Nutrition During Preconception and Pregnancy

Professional Resource Brief

Find Nutrition Assistance

• Benefits.gov. Eligibility criteria, program descriptions, and contact information in English and Spanish about federal and state government benefit and assistance programs, including food and nutrition. A Benefit Finder online form helps users identify benefits for which they may be eligible, including food.
  
  
• Feeding America: Food Bank Locator.
  

Websites

• HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau's (MCHB's) website on Nutrition (2019). Information about MCHB’s initiatives focused on State Partnerships, Innovation, Cross-Cutting Collaborations, and Training and Education.
• Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP). Reports, journal articles, dietary-guidance materials, food plans, and a food encyclopedia. Resources include
  
  Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Evidence-based nutritional guidance to promote health, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity through improved nutrition and physical activity. Links to the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 9th ed. (2020, which include recommendations for women capable of becoming pregnant and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
  
  
• Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC). Databases and resource lists with links to reports, policy statements, food and nutrition education and training materials, websites, listservs and blogs, and other tools on topics that include nutrition during pregnancy.
  
  
• FoodSafety.gov: Food Safety for Pregnant Women. Links to a checklist of foods to avoid during pregnancy and a guide to selecting, preparing, and handling foods safely throughout pregnancy.
  
  
• March of Dimes (MOD): Pregnancy--Nutrition, Weight, and Fitness. Information about healthy eating before and during pregnancy. Topics include folic acid, caffeine, food safety, and foods to avoid.
  
  
• National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD): Folic Acid. Facts, data and statistics, research information, scientific articles, recommendations, educational materials, and multimedia tools for health professionals and women of childbearing age about the importance of folic acid consumption in helping to prevent neural tube defects.
  
  
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Program information and data, eligibility criteria, publications, and state agency contact information for this program that provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women with low incomes and for infants and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk. Also see the WIC Works Resource System, which presents program information, training tools, nutrition education materials, and other resources.
  
  
• Also see MCH Digital Library professional resource guide, Maternal and Child Health Data and Statistics, and in particular, the Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System (PNSS).
  

Related MCH Digital Library Resources

• Food Safety resource brief
• Food Security and Nutrition Assistance Programs resource brief
• Preconception and Pregnancy professional resource guide, family resource brief

Nutrition During Preconception and Pregnancy: Resource Brief. (January 2012). (Updated: January 2017).

Authors: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., NCEMCH; Breanne C. Wilhite, B.S.
Reviewer: Olivia Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., NCEMCH