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Prenatal education: nutrition and weight gain, common discomforts, healthy habits and the preparation course for birth and parenthood

  • Safe practice

The nurse teaches the woman and her family to eat well, gain weight, move, ease common discomforts and prepare for birth, mainly in the preparation course.

Updated

What it is

Education runs through every prenatal visit and through the course for motherhood and fatherhood that Res. 3280 de 2018 makes part of the maternal–perinatal route. The course is an organised, interactive process between the health team and the woman with her partner, children and family, or the person closest to her. Its aim is to build skills to care for health in pregnancy, birth and the puerperium. WHO recommends counselling on healthy eating and on staying physically active during pregnancy.

What it requires

  • The course uses group sessions and a dialogue of knowledge: it builds on what the women and families already know.
  • WHO recommends at least eight prenatal contacts, counselling on healthy eating and on physical activity.
  • Res. 3280 sets the weight-gain goals from the body mass index and cites Res. 2465 de 2016 for these parameters.
  • Common symptoms in pregnancy include nausea and vomiting, numb hands, reflux and epigastric pain, back pain, constipation and haemorrhoids, pubic pain and varicose veins.

Components

  • Nutrition, weight gain and food safety.
  • Common discomforts and how to ease them.
  • Healthy habits: activity, work, travel, sleep, alcohol, tobacco and other substances.
  • Warning signs, the birth plan, breastfeeding, newborn care, contraception after birth and the woman's rights, including voluntary termination of pregnancy.

How it is applied (and why)

  1. Invite the partner or the person she chooses — the route includes the family and care network.
  2. Ask what she knows and feels about the pregnancy before teaching — the course builds on her experience.
  3. Agree on the weight-gain goal from her pre-pregnancy body mass index and review the curve each visit — poor gain at 28 weeks needs a specialised team.
  4. Teach her to wash fruit and vegetables, check expiry dates and avoid raw or undercooked food — listeria and salmonella can harm the fetus.
  5. Explain why the team prescribes folic acid, calcium and iron and which vaccines are due — supplements and doses are set by the team.
  6. Go over the common discomforts and refer pregnancy-related pubic pain to physiotherapy — this is what Res. 3280 sets.
  7. Advise stopping alcohol, tobacco and other substances, and offer support — they harm the pregnancy.
  8. Encourage moderate exercise and avoid contact and racket sports — falls and joint strain.
  9. Teach her to wear the seat belt above and below the bump, never across it — protects the uterus in a crash.
  10. Remind her to use only medicines her physician prescribes — even over-the-counter ones can be contraindicated.

In nursing practice

  • Vaccines in pregnancy follow the current schedule: tetanus–diphtheria (Td) by history, seasonal influenza from week 14 and Tdap from week 26.
  • Give breastfeeding information that fits the woman's condition. With an HIV diagnosis, or a reactive HIV test at birth, breast milk is replaced by infant formula.
  • In rural and ethnic settings where the woman prefers traditional midwives, teach her how to activate referral and community transport if a warning sign appears.
  • Ask about language or access barriers that stop her from attending; offer an intercultural interpreter or a maternal home.

Common mistakes

  • Giving a talk instead of a dialogue.
  • Teaching the warning signs only once.
  • Leaving out the partner or support person.
  • Not enrolling her in the course before week 14.

Test yourself

Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.

When should the first session of the preparation course take place?

Before week 14; then three sessions in the second trimester and three in the third.

What weight-gain goal does Res. 3280 set for a woman whose pre-pregnancy body mass index is 22?

Between 10 and 13 kg over the pregnancy.

How should a pregnant woman wear the seat belt?

Above and below the uterus, never across it.

Which foods should a pregnant woman avoid to prevent listeriosis and salmonellosis?

Raw or undercooked food; she should also wash fruit and vegetables and check expiry dates.

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Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order.

Sources: Resolución 3280 de 2018: lineamientos técnicos y operativos de la Ruta de Promoción y Mantenimiento de la Salud y de la Ruta Materno Perinatal (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social de Colombia, 2018); Guía de práctica clínica para la prevención, detección temprana y tratamiento de las complicaciones del embarazo, parto o puerperio: versión para mujeres en período de gestación (Guías 11-15) (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social de Colombia, Colciencias, 2013); New guidelines on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience (World Health Organization, 2016).

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Representative model, for educational purposes only.