The Right Diet for Breastfeeding Mums

The nine-month long wait is over and the ‘bundle’ of your joy, your newborn is in your arms to hold and cuddle. Breastfeeding is the normal way of providing young infants with the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development.  WHO recommends feeding infants colostrum, the yellowish, sticky breast milk produced at the end of pregnancy. It is the perfect food for the newborn, and feeding should be initiated within the first hour after birth.

Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age, with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond.

As your baby is reliant on you for nutritional needs, it is important that you pay attention to your diet just the way you were doing during pregnancy. A nursing mother produces 23 to 27 ounces of milk per day. A breast feeding mother requires an additional 500 kilocalories per day from food.

What’s in your plate

1. 1.      Protein: Your protein intake should now be higher than it was in pregnancy. Protein foods include: meat, dairy products, legumes, nuts like almonds. If you are a vegetarian, you should source protein from the combinations like rice and dal, wheat and dal, daliya, and soybeans.
2. Complex Carbohydrate: This along with protein, helps to maintain an even blood-sugar level. This helps to keep the sugar (lactose) level in your milk at levels that your baby can best tolerate, and therefore minimizes the chance of colic or reflux developing. Complex carbohydrates are those foods that have not been subjected much to man made refinement. These include wholegrain bread, brown rice, fruits with skin, lightly sauted green vegetables and daliya.
3. Fats: There is a whole lot of controversy surrounding fats. Fats slow down transit time of the milk, thereby allowing your baby to feel satisfied for longer, and also help with maximising weight gain in your baby.  About 20 – 25 gms of fat per day is enough for a lactating mother. During your pregnancy, you have saved some extra fat stores around your hips. These will now be used up to provide extra energy for the breastfeeding. However, make sure each day that you get some fats from nuts, seeds, grains and some from seafood are in the diet.
4. Calcium: You need around four servings of calcium-rich foods daily to protect your bone strength. Calcium is another major ingredient in breast milk. Good sources of calcium include: dairy foods, soy milk. f your diet does not contain plenty of calcium, your body will use calcium from your bones to meet your increased needs. This may weaken your bones and increase the risk of developing osteoporosis later in life.
5. Iron: Pregnancy uses up your iron stores. During breastfeeding, you need to rebuild your iron stores with iron-rich foods, such as—red meat, legumes, nuts and leafy greens.  
6. Folate and vitamins: Breastfeeding also increases your need for folate, a B vitamin which you will get from leafy greens and cabbage. Stay on the top of your health with vitamin C and A. You will get these super antioxidants from citrus fruits and yellow or orange vegetables.
7. Water: It is important that you drink at least 10-12 glasses of water to keep your body hydrated. The fluid level in your body is crucial to the production of breast milk. It may be a good idea to drink a glass of water or juice before you nurse your baby. You also need to be cautious about drinking clean filtered water to avoid water borne infections. It is best to carry a bottle of water with you when you go out.

Inputs–Geetu Amarnani, Delhi based Nutritionist

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