What Happens If....

Can she get to WIC? THey will give her coupons for fresh veggies, but she
will probably say EW, I know I did. I think they gave me peanut butter though, so that might help. Maybe she'll drink chocolate milk, it tastes better than just plain white milk.

The baby will be fine. She will feel better if she eats properly, but I wouldn't worry about it. Unless this were my daughter, I would keep my mouth shut.

No, it is not ok. The baby will probably be fine. But she is going to be nutrient depleted. Prenatals are just to supplement a healthful diet.

Developing infants are parasites. They'll suck everything right out of your bones and organs.

Well, in each of my pregnancies I had severe morning sickness to the point of Hyperemesis Gravidarum. I couldn't take in anything except Vanilla Coke, Slimfast shakes, prenatal vitamins, and if I was lucky mashed potatoes for most of my pregnancies. When I was able to eat I ate whatever I was able that was the healthiest option available. My kids are pretty healthy and your step-daughter's baby will be too.

By the way, her eating meat and starches is fine. She NEEDS starches and meat. Starches are good for helping settling morning sickness and are good for energy as long as she's not getting all of her starches from fried foods.

The problem would be if all of her calories are coming from fast food and junk food, then her weight gain won't all be baby weight. The baby will take all of the nutrients it needs from the vitamins and from her body and will be healthy but your step-daughter might be malnutritioned and end up gaining too much weight that can't be accounted for by the pregnancy.

However, you've said that she's upset about this pregnancy and it sounds more and more to me as if she's experiencing depression. I would strongly recommend encouraging getting her to a therapist and parenting classes as well as prenatal classes. Get her moving and being proactive for herself and the baby and don't assume that she automatically knows what to do or that she knows how to find the resources to figure out what to do.

She's very, very lucky to have a step-mom like you that cares so much about her and this new baby.

The baby takes the nutrients FIRST, the mother gets what is left over after that.
Hopefully, she is seeing an OB/GYN regularly so her glucose, iron, etc. can be regularly checked.

Let's face it... lots of us have unhealthy eating habits. If you think she's uneducated about nutrition or need help, then you could help her! I had my son when I was 19 and I was so ignorant!!! :-)

If this is the worst thing she is doing then I'd say she's doing something right. There are ladies out there who are pregnant and they are doing drugs or drinking heavily. So... maybe she's trying.

Good luck!

I agree w/ Margie--unless you're her mentor or her mom, or a very close friend, I would not say anything.

However, what the mom eats affects the baby's future eating habits. Eating poor food while pregnant (and afterward as a new mom/mom of a child), the child will have a developed preference for the junk food and will follow the mom's examples of eating.

If she's a pregnant teen, are there classes offered for her (like through social services/intervention services) where a professional (nurse? social worker?) talks to her about her choices (dealing w/ the pregnancy, dealing with a baby, good food choices, etc.)? This might be another option, if you can find some in her area to help.

In my pregnancies , I tried to eat healthy at the start, but it did not agree with me , I ended up eating everything people said not to, both of my babies were fine.

At least she's getting calories and protein, and the prenatal vitamin. I've known moms who were so sick during their entire pregnancy that they couldn't even get that much down. It's not good but it could be worse.

She can end up with gestational diabetes. Just to make sure I don't offend anyone here, ANY mommy-to-be can get this, but eating badly can exarcerbate it. Also, if she isn't drinking enough water, she ups her risk of pre-term labor a lot. The uterus is a smooth muscle tissue and dehydration can make it shrink. When it shrinks, it contracts, and that can start the "pebble rolling down the hill" of pre-term labor. A full bladder pressing on the uterus can do the same, so she needs to drink and pee, drink and pee!

(Ladies who know me on this site probably get tired of me saying this over and over. I had pre-term labor from 24 weeks on, and though we don't think it was because I wasn't drinking enough, I DO think that in addition to bedrest and brethine, properly hydrating got me to 37 weeks and a healthy son instead of the alternative!)

Is someone cooking for her? Is she reading pregnancy books? Does she care? Sometimes young girls have their heads in the sand because they want to pretend that life isn't going to change forever. It's hard if you are on the outside looking in and can't help her.

Dawn

The baby will be fine. Her body wll put the baby's nutritional needs first and take from her to give to the baby. If she isn't getting enough Calcuim, the baby wll take a tooth.
I am sure you have enough to worry about besides what she isn't eating. I hope she is a good mother once the baby is here.

The baby should be fine. This sounds like my SIL's diet--and she's almost 30 and due with her 3rd baby in the spring. Not much you can do... Unless you feel close to this young lady and want to offer help (come over for dinner, help her cook, etc). As a mom, it makes me feel crappy, because I would want the very best for my baby from the beginning!
I think you might just have to bite your tongue on this one.

Baby will be ok! She will probably feel a bit run down and not be as healthy herself but the baby will pull all he/she needs from that momma! Even in countries that have bad health care of the moms are very poor etc, the babies are usually born healthy, it's after they are out that the health problems can start. I really wouldn't worry about her eating habits at all and focus more on what she needs to do to be a good mother and cope with being a pregnant teen.

Maybe she cannot afford to buy the food that can nourish her baby. You can probably offer to buy her those things that will help her. She may not know she should eat certain foods. Either way she is eating something and the baby should be fine (underweight perhaps) but ok. If the doctor thinks the baby is growing fine, then I would say don't worry! I know how you feel watching from the side lines though.

I hardly kept anything I ate down at all, I puked every day at least 3 times for 8 1/2 months.

What I did eat, but then puked up, was fast food, home cooked food, oatmeal, Braums Chocolate Malts, potato chips, cookies, ice cream, everything looked good and I did not have any knowledge of eating better for the baby.

I think it does not really matter that much unless one is have issues like bulimia or anorexia, there food is not sustaining their own bodies and would not be able to sustain a pregnancy. The body is remarkable. All the nutrients are going to go to the baby first and the mother second so if the mom is eating food, even junk food, it will not really effect the baby that much. Think of all the hundreds of millions of babies that have been born over the life of humanity that did not have our knowledge. Of course they didn't have McDonalds on every corner either.

It won't hurt the pregnant woman to at least try and eat more food that would sustain her AND the baby better.If eating at some place like McDonalds they could chose a Big Mac instead of a Double Quarter Pounder for example. The Big Mac has more bread and more lettuce so it would be less fat. OR, instead of eating at McDonalds eat at Subway and have a 12" ham and cheese sandwich with some lettuce and tomatoes on it. They have lots of healthier choices than most fast food places. These are just examples.

IF she religiously takes her prenatal vitamin every day, the baby should be okay. I was really stressed with my first pregnancy because of nausea and the fact that I couldn't stand ANYTHING but bread and sometimes a slice of plain cheese pizza. No fruit, vegetables, good protein -nothing you're supposed to eat. My doctor told me that's why we take prenatal vitamins! As the pregnancies went on with both of mine, I managed to incorporate some better foods back in, but my diet was nowhere nearly as good as it normally is, but my boys are healthy, smart and just fine!

The baby will be fine, it's the mother who will suffer.

I advise giving her a few good books on prenatal nutrition. Also, if she's eating like this now, breastfeeding is going to mess her up.