Blog
13 Weeks Pregnant
Saturday 4th February 2017
By the time you're 13 weeks pregnant, your baby is growing rapidly and is quite active, although their movement is still undetectable to you. Their reproductive organs are developed now and their liver and pancreas are beginning to function. Maintaining your healthy, balanced diet is essential, and this includes fibre to support healthy bowel function.
Alive and kicking in week 13
Your 13th week of pregnancy marks the start of your second trimester. By now, your baby weighs roughly 25g (almost an ounce). They are already very active and will be stretching, kicking and turning - however, you won't feel any of this movement just yet.
Inside your baby's body, their ovaries or testes have fully formed, and outside genitals will also be growing, although it's still a little early to determine their sex. Also at this stage, your baby's liver will begin to produce bile and their pancreas will produce insulin. Other developments include your baby's vocal cords, as well as their eyes and ears, which will be moving to the normal place on their head.
Another important change is that your baby's head will start to grow at a slower rate than the rest of their body. By week 21 it will be around 1/3 the size of their body, but at birth it will be 1/4 of the size.
Focus on fibre
A balanced, nutrient-rich diet is important for you and your baby throughout pregnancy. Fibre is an essential element of this that will help support your digestion. However, most people in the UK don't get enough (the average amount is 18g per day but the optimum is 30g). When you're pregnant, getting adequate fibre is more important than ever, as hormonal changes in your body may cause you to become constipated. Fibre can help maintain healthy bowel function.
There are two types of fibre. Insoluble fibre passes though the gut without being broken down and helps to move other food along with it. The other type of fibre is soluble fibre. Some soluble fibres can be fermented in the gut and provide a source of food for healthy gut bacteria.
Increasing your fibre intake
Fibre is only found in foods derived from plants. Soluble and insoluble fibres are often found together in foods so eating a variety of good fibre sources should provide a beneficial mix of both types of fibre.
Good food sources of soluble fibre include:
- Barley, oats and rye
- Beans and pulses
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Seeds
- Some of the foods that provide insoluble fibre are6:
- Wheat bran
- Wholegrain cereals and breads
- Brown rice
- Fruit and vegetables
- Seeds and nuts
NEXT STEPS
Try the following food swaps to increase your intake of fibre:
- Swap mashed potato for fibre-rich jacket potato
- Instead of orange juice, have a whole orange
- Swap vegetable soup for vegetable and bean soup
- Instead of chicken curry and rice, have chicken and lentil curry with brown rice
