RSSCategory: Motherhood

Breastfeeding and Calories

| October 30, 2012

Waitrose Fairtrade Organic Bananas

One of the great advantages of breastfeeding is that it burns calories.

Breastfeeding Mums will burn up to 500 calories a day just from providing their babies with the best start in life.

Breastfeeding and eating a diet rich in nutritious foods have been the best things for my post pregnancy weight loss.

When you’re breastfeeding you spend a lot of time sitting, hopefully with your feet up, so it’s important to get outside everyday for your mental health and enjoy a leisurely walk with baby.

I was quite often ravenous when I was breastfeeding. I breastfed on demand so it was essential I ate small snacks and meals throughout the day to keep my energy levels up, to ensure optimal amounts of breast milk production and to maintain my blood sugar levels.

Because you’re burning so many calories when you breastfeed you’ll need to consume around 300 to 500 more calories per day when you’re breastfeeding to ensure proper milk production and to keep up with the demands of your body.

Whatever you eat as a breastfeeding Mum will pass directly into your breast milk and into baby who consumes your breast milk so avoiding additives, contaminants and highly processed foods is essential.

For the health of Mum and Baby, I always recommend you eat organic foods.

Breastfeeding Mums should eat healthy and nutritious foods that will provide you with sustained energy release to keep you going and regulate your blood sugar levels. This also helps to maintain your mood as blood sugar spikes and lows can leave you feeling up and down.

Some of my favourite foods to eat for energy when breastfeeding:

  • Organic Bananas – rich in potassium and low in sodium, a quick and healthy snack with calming properties.
  • Organic Apples make a perfect snack. Highly nutritious and a good source of vitamins A and B1 as well as being rich in minerals. High in fibre to help cleanse your system and to keep you regular. It’s best to eat only Organic Apples here’s why.
  • Organic Free Range Eggs Scrambled on toasted Rye Bread – a quick and healthy way to eat protein. Eggs are low in fat and provide balanced nutrition, being rich in B vitamins and many minerals.

 
What are your favourite foods for energy when breastfeeding?
 

Benefits of Breastfeeding

| October 28, 2012

No doubt you will have heard Breast is Best.

Despite this there’s still a lot of debate when it comes to feeding and what’s best for your baby.

Exclusive breastfeeding, mixed feeding with breast milk and formula or exclusive formula feeding?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) published a statement in January 2011 indicating findings show exclusive breastfeeding up to the age of 6 months is best for babies, as it helps to achieve optimal growth, development and health.

This statement on breastfeeding by the WHO is for all babies, not just babies in developing countries.

My thoughts are that if you can breastfeed and if you want to breastfeed then it’s best for Mum and baby to breastfeed. Nutritionally, emotionally and physiologically.

Here are just some of the Benefits of Breastfeeding

  • The fat in breast milk is more digestible for babies, compared with cow’s milk, so there’s a greater absorption of fat-soluble vitamins into baby’s bloodstream.
  • The hormones in breast milk promote baby’s growth.
  • Breastfeeding will give your baby the best start and allow them to grow and develop at optimal levels.
  • Breastfeeding decreases the risk of your baby developing infections as Mum’s breast milk provides antibodies for her baby.
  • Breastfeeding can help to reduce Mum’s risk of developing breast cancer.
  • Breastfeeding is the best way to burn calories, and you get to sit down and put your feet up at the same time!
  • Breastfeeding gives Mum and baby regular skin-to-skin contact which nurtures bonding and provides great emotional benefits.
  • There’s a reduced risk of breastfed babies developing childhood diabetes.
  • Breast milk provides baby with protection against allergies, eczema and asthma.

 
What are your thoughts on the benefits of breastfeeding?
 

Healthy Pregnancy Tips

| October 27, 2012

I want to share the things that helped me to enjoy a healthy and happy pregnancy.

These are my top Healthy Pregnancy Tips which I found easy to practice and essential for relaxation and keeping me supple.

Exercise gently everyday

A gentle walk and some Pregnancy Yoga worked wonders for my flexibility and my mood when I was pregnant. I used a Gaiam Premium Yoga Mat. It’s thicker than a standard yoga mat so it gave me extra cushioning which was really needed during the later months of my pregnancy. It has a great non-slip surface so it stayed in place during my yoga workout and stretching.

Gaiam Premium Yoga Mat from John Lewis

Neal’s Yard Organic Mother’s Bath Oil

 
Relax, don’t stress!

I found little treats worked wonders. I loved having a warm bath using Neal’s Yard Organic Mother’s Bath Oil for deep relaxation, listening to my favourite music and reading the books on my reading list while I still had some time to myself.

Eat healthy, organic foods

As a Nutritional Advisor and Mum I always make the following recommendations for pregnant women.

Look after your back

Being pregnant naturally puts strain on your lower back as your tummy blooms.

  • Don’t lift anything heavy.
  • Wear comfortable shoes.
  • I used a maternity support pillow to support my back when I was sleeping or relaxing.

Pelvic floor exercises

These are very important during pregnancy and help to strengthen your pelvic floor so your body can support the weight of your pregnancy. Pelvic floor exercises help to prevent stress incontinence.

If this is your first pregnancy you’re probably wondering what stress incontinence is! I certainly didn’t have a clue until we discussed this in our NCT Antenatal Classes. Stress incontinence occurs when you have weak pelvic floor muscles and can cause leaking urine when you cough, sneeze, laugh or exercise.

Here’s a really useful link from the NCT on how to exercise your pelvic floor during and after pregnancy.

Take a Pregnancy Multivitamin

Despite having a healthy diet, as soon as I knew I was pregnant I started taking Vitabiotics Pregnacare Plus Omega 3 and continued to take these throughout my entire pregnancy. These multivitamins plus Omega 3 ensured my baby and I had all the essential nutrients we needed, including the recommended level of 400mcg folic acid.