Calcium for pregnant women: daily requirement, deficiency, sources of calcium

There is no doubt that a woman carrying a child needs a large amount of minerals and vitamins. The role of calcium in the correct and full development of the baby can hardly be overestimated. Calcium is perhaps the most important macronutrient in this crucial period of a woman's life, which both the baby and the mother herself need.

How is calcium deficiency manifested?

Signs by which the expectant mother may suspect a calcium deficiency in the body:

Damage to teeth, sensitivity of tooth enamel.
General weakness, fatigue.
Enhanced work of the sweat and sebaceous glands of the scalp.
Dry skin, brittle, flaking nails.
Irritability, emotional lability, nervousness, sleep disturbances.
Feeling of crawling "goose bumps", numbness of the fingers, upper and lower extremities, cramps of the calf muscles (mainly at night).
Pain and aches in the bones (more often in the large bones of the pelvis).
With a prolonged and severe lack of calcium (frequent pregnancies and long periods of lactation), signs of osteoporosis can be observed - a tendency to cracks or fractures, fragility of bones.
Violation of the rhythm of the heart (cardiac conduction).
Deterioration of blood clotting, manifested, for example, by increased bleeding of the gums.
Sensitivity to cold (aching bones and muscles, chills).
Frequent colds infections, as immunity decreases (the symptom is nonspecific).

What is the role of calcium?

The biological role of calcium in the human body is great. It strengthens the bones of the expectant mother, the load on which will increase throughout the pregnancy. Calcium has a positive effect on the state of the nervous system of a woman. Regulates neuromuscular transmission, thereby preventing hypertonicity of the muscles of the uterus and muscle cramps of the lower extremities.

Calcium ions regulate blood coagulation. Therefore, the optimal level of calcium in the blood avoids massive bleeding during childbirth and the early postpartum period. In addition, calcium is involved in the carbohydrate and fat metabolism of the expectant mother. It helps lower bad cholesterol and maintain normal glucose levels.

Calcium is an indispensable, irreplaceable building material for the entire fetal skeleton. Hypocalcemia (a decrease in the level of calcium in the blood) in the expectant mother increases the risk of rickets in the baby after birth. This mineral is involved in the laying and development of nerve cells, skin, and the visual analyzer of the fetus. Adequate calcium content contributes to the normal development of the intelligence of the baby.

Daily Calcium Requirement

During the period of gestation and subsequent natural feeding, the daily requirement for calcium in a woman increases to 1200-1800 mg per day. Nature has provided for the maximum absorption capacity of calcium through the gastrointestinal tract during these critical periods for women. In other words, during pregnancy and lactation, the mother's body can bind and absorb much more calcium from the outside than before pregnancy.

Therefore, doctors so often recommend that women expecting a baby take additional calcium supplements. At the same time, the child in the first months of pregnancy takes no more than 10 mg of calcium for his needs. From the 12th week of gestation, the need for calcium in the fetus increases. He already needs more than 300 mg of calcium daily. Therefore, most often calcium is prescribed to the expectant mother from the second trimester of pregnancy.

Despite this, doctors often state the fact that the expectant mother cannot satisfy her calcium needs only with the help of food. Perhaps this is due to the ecological situation or to the food culture of mankind that has changed today (“the main thing is fast” - fast food, a variety of semi-finished products, surrogates instead of natural products).

Calcium "in reserve" ...

It is important to say that excess calcium during pregnancy is just as dangerous as lack of calcium. Especially in the third trimester of pregnancy. An excess of this mineral can lead to premature closure of the large fontanelle and the growth zones of the baby's skull bones. Also, excess calcium contributes to the hardening of the bones of the baby's head. And this is a problem during childbirth, the child cannot normally pass through the birth canal.

The baby's head loses its ability to configure well during its passage through the mother's birth canal. In turn, this increases the risk of injury to the baby during childbirth and rupture of the birth canal in the mother during the expulsion of the fetus.

During pregnancy, excess calcium can be deposited in the form of calcifications in the placenta. And this disrupts her full-fledged work on the supply of nutrients to the baby. The urinary system of the expectant mother also suffers from an excess of calcium. During pregnancy, the kidneys simply cannot cope with such a "calcium load". As a result, there is an increased risk of sand or kidney stones in a pregnant woman.

Diagnosis of hypocalcemia

A biochemical blood test will help determine the true lack of calcium in the mother's body during pregnancy. Considering that this analysis is done to a pregnant woman repeatedly during pregnancy, the diagnosis of calcium deficiency has no difficulties.

If your supervising gynecologist does not prescribe calcium supplements for you, then perhaps there are good reasons for this, namely, normal blood calcium levels. Feel free to ask your healthcare provider if you need additional calcium supplementation for you.

NB! Normal blood calcium levels during pregnancy are 2.15-2.5 mmol / L.

How should you eat with calcium deficiency?

A list of foods containing calcium is given below. By looking at this table, you can find out which foods contain enough calcium to balance the diet of the expectant mother.

Traditionally, it is believed that dairy products contain the most calcium. But foods like saltwater fish and seafood, eggs, nuts and greens are also good alternatives. By looking at the above table, you can easily calculate how many products will be required to replenish the daily calcium requirement for a future mother.

It turns out that a couple of sandwiches with cheese and 150 g of cottage cheese, a glass of milk or kefir are quite capable of providing a woman with a daily requirement for calcium.

For people who are lactase deficient and cannot consume dairy products, there is also an alternative. It is enough to introduce sesame seeds and sesame oil into your diet. They are a kind of calcium record holders.

Also, green beans, beans, green peas, poppy seeds (seeds), celery, parsley, cabbage (white cabbage, broccoli), lettuce, nuts (almonds, hazelnuts) are not inferior to some dairy products in terms of calcium content.

What prevents and helps the absorption of calcium from foods?

Vitamin D contributes to the complete absorption of calcium. It is this vitamin that is the companion of calcium in the construction of bone tissue. Without it, calcium entering the body will be released in transit, without delay.

Therefore, the diet of the expectant mother should contain foods rich in vitamin D (eggs, fish, fish oil). Also, along with adherence to a diet, it is important not to forget about walking in the fresh air, where, under the rays of the sun, the body independently forms this vitamin.

The following foods interfere with the absorption of calcium:

sweet soda;
caffeinated drinks (coffee, tea, cocoa);
flour products (buns, pastries, pasta, bran, etc.);
foods with high fat content (calcium is better absorbed from milk 1.5% than from 3.2% fat);
cereals containing phytin (oatmeal, semolina);
foods rich in oxalic acid (sorrel, rhubarb, spinach, beets);
nicotine and alcohol.

Also, some medications interfere with the absorption of calcium: tetracycline antibiotics, diuretics, laxatives and anticonvulsants.

There are three groups of calcium preparations:

Monopreparations containing only calcium salts.

There are the following calcium salts: calcium carbonate (40% of the calcium element, that is, 1000 mg of the substance accounts for 400 mg of calcium), calcium citrate (21% of the calcium element), calcium gluconate (9%), calcium lactate (13%).

Thus, it becomes clear why calcium preparations containing calcium carbonate and calcium citrate are more common.

But when choosing calcium preparations, you should also pay attention to its ability to be absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. It has been scientifically proven that calcium citrate is better absorbed than carbonate.

With calcium citrate, there is a higher and faster peak in the rise in blood calcium levels. Another benefit of citrates is important for people prone to urolithiasis. When taking medications based on calcium citrate, the excretion of calcium in the urine is minimal. They help alkalinize urine, thereby reducing the risk of kidney stones.

Calcium carbonate in large doses reduces the acidity of gastric juice. Thus, it causes such negative phenomena as bloating, constipation. Preparations based on calcium carbonate are recommended to be taken with an acidic drink for better absorption (citrus juices).

Preparations containing a combination of calcium salts and vitamins (D or C)

Or a combination of calcium salts and other trace elements (magnesium, zinc, selenium, boron, manganese, phosphorus).

Multivitamin complexes

The composition includes calcium salts (Multi-Tabs, Alphabet, Elevit).

As a rule, calcium supplements are well tolerated. But sometimes they cause side effects from the gastrointestinal tract (abdominal pain, nausea, constipation). It is important to remember that the body can absorb up to 500 mg of calcium at a time.

When taking calcium supplements, a negative dose-dependent effect is observed. This means that calcium is absorbed better in low doses than in high doses. Therefore, the prescribed dose of the drug must be divided into several doses during the day.

The expectant mother should take into account all sources of calcium and vitamin D 3 (for example, in the form of a multivitamin complex). It is not recommended for a woman in a position to take more than 1500 mg of calcium and 600 IU of vitamin D 3 per day. Otherwise, the manifestation of their toxic effect on the baby is possible.

Summing up, I would like to say that you should not prescribe calcium supplements on your own. The main adviser during pregnancy can only be a doctor who observes a pregnant woman and knows her history and concomitant pathology. It's important to remember that too much calcium is just as dangerous as too little. Therefore, long-term and uncontrolled intake of these medications can negatively affect the health of both the mother and the baby.

Health to you and your children!