New mums need to recover from giving birth, then build and maintain their strength for the important months and years of motherhood ahead. A good, nutritious diet is very important to achieve this.
While most of your attention will be focused on this wonderful new little person in your life, it is very important that you get into a good routine, with good habits, and that your diet includes all the necessary nutrients. This applies whether or not you are breastfeeding.
If you are breastfeeding you need 300 more calories (2,000-2,300 calories total) per day than in the last trimester of your pregnancy and these should be divided over three well balanced meals and some light snacks throughout the day.
Recovering from the actual birth of your baby, and nights of broken sleep while getting into a routine, can take their toll and one of the most effective ways of dealing with this is with a nutritious diet. It needn’t be a complicated one, nor involve meals that need lots of preparation.
Avoid slimming diets at least for the first couple of months (unless you are very overweight), wait until you have stopped breastfeeding to cut down on calorie intake.
Choose high fibre, low fat foods which are more satisfying, don’t miss meals and make sure your snack are healthy – cut out the sugary biscuits and cakes and replace with fruit and nuts.
Breastfeeding mums need to eat a varied balanced diet that includes plenty of fruit, vegetables, starchy foods, fibre and protein.
Neglecting your diet during breastfeeding will not immediately affect your milk supply, but it may affect the nutritive value of your milk and cause longer-term issues for you.
Your diet should include Vitamin E which is found in oils (like sunflower, wheat germ and olive), almonds and hazelnuts, spinach, turnips, avocados, broccoli, sweet potato, tomatoes, asparagus and kiwifruit. It’s an important vitamin for healthy skin and blood.
If you had a caesarean delivery you would also benefit from a diet rich in iron which is found in dried fruits, beef, chickpeas and other dried legumes, potatoes in their skins, pumpkin, greens like dark cabbage and spinach and in some wholegrain and cereal products which are iron-fortified.
Vitamin C (from fruits and green leafy vegetables) will help your body absorb the iron from foods, Vitamin D is necessary for your baby to absorb calcium from your breast milk and calcium (from dairy products) is important to ensure your milk is calcium rich for your baby’s teeth and bone development.
Other vitamins in the B group (found in whole grains, potatoes, bananas, lentils, beans, nutritional yeast, brewer’s yeast, and molasses) help in the formation of healthy red blood cells and release energy from food.
Wholegrain breads, cereals, brown rice, dried beans, peas and other legumes provide important fibre as well as plenty of vitamins and minerals. They also give a longer lasting boost of energy compared to refined carbohydrates.
New mums should drink plenty of fluid – at least eight glasses a day. This can come from water, fruit and vegetable juices, clear soups or milk.
Vitamin supplements which are especially designed for postnatal mums can be a good boost to a diet and ensure you are getting all the necessary vitamins and minerals.
