This is the original brochure created by Dr. Tom Brewer as a handout for his patients in his Contra Costa clinic. The pages concisely present the importance of good nutrition in pregnancy, and point out the factors most necessary in a good pregnancy diet, including how to avoid potential roadblocks to good nutrition. Follow the links at the bottom of each page to view the next page in the brochure.
Pregnant? and want a healthy baby?
by Thomas Brewer, M.D.
Introduction
You are one of over 3 million women who have a baby in the United States every year. In recent years pregnant women in our country have been less healthy than pregnant women in many other countries. An increasing number of premature or “low birth weight” babies are being born. This is primarily caused by the failure of our doctors to recognize the role of nutrition in pregnancy.
Instead of emphasizing good diet, many American doctors who care for pregnant women still prescribe low calorie, low salt diets for “weight control”. Many doctors also still depend on drugs such as diuretics (water pills) and amphetamines (diet pills) to try to prevent diseases during pregnancy. High blood pressure is typically treated with a low salt diet and bed rest. Some doctors are even using calcium and aspirin for toxemia
prevention, but it’s not proving as helpful as they’d hoped. This kind of treatment is often dangerous to both mother and baby. But you can avoid danger by good nutrition throughout your pregnancy. We now know that most pregnancy diseases and complications are caused by poor diets - by lack of enough good foods during pregnancy. The methods of diet described in the following pages were used with success by over 25,000 women in my practice over a 12 year period in the prenatal clinics of Contra Costa County in Richmond, California, USA. And they are used today by many more informed and educated women, with equally excellent results. When you understand what a good pregnancy diet is and how important good foods really are, you will be able to protect yourself and your baby from many complications.