Now that you’ve given birth, are you eating for two? Sounds like an odd question, but this may be more important for breastfeeding moms after the delivery than before it!
We’ve all heard that euphemistic description of our eating habits during pregnancy right? “I’m eating for two.” To an extent, this is true. Our energy and nutrient demands are increased while pregnant. But surprisingly, nature has it that even when we lack optimal intake, our babies get what they need from us while in the womb. We literally become the source of building blocks for our babies, either directly from what we eat, or from the stores that we have in our body. And that’s part of the reason why you may not need to gain as much weight as you think during pregnancy. In fact, around a 25-pound gain, give or take 5 pounds given the weight you start out at is just fine.
It turns out that eating for two after baby is welcomed into the world is not a bad way to think about our nutritional and energy needs while breastfeeding. Once we deliver baby, our bodies sprint to secreting milk after being at the starting gate of milk production for 40ish weeks. And as the weeks turn to months of breastfeeding, we’re going to need some specific nutrients to keep milk production steady and strong through the marathon that ends in weaning.
Let’s be honest here…at least I will be. I remember that feeling, twice now, of recovering from delivery and feeling absolutely spent, and then, “What? Having to breastfeed?!” I was tired from being pregnant and not sleeping before birth, tired from the labor, and could not find a comfortable position to sit in because of, oh let’s say “healing issues.” I was so excited to breastfeed, and had my own ups and downs in the beginning. I got through them with a combination of some old fission tooth grinding and expert help. But, there were certainly those times that I just thought, “Are you kidding me? Give even more?” It felt like every known and unknown orifice of my body had been ordered to ooze something. I know, this isn’t a lovely visual, but seriously, I know you know what I mean. I couldn’t find a comfortable position to sit it, let alone sit and feed…but I was determined and stubborn… and for me it worked out to breastfeed, so I continued on.
I didn’t expect the real physical need I would have for simple things like WATER, right away. I didn’t expect the almost animal like need and craving to eat immediately when hungry. But my experience through this process reinforced what my brain knew for years but my heart was finally understanding. And that is that when it comes to breastfeeding, I really was eating for two, and despite my accidental and sometimes forgetful eating habits, my body was going to make milk, and how I felt about it would be a secondary concern.
To help you get through this time with hopefully fewer sudden craving episodes, here is some simple and vital information about our nutritional needs during lactation.
1. Don’t worry if you miss your pre-natal vitamin, skipped breakfast, or didn’t drink enough water today, your milk production quantity and quantity will stay the same, though you may be grouchy. Lactation can take small hits. It’s deficiencies that are consistent over longer periods of time that can deplete your stores and create detrimental changes to your milk supply and composition.
2. How much milk are you making? If you are healthy and your baby is only getting its nutrition from your breast milk, you are likely making between 750-800ml (about 25 ounces) of milk a day. Though there still can be a wider range of normal as much as plus or minus 400 ml. Later in lactation, after 6 months, milk volumes have a greater variation because of the variation of weaning times for different moms. (Pregnancy and Lactation, Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences. National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1991.)
3. Try to avoid these things that have been found to decrease milk supply: stress, anxiety, fatigue, illness, smoking, and combined estrogen/progesterone oral contraceptives.
4. You don’t need to worry about these things affecting how much milk you make: your age, weight, or body fat, how many times you’ve given birth, weight gain during pregnancy or the amount of aerobic exercise you do.
5. Keep taking your pre-natal vitamins. The amount of vitamin content in the milk we make is decreased if we are vitamin deficient and improves with supplementation.
6. Breastfeeding women require more nutrients than they did while pregnant. Check out this table to see the specific protein, vitamin and mineral recommended daily allowances for your age during lactation. According to the Institute of Medicine, you will need 25 extra grams of protein, in addition to extra vitamins and minerals including A, B, C and E, zinc, iodine and selenium. Eating a healthy amount and variety of foods, supplemented by your prenatal vitamin should provide you with the appropriate amount of nutrients.
7. Interestingly, calcium, phosphorous and magnesium dietary requirements do not change during lactation compared to non-lactation. This is because our body gets what it needs by taking these minerals out of our bones and getting rid of less of these minerals in our urine. Studies have found that supplementing these minerals doesn’t change how our body gets these minerals, and once we wean and resume our menstrual cycle, our body restores our bones with the calcium, phosphorous and magnesium it took out!
8. Whatever your age, you will need about 500 extra calories of energy a day to provide milk for your baby. For the first 6 months of breastfeeding, about 170 of the extra 500 calories your body needs, it gets from your own body stores. After the first 6 months, the extra 500 calories will come straight from what you eat. (Hint: This is where the “eating for two” bit comes into play. You need to eat more! Not double now, but more.)
9. If your baby is exclusively breastfed, she will need a vitamin D supplement (at least 200 IU daily) to make up for less sun exposure that babies have now, as a result of our efforts to decrease skin cancer risk.
10. To avoid the potentially increased exposure of your baby to mercury (which may adversely affect a baby’s developing nervous system), do not eat the following seafood: shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish because they contain high concentrations of mercury. More information can be found at the fda.
11. There isn’t a need to avoid fish all together though. And in fact I suggest maintaining a diet that includes some fish because fish provide a large amount of essential fatty acids including omega-3 fatty acids that are important in brain development. The Institute of Medicine suggests that up to 12 ounces a week of fish and shellfish with the lower concentrations of mercury are fine. These are fish like: shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish. Avoid albacore (white) tuna because it has more mercury than canned light tuna. And, eat no more 6 ounces a week of albacore tuna or local fish that has been caught by family or friends.
With some of this information now tucked away in your brain cells, I hope you enjoy the extra 300-500 calories you will need a day, and take wonder in how these nutrients and energy transform into the dreamy development of your little one!
