In the developed world, maternal smoking is the principal cause of low birth weight. Pregnant women are particularly receptive to advice regarding their health and the health of their family. Advice provided during pregnancy should be tailored to their specific needs and circumstances. Encourage pregnant women to follow Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating, maintain an active lifestyle and allow appetite to guide energy intake. During pregnancy the body needs extra nutrients and energy to meet the demands of an expanding blood supply, the growth of maternal tissues, a developing fetus, loss of maternal tissues at birth and preparation for lactation.
Current recommendations suggest a small caloric increase during pregnancy.
However energy requirements depend on basal metabolic rate and activity patterns, which vary tremendously from individual to individual. Therefore, women should be encouraged to follow Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating , maintain an active lifestyle and allow appetite to guide energy intake. As early in the pregnancy as possible assess whether eating patterns generally follow Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating , and include foods from all four food groups. The Healthy Eating Checklist can be used to quickly assess, in a very general way, the quality of the diet. Women need folate during pregnancy to support their expanding blood volume and the growth of maternal and fetal tissues, and to decrease the risk to the fetus of neural tube defects.