While breastfeeding it is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. You will be producing about 600ml of milk per day during the first few months and this will increase to around 1 litre per day by the time your baby is 4-6 months. If you are undernourished then you run the risk of depleting your own nutritional reserves and this may affect the nutrient levels in your milk. You need to maintain good nutrition for both yourself and your baby.
Additional kilojoules are needed to help you keep up with the needs of your growing baby. The energy requirements of a non-pregnant woman are around 8,000kj/day. When breastfeeding you will need an extra 2,000kj/day to sustain your growing baby.
You should follow the same healthy lifestyle that you established during pregnancy. You need a lot of nutrients from your food so be sure that your diet contains foods with minimal processing such as whole grains and cereals, and fresh fruit and vegetables.
Written by Helen La Fontaine
Founder – Top Secret Maternity
Bachelor of Applied Science – Food Science and Nutrition | Master of Public Health