Hi all,
I had a call from a fellow NMAA Counsellor who recently had a nutritionist
at their NMAA meeting as a guest speaker. This nutritionist made a comment
that the Counsellor wanted to check out with others and was happy for me to
ask you people.

The nutritionist said that if mothers ate better in the morning, ie had
their protein requirements, etc as they should, it could help with their
milk supply at the end of the day (ie those who feel that baby is unsettled
because of low supply at that time - I know - we've just discussed this and
this isn't necessarily the case). It seems that none of the breastfeeding
mothers at the meeting were eating 'properly' according to this lady!

Now I know all about autocrine control of breastmilk production, ie the
emptier the breast, the faster it is making it, etc, and always tell
mothers that, if they think they are 'empty', then they are making milk at
a fast rate and will soon have more. And I always say to mothers that a
poor diet may affect you and your ability to cope and stay healthy, etc,
but your baby will be fine, as the body makes sure all the goodies go into
breastmilk (barring extreme cases like vegans and Vit B12, etc) even if
they have to be got from mum's body.

I wondered whether any of you dietitian or nutritionist type people out
there on Lactnet have any comments to make about this statement about
*when* mothers should eat. I know that 'breakfast is the most important
meal of the day', even though many of us can't face a big meal at that time
(or haven't got time!) and that our habit of eating a large meal in the
evening is supposedly 'bad'. However, apart from this, is it particularly
significant for breastfeeding mothers for the reason she gave?

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Joy Anderson B.Sc. Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. IBCLC
Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia Breastfeeding Counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
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