How to Keep Your Pregnant Wife Well-Nourished

If you’re reading this because you’re expecting to add a little one to your family, then congratulations! Parenthood quite the roller coaster ride and it starts well before you’re looking at a tiny human crying about being outside of the womb. As soon as you have a confirmed pregnancy, your journey has essentially begun and it’s important to know what to do or how to act to ensure that the baby develops in the best way they can and that the mother is well nourished. This can be really hard depending on the person and how they react to the pregnancy.

Let’s take a look at the common reactions so you know what to look out for as you care for both your wife and the new life that’s growing inside her.

Types of Pregnancy Eating Habits

You’ve probably heard of women who constantly throw up during pregnancy and also about those that have the most random cravings in the middle of the night. Fear not though, this isn’t everyone and it isn’t all the time.

Nausea during pregnancy is very normal, 80% of women experience this at least once during their pregnancy. It’s usually referred to as “morning sickness” but it can happen at any time, so don’t be fooled by the term. During this time, the mother might get nauseous as a result of different smells, the sight of certain things, or even the thought of something. As her support person, you’ll want to stay alert and help avoid anything that she’s having an adverse reaction to. If that means giving up something you usually eat, it’s not the end of the world so just do it.

On the other end of the spectrum, the majority of women will have a random craving at some point during the pregnancy. When my wife was pregnant, she had a series of very specific cravings which included things like school lunch pizza (the one from the 90’s) and grape jelly. If your wife gets a craving, do what you can the fulfill the request. Sometimes you can’t, but you can always try to find a substitute; I couldn’t find the pizza from the 90’s, but I did recreate a similar taste based on her description of what she imagined it tasted like (which probably isn’t historically accurate but it hit the spot for her). Bottom line is that you won’t get it right every time, but you have to at least try.

Outside of nausea and cravings, you’ll also find many women that just don’t have much of an appetite during the first part of the pregnancy. About 60% of women fall into this category, my wife included. There isn’t that much you can do since you can’t force someone to eat. However, you can serve up food that is nutritiously dense so that she still remains well-nourished. More on that below.

What to do When Her Appetite Declines?

This is a very tricky situation to be in. If mom’s appetite is low, there’s not much you can do to fix that. It’s a common sympton of pregnancy and believe me when I tell you that she’s way more concerned about it than you are. The last thing you want to do is force her to eat or worse, try to guilt her into eating.

It is natural to feel frustrated to see the mother of your child suffering from appetite loss. You’re worried about her, about the baby, and about why you can’t fix it. You job at this point is to figure out how to keep them both well-nourished. This means getting or making nutrient dense foods like rich broths, eggs, organ meats, lean meats, sweet potatoes, tree nuts, and salmon. The goal here is to maximize the amount of nutrition she can get from just eating a small amount of something.

My personal recommendation would be to make rich broths. She doesn’t need to eat what you used to make the broth if she can’t, but at least drinking the broth will give her enough nourishment to stay healthy while she bodybuilds.

Not sure how to make a broth? No worries, it’s easier than you think. You literally just throw everything into a pot and let it go for a few hours. The hardest part about it is how long it takes and skimming the fat. I highly recommend getting an Instant Pot for this and using the “Soup/Broth” setting. You’ll just need to skim the fat off as it rises to the surface. There are a ton of recipes that range from simple to complex, but here’s what I used for my wife when she lost her appetite for the first 4 months of her pregnancy:

• Either 1lb a pound of Oxtail or 1 Chicken spine or 1lb of lean Pork
• Chunks of carrots
• Sliced raddish
• Fresh ginger
• Salt to taste (don’t go too salty though)

And if you can get you hands on these ingredients, I would highly recommend it:

• Pearl Barley
• Dried Lotus Seeds
• Dried Goji Berries
• Dried Red Dates

How to Make The Right Portions For Pregnancy Eating

Pregnancy can also make it harder to eat regular portions. Imagine something pressing up against your stomach, not letting it expand. That’s basically what’s happening to your wife.

To adapt to this new eating portion, try to cook dishes that can be separated into different meals. Instead of a single 16oz steak, cut it into 2 or 3 servings. Try serving half the usual amount to start and cover the rest, you can always give her a bit more afterwards from the container. Bacteria tends to start developing on food if left uncovered for 2+ hours. With the nausea and smaller eating capacity, bigger portions on a plate may end up being no good later on. It’s better to go back for more than to risk bacteria growth or having to throw out the uneaten portions.

Things to Keep In Mind

When it comes down to it, your main goal is to help you wife eat when she can and support her when she can’t. Nutritent dense foods will be a big factor in nourishment if you pregnant wife is suffering from appetite loss, lower eating capacity, or nausea that causes vomitting. I can’t tell you enough how much having an Instant Pot helped me out. From broths, to stews, and even bulk cooking hardboiled eggs, it saved me a bunch of time and headache which allowed me to be more mindful in taking care of my wife during her pregnancy.