Nutrition of Pregnant Women and Breastfeeding Women

The nutrition in the pregnancy period for the baby to be born healthily, so is the nutrition in the breastfeeding period. The most important nutrient that a baby needs to take in the growing and development periods is breast milk and the mother has to care about her nutrition so that she can produce adequate amount and quality of milk. The milk being secreted in the breastfeeding period is a product of the nutrients that the mother takes. The nutrients necessary for the milk must be regarded as additional to the mother’s own needs. Therefore, there are 2 purposes of breastfeeding period just as in the pregnancy.
Protecting the mother’s preexisting health by keeping the nutrient storages
* Improving the sufficiency and efficiency of the secreted milk and therefore, helping the baby have a normal growing and development. A healthy mother secretes 700-800 milliliters of milk on average per day. For the breastfeeding mother to be able to secrete sufficient amount of milk, she needs approximately 560-700 calories in addition to her normal needs. 500 calories of this amount are met from what the mother eats and 200 calories from the nutrient storages gained in the pregnancy. This situation is a significant factor in losing the weight again gained during pregnancy. Breastfeeding helps the mother’s body to go back to its previous look before the pregnancy. Breastfeeding triggers the uterus contraction, makes the uterus smaller and the abdominal area of the mother gets in shape faster. The regular weight loss during breastfeeding does not affect breast milk production.

What should we do to nourish sufficiently and in a balanced way during breastfeeding period?

­ The liquid intake must be up to 3 liters (10-12 water glass) on average per day and it should be preferred especially as light natural beverages such as water, herbal teas like linden, mint, chamomile, stewed fruits with little or no sugar, fruit juices, lemonade, and milk.
­ For the milk to become abundant in the breastfeeding periods, it is essential for the mother to nourish well, stay away from the stress and rest sufficiently and breastfeed the baby with frequent intervals.
­ The mother should certainly include nutrient groups such as milk, egg, cheese which are rich in calcium in her nutrition program.
­ Eggs or vegetable dish with meat or meals of legumes must be included in the nutrition program in order to meet the protein need.
­ Increasing the consumption of seafood rich in Omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids increases these fatty acid contents of the breast milk. Especially fish is a food which is rich in protein value and omega-3 content and it should be mainly consumed in this period.
­ Fresh fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin and minerals must be regularly consumed in every meal.
­ The mothers must stay away as much as possible from the foods containing additives (being added to increase the durability) such as salami, sausage, and fermented sausage.
­ Iodized salt should be consumed since it is not possible to take the iodine essential in the development of the baby in the uterus and inadequacy of which causes mental deficiency sufficiently with the natural nutrients.
­ Tea and coffee can be consumed 2 times a day. The caffeine in the tea, coffee, and coke which is consumed much enters into the milk and affects baby’s health negatively. Tea and coffee during and right after the meal should not be consumed considering that it prevents the iron absorption. In addition to this, fresh fruit juices rich in vitamin C are better choices since it helps the iron absorption. If you want to prefer tea, drink in the light form between the meals like mid-afternoon and mid-morning, meaning 1-2 hours after the meal. Prefer herbal teas such as linden, mint, chamomile, rosehip, fennel as a beverage.
­ Iron deficiency is a frequently-experienced problem in the breastfeeding periods. The iron passing to the baby through breast milk is essential so that the iron storage of the baby can be filled and it can be used in producing blood. Meat, chicken, fish, egg, offal like liver, spleen and kidney, dried nuts like walnut, almond, dried fruits like grape, peach, plumb, dried layers of fruit pulp etc., legumes like dry/white beans, chickpeas, lentils, shell/kidney beans, grape molasses and green-leafy vegetables are rich in iron. These should be certainly included in daily nutrition. Consuming vegetables like tomato, pepper, parsley, kale and fruits like orange, grapefruit, strawberry all of which are sources of vitamin C as well as the foods rich in iron increase iron absorption.
­ The consumption of the oil that will be used in the meals must also be considered. The person should stay away from the foods such as fried and roasted food which increase the calorie value and generally use the methods of boiling, baking or grilling as cooking methods.

Nutrition in Pregnancy

The need for the mother in the pregnancy period is more than other people at the same age and condition. The increasing nutrient need is significant for both the development of the embryo and maintaining the life of the mother.
The ladies whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is underweight (below 20 kg/m2) needs to gain 12-18 kg, those in the normal range (20-25 kg/m2) 12-13 kg and those in the overweight and obese category (over 25 kg/m2) 7 kg on average during the pregnancy.
It is essential that the mother takes a sufficient amount of energy, carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamin, mineral and liquid for herself and her baby during the pregnancy. The need for many nutritional elements of the mother increases in this period. Especially the need for nutritional elements such as protein, fat, vitamins B, vitamin A, iron, folic acid, calcium, etc. increases. Some of these needs should be met before pregnancy. The most important element of these is folic acid. The mother needs to have consumed a sufficient amount of folic acid so that the baby’s central system can be created healthily in the 28. Day of the pregnancy. If the women have not consumed folic acid sufficiently, they should start using folic acid supplement 4 months before the pregnancy. Therefore, it is very important that the pregnancy is planned.