Food Guide for the Nursing Mother

Nutritional requirement for the lactating woman are higher that any other stage of the life cycle. One must account not only for the nutrient and energy value of the milk itself but also for the demand placed on the body to produce it. Other tips for the nursing mother include:

• Caloric requirements are increased by 500 calories per day to compensate for calorie and nutrient loss with lactation. The increased nutritional needs of the lactating mother can be met by increased intake of nutrient –dense, high quality foods.
• Drink plenty of fluids. In addition to four to five servings of milk, one and a half quarts of water and /or juice will help assure adequate hydration for you, as well as furnishing the needed fluid produce a good milk volume.
• There is no need for iron supplementation while lactating and not menstruating because cessation of menstruation compensates of iron in breast milk.
• Vitamin A requirement are increased by 400 to 500 RE to maintain maternal liver stores, to account for variations in milk volume and to provide a margin of safety.