DIET IN LACTATION
The diet of the nursing mother, as has been explained in a previous chapter, must not only cover her own requirements but must likewise be adequate to furnish the extra requirements imposed by the nursing infant.
Food Requirements of Nursing Infant.—When the baby is a month old he should be growing rapidly, and his food requirements at this period and until he is about three months old will be approximately fifty calories per pound of body weight in the twenty-four hours. As he grows older his requirements grow gradually less in proportion to his weight. This is because the rate of growth is less, so that for the next three months the requirements are from 43 to 40 calories per pound of body weight per day, and 35 calories per pound during the last three months, or by the end of the first year of life.
It has been estimated, as before stated, that the average infant will take 2⅓ to 2½ ounces of mother’s milk per day[63] to each pound of body weight and that every ounce of mother’s milk will yield on an average 20 calories. Hence a month-old baby weighing ten pounds will be taking about 23 ounces a day, yielding 460 calories. Scientists have estimated that for every calorie produced by the milk two extra calories must be provided by food, so that for the baby requiring 460 calories per day, to cover his requirements the mother will be obliged to consume extra food to yield 920 calories, or the regular amount to meet her normal requirements plus the extra food to make sufficient food for the baby.
Diet of Nursing Mother.—The diet of the nursing mother need not be different from that to which she is accustomed. She should be warned against overwork or over-fatigue, nervous excitement and worry, since these factors affect the digestion of the nursing baby. She must be careful not to eat indigestible foods or foods which disagree with her, as such things will undoubtedly affect the digestion of the infant. When an article of food does cause digestional disturbances in the baby, it should be carefully omitted from the mother’s diet.
Factors Retarding and Stimulating Milk Secretion.—Constipation in the mother reacts quickly and unfavorably upon the secretion of milk. The same has proved to be the case when she becomes excited, nervous, worried, or over-tired.
The average diet for the normal woman is safe for the nursing mother. If her supply of milk is deficient, it may be at times increased or stimulated by the drinking of a glass of milk between meals or by taking a cup of hot cereal milk gruel. It was formerly believed that beer, ale, or stout acted directly upon the mammary glands, stimulating the secretion of milk, but there is little proof of this and the drinking of alcoholic beverages need not be encouraged on this account, since often more nourishing beverages fulfill the purpose more efficiently and without bad results.