For expectant moms, maintaining a healthy diet is essential, and breakfast is an important part of that equation. Whether you love it, loathe it, are craving only chocolate-iced donuts, or are suffering from a bout of morning sickness, there are ways to incorporate breakfast into your pregnancy diet.
What does a healthy breakfast for pregnancy look like? Here are some things to keep in mind when preparing that important first meal of the day.
Breakfast: Part of a healthy diet during pregnancy
What to eat for morning sickness
According to the American Pregnancy Association, more than half of all pregnant women will experience morning sickness. And for those who do have it, “morning” is often a misnomer, as nausea from elevated pregnancy hormones can occur any time, day or night.
“I went from feeling great to feeling like I had a stomach flu that would not end,” mom Carla Wiking previously told Mom.com. “I couldn’t keep much down. I lost weight, the one time in your life that you actually want the scale to tip the other way.”
So what to eat if your morning sickness is making you dread breakfast? Skipping meals, especially breakfast, can make it worse, as nausea can intensify on an empty stomach. “If you find you can’t eat a lot first thing in the morning, start out slowly, and then, perhaps two hours later, have a little more to eat,” Ardine advised. Because pregnant women often have a heightened sense of smell, she recommends staying away from cooked foods like meats and vegetables that can release a strong odor when they’re cooked.
“If you’re suffering from morning sickness, try sticking to cold foods, like fruit, for breakfast, or bland foods, like toast,” she suggested. “Keep in mind that if you can’t get much in at breakfast, you can try to eat a little more in a few hours. Because things change from week to week in pregnancy, you should keep trying different foods to ensure that over the course of a day, your meal selections are healthy.”
