A pediatrician in practice ( with her husband also a ped), Jackie Gottleib
MD spoke at an Emory conference one year and gave her experiences with
breastfeeding mothers who had returned to work. (pumping twice at work and
breastfeeding the rest of the day. and evening as needed.)   She worked with
the mothers who c/o fatigue at the dinner time and whom tended to come home
and overeat to compensate for the tired feeling. Then going to bed with a
full stomach and she theorized to make milk all night.
She felt that mothers should have a substantial portion of their calories at
breakfast, a mid morning snack, a substantial lunch, mid afternoon snack,
lighter with dinner calories and a bedtime snack.  This gave the mothers a
steady "drop into the system".of the available calories.
Her parents reported feeling better and more energetic a he the dinnertime
and after and had a more even distribution throughout the day of the milk
supply.

There are those that argued that the breastfeeding mothers did not need such
structure.  It was felt by this professional that she had an opportunity to
make a difference and that these changes were changes that would benefit
this woman for life and certainly as she did begin a weaning process it was
easier for the mother to wean from the larger intake also.
One wonders if the compliance for this group was related not only to how
much better they reported feeling or the interest and guidance of a
physician/pediatrician  who gave time and concern to both the mother and
babies needs.

with kindest regards
Beadie Cambardella RN IBCLC FACCE
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