthy diet in pregnancy?

It’s important to eat a variety of foods during pregnancy, to ensure your nutritional needs and those of your baby are met.
You don’t really need to ‘eat for two’ while pregnant, but in the second and third trimesters, you will need a bit extra to keep up with your baby’s growth. This is about 2 serves of grains/day and an extra serve of lean meat or alternative. This would mean, for example, an extra wholegrain sandwich with egg or tuna, a small bowl of spaghetti Bolognese, (not an extra bowl of ice-cream..)

Healthy weight gain in pregnancy is 11.5-16 kg, if you are normal weight, or 5-11.5kg, if you are overweight.

A healthy diet while pregnant should consist of per day:

  • Whole grains: 8 serves 1 serve = 1 slice bread, ½ cup cooked porridge, rice, pasta
  • Protein: Lean meat, legumes 3 ½ serves 1 serve= 65g red meat, 80 g chicken, 100g fish, 1 cup legumes, 30 g nuts
  • Vegetables: 5 serves 1 serve = ½ cup cooked vegetables, 1 cup salad greens, ½ medium potato
  • Fruit: 2 serves 1 serve = 1 medium fruit (apple, banana), 2 small fruits (plum, kiwi)
  • Calcium: 2 ½ serves 1 serve= 250 ml milk, 250 ml soy milk with added 100mg calcium/100ml, 2 slices hard cheese, 200g yoghurt
  • Iron: 27mg, check your levels, you may need a supplement

Limit foods high in saturated fat, added sugar and salt, as these are kilojoule dense (i.e. fattening!) and nutrient poor.

Limit your exposure to Listeria prone foods, see Listeria fact sheet.

Practise careful food hygiene, particularly when traveling, to limit your risk of “food poisoning”, as Salmonella in particular is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage. Salmonella is found in raw eggs and undercooked meat and poultry.

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Listeria in pregnancy

(What if I’m craving salami while pregnant ?)
Listeria monocytogenes is a bacteria that can contaminate certain foods.
Listeria infection is caused by eating food containing the Listeria bacteria.
When you are not pregnant, you may eat such food with no problem, however when pregnant, because of changes to your immune system, you and your baby are at risk of illness. The risk of infection is highest in the third trimester.
Symptoms of Listeria infection include fever, chills, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhoea. The symptoms may appear
a few days to weeks after eating contaminated food.
The greatest risk is to your baby, and may result in miscarriage, stillbirth or premature labour. Infection from Listeria is rare.
There is an average of 7 cases reported in Australian pregnant women each year, compared with 300,000 births.
High risk foods to avoid during pregnancy are:

  • soft cheeses, e.g. brie, camembert, ricotta
  • unpasteurised foods
  • soft serve ice-cream
  • processed meat eg ham, salami
  • prepackaged or preprepared vegetables and fruit (e.g. deli salads)
  • undercooked meat, pate
  • raw or smoked seafood

Properly cooked foods are not a risk, as heat destroys the Listeria bacteria.
Avoid “ready to eat” refrigerated foods that may have been stored for some time and try to eat freshly prepared food where possible.

Category A rating

One Point Medical has once again received a category A rating on accreditation, demonstrating its commitment to quality and safety within the practice.

More information can be found here.