vegan pregnancies

[lizzybean]

i was wondering what kind of junk or weird stuff any of you vegan moms ate/eat while pregnant and also did the doc say anything about your vegan diet (good or bad). also, has anyone here had a midwife deliver their baby? one more thing, can anyone tell me personal experiences on pain and also on experiences with an epidural. ive heard that epidurals can cost 1000's of dollars so i would love to avoid one if possible. thanks for sharing!

[kristadb]

Never been pregnant, but there are some things you need to eat to ensure that your baby is healthy:

B12 (an active source, not from seaweed or algae)
Vit D
Calcium
iron (pregnant woman can get anemic easily)
folate
Omega 3 fatty acid

Of course, you need all of the vitamins and minerals, a lot more then normal, but your calorie intact doesn't increase much. You need to be mindful of eating lots of healthy food and a wide-range of it.

Becoming Vegan has a great vegan pregnancy section, which should get you started. You may also want to talk to a dietitian if you don't know your requirements. Also, a pregnancy multi-vitamin would be a good idea if you aren't confident in your eating habits.

[Squirl]

I've never been pregnant either, but I can't help but encourage you to really explore the midwife option. I will be going to school soon to start on the nurse-midwife course simply because of all the reading and stories I've heard from women who wished they'd never had an epidural or a c-section...or knew their options besides what the hospitals endorse.

[Moonflower]

I have never been pregnant, but I plan to be someday and have researched vegetarian pregnancy. There is quite a lot of info on the subject of vegan pregnancy, natural delivery, doulas, midwifes, etc. on http://www.vegfamily.com/vegan-pregnancy/index.htm

There are pregnancy/birth stories archived here that are very informative, its a good place to post your own veg pregnancy experience as well.

If you search for vegan pregnancy on the internet you come up with quite a lot of interesting links, including some with video of natural births.

Good Luck!

[Coney]

Definitely try to do the natural birth thing. I have a ton of friends that did it that way and never regretted it. That's the way I'll do it if I have a baby.

I had a friend that had an epidural and it got infected and she lost all her milk. One great reason for avoiding that shot in the spine.