Pregnancy Diet: What to Eat and What to Avoid When You Are Pregnant

A msemen (flaky Moroccan flatbread) for breakfast, a bowl of harira soup in the evening, a glass of lben (fermented milk) at your mother-in-law’s, and all around you ten pieces of advice that contradict each other. Yet a healthy pregnancy diet is nothing like a complicated regime. It is mostly about eating a variety of foods, a little more from the second trimester, and keeping a handful of risky foods at arm’s length.

The real precautions boil down to a few rules: cook, wash, choose pasteurised products, limit certain fish. Here is how to apply them to Moroccan cooking, the way it is really eaten at home.

Do you really need to eat for two?

No. Your needs increase only a little, and late. In the UK, guidelines mention about 200 extra calories a day, and only in the last three months. In Quebec, from the second trimester, one extra snack or small meal a day is generally considered enough. In practice, that means a yoghurt with a few almonds, not a second plate of couscous.

As for the scales, weight gain depends on your weight before pregnancy. For a woman whose weight was in the normal range, the usual benchmark is 11 to 16 kg in total, with more gain in the third trimester. With twins, greater gain is normal (see our article on twin pregnancy).

There is no need to weigh yourself every day: once or twice a month is enough, and no weight-loss diets.

What does a balanced plate look like, Moroccan style?

A good pregnancy plate looks like any good plate: vegetables or fruit at every meal, a source of protein, and starchy foods, at least half of them wholegrain. Quebec’s Mieux vivre guide also suggests one dark green vegetable and one orange vegetable every day.

Moroccan cooking lends itself to this very well:

• Pulses (harira, bissara fava bean soup, lentils, loubia white beans, chickpeas) provide fibre, folate and plant iron, at a modest price.
• Bread: alternate white bread with wholemeal or barley bread.
• Tagines of vegetables, chicken or fish, well cooked, are perfect.
• Msemen, baghrir and harcha are not forbidden. They are made from white flour, often with plenty of fat: keep them for a treat breakfast, not every morning.

If nausea kills your appetite, eat whatever you can keep down, in small amounts, and read our tips for pregnancy nausea.

Folic acid, iron, vitamin D: what to keep an eye on?

Folic acid (vitamin B9) lowers the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida. It matters most in the first weeks, often before you even know you are pregnant. Canadian authorities advise starting it two to three months before conception, in a multivitamin continued throughout pregnancy. In the UK it is started at least one month before and continued until 12 weeks. If the pregnancy was not planned, start as soon as you find out. The dose is set by your doctor: it is higher in certain situations, such as diabetes, epilepsy treatment or a previous birth defect.

Iron is used to make the extra blood of pregnancy and your baby’s reserves. Iron from meat and fish is better absorbed than iron from lentils or spinach. To help your body take up plant iron, add a food rich in vitamin C to the same meal: lemon, orange, pepper, kiwi.

Calcium and vitamin D build your baby’s bones. Dairy products provide them, as do tinned sardines eaten with their bones. Your doctor may also prescribe vitamin D. Beyond that, no supplements without medical advice, and above all no vitamin A.

Which foods should you avoid during pregnancy?

Three infection risks explain most of the restrictions. Listeriosis, rare but serious: the bacterium can cross the placenta and cause miscarriage, premature birth or a serious infection in the newborn. It grows even in the fridge, changes neither the smell nor the taste of food, and freezing does not kill it. Toxoplasmosis, passed on through undercooked meat and soil, covered in detail in our article on toxoplasmosis in pregnancy. And salmonella, linked to raw eggs.

Khlii, meanwhile, is dried meat slow-cooked in fat: reheated until piping hot, it does not carry the risk of raw meat, but it is very salty and fatty. Keep it for special occasions. Finally, steer clear of dishes when you do not know how they were prepared, such as street salads left in the sun.

From the shop

For home-cooked meals and remembering to drink

Nothing essential: glass containers to keep leftovers cold, an insulated lunch box to take your meal with you, a bottle to drink regularly and a pillow to rest on your side. The containers will come in handy again for baby’s purées.

• −9 %BadabulleMaxibox storage pots, 300 ml, set of 3 – Badabulle146 DHinstead of 160 DHView product
• −42 %Pasito a PasitoFleur insulated bottle, Gifts for Mums, 500 ml – Pasito a Pasito222 DHinstead of 380 DHView product
• −9 %BabymoovEat’s Isy stainless steel hot and cold food jar, 350 ml – Babymoov255 DHinstead of 280 DHView product
• −9 %BabymoovSet of 4 Babybols glass food containers – Babymoov319 DHinstead of 350 DHView product
• −19 %DoomooSofty nursing and maternity pillow, Ruby Stripes – Doomoo501 DHinstead of 620 DHView product
• −9 %DoomooTwisty 2-in-1 pregnancy and nursing pillow, Petals Latte – Doomoo901 DHinstead of 990 DHView product
• The whole aisle · Pregnancy and nursing pillows20 products online, delivered anywhere in Morocco.Open the aisle

Products sold by La Maison du Bébé, publisher of this magazine. Prices as of 12 October 2026; please check the product page.

Which fish to choose, and which to limit?

Fish is still recommended: twice a week, including once an oily fish rich in omega-3s, which are good for your baby’s brain. Good news in Morocco: sardines and mackerel are among the best choices, fresh or tinned, and they are inexpensive.

The problem lies with large predatory fish, which build up pollutants such as mercury. Swordfish, shark, marlin, gulper shark (siki) and lamprey should be avoided according to French guidance; in Quebec, fresh tuna, shark, swordfish and marlin are limited to 150 g cooked per month. On tinned tuna, countries differ: France advises limiting it, Quebec accepts up to 300 g of white (albacore) tuna a week and prefers light tuna, and the UK allows up to four medium tins. France also recommends limiting sea bream, sea bass, skate and monkfish, all very common at our fish stalls. The simple rule: vary the species and make sardines your everyday fish.

Coffee, mint tea, herbal teas: what to drink?

Water first, and often: your water needs increase during pregnancy, by about 300 ml a day according to the European Food Safety Authority. Keep an insulated water bottle within reach, especially in summer.

For caffeine, guidelines vary: 200 milligrams a day at most in the UK (NHS), 300 milligrams in Canada, about two large 237 ml cups of coffee, and three cups of coffee at most in France. Some British doctors even believe no level is safe. Tea contains about half as much caffeine as coffee, but atay is often drunk very sweet and in several glasses: cut down the sugar and space out the glasses. Energy drinks are not recommended.

Not all herbal teas are harmless. Ginger, orange peel or rosehip are considered safe in Canada, at two or three cups a day. Other plants can trigger contractions or have never been assessed in pregnancy. Avoid throughout pregnancy chiba (wormwood) and fliyou (pennyroyal), often added to atay in winter: wormwood is not recommended for pregnant women, and pennyroyal was long used to bring on miscarriage. For any other traditional blend, ask your doctor or pharmacist. As for alcohol, no safe level is known: none at all for nine months.

If you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, your meals are organised a little differently: our dedicated article explains how. And if your pregnancy coincides with the month of fasting, read our advice on Ramadan during pregnancy.