Why Protein is so Important in Pregnancy

Disclaimer-this blog post is simply a reflection of what I’ve learned through my own pregnancy journeys and my experience as a birth doula and birth educator. This post is NOT meant to be served as medical advise as I am NOT a medical provider. Please consult with your care provider.

When I was pregnant with my singleton babies, I was overwhelmed by the 80 gram daily protein recommendation for my pregnancies. I thought this was a lot of protein and was quite intimidated by it. However, this year, when I found out I was expecting twins, my jaw DROPPED when I saw the whopping 175 gram daily protein recommendation. HOW in the world was I going to achieve this? You may be thinking to yourself “WHY on God’s green earth do we need THIS MUCH protein during pregnancy?!” By the time I became pregnant with my twins, I was grateful that I had a general understanding of why this protein consumption was so important from my experience as a birth doula and an LCCE. My understanding of its importance have caused me to approach my nutrition during this pregnancy in way that I hadn’t with my singleton pregnancies. With my singleton pregnancies, I was one of those that simply did what the doctor told me to do, trusting that THEY were the professionals, and didn’t care to understand the reasoning behind it. As a result, I also only loosely followed such guidelines, thinking that as long as I had my daily prenatal and ate somewhat descent, me and my babies would be ok. Luckily, we were; however, I realize now that had I not been lucky, an inadequate diet could have possibly lead to complications for me and/or my babies. I think that as parents, if we better understand the reasons behind such recommendations, then it’s easier to see the importance of provider recommendations, especially when it comes to prenatal nutrition. However, in this blog post I would like to focus on the insane protein requirement during pregnancy, since it seems to be the most intimidating thing to uphold for myself as well as many other expectant mamas out there.

In a nutshell, your body needs a certain amount of protein to nourish your growing baby (or babies); and, if you’re not getting adequate protein through your diet, your body will compensate by pulling protein from your tissues to nourish baby. This can cause a cascade of other inflammatory processes in the body that may manifest into pre-eclampsia/eclampsia. This doesn’t mean that all cases can be prevented by lifestyle choices, but that we can make some evidence-based lifestyle choices that can help improve our chances of NOT getting preeclampsia. Additionally, glycine, an amino acid in collagen, is known to be particularly helpful in regulating blood pressure; therefore, being sure to incorporate glycine-rich sources of protein in your high protein diet would be especially beneficial. Glycine rich sources include things such as seafood, bone broth, chicken skin, dairy products, or collagen protein powder. There’s a prenatal collagen protein powder that you can get here although other companies, like Pink Stork also makes collagen protein specific for pregnant mamas. I personally purchase the Pink Stork here simply because it has 20 grams of protein compared to the 14 grams in the Needed brand as well as additional electrolytes, AND it’s cheaper. However, one may be better than the other depending on your specific needs.

As it turns out, there was a study in 1948 by Bourne and Williams that found an adequate diet reduced fetal death by 1/3. Furthermore, in 1950, over a twelve-year time span, Dr. Brewer and Gail Brewer Krebs cared for 25,000 pregnant women in California and had them on the “Brewer diet”, a diet consisting of 3,100 calories and 140-150 grams of protein a day. The results were OUTSTANDING. The results of this treatment were that NOT A SINGLE WOMAN experienced preeclampsia or eclampsia. Additionally, women following this diet birthed twins weighing at least 7 pounds each (Noble & Sorger, 2003). You can read more here.

On the topic of nutrition, a Toronto study further found that less nourished pregnant women had more cases of anemia, toxemia, and threatened abortions, with 3.4% stillbirths and 6% miscarriages compared to 0 in the better diet group; and, almost 4 times as many babies born preterm and babies more often born sick (as cited in Noble & Sorger, 2003).

Given what I know now, especially that just a prenatal alone isn’t enough, I’ve been doing something this pregnancy that I’ve not done in previous pregnancies and have been keeping a food journal. While I don’t count calories (and honestly NEVER will), I do keep careful track of my protein intake and log my amounts and sources everyday. I follow this regimen in addition to taking my enhanced prenatal and the extra vitamins I was advised to take for the twin pregnancy. It feels like a lot as I’m also taking calcium, magnesium, zinc, vitamin D3, and baby aspirin in addition to a prenatal; but, if this will help improve my chances of a healthy birth, I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ve also done a lot of reading and research on my own, and I’ve found a doula blog to be especially helpful, particularly Gold Coast Doulas pregnancy blog. They have an article specifically related to this topic called 5 Research-Backed Strategies to Reduce Your Risk of Preeclampsia that has even more information on how you an prevent preeclampsia with nutrition, not just protein, that I found interesting and helpful that you can also read here.

I know what I need to do, but is it easy?! HELL NO! I’m struggling to obtain all this protein in a day, but I’m getting better and I’m learning little hacks. I didn’t eat much animal products before, but I must admit I don’t know any other way to realistically meet this protein requirement WITHOUT them…at least dairy. So if you’re a pregnant vegan or a vegetarian, you may want to consult a nutritionist to help you! I’m to the point now where I have the protein content of common foods memorized and can almost do the math in my head. On a regular basis now, I get at a minimum, 72 grams of protein in my breakfast alone through a peanut butter protein shake, cottage cheese, and a fruit. Lunch is usually lighter fair, consisting of 20-30 grams of protein, which is easily done by eating something like a chicken sandwich and a cup of cow milk. I might pack in some more protein with a bean salad or something. My snacks only consist of protein rich sources, like almonds, hummus on crackers, etc. By dinner, I’ll have another peanut butter protein shake, a steak, or some other protein-rich source alongside some veggies to complete the daily protein recommendation. So, while it isn’t easy, it does get easier, and you’re certainly not alone mamas! If you have any suggestions, tips and tricks, please feel free to share the ways you meet your daily protein recommendations in the comments below!