HAVING a healthy approach to food during pregnancy could give your baby a love of good food even before they’re born, according to Dorset's award-winning baby food brand, Organix.

To help mums-to-be to eat well during pregnancy, the Bournemouth-based company has produced a new guide with help from Dr Rana Conway, one of the UK's leading experts on nutrition in pregnancy.

Launching the Organix Little Book of Good Food – Bump to Baby, Dr Conway said: “Everyone seems to have a different view of food during pregnancy and the advice and information is constantly being updated, so it can be a worry wondering if you’re doing what’s right for your baby. And of course while it’s important to eat a varied, healthy diet it’s not always easy to do so, so I hope [this guide] encourages mums-to-be as they consider their food choices and what they’re eating for them and their baby”.

The Organix Little Book of Good Food – Bump to Baby, covers advice on a healthy diet to nourish your growing baby, ideas on how to cope with food cravings, and useful tips on how you can avoid the junk.

Experts at Organix claim that a mum-to-be who eats a healthy, varied diet can have a positive impact on the lifelong health and eating habits of her child.

Research has shown that the first 1,000 days of life, from conception to a child’s second birthday, are the most significant for health and development.

There also appears to be a link between the foods mums eat frequently during pregnancy and the foods their children grow up to enjoy as babies become familiar with and remember the flavours they first tasted in the womb.

For the first trimester, mums are recommended to follow a healthy balanced diet made up of fruit and vegetables, protein-rich foods, dairy foods and unrefined carbohydrates, like whole grains, to provide all the nutrients a growing baby needs, from Vitamin A to Zinc.

Eating at least a small breakfast in the early stages can help relieve the symptoms of morning sickness, and breakfast eaters are more likely to get all the nutrients they need than those who skip it.

If you don’t have breakfast, the tendency can be to reach for unhealthy snacks that are high in sugar and fat, and low in essential vitamins and minerals.

In the second trimester, the morning sickness can ease off and you might have more energy. It’s a good time to think about what you are eating, you have six months to give your bump lots of good nutrients, and what you eat between now and the birth will have a big effect on your child’s future health.

You don't need to eat for two in the third trimester though. You only need an extra 200kcal a day as the baby’s weight increases to get ready for birth.

You won’t need more than this because your body adapts to help you get the extra nutrients you need. Opt for low GI snacks which will help keep you feeling fuller for longer, like a slice of granary toast with mashed avocado, black pepper and lemon juice, or a handful of nuts.

To download your free copy of the Organix Little Book of Good Food – Bump to Baby, visit organix.com/bumptobaby.

In the meantime, here are some recipes for you to try at home.

RECIPE 1

For a hearty appetite this simple and tasty pizza with roast vegetables and tangy goats cheese is a great fast food alternative.

Ingredients

Roasted vegetables:

1 yellow pepper

1 courgette

1 red onion

2 tsps olive oil or rapeseed oil

Base:

200g plain flour

Pinch salt

3.5g dried yeast (half a 7g sachet)

1 tbsps olive oil, plus extra for greasing

115ml warm water

Topping:

200g passata

4 tbsps tomato puree

75g soft goats' cheese

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fab)/425°F/gas mark 7.

Cut the pepper in half, remove the stalk and seeds and chop into 1-2cm chunks. Cut the courgette into slices no more that 1cm thick. Peel the onion and cut into 1cm wedges.

Put 1 teaspoon of oil on a baking tray, add all the chopped vegetables and drizzle the other spoonful of oil over the top. Place in the oven for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are nearly soft.

Grease the other baking tray.

Mix the passata and tomato puree in a small bowl.

Place the flour, salt and yeast in a mixing bowl and mix. Make a well in the centre, pour in the oil and water and start to mix with a spoon.

Using one hand, collect the dough together and place on a floured work surface. Roll out to approximately the size of your baking tray.

Put the dough on the baking tray.

When the vegetables have cooked for 15 minutes, turn the oven down to 190°C(170°C fan)/375°F gas mark 5 and place the base in for 5 minutes.

- Take the trays out of the oven. Spread the tomato sauce over the base, spoon the roast vegetables on top and spread out, then crumble the goats' cheese over the top.

Return to the oven and cook for a further 15-20 minutes until the edges of the base have browned.

Serving suggestions:

You can use a goats' cheese with a rind, such as chèvre, for this recipe, as cooking until its piping hot will kill any listeria bacteria if they are present. However, you may prefer to use a soft goats' cheese without rind, which is safe for pregnancy even if it's not cooked.

RECIPE 2

A refreshing smoothie, perfect for providing the extra calcium that you need when your baby arrives.

Ingredients:

5 medium strawberries

½ banana

100g low fat natural yoghurt

50ml milk

Method:

Wash the strawberries and remove the stalk.

Place everything in the blender and blend until smooth.

RECIPE 3

This bruschetta is full of nutrients from the delicious eggs and spinach and is a great breakfast or light lunch for your third trimester when your tummy might be feeling a little squashed

2 granary rolls or wholemeal muffins or thick slices of bread

3 eggs

2 tbsps milk

1 tbsp olive oil or rapeseed oil

4 mushrooms

125g frozen spinach

1 tbsp cream cheese

Sprinkle of nutmeg

Black pepper

Method:

Beat the eggs and milk in a small bowl

Slice the mushrooms. Heat the oil in the frying pan and fry the mushrooms for 3-4 minutes, until nicely browned.

Meanwhile place the spinach in the microwave for 3-4 minutes and put the bread rolls in the toaster

When the mushrooms are ready, add the egg mixture, and leave for a minute, then stir until set and no runny egg remains.

Mix the cream and nutmeg into the hot spinach.

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