Are you considering a career as a prenatal nutritionist? 

Whether you already have a background in the health sciences and are looking to specialize, or you are just beginning to explore nutrition as a career option, a basic education or certification in nutrition is often just the beginning. Even after you complete your initial nutrition education, there are so many directions you can take your career. 

Given that the field of nutrition is ever evolving, choosing a niche allows you to really hone in on your expertise and build your skillset in one area. Specializing in prenatal nutrition can make a huge impact with your clients and community, especially if this is an area you already feel passionate about.

Why I chose to specialize in prenatal nutrition

When I first became a dietitian, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to specialize in. I served a more general population of clients at first, then went into the direction of gut health and food sensitivities, and eventually found my calling in the prenatal nutrition field after numerous career opportunities opened up to me in the gestational diabetes space.

Though I had been exposed to all sorts of career possibilities and specialties in my dietetic internship, it was learning about the impact that a mother’s nutrition and blood sugar levels could have on her child’s metabolic health that really sealed the deal for pursuing prenatal nutrition as my specialty. The work that I did with one woman could affect the next generation (and even the generation beyond that). Talk about having an impact!

Benefits of becoming a prenatal nutritionist 

If supporting clients in this stage of life is of interest to you, I encourage you to lean into it. Becoming a prenatal nutritionist offers numerous benefits. As someone who supports the health of both mother and baby, you will play a critical role in their health and well-being, getting the chance to influence outcomes that will impact the child and mother for the rest of their lives. In this article I aim to share the benefits of working in the prenatal nutrition field, as well as the numerous career opportunities that are available to someone with this specialty. 

This is a field that is conventionally quite behind in the research and is thus ripe with opportunities to contribute to advancements in maternal and child health, beyond just working one-on-one with clients.

Additionally, this field offers the opportunity to work with a uniquely motivated population, making the barriers to compliance (quite common in the nutritionist-client relationship) a lot less challenging. Mothers are often more motivated to make changes for the benefit of their babies than just for themselves. 

Lastly, but most importantly, I will add that the satisfaction that comes with helping expectant mothers and their families navigate this area and improve their pregnancy and postpartum outcomes is hugely fulfilling (and never gets old!). If you, like me, are passionate about prenatal nutrition, I really encourage you to consider all the options that this specialty offers.

Become a Prenatal Nutritionist to Expand your Career Opportunities

I think a lot of dietitians and nutritionists think of working in private practice as the main career opportunity for prenatal nutritionists, but there are so many other potential options.

Private Practice

• Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit? As a private practice prenatal nutritionist you have the opportunity to work one-on-one with clients (or as a consultant), with the freedom to design your own programs, protocols, and other services. It also offers the ability to create your own schedule to suit your lifestyle, and the autonomy to structure your services however you prefer. If you don’t want to be locked into a 40-hour work week or have to ask a boss for time off, working for yourself may be the way to go.

Public Health Departments (such as WIC)

• If you want to make a difference within the public health setting (we need you!), working within these established organizations offers the chance to contribute to improving current guidelines, by sharing your expertise and contributing to professional development opportunities with your colleagues. Here you have the opportunity to improve maternal and child outcomes on a broad scale, making a significant difference in the health of underserved populations. And these organizations can really benefit from having individuals within their organizations who question outdated guidelines and bring new ideas to the table. I’ve had the honor of speaking at numerous WIC conferences and there are so many amazing dietitians and nutritionists working to improve these programs.
  

Hospitals & Clinics

• For those who thrive in the fast-paced environment of healthcare, nutritionists play an essential role in providing support for expectant and new mothers. You may find opportunities for work in maternity wards, obstetric and gynecological clinics, or even in a contractor role at an OBGYN or midwifery office. As someone who started my career in prenatal nutrition in a perinatology clinic serving high-risk pregnancies, I can tell you that taking on a role like this is an excellent way to build clinical expertise and work with a team of other healthcare professionals to make a huge difference in pregnancy outcomes. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to keep colleagues up-to-date with new research in the field, at least that’s who I approached this role! You can imagine me showing up with printed out research papers to share with the OBs, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners regularly. 

Research 

• Did you know? We know more about prenatal and postpartum nutrition for farm animals than we do for humans. If you are interested in contributing directly to the crucial role of research studies in prenatal nutrition, then this is a great chance to help advance the evidence for what we know about preconception, perinatal, and postpartum nutrition (trust me, there are more gaps than you’d imagine!) — and your work could ultimately influence the prenatal nutrition field itself if that research eventually impacts guidelines or clinical practice decisions.
  

Educational Institutions

• If you’re passionate about teaching nutrition, perhaps a teaching role at universities, colleges, or vocational schools would appeal. Since there is often a significant gap in updated prenatal nutrition education in many women’s health programs (including dietetics), your expertise in this area would be a valuable asset to any educational institution.

Non-Profit Organizations

• Many organizations focus on maternal and child health and need qualified prenatal nutritionists to help guide their programs and implement effective strategies to improve maternal and infant outcomes. In this role, you will contribute your expertise to essential programs, such as using prenatal nutrition to help lower the risk of pregnancy complications or other adverse outcomes.
  

Fitness & Wellness Centers

• Nutrition goes hand in hand with fitness these days. With many programs realizing the benefits of combining these two aspects of wellness, there are numerous opportunities to work within this industry to support pregnant women with their physical goals and postpartum healing with focused programs including an essential nutritional component. Since I also have a certification as a Pilates instructor, one of my roles many many years ago was teaching Pilates to expecting and postpartum moms. Consider reaching out to women’s health physical therapy offices (also called pelvic floor physical therapy) to offer your nutrition services!
  

Supplement & Food Companies 

• Collaborating on product formulations with companies that produce prenatal foods or supplements can help to ensure they are meeting nutritional standards and choosing quality ingredients. This is a great opportunity to participate in an ever-growing industry that helps fill nutritional gaps with prenatal populations.
  

Government Agencies and Policy-Making Bodies

• Did you know it takes 17 years for research to make it into practice? Here, you have the opportunity to shape policy development and regulatory work that supports maternal and child outcomes through nutrition. As an expert in this field, you will play an essential role in bridging the gap between evidence-based research and current policies, helping to advance progress at a more optimal pace. Earlier in my career, I worked at the policy level with the California Diabetes and Pregnancy Program: Sweet Success on amending their gestational diabetes guidelines. It has challenges, but it is very rewarding to know that your work can impact thousands upon thousands of people.

Looking to become certified in prenatal nutrition?

With growing interest in this speciality and need for qualified experts, I too sought out additional education in this area when first starting out and realized this area was something I was eager to specialize in.

You see, my formal training as a registered dietitian did not prepare me for the work I do today. The single class I took on Lifecycle Nutrition during my university studies had only a brief lesson on pregnancy nutrition — and most of that information, I have come to learn, was flat-out wrong. My dietetic internship was heavy on the clinical side, but only included a short rotation on the maternity ward.

And after surveying other dietitians, I’ve found that my experience was not unique — 74% of dietitians only reported having 1-2 classes on prenatal nutrition, 18% had no prenatal nutrition training whatsoever, and 8% had a semester-long course. Furthermore, when I asked dietitians whether they felt their training in prenatal nutrition was adequate, 88% reported NO, 12% reported “somewhat,” and 0% reported “yes.” 

Given all of this, it’s probably no surprise to you that as a new dietitian, it felt like I was “thrown into the ring” blind and had to use my own time to level-up my prenatal nutrition knowledge to best serve my pregnant clients. I have now devoted my career to sharing what I have learned about prenatal nutrition from my decades of consulting, research, client work, writing, teaching, and advising on prenatal public policy (and, of course, with some personal insight from my own two pregnancies).

What this eventually evolved into is my prenatal nutrition certification and mentorship program via the Institute for Prenatal Nutrition^Ⓡ. It is the training I wish I had available when I started out in prenatal nutrition. It could have saved me years of work and a lot of overwhelm.

The Institute for Prenatal Nutrition^Ⓡ Mentorship is a comprehensive certification course in prenatal nutrition designed for health practitioners. This is an application-only, high-level program intended for healthcare providers. I only run the program once per year and keep the group size small enough so I can provide individualized attention to everyone.

This mentorship is for professionals who already have a science and nutrition background, such as dietitians and nutritionists, doctors, midwives, physician assistants, acupuncturists, and other licensed professionals. Successful completion of this course earns you the title of Specialist in Prenatal Nutrition. You’ll also earn a spot on our graduate directory, which is where we send any client inquiries. This is a great way to boost your visibility and build your business.

Join the waiting list to get notified when the next enrollment period begins (enrollment only opens once per year).

Final thoughts on becoming a prenatal nutritionist

The prenatal nutrition field is a specialty that is both highly rewarding and increasingly in demand, as people recognize the critical role of nutrition in maternal health and the health of their developing babies. As you can see, there is no shortage of career opportunities! Whichever area you choose, you have the opportunity to bring your unique expertise to truly make a difference in the health of generations to come.

Until next time,

Lily

 

PS – If you’ve already been exploring the prenatal nutrition field, or are already a prenatal nutritionist, let me know in the comments what area you are working in. I love to see how others are applying their skills in the real world. If this is new to you, which opportunity looks most appealing to you? 

PPS – If you’re a health practitioner looking to specialize in prenatal nutrition, keep the  Institute for Prenatal Nutrition^Ⓡ Mentorship on your radar.