During pregnancy, you may have some strange cravings. The cravings are almost too many and sometimes, too strange to list. However, there is one almost universal craving, chocolate!! Pregnant women from all over the word have been known to do some crazy stuff to get their chocolate fix and after all, you are eating for two! Well, we’re here to tell you that you can now feel justified in sending your partner out at midnight to grab some chocolate if you find yourself without any on hand.
Here are 11 reasons why you incorporating more chocolate into the diet of expecting mothers can have amazing benefits:

Pre-eclampsia is one of the causes of premature labor and is characterized by high blood pressure and protein levels in your urine during pregnancy. When the blood pressure increases, it leads to convulsions and may also cause blood clotting and liver damage.
According to a study reported in the Annals of Epidemiology, cocoa’s theobromine content helps relieve the condition. Researchers at the Yale University found that chocolate intake lowered the risk of pre-eclampsia by almost 70%. It, therefore, concludes that dark chocolate, about five servings a week, is effective in preventing preeclampsia especially in the third trimester (1,2).

Theobromine present in cocoa helps in regulating blood pressure in pregnant women by dilating the blood vessels (3)

Theobromine present in cocoa helps in regulating blood pressure in pregnant women by dilating the blood vessels (3)

The antioxidant property of dark chocolate plays a prominent role in preventing heart disease and, therefore, supports the cardiovascular system (5). The darker and the higher the quality of chocolate, the better it is for the heart.

Dark chocolate has been found to enhance mood by raising endorphin and serotonin levels in the brain. The findings from a research study published in the Proteome Research, say that eating 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate every day for two weeks lowers the levels of cortisol hormone (stress hormone). The flavanol reduces fatigue and reflects on the degree of stress (6,7).

Research findings in the New Scientist Magazine state that pregnant women who had more dark chocolate gave birth to happier and livelier babies. Researchers randomly picked a few mothers who had six-month-old babies and asked them how frequently they had chocolate in their pregnancy. They were told to rate their babies’ happiness. Mothers who frequently had chocolate in their pregnancy gave higher happiness score to their babies than mothers who did not have chocolate regularly.
However, the exact reason is not known – it may be the chocolate passing through the placenta into the breast milk or mother’s enhanced happiness from chocolate that made the babies happy.
Another interesting finding from the study was that it protected babies from maternal stress. Mothers who never ate chocolate showed high stress levels during pregnancy and had babies who were fearful. Mothers who ate chocolate showed low stress levels and had babies who were less fearful (8,9).

In the same study, women who consumed chocolate during pregnancy also benefited from better placental and fetal growth and development, so eating chocolate could mean an all-around healthier baby come delivery day (13).
Eating chocolate during pregnancy boosts fetal growth and development, according to the Universite Laval Quebec City in Canada. Regular consumption of dark chocolate in small amounts from your first trimester could improve placental function. 
Dr. Emmanuel Bujold, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Universite Laval in Quebec City, says: “Our observations suggest that a regular small consumption of dark chocolate — whether or not the level of flavanol is high — from the first trimester of pregnancy, could lead to an improvement of placental function.

Chocolate may just help keep those unnecessary extra pregnancy pounds at bay. Eating dark chocolate can help maintain healthy weight gain and lower cholesterol (14).