MIDIRS Essence > February 2007 > Informed Choice

Informed Choice: To whet your appetite…

Originally posted on Feb 2007

Continuing with one of the central themes of this issue, healthy eating, provides me with an opportunity to showcase an Informed Choice title that you may have felt tempted to overlook – Diet and nutrition during pregnancy.

This is one of 25 Informed Choice titles which, when compared with more specialist topics, such as Vitamin K: Sickle cell and thalassaemia disorders, as well as those focused around the birth itself i.e. Place of birth: Positions in labour and delivery, could easily be regarded as being rather more mundane. Noting the wealth of information that is currently available on healthy eating, you could also be forgiven for asking yourself, “What more has Informed Choice got to offer than what is already available?”

Perhaps we feel that the subject of healthy eating and drinking is so fundamental to health and wellbeing that as health care practitioners, we are entirely conversant with the subject and suitably knowledgeable to give pregnant women the advice and support they need? Yet, according to a survey that was undertaken in 20021, many midwives lack the confidence to give basic nutritional information to pregnant women. Perhaps then, we should take a fresh look at what this particular Informed Choice title has to offer?

Firstly, we have the methodology that is applied to the content development – the systematic review and critical appraisal of the best available scientific research.

Secondly, we have the content itself! Being one of the largest of the Informed Choice titles, it covers the basic issues: Why is diet in pregnancy important? Why is there uncertainty? The research problem – confounding factors, adaptive physiological change, ethical problems, statistical difficulties, nutrient interactions, food ‘baskets’; Diet in pregnancy – maternal weight gain, fetal growth/birthweight, body mass index (BMI), nutrients which may affect the outcome of pregnancy, as well as providing information on more specialist topics. These include various vitamins, minerals and nutrients with individual sections devoted to Folic Acid, Vitamins A and D, Iron, Calcium, Iodine and Zinc. The title also covers dietary effects in pregnancy with regard to coronary heart disease (CHD), hypertension and diabetes; pre-eclampsia; atopic infants and nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP). A further section which covers ‘vulnerable groups’ provides practical information and guidance on supporting the dietary needs of vegetarians, vegans, women living on low incomes, women from minority ethnic groups and adolescents. Besides all of this, there are additional comprehensive sections on food safety and practical strategies to improve nutritional status, including general tips when advising women on healthy eating.

Informed Choice ‘Diet and nutrition during pregnancy’ brings you a wealth of evidence-based information, helpful advice, guidance, and practical tips that you would expect to retrieve from a whole range of leaflets and resources, but within the one title. It doesn’t mean that you have to read it from cover-to-cover. As with the other topics in the series, it offers you a portable, easily accessible compendium of information that supports your daily practice. It is a resource that can be dipped into as and when the information needs of the pregnant women you are caring for require it… Rather like Dr Who’s Tardis, there’s a whole lot more inside this one unassuming title than you could ever think possible!

References:

Symon A, Gibb A, Laing M. Midwives’ nutritional knowledge: an evaluation. Pract Midwife 2002;5(10):24-5.

Call Vicky Carne on 0117 9077581 to discuss your own requirementsin more detail , or email: vcarne@midirs.org

For further information visit the Informed Choice website

Vicky Carne

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