In the video Healthy choices: What to eat during pregnancy, Dr. Dolan’s goal is to inform pregnant women what to eat and what to avoid eating while pregnant. Sponsored by the March of Dimes, this video contains quality information from a reliable Obstetrician/Gynecologist. Although Dr. Dolan is not a Registered Dietician, she appears to be very knowledgeable in what a pregnant woman should be eating.
She mentions how important protein, iron, calcium, and folate are for the mother and her fetus. Dr. Dolan also includes a number of different foods that supply these nutrients. I was surprised to find that inadequate amounts of calcium tend to cause the mother to be deficient. The fetus uses all the calcium it needs to form strong bones, and if there is none left for the mother, she will have a deficiency. It makes sense that the baby would need the calcium, but I was unaware that not all nutrients were divided equally among the fetus and mother. I was also interested to hear Dr. Dolan say that while caffeine should be limited, it is okay for a pregnant woman to drink one cup of coffee per day. Before this video, I was under the assumption that caffeine should be ruled out altogether; now I will have to do more research on this topic.
After she identifies what mothers should be eating, a cartoon character named Olga lists foods that should be avoided. These foods include raw fish, unpasteurized dairy, unpasteurized juice, sprouts, alcohol, rare meat, herbal supplements, and herbal teas. While this animation is a bit random in comparison to the rest of the video, it makes the video more interesting, comical, and lively.
This video would be perfect to show during a discussion group, lecture, or class on nutrition and pregnancy. Any of these scenarios would target pregnant women who are interested in caring for their baby by caring for themselves. After showing this video in any of these three situations, I could discuss with the women further about more food options in each category. I can also explain to the women what can happen to the child if the recommended amounts of nutrients ingested are not met. Dr. Dolan briefly discusses the issues nutritional deficiencies can cause, but I could make it more interactive and in depth. Another idea is to quiz these women twice to analyze how much information they knew about nutrition before the video and what they learned after. The quiz after the video can assess how responsive the women were to what Dr. Dolan and Olga have to say.
This video is simple, short, and effective in getting the message across to pregnant women. The video does not go too in depth, allowing viewers to stay engaged throughout the length of the video. Healthy choices: What to eat during pregnancy by March of Dimes may not be the most exciting informational video ever made, but it gets the point across easily to the target audience. Not much else can be asked of a video.