It can be difficult taking in enough calcium if you do not eat dairy produce. Sardines, white bread, spinach, whitebait, prawns, almonds, sesame seeds are all rich in calcium. Half a tin of sardines, for example, contains about 350mg of calcium, whilst three slices of white bread offer around 100mg. Most large supermarkets now sell calcium-enriched soya milk (made from a vegetable protein, rather than cow’s milk) and other drinks with added calcium, and these are well worth trying.
However, as you know, your body’s need for calcium increases in the last ten weeks of pregnancy, when your baby’s bones and teeth are forming. So, as your GP suggests, a supplement is generally a good idea if there is any doubt about your calcium intake. It may be that if you are eating good quantities of the foods mentioned above, you do not need such a large supplement – perhaps you could check this with your GP.
Our bodies need vitamin D to absorb and use calcium. We get some vitamin D from our diet. Food sources of vitamin D include fortified breakfast cereals, fortified vegetable fat spreads (read the label), eggs, kippers, mackerel, and tinned pilchards. Vitamin D is also made in our bodies, a process requiring sunlight. Normal day-to-day exposure of arms, hands and face to sunlight enables our bodies to produce about 5 micrograms of vitamin D. The recommended daily intake for pregnancy is usually 10 micrograms. A vitamin D supplement may therefore by needed if the following apply:
you do not eat any of the foods mentioned above you do not usually go outdoors between 11.00 am and 3.00 pm (it doesn’t matter if the sun isn’t shining!) you always keep your head and arms covered whilst outside you live in the north of England or Scotland (where winter days are particularly short) I appreciate that it can be difficult finding a suitable supplement, or combination of supplements. There are so many different ones on sale, and the labels can be very confusing. I strongly recommend you ask the pharmacist in your local chemist for advice – I have always found these health professionals to be very helpful. You will probably need to take two separate preparations – but somewhere I am sure there will be the tablets to suit you.
Finally, you may like to ask your GP to refer you to a state registered dietician for expert advice. He or she will help you to choose the best foods to ensure that you take in enough calcium (and other nutrients) both during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and afterwards when your baby is himself starting to eat solid food. She will help you assess your present intake of calcium and vitamin D, and will advise you on the best vitamin and mineral supplements. I think some specialist help would be very appropriate in your situation.