New Health Service guidelines warn pregnant women that ‘eating for two’ is only a myth, the Daily Mail reported.
In fact, mothers-to be don’t need to make any changes to their regular diet for the first six months they are pregnant.
After that, for the three months up until the baby is born, they only need 200 additional calories a day, which is about the same as a large handful of peanuts.
This new guidance on weight management during pregnancy comes from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as a reaction to the increasing numbers of obese mothers.
NICE warns women that being obese is dangerous for their baby, but they should not try to lose weight while they are pregnant. Instead, women looking to become pregnant should meet a healthy weight goal before a pregnancy or after their baby is born.
“The aim of developing this new guidance is to provide health professionals with clear recommendations to help them support women prior to and during their pregnancy as well as after they have given birth,” said Professor Mike Kelly, Director of the Center for Public Health Excellence at NICE.
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