Pregnant Vegetarian?

[Peach*]

Hi Jessenna,
There is a vegetarian chat on BB if you want to drop in. I have been veg for 4 years and had a healthy pregnancy without having to eat meat, and my DD was 8pound 6 born so she was definately not lacking in anything by being vego. With the iron thing I took multi's for pregnancy and made sure I ate well and blood tests showed I had above average health so it can be done
HTH and best of luck!

[luna moth]

Vegetarian Chatter is the thread.

Youc an most certainly do it, but you DO need to be aware of your food intake - mind you, all vegetarians should. Your needs for iron do increase because your blood volume increases by half in the first trimester. Some sort of B12 is absolutely imperative - eggs or supplements really are the only reliable source (some say nutritional yeast or spirulina, but I don't trust it)

I recommend you read up on it - check out some pregnancy nutrition books at your local library, and maybe some of Rosemary Stanton's cookbooks - I have always got great info from them. The Internets are always good too!

I am vegan, and have been for nearly 2 years. My Dr has no problem with my diet while I'm pregnant. I had a lot of blood tests before we started trying to see where I was at - since you ar still planning, maybe you can do the same? It will give you a great idea of what you might need.

Good luck!

[Nai]

I have been lacto-ovo vegetarian for 17 years and have had 2 pregnancies and breastfed my 2 gorgeous girls both for over a year afterwards. They are both bright, healthy and normal kids with no developmental issues. I had no iron issues until the third trimester but then took an iron supplement. I also had all my levels tested prior to getting pregnant so I had a measure to start from to make sure there was nothing I needed prior to getting pregnant. I just maintained my normal diet and got some vegetarian pregnancy vitamins.

[jessenna]

Thanks so much for all your replies ladies! I have not had a blood test in the last 4 years to test my levels of iron etc, so I will be sure to do that soon. I thought I would add in that I eat dairy (rennet free!!) and F.R eggs for B12. I do eat a wide variety of legumes, nuts, fruits and veg. Will read up on some info on the world wibe web
Thanks again.
Jenna

[Cherished]

Hi, I've also been vego for 4 years and my pregnancy is great thus far. Drop over to the veg chatter thread some time too