3 meals on white plates sat on a striped tablecloth
https://www.glwd.org/get-meals/healthy-starts-for-individuals-with-gestational-diabetes/

Healthy Starts
Free, Delicious, Nutritious Meals For Pregnant People with Gestational Diabetes

God’s Love We Deliver is thrilled to launch Healthy Starts, a food and nutrition service for pregnant people diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

This service – the first of its kind in New York City – offers medically tailored home-delivered meals, support from Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, and an on-demand education series to support pregnant peoples’ management of gestational diabetes for a healthy pregnancy, delivery, and recovery.

God’s Love We Deliver thanks the Secunda Family Foundation for helping launch and support this one-of-a-kind service.  

How does good nutrition support pregnancy, delivery, and recovery?

The prenatal nutritional status of a parent and child is directly associated with health outcomes and risks well beyond pregnancy. Through Healthy Starts, we seek to support maternal prenatal nutrition and children’s nutrition to foster a healthy pregnancy, reduce stress associated with eating when diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and address health risks such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.

What is included in the program?

The service is available to people from the point of their gestational diabetes diagnosis to two months postpartum. The menu is designed by our Registered Dietitian Nutritionists to meet the nutrition and caloric needs of a pregnant person diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and is comprised of 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner, and 2 snacks per day.

Healthy Starts Medically Tailored Meals Model

See What's in our Education Modules (available in English and Spanish)

1. Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) 101

2. Role of Diet in Management GDM (Part 1)

3. Role of Diet in Management GDM (Part 2)

4. Physical Activity

5. Preparing for Post-Pregnancy

6. Post-Partum

Postpartum Care: Why it Matters

Adequate postpartum care can help prevent short-term and long-term complications

Healthy Starts Postpartum Care

  • Addresses the nutritional needs of the postpartum person
  • Promotes follow-up medical care during this period
  • Encourages mental health awareness
  • Promotes lifestyle changes to minimize risk of developing T2DM

How our Program Works

Delicious Meals

We cook delicious food from scratch in our state-of-the-art kitchen in lower Manhattan.

Home Delivery

We deliver it to you in one of our refrigerated vans.

Ongoing Nutrition Education and Support

We provide 6 on-demand education webinars to help you manage your gestational diabetes, and we provide ongoing nutrition counseling.

Store Your Meals

You store food in the fridge or freezer.

Reheat Your Meals

You reheat it in the microwave or oven.

Food is Love

And enjoy healthy, great tasting meals and the support of our staff and community.

Questions? Concerns? Sign up to hear from a Client Services Representative about our Gestational Diabetes Program

Learn About our Gestational Diabetes Program
I would like more information for
Eligibility Requirements -- I or my loved one (both MUST apply in order to qualify):
Are you a member of a healthcare plan?

If you’d like to learn about food sources in addition to God’s Love We Deliver, then please visit nycfoodpolicy.org or call 311. We invite you to download our Community Food and Health Resources Guide here, compiled by our Registered Dietitian Nutritionists.

All meals from God’s Love are low-sodium, and cooked without added preservatives, artificial flavorings, or fillers. In any given week, each client receives a variety of items that fit their needs and preferences and are optimized for the right caloric, nutrient, and protein content. Because different health concerns require different dietary modifications, our team of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists works with all clients to determine their specific nutritional needs and select the assortment that works for them.

Please note that we cannot accommodate soy allergies, or gluten-free, Kosher, Halal, or vegan diets. Check out our food safety guidelines here. If you have any questions regarding our menu, please contact the Nutrition Department at 212.294.8103 or at nutrition@glwd.org.

We're Here to Help

Who We Are

Just a Phone Call or Email Away

Our team of Client Services Representatives will welcome you or your loved one on to our program, ensure we have all the appropriate paperwork, and answer any questions along the way. A Registered Dietitian Nutritionist will perform a nutrition assessment to help design your meals according to your illness, treatments, needs, and preferences, and our team of RDNs are available to provide you with unlimited nutrition education and counseling. All services are free to clients and full of love.

How Our Meals Work For You

FREE OF CHARGE

Our meals are free to clients

WHERE WE SERVE

The NYC metropolitan area

We deliver to all five boroughs of NYC, Hudson County, NJ. For information on meals to Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk County, please email healthcarepartners@glwd.org.

The Benefits of Medically Tailored Meals

Less Stress, More Meals

Medically tailored meals lower healthcare costs, increase patient satisfaction, and lower hospitalization rates.

View Our Meals

Thanksgiving meal 2021

November

Thanksgiving

Delivered by families of volunteers, our traditional Thanksgiving feast also comes with a basket full of treats for our clients

Chef Curtis holding a plate of Winter Feast braised beef with cherries and bowl of roasted corn chowder

December

Winter Feast

Delivered before December 24, this meal is meant to delight and bring celebration to our clients during December.

On your Special Day

Birthday Cake

We bake, personalize, and deliver a birthday cake with a hand-decorated card on your special day!

Why Medically Tailored Meals?

Our meals help you achieve key outcomes in healthcare and the social determinants of health.

Our meals address:

  • Severe and/or chronic illness
  • Hospital discharges
  • Weight loss
  • Cognitive Impairment or serious mental illness
  • Medically at-risk conditions
  • General fatigue
  • Difficulty chewing or swallowing
  • Difficulty walking or getting around
  • Difficulty shopping or cooking

Our RDNs and Executive Chef build each menu

Our menu is:

  • Free of fillers and preservatives
  • Nutritionally tailored to address specific health and illness goals
  • Designed by our Registered Dietitian Nutritionists to be both nutritious and delicious
  • Research-proven to improve the health and well-being of members

Being sick and hungry is a crisis that demands an urgent response. If you or someone you love needs our nutritious, delicious meals, we’ll cook and home-deliver them, free of charge, right to your door.

Questions? Concerns? Sign up to hear from a Client Services Representative

Get Healthy Meals
I would like more information for
Eligibility Requirements -- I or my loved one (all three MUST apply in order to qualify):

We are accepting new applications and authorizations for service. Please check eligibility for our service here. If you’d like to learn about food sources in addition to God’s Love We Deliver, then please visit www.nyc.gov/getfood and NYC Food Policy or call 311.

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