The best fetal development depends on the good nutrition of the mother

Healthy fetal development is a vital concern for everyone who is going to have a baby. This is a brief look at good nutrition for moms-to-be, including the most common missing nutrient needed for the best fetal development.

Good food choices and good supplements are never more important to a woman than when she is pregnant. Your developing baby is completely dependent on the nutrition that is passed through the mother’s body.

Foods that are healthy for anyone are more important than ever during pregnancy. If your favorite foods aren’t particularly nutritious, now is the time to add as many as you can, at least a few servings a week:

— You may be tired of hearing this, but vegetables and fruits are great foods for you and your baby, and few of us get enough of them. Best are brightly colored salad greens like spinach leaves or dark green lettuce like romaine.

Red, yellow, orange or green bell peppers, tomatoes, broccoli and carrots (the last three are excellent raw or cooked) are a few. One secret is to eat as much of the ones you like, and just a little of a wide variety of others.

If you don’t like most vegetables but love certain fruits, go for it: Berries, especially blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries are nutrition camps. Do you like citrus? apples? nectarines? All wonderful foods, so enjoy!

Try to include leaner meats and more fish in your diet, not whole burgers.

If after considering all of that, you really can’t stomach the big dietary improvements you know you need, it’s a very good idea to take good supplements during pregnancy. (Of course, it’s still a great idea, even if you’re eating healthy—you and your baby need the best nutrition now more than ever.)

The best supplements contain a good supply of all the vitamins and a wide variety of other nutrients; it takes more than vitamins for superior nutrition.

And what is the most common missing nutrient for better fetal development?

They are omega 3 fatty acids, which are found in higher quality and quantity in fish oil. There is widespread agreement that this is the single element of nutrition that is most often missing from modern diets.

I understand that a pregnant woman can have a sensitive stomach, and the idea of ​​swallowing fish oil may sound impossible to her, when she can barely stomach a regular breakfast of things she loves!

But don’t give up. There are fish oil capsules available that are so highly purified and from such pristine sources that they are guaranteed not to give you a burp or a fishy aftertaste.

So check them out. You’ll be glad you did.

One last thing I want to mention. Perhaps it goes without saying, but smoking during pregnancy is one of the most dangerous habits. Babies born to mothers who smoke generally weigh less, are more premature, and already have measurable effects on their developing lungs and brains. Quitting smoking is one of the best things a pregnant woman can do for her baby.