Pregnant and Vegetarian: They affirmed their choices during pregnancy

During her first pregnancy, Maud, 33, did not change her diet, pescetarian (she eats fish). “I felt good, I was fine, I had a balanced and varied diet, with enough protein and iron”. However, that didn’t stop some people in her family circle from being surprised that she hadn’t returned to the flesh. “For my mother it was obvious. So I explained to him in a very informative way that when I had made the choice to stop eating meat, I had already asked at that moment to have a balanced diet with all the nutrients I need ”.

A vegetarian for several years, Antonine, 31, “forced herself to eat chicken and fish again at the beginning of [s]pregnant, in the doubt that the child is missing somethingI was very nauseated, so it was really hard ”. Then the various midwives she consulted reassured her that it was not necessarily necessary. “I’ve always had doubts because I couldn’t find reliable scientific resources on the subject,” she says. Today he knows that if he decides to have a second child, he will continue his vegetarian diet in a more relaxed way.

Léa was a vegetarian for her first pregnancy and a vegan for the second. Irony of fate, had cravings for smoked ham during the first few weeks ! “But my ethical beliefs were stronger,” she says.

Clémence, 39, became completely vegetarian after the birth of her first child”Starting to discover, a [s]daughter, on the food choices to be made and on the impact on health “.

Things to watch out for

“Being vegetarian or vegan during pregnancy, yes, it is possible,” says dietitian nutritionist Cécilia Bourgeois. ” But it is a time in life when you need to pay more attention to your diet, so a full blood test should be done early in your pregnancy and every trimester to see if there are any deficiencies. “.

Since the future baby will consume a lot of nutrients from the mother, “food supplements may be needed (but avoid self-medication), but it is often best to fill in the gaps with food “, He adds.

The main nutrients most important at the time of pregnancy to ensure the proper development of the baby are : vitamin D, vitamin B9, choline, vitamin B12 (important to monitor for those who do not eat fish or meat), iodine, calcium, omega 3, iron.

“For my second pregnancy I had to increase my intake of iron-rich foods, but my doctor reassured me and told me that this happens to almost all pregnant women,” says Maud. Like most pregnant women, she also took the multivitamin supplement recommended by her doctor.

Note, as Cécilia Bourgeois points out, thatthere are “two types of iron, heme iron (found mainly in meat) and vegetable iron (in legumes), the latter is less well absorbed, it is therefore important for vegetarian mothers to combine vitamins C. in the same meal to facilitate the assimilation of iron of vegetable origin, it can simply be a squeeze of lemon juice for example “.

“My in-laws were a bit benevolent interventionists, they regularly asked me if this vegetarian diet was enough”

Clemency

As for protein, if “vegetarians often consume a lot of eggs to make sure they meet their vitamin B12 needs,” vegan people need to be very vigilant and use very rich foods like seaweed. Some properties of food are little known, such as chia seeds (which must be ground) which contain a lot of calcium and omega 3 ”, informs Cécilia Bourgeois.

Compare the ideas received

There are many clichés and shortcuts about food. When she was pregnant herself, Cécilia Bourgeois initially followed a flexible diet. Instead of eating more meat or fish, she did the opposite. “I realized that this type of protein was causing me constipation problems,” she says. “My entourage has sometimes been surprised that with little animal protein I don’t have a deficiency”, remember. A somewhat similar experience for Clémence: “My in-laws were a bit benevolent interventionists, they regularly asked me if this vegetarian diet was enough”. It is difficult in France to accept that meat is not essential.

On the part of health professionals, the reactions are different. “I didn’t get any derogatory judgments or comments, but it was also because I had selected people who were open and caring on the subject.perhaps with other caregivers I would have chosen not to talk about my diet, ”admits Léa, 33, who is also the creator of social media that promote plant-based diets for families.

Prior to her second pregnancy, Clémence documented herself, thus allowing her to respond to skeptical doctors “I share with them the official position of American and Canadian pediatricians and dieticians that plant-based food is suitable for all ages of life, for both a pregnant woman and a child. A resource that Léa also often uses: “it is a scientific topic that works well, because these organizations continually analyze the literature on the subject”. Resources in French are rarer.

Should vegetarian mothers always be on the defensive? Léa confides in this way “come very armed to all her medical appointments and those of her children, I always prepare my references “. Maud,” as a vegetarian, [s’]I’m very interested in food, so I’m used to getting information and checking things out. “Clemente agrees: “Omnivores who follow an unbalanced diet ask themselves fewer questions than vegetarians who follow a balanced diet”.

“If you want your child to become a vegetarian after pregnancy, prepare your arguments in advance, because you will need to be a professional nutritionist”

Clemency

“As a general rule, mothers who follow this type of diet often have a minimum of knowledge on the subject, but that does not mean that all vegetarians or vegans have a healthy diet. What makes the difference is the use of ultra-processed products with additives, etc., such as soy steak. It is better to use raw products and process them yourself ”, advises Cécilia Bourgeois.

With each of these women, the issue of food during pregnancy quickly led to the issue of food choices for their children. “When you’re pregnant and a vegetarian, you may have some judgmental looks, but caregivers don’t attach too much importance to it, on the other hand, if you want your baby to have the same diet as you, this poses more problems for him, doctors can be very childish or even consider that the parents are abusive. They are not always adequately trained on the issue of food, ”Maud testifies.

Clémence also warns: “If you want your child to become a vegetarian after pregnancy, prepare your arguments in advance, because you will need to be a professional nutritionist”.

If you are pregnant (or expect to be) and have questions about vegetarian or vegan food, contact your doctor.

Cover photo: Filipp Romanovski / Unsplash