Why Calcium Is Essential During Pregnancy

Calcium is one of the most important minerals during pregnancy. It helps in building and maintaining the teeth and bones of the baby. Calcium is needed most in the third trimester. Women who do not consume enough calcium daily may put themselves at risk for becoming so depleted that their babies have no choice but to take the calcium they need directly from their mothers’ bones. This puts mothers at risk for osteoporosis.

Your baby needs calcium to grow strong, healthy bones, teeth, nerves, heart, and muscles and to develop normal heart rhythm and blood clotting. If you don’t get enough calcium in your diet, the fetus will leach it from your bones, which may impair your own health later on. Calcium promotes your baby’s bone structure development, which continues throughout all three trimesters of pregnancy.

Since a growing baby demands a great deal of calcium, a pregnant woman should increase consumption of dairy products and other calcium-rich foods such as green leafy vegetables, orange juice, breads, breakfast cereals, and soy milk to prevent calcium loss from her own bones. A glass of milk also contains useful amino acids. Recent studies point to a likely link between calcium deficiency and the development of maternal hypertensive disorders (high blood pressure) in pregnancy. Calcium not only strengthens your bones, but also helps in muscle contraction and blood clotting. Some sources also say that intake of calcium can help with pre-menstrual syndrome, or PMS.

According to a research, only 23% of women consumed more than two cups but less than three cups of milk per day, which still doesn’t meet the recommended amount of calcium for pregnant women. The recommended level of calcium for pregnant women is 1,200 mg. A glass of milk or calcium-fortified drinks such as soy milk or orange juice contains approximately 300 mg of calcium.

In this case, pregnant women generally do not get the required nutrients from food alone. Mothers particularly in need of supplementation are those who are younger than 15 or older than 35, those who are expecting a multiple birth and those who are vegan.

In fact, in a study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, infants of mothers who took 2,000 milligrams of calcium supplements per day during their second and third trimesters were born with 15 percent greater bone density than newborns whose mothers took placebos. During pregnancy and lactation, your body will draw upon stored calcium in your bones to supply your baby and breast milk with adequate amounts should your diet not supply it. In other words, low intakes of calcium will affect you more than it will affect your baby.

In conclusion, to maintain positive calcium balance, adequate intake of naturally calcium-rich or fortified foods, calcium supplements or a combination of these is needed.