As veganism becomes more popular, many women are choosing to follow a plant-based diet — even during pregnancy. However, it’s crucial to maintain a balanced diet during this time that provides all essential nutrients to meet your increased nutritional needs and ensure a healthy pregnancy.
A vegan diet excludes all foods of animal origin, i.e. not only meat and fish, but also milk, dairy products, eggs, gelatin, honey, etc.
Eating a vegan diet during pregnancy can be challenging and requires extra care and nutrition knowledge to ensure you’re getting the right amount of key vitamins and minerals.
Vegan while pregnant – what you need to know
Historically, vegetarian or vegan diets have been criticized for lacking nutrients and being inappropriate for more sensitive life stages, such as pregnancy.
This is because they tend to be naturally low in micronutrients like vitamin B12 and vitamin D, omega-3 fats, iron, iodine, calcium, and zinc — all of which are especially important during pregnancy.
A low intake of these nutrients can result in nutrient deficiencies and pregnancy complications. For instance, insufficient vitamin B12 levels during pregnancy may raise your risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, or birth defects.
In addition, vegan diets during pregnancy are associated with low birth weight. The smaller birth size may be attributable to less weight gain during pregnancy.
If you’re vegan while pregnant, it’s important to ensure you’re getting enough iron and vitamin B12, which are commonly found in animal products, as well as vitamin D (often found in eggs), calcium (typically found in dairy), and iodine (in seafood). A vegan pregnancy—without meat, fish, dairy products, and eggs—is therefore not ideal for pregnant women unless carefully planned, as it requires extra attention to certain nutrients.
If you want to eat a vegan diet despite the indication of possible health risks for your baby, you may need personalized nutrition counseling, frequent medical check-ups (regular control of your blood values) and additional nutritional supplements.
Vegan diet for pregnant women: Why supplements are a must
Good sources of vitamin B12 for vegetarians include milk, cheese and eggs. For vegans, some great options are: Breakfast cereals fortified with B12, unsweetened soy drinks fortified with B12, yeast extract (like Marmite) and nutritional yeast flakes fortified with B12.
In addition, we recommend taking high-quality nutritional supplements (including folic acid, vitamin B12, vitamin D, iodine, zinc, and calcium) to help prevent nutrient deficiencies during pregnancy.
If you don’t eat fish, supplements with long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, such as DHA, are also advisable. On top of that, taking extra iron makes sense, as plant-based iron is absorbed less efficiently than iron from animal sources.
Lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet while pregnant
On the other hand, a well-planned lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet (excluding meat, poultry, and fish but including protein sources like eggs and dairy products) can be considered safe and nutritionally adequate during pregnancy and lactation!
However, attention must be given to certain nutrients that are less abundant in plant-based sources. Pregnant women following a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet should ensure adequate intake of vitamin B12 through dairy and eggs, and consider supplementation to be on the safe side when nutrition matters most.
The Planetary Health Diet is perfect for flexitarians who eat meat only occasionally.
