Getting Ready For Your Baby

During pregnancy and breastfeeding, iodine helps to support your baby’s organ and tissue development. It’s particularly important for supporting their healthy brain development.

You can find more information about pregnancy nutrition here.

Folate is an especially important nutrient during preconception, pregnancy and breastfeeding.

During preconception, folate helps to prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Once you fall pregnant, it helps to support a healthy pregnancy and healthy placental growth.

You can find more information about pregnancy nutrition here.

The 1000 days between a baby’s conception and their 2^nd birthday are widely recognised as a unique and influential period, during which the foundations of the child’s lifelong health may be laid.

Experts suggest these first 1000 days (a period of time when the health and wellbeing of a mother and her child are closely linked) have the potential to influence the child’s ability to grow, learn and thrive.

To learn more about the importance of the first 1000 days, click here.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstericians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) recommends that women planning to fall pregnant should take a folate supplement containing no less than 0.5mg of folic acid every day.

This supplement should be taken for at least one month prior to conception and during the first three months of pregnancy to help reduce the risk of neural tube defects and spina bifida.

RANZCOG also recommends a 150mcg per day iodine supplement during preconception, pregnancy and while breastfeeding to help support the baby’s brain development.

You can find more information about pregnancy nutrition here.