Diet During Breast-Feeding

The best method of feeding a newborn, breast-feeding, is also a boon to the mother. Barring illness, mother’s milk is reliable, plentiful, and always at hand. No preparation is required and no expense is incurred. Finally, in one of nature’s more elegant exchanges, lactation steadily uses up the fat stores accumulated during pregnancy at the rate of 100 to 300 calories a day.

An additional 500 calories above one’s normal intake are needed to produce sufficient milk for infant nursing, but beyond that, the nutritional requirements of nursing mothers differ only slightly from those of pregnant. The daily need for protein drops from a pregnancy high of 74 grams to approximately 64. Any shortage will be at the expense of the mother, since the milk yield will contain adequate protein even if it has to be drawn from the mother’s tissue.

Calcium, iron, and vitamin D requirements remain at pregnancy levels, but other vitamin and mineral needs vary between pregnancy and breast-feeding. Most of these additional nutrients will be supplied naturally through the balanced diet recommended for pregnancy, plus an extra 2 cups of whole milk and an extra serving of whole grains.

To maintain milk yield as well as her own health, a lactating woman should drink at least 2 quarts of other liquids a day. Milk volume may be depressed by cigarettes and oral contraceptives, and the former have been identified as potentially toxic to the nursing infant. Remember that breast milk is highly sensitive to contaminants of all sorts: eat only healthy, unadulterated foods while lactating, for our sake and that of your baby.

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