Out of concern for the environment and the lives of nonhuman animals, more women in the UK are making vegan choices during pregnancy and while raising their children. A recent study I conducted explores how vegan mothers navigate their health care journey during pregnancy to early motherhood. The results point to important gaps in health care professionals’ knowledge of veganism and in the support they offer. Meanwhile, vegan mothers are very knowledgeable and active in gaining information about correct nutrition with a vegan diet and have found resources outside the healthcare system.
Veganism is missing from healthcare training
Picture this: An expectant mother walks into her prenatal appointment with a mix of excitement and nerves. She is ready for support and guidance in discussions about how her vegan lifestyle will impact the growth and development of her baby. Instead, she is left with more questions than answers, with her healthcare professional unable to offer any information. This isn’t a rare occurrence for vegan mothers in the UK; it is a reminder of how veganism is still absent from the training of many healthcare professionals.
As vegan and plant-based diets become more common, it’s important that education on nutrition evolves alongside them. This gap in knowledge is part of a broader issue of an absence of nutritional education in general during medical training.
Vegan nutrition needs a place in medical training
Why is this issue relevant today? All of the vegan mothers I interviewed felt that the professionals they encountered during their pregnancy and subsequent check-ups exhibited little to no knowledge of veganism and vegan nutrition. This, in the best case, leaves a mother to do her own research on what nutrition she needs during pregnancy and on raising a baby on a vegan diet, using information which may be biased or unverified. In the worst case, it leads to situations where medical professionals give misinformation and ill-informed advice to vegan patients. The latter scenario is not only harmful, but it also damages the relationship and trust between patient and practitioner. One mother described a difficult experience of being told to eat fish during her pregnancy without any blood tests or health checks being conducted. This advice, which directly contradicted her morals and lifestyle, was given to her based on an assumption that she would have iron or other nutrient deficiencies due to her diet, which was not verified and left her questioning her decisions during a vulnerable time.
Evidence indicates that a well-planned vegan diet is safe and provides adequate nutrition through all stages of life, including pregnancy and early childhood. UK medical training must keep pace with dietary trends and evolving nutritional knowledge. Most health care professionals are eager to learn, but report feeling underprepared to advise vegan patients effectively, due to limited training.
Working together for better care
While challenges remain, there’s great potential to improve care for vegan mothers by
- integrating vegan nutrition into the training of healthcare professionals;
- encouraging open, respectful dialogue in all patient interactions by educating health care professionals on veganism and its significance to those who live a vegan lifestyle.
The vegan mothers in the study were middle class, highly informed, intentional and dedicated to making healthy choices for themselves and their babies. Guidance from health care professionals is even more important for mothers with fewer resources or less nutrition knowledge. By working together, patients, practitioners and institutions can create a more inclusive, supportive health care system that serves everyone with compassion and respect. Vegan parents, like all parents, deserve the best possible care, and health care professionals need the tools to provide it.
Bethany Francis is a PhD researcher at Cardiff University, exploring the institutional, ethical and social dimensions of veganism, especially how the UK health care system supports vegan mothers.
Are health professionals ‘equipped’ to support vegan mothers in the UK? by Bethany Francis and Mara Miele from Consumption and Society available on Bristol University Press Digital here.
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