In the Maasai communities there is a wide range of ‘should and should not be eaten’ by pregnant women. About 70% of the pregnant woman avoid fish and farm meat while hardly anyone eats eggs because of fears fears related to the animal’s characteristics being transferred to the child or sterility.
Many prenatal food restrictions in the Maasai communities are related to ensuring that the ‘baby will not be too big’, the head would be of a normal size, or to avert ‘a difficult labour’. Maasai women mostly eat maize, maize flour, milk, and meat/intestines.
Women are responsible for collecting firewood and water, taking care of children, and food preparation. Many women feel hungry, tired, and weak throughout their pregnancies. Often they eat secretly, out of the eyes of the older women and husbands.
Within Tanzania, specifically, food insecurity remains the primary cause of under-nutrition and under-nutrition related illnesses.