Many experts recommend that a mother should breastfeed her baby for at least one year. It is because breast milk will give a strong foundation of immunity to the baby. It is found that the baby will grow healthier and stronger after they consume their mother’s milk.
Besides benefits gained by the baby when they drink breast milk, mothers who breastfeed also will gain benefits like stress-free, ease to lose weight, speed up the healing process after delivery and help the uterus shrink back to normal size.
For a mother to offer all the nutrients that their baby needs through breastfeeding, they must take enough nutrients, to begin with. A mother must take enough food because the process of creating breast milk will need a lot of calories and nutrients.
The body will create breast milk according to the needs of the baby. If a mother does not take enough nutrients the body will create breast milk using the mother’s nutrient storage. As a result, the mother will always become tired and the volume of breast milk will decrease drastically.
To make sure breast milk provided to the baby is up to standard, a mother should make sure their food intake contains the following nutrients.
Vitamin D.
Vitamin D is essential to a mother that breastfeeding. Food that has vitamin D are salmon, mushrooms, shrimps, egg yolks, beef liver, and tuna. If you are not familiar with that type of food, you can expose yourself to sunlight in the morning. You only need 15-20 minutes to expose yourself to sunlight to gain enough daily vitamin D intake.
Others food that contain Vitamin D is fortified vitamin D food product like orange juice, dairy product, and cereal. The easiest Vitamin D intake is by taking vitamin D supplements.
Calcium.
One of the most nutrient that your baby need is Calcium. The baby needs calcium for teeth and bone growth. If your body has a low level of calcium, your body will take calcium that is stored in your bones. As a result, the risk of you having osteoporosis later in your life will increase. Daily, you can take calcium from drinking milk and other dairy products like cheese and yoghurt.
Protein.
Food that has protein is dairy products, nuts, meat, fish, eggs, green vegetables, and almonds.
Calories.
A mother that breastfeeding needs more calories than a normal mother. It is normal for a mother to keep up overweight status after three months of delivery as the body needs a lot of calories to create milk. Mother will always be in hungry mode at this time.
Low calorie intake will weaken the body and leads to a decrease in the volume of breast milk. You can make sure you are taking enough calories by not skipping meals. Eat more than you usually eat. Don’t worry about fat intake as fat later will transform into energy for creating breast milk.
Vitamin A, C, B12. Iodine, zinc and acid folic.
Eat enough vegetables and fruits. Then, you will get all the nutrients that need.
Besides all nutrients above, a mother also should take care of their water intake. Make sure to drink enough water daily. Drink before you feel thirsty. There is no special diet for breastfeeding mothers. A breastfeeding mother only should make sure they eat enough food and eat vary in food.
