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When you are breastfeeding your baby, you must continue to eat well to maintain your nutritional status. Your nutrient stores may be used up for breast milk if your nutrient intake is low. In fact, your requirement for certain nutrients (e.g. energy, protein and B vitamins), is higher during breastfeeding than during pregnancy. So if you were conscious of the nutritional quality of your diet during pregnancy, there is even more reason for you to be so when breastfeeding!
 In general, if you eat a balanced diet based on the ‘Healthy Diet Pyramid for Pregnancy’, you will be able to meet your basic nutritional needs during breastfeeding in order to support your baby’s growth and development, as well as protect your own nutrient stores. Eat whenever you are hungry and drink when you are thirsty.
Special formulated milks for breastfeeding mothers
Most special milks formulated for breastfeeding mothers are based on powdered skimmed or whole cow’s milk, fortified with specific vitamins and minerals, especially iron, zinc and B vitamins including folic acid. Some brands also contain fish oil as a source of DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid). Hence, breastfeeding mothers who are unable to consume a balanced diet consisting of the recommended number of servings of meat (as main source of iron and zinc), citrus fruits and green leafy vegetables (as main sources of folic acid), and cold water deep-sea fishes (as main source of DHA), may benefit from drinking these special milks to supplement their usual sources of these nutrients. However, the basic nutrients, namely, calcium, phosphorus and protein, found in special milks formulated for breastfeeding mothers and regular milk, are similar.
Caffeine and breastfeeding
As caffeine passes from mother to baby through breast milk, excessive amounts can cause symptoms of caffeine stimulation in your baby. Regular coffee drinkers would be glad to know that one or two cups of coffee a day will not affect babies as studies suggest that breastfeeding mothers can consume up to 650 mg of caffeine a day. However, be aware that apart from coffee, tea and cocoa products, caffeine can also be found in soft drinks and over-the-counter medications like cold medicines.
Avoid alcoholic beverages when breastfeeding
Alcohol passes from mother to baby through breast milk. Large amounts of alcohol can affect the milk let-down (ejection) reflex. Most local lactation experts recommend that mothers refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages in the first week after delivery to avoid stressing the newborn baby’s liver.
However, from the second week onwards, if baby is not jaundiced, and mother wishes to consume alcohol, she should not exceed 0.5 g alcohol for every kilogram of body weight, and breastfeeding should be delayed
for at least one hour for every 10 g of alcohol consumed. (One pint of beer, one glass of wine or one standard drink of spirits is equivalent to one unit of alcohol. This equals 10 g of alcohol.)
Case example
A 60 kg woman can drink a maximum of 0.5 g × 60 = 30 g (namely 3 units) of alcohol a day. If she chooses an alcoholic drink containing 20 g of alcohol, she should wait at least two hours before breastfeeding her baby.
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