Why is good nutrition particularly important for pregnant women with HIV?
Maintaining good nutrition helps reduce the chances of passing HIV to babies and helps reduce poor birth outcomes such as low weight at birth and delivering too early. Women can get good nutrition by eating adequate amounts of appropriate food containing vitamins and minerals and by gaining an adequate amount of weight (2, 26, 36, 84, 94). Pregnant women with HIV have the same needs for calories, protein, vitamins, and minerals as pregnant women without HIV. Health care providers can advise all pregnant women, including those with HIV, to eat at least one extra serving per day, if possible, of the local staple food (an inexpensive food high in energy, such as rice or cornmeal) (1, 65, 71).
