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You’re preparing for motherhood and counting down the days until you meet your little one! And if you’re currently in the workforce, you’re probably considering if and when you’ll return to work after your babe arrives.

We’re not going to mince words: taking care of a newborn while also working is no small task. It’s exhausting and you may sometimes feel pulled between multiple priorities. (That deadline! Your bundle of joy!) But keep in mind, if you do plan to go back to the office, you’ll be joining the hardest-working group of employees there is: the working mother.

It might feel stressful now just thinking about it, but we’ve got a few quick tips to help you— and your fellow mama-colleagues — prepare for re-entering the workforce post-baby, even before you give birth:

• Take your lunch break. This may sound silly, but between growing a small human and busting your behind at work, you need a well-deserved daily break. So go, eat in peace — away from your desk! Enjoy chewing your food uninterrupted and savoring some quiet time. Or use it as a time to connect with other working moms around the office (they might have even more helpful tips for you).
• Know your rights. If you suspect your employer is guilty of maternal profiling (meaning, employment discrimination against a woman who has or will have children) or pregnancy discrimination, don’t be afraid to speak up. Pregnant women and mothers have as many rights in the workplace as their non-mama colleagues!
• Encourage mama-friendly work environments. You’re almost a mom now, which means you’re this much closer to being a force of nature, both literally and figuratively. What better time than now to vocalize your support for things like breast milk pumping breaks built into the work day, and an office culture that embraces maternity leave?! Heck, take it one step further and urge Congress to support family leave. Not only will you appreciate your efforts, so will your colleagues who are also mamas.
• Adopt this mantra: You are doing an amazing job. Not only are you creating and sustaining human life, which requires Herculean effort, but you’re also working. Your mind and body are exerting overtime, no doubt about it. So remember, you are Superwoman. Never forget it.

Maureen Shaw is a writer, editor and proud mama who has dedicated the better part of the past decade to volunteering and working with NGOs and nonprofits. Her writing has been featured widely online, including sherights.com (which she founded in 2011), The Huffington Post, Mic.com, Feministing, Jezebel and more. Maureen holds a Master’s of Arts in Human Rights from Columbia University. You can follow her on Twitter at @MaureenShaw.

The world is currently badly off track to meet the global stunting target to reduce the number of children under five who suffer from stunting by 40% by 2025.

Current investment levels are woefully inadequate to reduce the number of stunted children from the current level of 159 million to the target level of less than 100 million. Urgent action to scale up financing is required, but until now the funding needs and financing scenarios have been unclear.

The World Bank, Results for Development Institute (R4D), and 1,000 Days, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, recently released an analysis of funding gaps and financing scenarios to reach the global stunting target.  The analysis estimates it will cost approximately an additional $8.50 per child per year to meet the global stunting target. This cost covers the scale-up of high-impact, proven interventions focused in the 1,000 day window from a woman’s pregnancy to her child’s second birthday. These solutions include improving: maternal nutrition, infant and young child feeding practices with an emphasis on promoting exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life, and young child nutrition through micronutrient supplementation and the provision of nutritious complementary foods.

As there is a significant gap between what is needed to achieve the target and what is currently being spent, reaching the global target will require greater commitment from countries and donors, and a global prioritization and harmonization of nutrition investments.

Check out the complete analysis of funding gaps and financing scenarios here. This is the first in a series of financing analyses for each of the global nutrition targets.

Your body is going through a beautiful transformation as it creates and sustains life. But sometimes these changes, especially weight gain, can cause anxiety. How much is too much weight gain? According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the appropriate amount of weight you should gain during pregnancy depends on what you weighed before pregnancy.

If you were at a healthy weight from the start (this means a BMI of 18.5 – 24.9), you’ll want to gain about 25-35 pounds in total. If you were underweight, gain a little bit more. And if overweight, aim for a weight gain of 15-25 pounds. Of course, if you’re having twins (or more, gasp!), you’ll gain more than you would if you were carrying a single child; check with your doctor for an appropriate weight gain goal.

Regardless of your starting point, your weight gain should generally ramp up slowly, with the majority of weight gain occurring during your last trimester.

Remember, your body packs on these additional pounds for good reason: Your baby needs them to grow and thrive. So be gentle and forgiving with yourself as you gain weight, and don’t be afraid to treat yourself from time to time; but be weary of reaching for those ice cream sundaes too often.

Adhering to the recommended weight gain guidelines will help you and baby in several ways. Avoiding excess weight gain can help prevent a premature and/or difficult delivery, set your baby’s future health and weight status, make it easier for you to lose the baby weight after delivery and help prevent childhood obesity later in life.

Learn more about your weight gain during pregnancy with CDC’s healthy weight gain tool.

Jill Castle is a registered dietitian and childhood nutrition expert. As a former private practice owner, she currently shares her expertise as a writer, speaker and consultant. She is the co-author of Fearless Feeding: How to Raise Healthy Eaters from High Chair to High School and author of the upcoming book Eat Like a Champion: Performance Nutrition for Your Young Athlete (2015). www.JillCastle.com

With the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro just over a year away—along with the next Nutrition for Growth conference hosted by the Government of Brazil—1,000 Days hosted nutrition leaders and advocates on Capitol Hill earlier this year to “light the torch” for nutrition.

The event featured Melinda Gates (co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), Julie Foudy (three-time Olympic Medalist), the Honorable Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado (the Ambassador of Brazil to the U.S.).

Numerous Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle participated in the event, including Representatives Ed Royce (R-CA), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Renee Ellmers (R-NC) and Jim McGovern (D-MA), demonstrating the truly bi-partisan nature of tackling hunger and malnutrition around the world. Krysta Harden, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reinforced this message, stating that malnutrition has neither geographic nor political boundaries.

During her keynote remarks, Melinda Gates highlighted the prolonged underinvestment in nutrition programs, noting that while malnutrition is responsible for more than half of all childhood deaths worldwide, less than one percent of overseas development assistance (ODA) is directed to nutrition programs. Proclaiming that “nutrition’s time is now,” Melinda Gates announced that the Gates Foundation would be “doubling down” on investments in nutrition to give women and children the opportunity to survive and thrive. She called on governments and organizations alike to join her Foundation in accelerating action on nutrition.

While the Olympic moment for nutrition may by over a year away, the message is clear: investing in nutrition is a golden opportunity.

By now it’s no surprise that what we eat affects our overall health. This truth is well-established, and year after year the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans have provided us with guidance on food choices and physical activity to promote our health and prevent disease. Yet for all the focus on food pyramids and now plates, the Dietary Guidelines has overlooked one the most important segments of the American population: our youngest children.

Indeed the old adage “you are what you eat” holds true for our youngest children—infants and toddlers—as well…and has a lifetime of consequences.

New evidence has emerged in recent years pointing to the essential role of good nutrition early in life, particularly in the first 1,000 days from a woman’s pregnancy through her child’s second birthday. Good nutrition during this critical developmental stage sets the foundation for a child’s health and well-being, providing the building blocks for brain development, healthy growth and a strong immune system. Ultimately, children’s brains and bodies depend on good nutrition to grow.

Guidance on good nutrition for our youngest children is no different than it is for us: eat healthy foods. Yet introducing first foods to children around six months of age can be a “black box” for many parents. What do we introduce first? How much and how often? There is currently no evidence-based guidance for parents on healthy first foods, so perhaps it should be no surprise that the epidemic of poor nutrition and obesity afflicting this nation is reaching our youngest citizens.

Research shows that the diets of our youngest children are mirroring those of adults, with excessive calorie intake as early as four months of age in the U.S. For starters, solid foods are introduced too early in the U.S. which runs counter to the World Health Organization and American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines which indicate that babies should start solid foods no earlier than six months.

By 12-15 months of age, French fries are the most common vegetable consumed, with 18.5% of American toddlers eating French fries at least once a day. These eating habits and food preferences begin in infancy and may be set as early as two years of age. As a result, for the first time in medical history, hypertension and type II diabetes have become pediatric problems among American children, as one in four children ages 2-5 is overweight and one in eight is obese. Obesity in young children can have devastating, long-term health implications, significantly increasing the risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Despite the evidence of this growing public health crisis, the U.S. does not yet provide guidelines on healthy eating and feeding during the critical window of development from pregnancy to age two. The good news is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are currently exploring evidence-based dietary recommendations for children under two and pregnant women as part of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines. It’s a long way off, but it’s a start. And we need to start somewhere – the health and well-being of the next generation depends on it.

On September 25^th, leaders from every country in the world committed to 17 Global Goals to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice and address climate change.  It is increasingly acknowledged that without greater attention to improving nutrition achieving many of the Global Goals will not be possible.

As part of the Goal 2 to End Hunger and Improve Nutrition, governments adopted a historic target to end malnutrition in all its forms by the year 2030. This target is noteworthy and ambitious as it is now estimated that one in three people on the planet is undernourished, obese, micronutrient deficient or some combination of all three.

1,000 Days and many of its partners are now calling on world leaders to prioritize nutrition in their budgets in order to reach this ambitious target.  You can join in this call to action here.

Washington, D.C. – 1,000 Days, a leading maternal and early child nutrition advocacy group, is partnering with Heidi Murkoff, author of the worldwide bestselling What to Expect series of pregnancy and parenting books and creator of WhatToExpect.com, to raise awareness in the United States about the critical need for good nutrition in a child’s first 1,000 days.

There is powerful scientific evidence that shows that the right nutrition in the 1,000 days from a woman’s pregnancy through her child’s second birthday sets the foundation for a child’s future health and well-being. The problem is that poor nutrition during this critical 1,000 day window is pervasive throughout the world – including in the U.S. The lack of essential nutrients during pregnancy and in the first two years of life can have a devastating effect on a child’s physical development and brain growth. Poor nutrition during pregnancy and early in a child’s life is also deadly – it is responsible for almost half of all deaths of children under age five and about one out of every five deaths of women during childbirth globally.

This is not, however, just an issue affecting women and children in developing countries. In the United States, a staggering one in four pre-school aged children is overweight, and one in eight is obese. In fact, the United States ranks among the top 10 worst-performing countries in the world on several maternal and child health indicators including rates of exclusive breastfeeding and childhood obesity. Along with skyrocketing rates of obesity in America’s youngest children, poor nutrition is also contributing to an epidemic of diabetes and other chronic and costly health problems. Ensuring that mothers are informed and empowered to properly nourish and care for themselves and their children throughout the 1,000 day window is one of the most powerful ways to prevent these health issues and ensure that children get the best start to life.

Heidi Murkoff and her What to Expect brand have championed healthy eating and feeding for more than 30 years, providing information and resources to pregnant women and new moms. Now, for the first time, What to Expect is teaming up with an organization to raise awareness and advocate on behalf of women and children worldwide. Through this partnership, 1,000 Days and What to Expect hope to get Americans talking about why good nutrition in a child’s first 1,000 days is essential and what can be done to ensure every child, everywhere, has access to the right nutrition, right from the start, to reach their full potential.

“All parents want to give their babies the very best start in life possible – and one of the best ways to do that is to feed them well, even before they’re born,”

says Murkoff, whose series has sold 40 million books worldwide and whose website receives 14 million unique visitors every month. “While it’s never too late for good nutrition, it’s also never too early. The health, well-being and economic success of this nation, and countries around the world, is inherently linked to the nutritional status of our moms and moms-to-be, and our babies and toddlers. It’s time for us, a society that focuses on family values, to truly value families – and to prioritize nourishing the next generation.”

Together 1,000 Days and What to Expect will engage the next generation of moms, advocates and policy makers to ensure women and children everywhere have access to good nutrition.

“When you understand the science behind the 1,000 days and the impact of poor nutrition during this time on babies’ developing bodies and brains, you realize this issue has to start making headlines,” stated Lucy Martinez Sullivan, executive director of 1,000 Days. “1,000 Days could not ask for a better champion than Heidi Murkoff. By working with Heidi and What to Expect we hope to get people to pay more attention to just how vital good nutrition is to ensure a healthy future for every child.”
The announcement coincides with the release of the third edition of What To Expect The First Year.

About Heidi Murkoff and What to Expect®

Heidi Murkoff is the author of the world’s best-selling and parenting series, What to Expect, which began with What to Expect When You’re Expecting and was inspired by her first pregnancy. Dubbed the “pregnancy bible,” the iconic New York Times bestseller (currently over 680 weeks on the list) is now in its all-new fourth edition, with over 18 million copies in print. USA Today named it one of the most influential books of the last 25 years – reporting, too, that it is read by 93 percent of women who read a pregnancy book. The What to Expect books have sold more than 34 million copies in the US alone and are international bestsellers, published in over 30 languages. Heidi is also the creator of WhatToExpect.com, which is home to a close-knit community of more than 14 million moms worldwide, the WTE app, and the founder of the What to Expect Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping underserved families expect healthy pregnancies, safe deliveries and healthy, happy babies. In 2013 the What To Expect Foundation joined forces with the USO to create “Special Delivery” – baby showers hosted by Heidi and held at bases all over the world, celebrating and supporting military moms-to-be who are stationed far from their family and friends. In 2011, TIME magazine named Heidi one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. Heidi and her husband Erik have two children and are the proud grandparents of grandson Lennox who is in his 1,000 day window and made his debut just in time to grace the cover of Heidi’s newest book, the third edition of What To Expect The First Year.

This post originally appeared on WhattoExpect.com  on May 7, 2014

The question people ask me most these days is “you’re still pregnant?” As if the answer weren’t obvious (hello, huge belly and swollen feet), I tell them yes, only X number of weeks/days/hours to go. In case you’re wondering, right now I am 12 days away from my due date.

But I am not a fan of the pregnancy countdown as, IMHO, it puts way too much emphasis on the destination (baby’s birth) and does not honor the journey that mom and baby walk together every step of the way during pregnancy.

Pregnancy truly is an amazing journey—for both mom and baby. This is something I’ve learned on an emotional and visceral level through both of my own pregnancies. And I’ve also learned it first-hand in my work as Executive Director of 1,000 Days, an advocacy movement dedicated to improving nutrition for moms and babies during the 1,000 days between pregnancy and a child’s 2nd birthday. My job requires me to understand the science behind fetal development and how mom’s nutritional choices during pregnancy (and even before) could impact her baby’s future health.

Mom As Nutritional Gatekeeper

During my first pregnancy, I was overwhelmed by the newness of it all—the physical sensations, the realization that I was about to become a mother, and the endless to-do lists in preparation for baby.

This time around I’ve had the opportunity to really think about how every aspect of my unborn child’s development is shaped by two factors: genetics and the environment I create for my baby in my body. And here’s the kicker—there is not much we can do about genetics or even about certain factors having to do with mom’s health or her age. But there is one thing we expectant moms can influence greatly—baby’s nutrition.

As moms we are the nutritional gatekeepers for our children starting in pregnancy. The scientific and medical communities are realizing just how much this matters to a child’s lifelong health and development, and there is now a growing area of research that specifically looks at how the quality of mom’s nutrition before and during pregnancy can positively or negatively affect her unborn child’s future health. Researchers have theorized that poor nutrition during pregnancy can predispose a child to diabetes, obesity, heart disease and certain types of cancers, for example.

In this way, pregnancy is not simply about growing a baby for nine (ten) months; it is also a window of opportunity to shape a child’s lifelong health.

“Eat For You, Not for Two”

For me, pregnancy has been an opportunity to become more mindful of what—and how much—I eat. Admittedly, when I first learned I was pregnant, I secretly thought to myself, “Hooray! I can finally eat whatever I want!” But I soon learned that as my baby’s nutritional gatekeeper, I was most certainly NOT supposed to be “eating for two.” “Eat for you, not for two” was probably the most important piece of advice I received, because the truth is, developing babies don’t need their own super-sized helping of calories (especially those empty ones that come from sugar); they need proteins and nutrients that come from the food you eat.

When it came to eating for me, while I certainly gave into my cravings for chocolate milkshakes and French fries more than I probably should have, I made sure to incorporate into my weekly diet foods like fish, salads made with spinach, and nuts. While these foods never topped my list of crave-worthy treats, they are packed with the kinds of nutrients that are great building blocks for a baby’s development. I also tried to include as much fresh food as I could in my pregnancy diet—avoiding in particular foods loaded with preservatives and artificial colors.

The Next Step in My Pregnancy Journey

Knowing that I had such an important role to play in shaping the development of my baby’s brain and body—together with the amazing experience of seeing my baby’s heart beat inside my body during my sonograms—has made me truly appreciate the journey of pregnancy.

So now, despite the fact that the journey has not always been easy, and that as I am in my final weeks of pregnancy I can’t seem to get comfortable or get a good night’s sleep no matter how hard I try, I am still not in a hurry to get to the destination.

I will miss having my body be my baby’s home and his or her source of nourishment. I do take comfort in knowing, however, that I will still be my baby’s nutritional gatekeeper, especially as we embark on our next big journey together—breastfeeding!

Lucy Martinez Sullivan is the Executive Director of 1,000 Days. Follow Lucy on Twitter@LucyMSullivan.

1,000 Days advisor Dr. Leanne Redman answers questions about weight gain, fitness (physical and mental), and mom’s role as a nutritional gatekeeper. Read on to learn more about the essential role of nutrition in women’s health from Dr. Redman, an Associate Professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center within the Louisiana State University System.

As your research is focused on women’s health and weight management, particularly during the 1,000-day window, what trends are you seeing with respect to nutrition during, and even before, pregnancy?

Dr. Redman:  Not only is the weight and health status of a mother at the time of conception important, but the amount of weight gain during pregnancy is also now known to have consequences for the infant. For example, too little weight gain is associated with babies being born small for gestational age and, many times, preterm. Moms with too much weight gain in pregnancy are more likely to develop metabolic issues like gestational diabetes or blood pressure problems, and the babies are often born large for gestational age. In both cases – under- and over- nutrition in pregnancy has been shown to translate to weight and obesity in childhood and adult life.

There is an abundance of solid scientific evidence that suggests that mothers entering pregnancy heavier than their ‘ideal’ weight or body mass index (BMI) have an increased risk of maternal complications during the pregnancy. More alarming is the data showing increased risks for the unborn infant during gestation, injury and complications at the time of birth, as well as increased risk for future weight gain, and even obesity and diabetes later during childhood and in adult life.

Pregnancy in many cultures is viewed as the time to let go and to eat for two. While that might have been a good idea 50 plus years ago when the quality of food was more nutritious and less likely to be high in saturated fat and sugar, eating for two in today’s obesogenic environment leads to excess weight being gained in pregnancy. Women should know the consequences of weight gain in pregnancy and the amount of weight it is recommended they gain on the basis of where they start. The Institute of Medicine put out guidelines in 2009 for women in the United States.

The phrase ‘Fertility Fitness’ seems to pop up in your work. What does it mean, and why is it so important?

Dr. Redman:  The U.S. Institute of Medicine strongly advocates that women contemplating pregnancy tackle barriers interfering with a healthy lifestyle prior to pregnancy, and attempt to conceive once maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle. Many women are united in a common goal for pregnancy, that is to deliver a healthy baby – however many newly pregnant women (and men) do not realize the importance of their pre-pregnancy health on the future potential outcomes of their unborn child. Being physically and mentally ‘fit’ for pregnancy will help to ensure the most optimal pregnancy outcomes for mom and child; and, the whole family will enjoy the newly learned habits needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle for years to come.

So you’ve said ‘pregnancy is the window to future health’ – what do you mean by this?

Dr. Redman: Pregnancy is a time in a woman’s life when she is more likely than any other time to adopt new health behaviors to give her unborn child the best start in life. For instance, women will quit smoking, avoid caffeine or soda, increase fruits and vegetables, and take a vitamin. There is no better time in fact to adopt new behaviors that support a healthy lifestyle that will hopefully be carried forward with her in her life for many years after the birth of her baby.

Mothers have been described as the nutritional gatekeepers of the home – making most of the decisions regarding foods, meals, meal preparation and shopping. Since we now understand how critical pregnancy is on the future and long-term health of both the mother and her child, pregnancy can be thought of as a window of opportunity to foster changes for healthy nutrition. Unfortunately, pregnancy can also be a window to poor health outcomes for mom and baby. Optimizing health and nutrition for pregnancy and beyond needs to be at the forefront of thinking for moms from day one!