Canada 
Alberta 
British Columbia 
Manitoba
New Brunswick 
Newfoundland Labrador 
Nova Scotia 
Ontario 
Prince Edward Island 
Quebec 
Saskatchewan 
United States 
Belgium
France 
Italy 
Switzerland
Elsewhere
Elsewhere
×
Elsewhere
Elsewhere
Pregnancy: Tips and Information
Information to take best advantage of your meal plan
With our pregnancy meal plans, you stack the odds in your favour. To take maximum advantage of our meal plans, take the time to read the information below.
Important Advice and Useful Tips
What you should do
- To determine the recommended weight gain that will promote a healthy pregnancy for you, use the Pregnancy Weight Gain Calculator.
- Handle food safely!
- Drink enough fluids, i.e. 1 to 2 liters/quarts each day, including water, milk, soup, tea, coffee, juice, etc., distributed throughout the day.
- Your doctor will prescribe you supplements. It is important to tell him/her that the SOSCuisine Pregnancy Meal Plans already provide you with a daily intake of:
- 400 micrograms of folic acid, i.e. 2/3 of the recommended intake for pregnant women (normal pregnancy).
- 15 milligrams of iron, i.e. half of the recommended intake for pregnant women (normal pregnancy).
- 10 micrograms (400 IU) of Vitamin D, i.e. 2/3 of the recommended intake for pregnant women (normal pregnancy). N.B. In summer, the other third can be obtained by normal exposure to sunlight, but in winter or all year if you have dark skin, a supplement is necessary.
- Exercising daily is important, and especially so for effective control of gestational diabetes.
- If you have gestational diabetes, or are at risk, it’s important to eat meals at regular times to better control your blood glucose.
- Avoid drinking alcohol.
- Consult your Doctor if you have a medical condition. We also recommend that you consult a Registered Dietitian and tell her/him that you follow the SOSCuisine Meal Plans.
What you should watch out for
- Some herbal teas aren’t good to drink when you’re pregnant. Ask advice to your doctor before consuming any herbal tea during pregnancy.
- Limit your consumption of caffeine, which is contained in coffee, tea, mate, soft drinks, and energy drinks.
What you should NOT do
- To prevent any listeriosis contamination, replace all unpasteurized cheeses and homemade mayonnaise by pasteurized dairy products and commercial mayonnaise. Read carefully the lists of ingredients.
- Avoid eating the skin and fats covering the fish abdomen because contaminants concentrate in this area.
- Cyclamate and saccharine should be avoid because of their eventual undesirable effects for you and your baby.
- Do not drink coffee or tea during meals because it may reduce iron absorption.
- Do not take calcium supplements or antacids containing calcium during meals. It could inhibit iron absorption.
- Avoid consuming tea made from leaves of aloe, tussilago/coltsfoot, juniper berries, senna, and squaw mint. Also avoid teas containing buckthorn bark, common comfrey, Labrador tea, sassafras, knotweed roots, and lobelia.
Frequently Asked Questions: Pregnancy
Tea, herbal tea and coffee:
You can have tea or coffee without any problem, provided that it does not exceed two cups of standard coffee, or two 1/4 cups of espresso coffee per day. Refrain from drinking herbal teas made from leaves of aloe, coltsfoot, juniper berry, pennyroyal, buckthorn bark, of Comfrey, Labrador tea, sassafras, root patience, lobelia and senna leaves, which can be detrimental to your baby’s health. Talk to your doctor and nutritionist to find out which herbal teas can be consumed during pregnancy. Cereal-based drinks are good substitutions.
Alcohol
Remember that there is no safe amount or safe time to drink alcohol during pregnancy. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy affects fetal development. It is therefore strongly recommended to avoid alcohol consumption during pregnancy. For more details, visit the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Is it true that cold cuts and deli food should be avoided during pregnancy?
Some cold cuts and deli meats must indeed be avoided during pregnancy, but not all. Uncooked or smoked meats, such as prosciutto or Bayonne ham are carefully absent from our menus because they must be avoided. Non-dried deli meats such as cold cuts can be eaten if they are heated properly and come from commercial packaging. Another option is to cook meat at home.
I have gestational diabetes. Are the pregnancy meal plans appropriate for my condition?
Our pregnancy meal plans meet the recommendations of Canada’s Food Guide. They are designed to provide approximately 50% of your energy from carbohydrates, which are evenly distributed throughout the day as recommended by the Canadian Diabetes Association. By choosing the pregnancy meal plans at the calorie level that is right for you, you will meet, without tedious calculations or extra effort, all the recommendations to help you control your gestational diabetes. Also, the high fibre content of the meal plan not only helps regularity and satiety, but certain types of fibre, included in our meal plans, can help control your blood glucose. So be reassured, with SOSCuisine, you are in good hands!
Can I eat cheese during pregnancy?
Cheese is an important dairy product to include in the diet of pregnant women, mainly for its calcium content. However, one must be careful with the choice of cheese. To minimize the risk of contamination which could be harmful to you and your baby, raw milk (unpasteurized) cheeses should be avoided. Also, even if made from pasteurized milk, blue cheese, soft cheeses such as brie or camembert, and some fresh cheeses such as Queso Fresco, Blanco, Panela or Halloumi, should not be eaten. Our meal plans exclude these products because contamination may occur after the pasteurization step.
I see that salmon is featured quite often in the Pregnancy menus. Is there a reason for preferring salmon over other fish?
Salmon is a key food in the diet of pregnant women for several reasons: It is high in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which is essential for proper development of the foetus. It is also one of the fish that is highest in Vitamin D. Also, unlike swordfish or fresh tuna, it only contains trace amounts (i.e. insignificant quantity) of mercury, which can be a problem for the development of the foetus.
Info Nutrition: Pregnancy
The most recent recommendations (references) for a healthy pregnancy consist of 50 nutritional targets that must be attained day after day, so as to provide all the nutrients and energy needed to feed you – and your precious little one – as well as possible. These targets can be grouped as follows:
- Calorie intake, adapted to each trimester of the pregnancy
- Carbohydrate distribution throughout the day appropriate to help prevent or control gestational diabetes
- Daily intake of :
- vitamins A, B6, B12, C and D, and folic acid
- calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium, zinc
- fat, carbohydrate (total and added sugars), dietary fibre, protein
- the recommended proportions of the various food groups
- Vegetables and Fruits, including the essential dark green and orange vegetables
- Protein foods
- Whole grain foods
- specifically recommended foods (Fish, etc.)
- foods that need to be limited (Caffein sources, alcohol, herbal tea, raw or partly cooked meat/fish/eggs, fish with high mercury content, etc.)
The following table shows that our Pregnancy Meal Plans have consistently met the nutritional recommendations since their launch, on May 19th, 2011.
Articles: Pregnancy
IMPORTANT: The information provided on this website does not replace a medical consultation and is not intended for self diagnosis. We recommend that you seek the advice of your doctor or healthcare professional before undertaking a change to your diet or lifestyle. See Terms & Conditions.