All The Essentials For Mum's and Baby's To Be

Falling pregnant, especially for the first time, can bring up many perplexing questions such as home birth or hospital birth, which midwife, who to tell and when.  Feeling tired, overwhelmed, hormonal and on top of all that being given tips from great-great aunts to the neighbours beauty therapist…can make matters even more confusing.  And then there is diet to consider...

Maintaining a healthy and balanced diet (with the odd food craving thrown into the mix) while pregnant and breast feeding is vital for the health of mother and baby. As the daily menu becomes restricted and limited, not only by olfactory and palatability limitations but also due to strict dietary instructions from midwives and doctors, dietary supplements can come in handy.

First in line is a high quality multi vitamin, specifically designed for pregnant mothers. Radiance® Multi for Pregnancy for example can help mums-to-be keep on top of things with the added bonus of giving baby all the basic nutrients it needs for healthy development. Multi for Pregnancy is suitable to take preconception, during pregnancy and while breast feeding to maintain adequate nutrient status. Multi for Pregnancy has many advantages over other pregnancy multis on the market:

• Provides 10mg of iron as non-constipating, highly absorbable iron bisglycinate.  Beware of other forms such as ferrous fumarate that can cause gastric distress
• Provides significant amounts of the B vitamin family - essential for digestion of food and utilisation of food for energy.  Many mother’s-to-be feel tired through the day, increasing your B vitamin intake can help
• Provides trace minerals deficient in New Zealand soils - copper, iodine, molybdenum, phosophorous, potassium, selenium, vanadium - often neglected from pregnancy multis
• Requirements for zinc are increased during pregnancy due to the exponential tissue growth that occurs.  Tell-tale signs of zinc deficiency include fatigue and lowered immune function.  Luckily Radiance® Multi for Pregnancy provides 7.5mg per tablet to keep levels up, aiding the healthy immuity
• Provides bioflavonoids and vitamin C - important for strong, healthy connective tissue growth for the baby and supporting vein health for mum
• Provides iodine for healthy neurological development in the foetus and new born

Other critical nutrients for mums and babies to be are the polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs). Some mothers may not be aware of how crucial these fatty acids are for healthy brain development, hand-eye coordination, vocabulary and nervous system development in the foetus. A deficiency in these fatty acids has also been linked with pregnant mothers developing “baby brain” or “the baby blues” after delivery. The most studied source of these fatty acids that has shown the most significant results with regard to foetus health is DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) a component of fish oil. Research has shown that when this fatty acid is taken by a pregnant mother, it helps develop the full potential of the child.¹

With mothers being forewarned against eating seafood and fish while pregnant, a safe way to get these important nutrients is through dietary supplements that have been purified and tested. A high quality product is Efamol® Mother & Baby™. As the name implies, this product has been uniquely developed with mums-to-be and bubs in mind. It provides both DHA and AA (arachidonic acid), two crucial structural components for making healthy brains in babies and keeping mums happy .

Efamol® have been researching and developing high quality fatty acid supplements for over 25 years. They rigorously purify the oils from heavy metals including mercury, lead and PCB’s, providing the purest best quality fatty acid product on the New Zealand market.