Medical expert of the article
New publications
What can and can not be eaten after delivery and during lactation?
Last reviewed: 20.11.2021
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
You should eat what you ate in the last weeks of pregnancy. In the diet should be more dairy and sour-milk products: 3-4 glasses of milk a day, yogurt, yogurt, cottage cheese. Do not forget that a day you should drink about two liters of liquid (and if it's hot - three liters). Given that to feed the baby you need about 0.6-0.8 liters of milk per day, you need to increase the caloric value of your food. In addition to dairy products, eggs, fish (preferably marine, because there is more phosphorus) and meat should be included in the diet (preference is given to veal, which is less fatty than pork, and juicier and tasty than beef). Be sure to include vegetables and fruits on the menu. The only exception is for citrus (oranges, tangerines). Their excessive consumption can cause allergy, diathesis or diarrhea in children. Be wary also of red apples, lots of strawberries and exotics in the form of kiwi or pineapple. These products are very useful, and as for kiwi - this fruit contains so many vitamins and such a wonderful antioxidant that with it on these qualities can only be compared to sea buckthorn. So do not deny yourself these fruits, but use them with caution. What does it mean with caution? This means that you need to eat one fruit and look after the child for several days - whether there are rashes. If not, then you can safely eat a proven product.
It is necessary to abandon strong alcoholic beverages, and alcoholic, too, should not be abused. If you are a very big fan of beer (and there are women among such), then you can afford 1-2 glasses of beer. But with one condition: you must drink it 2 hours before feeding. This is exactly the time for which all alcohol "will erode" from the body.
You can drink juices, remembering what was said about fruits, because by and large this is the same, only in fruits, except juice, there is still fiber.
As for the way of cooking, you should avoid fatty, spicy and smoked food. Remember that prolonged heat treatment of products leads to the fact that the amount of useful substances, for example, vitamins, drops sharply, or they completely break down. Want an example? Remember what color freshly brewed borscht? That's right - bright red. And what color does he get after several boiling? Red-brown. And why does it change color? Yes, because there was not a single milligram of vitamin C left in the borsch!
Now back to the first part of the question - what can you eat right after delivery? Since you will begin to feed immediately after birth (if you did not do cesarean section), then all of the above about citrus fruits and juices from them remains in force. Be careful with natural chocolate. To replenish the body with carbohydrates, it is better to have milk chocolate. Very well restore the strength of bananas. In addition, they contain fiber, which will help normalize the stool. Apples are also useful. From pears should abstain, because they are fastened. But dairy products - kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese - can and should be included in the diet immediately after birth.