MENUS FOR THE PREGNANT WOMAN AND FOR THE NURSING MOTHER
Reading edition
IMPORTANCE OF FOOD DURING PREGNANCY
There is nothing so important, or that wields so much influence over the comfort, the health, and the life of the pregnant woman as her food, and there is nothing, perhaps, to which she gives so little attention.
The diet of the prospective mother, of course, governs her digestion and assimilation of food, and elimination of waste matter from the body. These things control her health almost completely, and inasmuch as all mental conditions are principally governed by health, the intellectual faculties of the child are shaped largely by the condition of the mother’s digestion. It is obvious, therefore, that the health of the mother and the entire future of the child depend more upon her diet during pregnancy than upon any other one thing.
During pregnancy the prospective mother should avoid all such articles of food as she would withhold from her baby after birth. This would eliminate from her diet meat, condiments, sweets, especially pastries and rich desserts; tea, coffee, and all stimulating and intoxicating beverages.
The pregnant woman should balance her diet carefully as to the proportion of proteids, carbohydrates, fats, and mineral salts.
As leading foods containing these nutrients, I would recommend the following:
PROTEIDS CARBOHYDRATES FATS VEGETABLES RICH IN MINERAL SALTS
Milk Potatoes Nuts Lettuce
Eggs Wheat (whole) Butter Celery
Pine nuts Corn Cream Carrots
Peanuts Rice Olive-oil Parsnips
Cheese Oats Cream cheese Onions
Fish Dried beans Beets
Fowl Dried peas Fresh beans
Dried beans Chestnuts Fresh peas
Dried peas Honey Okra
Cream cheese Sugar Eggplant
Sirups Turnips
Cauliflower
Some articles are listed under two headings. This is because they are rich in both classes of nutrition.
The amount of grain products eaten by the prospective mother should be somewhat limited, ranging between four and eight ounces a day, governed by work or activity. Cereals, especially corn, rice, and oats, are rich in phosphate of lime, which is the bone-making or structural food. While enough of this should be eaten to give the child sufficient bone-building material, too much makes birth difficult, and sometimes fatal.
The following menus contain suggestions as to the selections, combinations, and proportions of food that would compose a healthy bill of fare for both mother and child for the several seasons of the year:
SPRING MENU
FOR THE PREGNANT WOMAN
BREAKFAST
Two eggs, cooked two minutes
One whole-wheat muffin
A glass or two of rich milk
LUNCHEON
Peas, asparagus, or turnips
Potatoes—two medium-sized
One pint of clabbered milk
DINNER
Vegetable soup
Any two fresh vegetables named in the list above
A potato
Milk or a very small portion of fish
If constipated, take wheat bran at both the morning and the evening meal.
SUMMER MENU
FOR THE PREGNANT WOMAN
BREAKFAST
Cantaloup
Three or four egg whites and one yolk
Whole wheat, boiled; serve with butter or cream
A glass or two of milk
LUNCHEON
String beans, peas, or asparagus
Tender corn or a potato
Milk
DINNER
Vegetable soup
Two green vegetables; selection from list given above
Corn, lima beans, or a potato
Milk or tender fish
A small portion of ice-cream (optional)
FALL MENU
FOR THE PREGNANT WOMAN
BREAKFAST
Cantaloup or pears
Rice, with cream
Milk
Two tablespoonfuls of wheat bran
LUNCHEON
Celery
Turnips or cauliflower
Fish or fowl
A potato
DINNER
A light vegetable soup
Lettuce, or celery, with nuts
Two fresh vegetables
A baked potato
Cheese, raisins, and nuts
WINTER MENU
FOR THE PREGNANT WOMAN
BREAKFAST
Two or three baked bananas, with cream (See recipe, p. 677)
Two eggs or two glasses of milk
Oatmeal—a small portion
LUNCHEON
A sweet potato
Two or three glasses of milk
DINNER
Cream of rice soup
Two fresh vegetables
A potato or bran meal gems
Milk or cheese
Nuts and raisins
THE NURSING MOTHER
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE DIET
The nursing mother should omit all acid fruits, pickles, and condiments containing vinegar. She should eat sparingly of sweets, especially of the pastry and soda-fountain variety. She should omit such vegetables as radishes, cucumbers, cabbage, and sourcrout.
Fresh corn and dried beans often produce serious intestinal trouble in the young child. Eggs should never be eaten when there is the slightest fever.
The diet of the nursing mother should be confined chiefly to the more readily digestible foods such as are named in the menus which follow.
SUGGESTIONS FOR NURSING
The mother should remember that her baby should never be nursed when she is tired, fatigued, overheated, angry, frightened, excited, or laboring under any mental disturbance. Both her mental and her physical condition are instantly conveyed to the child, through her milk, often in exaggerated form. Children are sometimes thrown into convulsions by nursing the breast of an excited mother.
SUGGESTIONS FOR RELIEVING INTESTINAL CONGESTION
If either mother or child has a tendency toward intestinal congestion (constipation), the mother should take wheat bran, thoroughly cooked, with both the morning and the evening meal; or, a few drops of prune juice, given to the child, will often relieve this condition, while affording an excellent source of nourishment.
MENUS FOR THE NURSING MOTHER
SPRING MENU
FOR THE NURSING MOTHER
BREAKFAST
Plain boiled wheat, with cream
Fresh milk
A baked potato or a baked banana
LUNCHEON
Fresh milk or eggs; milk preferred
Corn bread or bran meal gems
Onions, en casserole
DINNER
Cream of corn soup
Spinach or turnip greens
A potato, peas, or asparagus
Plain gelatin, with cream
SUMMER MENU
FOR THE NURSING MOTHER
BREAKFAST
Cantaloup or a very ripe, sweet peach
One egg
Flaked wheat, very thoroughly cooked
A glass or two of milk
LUNCHEON
Vegetable soup
Corn bread or bran gems
Carrots, parsnips, or squash
Fresh milk
A potato
DINNER
Fresh peas, beans, squash, asparagus, or beets
A baked potato
Milk
A whole wheat gem
FALL MENU
FOR THE NURSING MOTHER
BREAKFAST
Cantaloup or a very ripe banana, with cream and figs
Boiled rice or whole wheat
Milk
LUNCHEON
Soup—cream of corn, peas, or rice
Broiled fish
A baked potato
DINNER
Celery, or lettuce, with nuts
Fresh beans, turnips, carrots, or squash
Corn bread or a baked potato
Milk or cocoa
WINTER MENU
FOR THE NURSING MOTHER
BREAKFAST
A dish of cereal, well cooked—simmered over night
Eggs or milk
Whole wheat gems or a corn muffin
LUNCHEON
Vegetable or cream soup
Winter squash or carrots
A sweet or a white potato
Milk
DINNER
Parsnips, turnips, or squash
A potato
Bran gems
Milk
(Egg custard, if something sweet is desired)