Rachel asks:
"In the mean time, I'm wondering if you and others could post what EFA foods you
council moms to start with putting in their diets when they haven't had much of
these in their diets before."

Rachel, the important thing to remeber is that you cannot just add EFA's w/o eliminating trans-fats for real health. But, it depends on the mother's dietary choices as to what I suggest. If she is not vegetarian (I counsel a lot of vegetarians), I suggest a very clean, high quality fish oil (one must be very careful with this--there is a good one recemmended on Dr. Mercola's website--as a matter of fact, I suggest everyone subscribe to his newsletter. He is anti-vegetarian, and I am vegan, but very pro-bf'ing and very knowledgeable). I also suggest flax oil as an alternative. Of course, grinding the seeds is even better and some moms would rather do this. Both the oil and the seeds are unstable and need to be refrigerated and used quickly. As a matter of fact, if an oil is shelf-stable, it is b/c it has had all of the benifical EFA's removed, using processes that are toxic to the body and leaving a lifeless product behind. The only oils that are health promoting are those with EFA's, such as flax and hemp (which cannot be used for cooking, as they cannot be heated). Because olive oil has no omega3 or omega6 in it, it is not treated and is therefore far less harmful than any other cooking oil. Coconut oil is the very best for baking--if you can get moms to get over the lies they have been told about saturated fats, then you can suggest they bake with it. Walnuts are very high in EFA's--the problem is that they have a lot of omega6's also and most Americans are over-fed on Omega 6's and depleted in omega3's. If the mother will stop eating processed foods, then walnuts are a good choice. Chia seeds (as in chia pets) and pumpkin sesds are also a source of omega 3's. My very favorite supplement is Udo's Oil from Flora, for those of us who choose not to use fish oil. (I have no interest in this company). I tell moms not to take flax capsules--you cannot possibly take enough to make a difference--1-3 tbsp per day of oil is needed minimally. Or a tbsp of seeds ground. Also, flax seeds can be easily used in baking, so long as they are ground. You use them in place of eggs--grind one tbsp seeds per egg and beat with 3-4 tbsp water. What is very important is that the body will obtain omega 3's from foods like leafy greens, but it will never be enough if she is also consuming trans-fats. W/o the trans-fats, the need is much lower. I would guess, though, that less than 1% of mothers that we see are eating a diet low in trans-fats (in the US).
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA