Vegan and Pregnant

I'm vego.. have been since I was a toddler..

The only main thing is to really keep on top of your iron and B12 levels cause they get depleted really fast and easily and you end up feeling like complete ass. I needed loads of iron supplements and B12 injections cause mine got so low so if you start on that kinda thing now you might not have that problem.

So long as you eat a good healthy balanced diet you'll be fine

I was raised vegetarian (am not anymore) and agree with the other posters re iron levels.

Can you take a really good multivitamin/iron supplements (if you can find a vegan one?)?

Hiya, apparently one big things (I'm veggie and just found out) is that B12 is REALLY hard to come by in the right form. I've taken to buying a well researched supplement. Basically, there are lots of plant things that say they have B12 (and do!) but they aren't absorbed by the human body. So even when buying the supplement you have to be careful to get the better type.

I am also interested in this thread as I'm vegetarian, trying to lose the dairy and not wanting to give my child meat. However, DH wants them to have fish so it's a bit hard. I figure I'll compromise as long as it's well sourced fish and I don't have to go near it. But, would much rather have a vegetarian child.

I do find it harder in NZ for all this kind of thing, due in part to the attitudes of the general public being quite different than I'm used to. It's such a hunting focused sort of nation and the idea of me being vegetarian seems to surprise people, let alone if I start talking about not wanting dairy etc. So, I feel like bringing up a child could be challenging, and I'm ready to expect some pretty difficult conversations.

Oh, and calcium is obviously very important. I've started taking Dolomite powder which is a natural source and contains all you need in 1 tsp of powder! Awesome! I really hope I can breast feed too, otherwise I guess things could get tricky.

Sorry, it's a bit of tangled mess that I've written!

Hi

I have been taking an iron/B12 supplement for a while now and the MW said everything was looking good. She is a veggie turning vegan so is supportive.

As for the attitudes thing- we have told our parents and they disagree with our baby being raised vegan or veggie. But they have to live with that fact!

Thanks for the advice and ideas so far- I really appreciate it

Thanks Mummydee,

DH and I were talking about that the other day, and realised we know a lot more about nutrition and eat a wider variety of food than a lot of other people.

Guess it's just hard because our parents think it's 'wrong' to raise a vegan baby. Not that our parents have a say and we have made it clear to them... but still I wonder if anyone else has this problem? Am slightly fearful that when baby/toddler goes to their house they will sneak contraband food!

Just wanted to say hi as another vego, many friends & my lecturer at law school had wonderful healthy vegan pregnancies, so it's just a case of being aware of what you need in different forms. Nice to see MWs being supportive, mine was too. Times they are a-changin'!

Best to you all.

Puddleduck- good thinking about the rice based protein powder- I will look into that

I'm veggie too and have noticed that my iron count has improved as I have increased my vitamin C i.e. orange juice intake. Vitamin C improves the uptake of plant based iron sources, and it seems to be working for me. I used to have very low iron levels, but now am low/normal which is good for me.

I have started using the calci-trim on my cereal as I don't eat that much dairy just to help me along a bit. But as being veggie is normal to me, I just keep ticking along!

Oh how annoying for you koromiko. Perhaps increase your fibre intake so constipation doesn't become a problem when you up your iron intake. (That's my usual problem!)