Menus for Pregnant Women

To maintain a balanced diet throughout your pregnancy, try our sample menu ideas Each menu offers suggestions from breakfast to the evening meal, including snacks ideas and tracking caffeine content; discover why limiting caffeine is important during pregnancy here.

The menus balance the five food groups throughout the day and they can be used a reference to create your own menus! Scroll down to read them of download them and print at home:

Menu 1: Standard menu

 

Meal/snack	Food and drinks	Food groups	Caffeine content (mg)
Early morning	Mug of tea with milk		75
Breakfast	Porridge or wholegrain breakfast cereal and milk with fresh fruit slices or dried fruit Water to drink	1, 2, 3
Mid-morning	Skinny latte, decaffeinated Banana	3 2	10
Midday meal	Chicken and salad sandwich Bunch of grapes Water to drink	1, 2, 4, 5 2
Afternoon snack	Mug of tea with milk Muffin/cake containing dried fruit	5 Sugary food	75
Evening meal	Oily fish and potato pie with green beans Fruit salad Yogurt Water to drink	1, 2, 4 2 3
Supplements	Folic acid and vitamin D

 

This menu has:

Food group 1 – three servings: breakfast cereal, bread, potato
Food group 2 – six servings: fresh fruit slices/dried fruit, banana, salad, grapes, green beans, fruit salad
Food group 3 – three servings: milk on cereal and in tea, skimmed milk in latte, yogurt
Food group 4 – two servings: chicken, fish
Food group 5 – one serving: butter on bread,

Sugary food: one serving: muffin/cake
Caffeine content: 160mg

Download or print menu 1 here

Menu 2: Vegetarian

Meal/snack	Food and drinks	Food groups	Caffeine content (mg)
Early morning	Mug of tea with milk		75
Breakfast	Bread/toast/chapatti Boiled eggFresh orange segments Water to drink	1 4 2
Mid-morning	Wholegrain crackers with cheese Cup of tea with milk	1, 3	50
Midday meal	Rice and dhal Vegetables including tomatoes Yogurt and figs/dates Water to drink	1, 4 2 2, 3
Afternoon snack	Nuts and pineapple chunks Water to drink	2, 4
Evening meal	Chickpea and vegetable curry with flatbread Mango slices Lassi to drink	1, 2, 4, 5 2 3
Supplements	Folic acid, vitamin D and omega 3

 

This menu has:

Food group 1 – four servings: bread/toast/chapatti, crackers, rice, flatbread
Food group 2 – six servings: orange, vegetables with dahl, figs/dates, pineapple, vegetables in curry, mango
Food group 3 – three servings: cheese, yogurt, lassi
Food group 4 – four servings: egg, dahl, nuts, chickpeas with high vitamin C foods to aid iron absorption (orange, tomatoes, kiwi fruit, mango)
Food group 5 – one servings: oil used for frying dhal and curry, Caffeine content: 125mg

Download or print menu 2 here

Learn more about how to have a balanced diet for vegan and vegetarian mums-to-be in our blog

Menu 3: Budget menu

 

Meal/snack	Food and drinks	Food groups	Caffeine content (mg)
Early morning	Mug of tea with milk		75
Breakfast	Two Weetabixtm with milk Banana Water to drink	1, 3 2
Mid-morning	2 clementine’s Cup of tea with milk	2	50
Midday meal	Baked beans on wholemeal toast Carrot and celery sticks Tinned peaches Yogurt Water to drink	1, 4 2 2 3
Afternoon snack	Bread/toast with butter and jam Cup of tea with milk	1, 5 Sugary Foods	50
Evening meal	Chicken and potato wedges Peas and beans Stewed apple and custard Water to drink	1, 4, 5 2 2, 3, 5
Supplements	Folic acid and vitamin D

 

This menu has:

Food group 1 – four servings: WeetabixTM, wholemeal toast, bread, potato wedges
Food group 2 – six servings: banana, clementines, carrot and celery sticks, tinned peaches, peas and beans, stewed apple
Food group 3 – three servings: milk on cereal and in tea, yogurt, custard
Food group 4 – two servings: baked beans, chicken
Food group 5 – two servings: butter, oil on potato wedges

Sugary food: one serving: jam
Caffeine content: 175mg

Download or print menu 3 here

Menu 4: Convenience food

Meal/snack	Food and drinks	Food groups	Caffeine content (mg)
Breakfast	Bagel with cream cheese Bunch of grapes Mug of tea with milk	1, 3 2	75
Mid-morning	Decaffeinated latte Currant bun	3 1	10
Midday meal	Hummus and roasted vegetable wrap Fruit yogurt with blueberries Water to drink	1, 2, 4, 5 2, 3
Afternoon snack	Small packet of peanuts 2 satsumas Fizzy water to drink	4 2
Evening meal	Lasagne and green salad Strawberries and small slice chocolate and walnut cake	1, 2, 3, 4, 5 2, Sugary food
Supplements	Folic acid and vitamin D

 

This menu has:

Food group 1 – four servings: bagel, currant bun, tortilla in wrap, pasta in lasagne
Food group 2 – six servings: grapes, roasted vegetables, blueberries, satsumas, green salad, strawberries
Food group 3 – four servings: cream cheese, milk in latte and in tea, plain yogurt, cheese in lasagne
Food group 4 – three servings: hummus, peanuts, meat in lasagne
Food group 5 – two servings: oil on roasted vegetables and in lasagne

Sugary food: one serving: chocolate and walnut cake
Caffeine content: 85mg

Download or print menu 4 here

For easy meal planning download our sample menus ideas for pregnant women:

A healthy lifestyle during pregnancy