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There are so many things that moms worry about after bringing their new baby home, not the least of which is how to properly feed them. Luckily, Stacey Rubin has some great advice and information for breastfeeding moms, helping to make sure that at least one thing goes as smoothly as possible.
Will Drinking Coffee Affect My Baby?
Many mothers avoid caffeine during pregnancy. After giving birth, many of my clients look forward to enjoying a cup of coffee, tea, or caffeinated soda. Caffeine in these beverages causes adults to feel more awake and alert. Breastfeeding mothers often fear that caffeine will have the same effect on their baby. This is doubtful. Even large amounts of caffeine ingested by a breastfeeding mother have not been shown to be expressed in high concentrations of breast milk.(1)
My advice is to enjoy in moderation coffee and other beverages that contain caffeine. While breastfeeding, the goal is to normalize your diet and lifestyle as much as possible. If you enjoyed a coffee break in the past, there is no reason not to take one now that you are a breastfeeding mother.
Can I Have a Glass of Wine?
Eda was planning an elaborate bridal shower for her younger sister. The event included an open bar and champagne toast. Eda had been breastfeeding her two-month-old daughter since birth and hadn’t had so much as a sip of alcohol since becoming pregnant. She wanted to toast her sister’s upcoming marriage and wasn’t sure if having a glass of champagne was compatible with breastfeeding.
Alcohol does pass into breast milk, which mirrors the amount of alcohol a mother has consumed.(2) Having an occasional glass of wine while eating dinner is unlikely to harm a breastfeeding baby. On the other hand, rapidly swallowing back several alcoholic drinks on an empty stomach would most likely lead a mother to become inebriated, in which case, I don’t recommend that she breastfeed her baby until she is sober. When it comes to alcohol, use common sense and moderate your intake. It is not necessary to pump and discard your milk after having an occasional drink.
Are There Foods I Can’t Eat While Breastfeeding?
Because of the risk that a food-borne illness such as listeria could potentially infect an unborn baby, it is recommended that pregnant women do not eat raw fish or soft cheeses, such as brie. However, when eaten by a breastfeeding mother, these foods do not pose a danger to her breastfed baby. In general, it is safe for a mother to eat anything while breastfeeding.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that breastfeeding mothers do not consume certain types of seafood.(3) Shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish all contain high levels of mercury that could pose a threat to breastfeeding infants and children. Furthermore, the FDA recommends breastfeeding mothers limit their total fish consumption to twelve ounces per week.(4) In general, shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish contain lower levels of mercury and are considered the safest fish for a breastfeeding mother to eat.
Will Dieting and Exercising Harm My Breast Milk?
Many of my clients are eager to lose the weight that they gained during pregnancy so that they can fit back into their regular clothes. Breastfeeding automatically helps you to lose weight. Maintaining a full milk supply for your baby takes extra calories. To meet these needs, you body will mobilize the fat you stored during pregnancy. Over time, breastfeeding mothers tend to lose more weight than mothers who do not breastfeed.
It is important to recognize the fact that your body has gone through a lot of changes, and that your body won’t morph back to its previous shape overnight. When choosing a weight-loss diet, I advise my clients to wait until their breastfeeding relationship is firmly established before focusing on intentional weight loss. Pick a diet that recognizes the needs of a breastfeeding mother and encourages you to eat a variety of foods. Losing weight slowly won’t hurt your milk supply.
Light or moderately strenuous physical exercise won’t harm the quality or taste of your breast milk. I recommend breastfeeding your baby prior to working out so that your breasts will be less full as you exercise. It is perfectly safe to breastfeed immediately after exercise. Although some exercise is healthy, obsessive exercise can have a negative impact on your breastfeeding relationship. I once had a client who initially began a breastfeeding relationship with her infant daughter, but her habitual routine of running, aerobics, and weight lifting soon interfered with her ability to breastfeed. The time this mother devoted to these daily physical activities coupled with the very rapid weight loss that resulted from overexercising led her to give up on breastfeeding.
1. T. Hale, Medications and Mothers’ Milk, 12th ed. (Amarillo, TX: Hale Publishing, 2006), 121-123.
2. Ibid, 322-323.
3. Food and Drug Administration, “Backgrounder for the 2005 FDA/EPA Consumer Advisory: What You Need to Know About mercury in Fish and Shellfish,” http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/mercury/backgrounder.html.
4. Ibid.
Excerpted from The ABCs of Breastfeeding: Everything a Mom Needs to Know for a Happy Nursing Experience by Stacey H. Rubin, M.N., APRN, IBCLC. Copyright © 2008 Stacey H. Rubin, M.N., APRN, IBCLC. Published by AMACOM Books, a division of American Management Association, New York, NY. Used with permission. All rights reserved. http://www.amacombooks.org. 
Stacey H. Rubin, M.N., APRN, IBCLC is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse and an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant. After graduating magna cum laude from Villanova University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, she was commissioned as an Army Nurse Corp officer and served overseas during the First Gulf War. Following four years of active duty military service, she earned a Master of Nursing degree and moved to Connecticut where she works with the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, runs her own private practice, and lives with her husband and two healthy, breastfed children. For more, visit Stacey's website here or check out The ABCs of Breastfeeding.