Breast feeding is hard work for your body. When you breast feed, your body is making enough calories, nutrients and water to support the needs of two separate individuals. This is a pretty amazing feat, so it is not surprising that your body needs extra care while lactating. Prenatal vitamins can provide your body with much needed additional vitamins and minerals.
Demands of Lactation
According to the book "Nutrition," by Frances Sizer and Eleanor Whitney, the lactating woman produces around 25 ounces of breast milk per day. Producing this amount of milk requires additional calories and nutrients. To meet the energy requirements needed to produce such a large quantity of milk, a lactating woman should eat an additional 500 calories per day.
Nutrition Recommendations
A lactating woman needs to increase her intake of many vitamins and minerals. These include thiamin, riboflavin, biotin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, choline, vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, copper, manganese and chromium. Eating a well-balanced diet, including a prenatal vitamin, can help you obtain most of these essential nutrients.
Benefits of Prenatal Vitamins
The manufacturers of prenatal vitamins understand what a woman's body needs during pregnancy. Since breastfeeding is like pregnancy, in that you are providing nutrients for yourself as well as your baby, taking a prenatal vitamin while lactating is advised. A prenatal vitamin can take the guess-work out of your diet. It will assure that you are providing your baby and your body with all of the nutrients you need every day.
Other Considerations
Always remember that your body knows how to survive. When you are lactating, your body holds onto the nutrition that it needs. According to "The Breastfeeding Book," by Martha Sears, R.N. and William Sears, M.D., nutrients such as calcium are digested more efficiently and less is excreted; thus, there's no need to take too much, but instead balance how much you take in.
You can monitor the nutrition you are giving your baby by the rate of his growth. A breastfed baby should gain 4 to 7 ounces per week during the first month. For the next six months, he should gain 1 to 1.5 pounds per month. From 6 months to 12 months, he should gain 0.75 to one pound per month. A baby that is not receiving adequate nutrients may fall behind the weight gain norms.
References
- "Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies"; Francis Sizer and Eleanor Whitney; 2003.
- MayoClinic.com: Prenatal Vitamins
- "The Breastfeeding Book"; Martha Sears, R.N. and William Sears, M.D.; 2000
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