Blissful Motherhood - සොඳුරු මව් පදවිය

Key Nutrients Breastfeeding Mothers Need the Most

During your baby's first 6 months, breast milk is the only food item that will be provided to your baby. During that time, the infant receives all the nutritional needs he needs from breast milk. Also, even after the baby has started having solid foods, breast milk supplies a certain portion of the baby's nutritional needs. Therefore, if you are a breast-feeding mother, it is very important to have nutritious food while you breastfeed your baby. Having nutritious foods is important not only to produce nutritious breast milk for the infant but also to nourish yourself back to health.

If you do not take adequate amount of nutrients while breastfeeding, the quality and quantity of breast milk you produce will also change accordingly. This is why it is so important to have a nutritious diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding. You need to have a well-balanced diet because it determines the energy, protein, vitamin and nutrient content of your breast milk.

So, let's look at the key nutrients that should be included in the diet of a breastfeeding mother in order to produce quality breast milk with the right nutritional value.

Calcium

Did you know that a breastfeeding mother may lose some of her bone mass (up to 3-5%) due to continuous breastfeeding during the first six months of her baby? Why does this happen? This is because the newborn baby needs a considerable amount of calcium for his teeth and bones development and therefore, absorbs the required amount of calcium from the mother's bones.

So now you know that Calcium is one of the most important nutrients to be included in a breastfeeding mother's diet. Adequate calcium intake can not only help the mother to produce nutritious milk but also protects the mother from medical conditions like osteoporosis which are caused by calcium deficiency. A breastfeeding mother should consume 1000 mg of calcium per day to ensure that the mother's and baby's calcium needs are properly met.

Foods rich in calcium:

Small fish (anchovies, shrimp, salaya, herring)

Low fat dairy products (fresh milk, curd, yogurt, cheese)

Dark green vegetables and leaves (broccoli, kathurumurunga leaves, mukununenna leaves, murunga leaves, curry leaves)

Fruits rich in calcium (wood apple)

Almonds

Iron

When pregnant women lose considerable amount of blood during childbirth, they become tired and weak as a result of anemic. Therefore, it is essential for those mothers to have some nutrients to recover from the anemic condition and get back their healthy after childbirth. Iron is an essential nutrient which is a mineral that contributes to the production of new blood cells. Therefore, it is important for mothers to include iron-rich food in their diet after childbirth.

Iron is one of the essential minerals of course, but having too much iron can cause certain side effects, such as constipation. Therefore, it is best to take natural iron-rich foods as a daily supplement rather than trying to get iron through medicines. For a breastfeeding mother, recommended daily intake of iron is 9 mg.

Iron-rich foods: 

Red meat (beef, pork, mutton)

Egg yolk

Dry fruits

Dark green leaves (sarana leaves, gotukola leaves, mukununenna leaves, kathurumunga leaves)

Fish (avoid high-mercury fish)

Vitamins

Breastfeeding mothers need to supplement their diet with plenty of vitamins. Vitamins C, D, and B12 are the most important ones for breastfeeding mothers.

Vitamin C helps your body to absorb more iron from your diet. If a nursing mother takes adequate amount of Vitamin C food, the infant will also get Vitamin C through breast milk. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient for infants which helps in the development of the infants’ bones and immune system.

Vitamin D helps to strengthen the bones of mothers who are tired and somewhat weak after childbirth. Vitamin D supplementation infants gets through breast milk helps in the development of infants’ bones and cartilage.

Furthermore, Vitamin B12 supplementation infants gets through breast milk helps to produce new cells and develop the nervous system.

Foods rich in vitamin C:

Nelli, guava, star fruit, lime, oranges, weralu, murunga leaves, gotukola, water spinach, tomato

Foods rich in Vitamin D:

Oily fish (i.e. salmon), milk, eggs, sunlight also produces Vitamin D in the body

Foods rich in Vitamin B12:

Meat, fish, milk, eggs, yogurt

Dietary Fibre

Fresh vegetables and fruits are rich in dietary fibre and also contain nutrients such as iron, calcium and vitamins. Adding more fibre-rich food to the diet of a lactating mother helps to prevent constipation, as well as improve the immunity of the mother after childbirth.

Fiber-rich foods:

Whole Grains (brown rice, finger millet, Corn)

Fresh Vegetables (bitter gourd, lasia, baby jack-fruit, ridge gourd, tomato)

Fresh fruits (wood apple, guava, beli, banana, passion fruit)

Fresh leaves (spinach)

sweet potato

Folic Acid

Recommended daily intake of folic acid for a breastfeeding mother is about 500 micro grams. When the mother takes necessary amount of folic acid, infant will also get this nutrient through breast milk. Folic acid is a type of B vitamin and is a constituent of red blood cell growth and brain development in infants. Therefore, it is very important for the infant to get folic acid through breast milk during the early stages of infancy.

Foods rich in folic acid:

Brown rice

Avocado

Legumes (cow-pea, green gram, lentils, chickpeas, dried peas)

Nuts (flax seeds, walnuts)

Asparagus

If you are a nursing mother, I hope you will be interested in this article and adding the nutrients listed in this article to your diet.

Images: PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/)