what does the country you live in say about nutrition while breastfeeding?

[snipersmum]

I live in Germany, and was given a leaflet from the maternity ward with a list of food to eat and food to avoid while bf. Among other things it said to eat apples, but not oranges, strawberries, grapes or plums. I have a Korean friend who says they are told to eat lots of pork before the birth as the oil in the meat is supposed to make the labour easier, and afterwards they are only supposed to eat seaweed until their milk is in. I think all this is fascinating and would love to hear stories from the countries you live in.

Here in France I was advised to boost my calcium intake and generally eat healthily to boost milk production. And not to drink, although I allowed myself a glass of wine now and then.
Pretty run of the mill advice compared to living on seaweed for a few days!

Here in Italy I was also told to avoid acidic fruits as it might cause colic, and things like broccoli as in theory it makes the milk taste funny. Ditto onions and garlic. They also tell you not to consume too much milk or cheese yourself as it's not needed and just makes you fat.

An Egyptian lady told me to eat loads of fruit and veg to keep my milk up and a Japanese friend of mine swore by seaweed and sesame seed salad for the first weeks.

In the end I ate a bit of everything, including curries and spicy food in general (though not chillies) as, curiously, the spices in Indian food seemed to increase my milk. It must be true about fenugreek and cumin after all. My DD wasn't fussed, never refused the breast and has since developed a penchant for broccoli in any form and curries.

I wish mine had a thing for broccoli!! I've been trying to stick to the german recommendations as the other 2 had horrendous colic, so I thought it might be worth a try, but curiously I have developed a 'diet head' where I want anything I'm not supposed to and now have a craving for onions......

I was told to ditch my cups of tea to avoid colic and for a Scottish lass, missing out on at least 5 or 6 cuppas a day is hell

Sniper,my bil is Korean and made my sister that special soup when she had her babies.

Sniper - If it's any comfort to you, onions are not considered colic food in Italy, they just tell you not to eat them because of the taste. Hard to do for me as my DP only has one recipe which is heavy on onions (to the extent of them repeating on you) and since I couldn't detach DD from my boob at all in the first few weeks he did all the cooking/ordering of takeaways (hence the curries).

I took the view that in most of the rest of the world mothers do not adjust their diets when pregnant and bfeeding, so why do we in the Western world have to. Also, the fact that reccomendations vary so wildly from country to country indicates that it's probably a load of cobblers. Mind you, I was lucky insofar as my DD never complained or suffered from colic, otherwise I might have been more hesitant about certain foods myself.

Hi Snipersmum I'm in Singapore and ginger is highly recommended to reduce colic.

i really do find all this fascinating. One other thing I was told here was that you shouldn't have a bath for the first 6 weeks, only shower, as the bacteria from your locchia could get into the bath water and settle on your breasts and give the baby thrush.....

Not that anyone gets time for a bath in the first six weeks anyway!

I live in Italy, and the waiter in a restaurant refused to give me the spinach I wanted when he saw I had a newborn as he said it would give him wind. Lol, imagine a British MAN saying something like that!!!!

Did you know that in China you have to stay in bed for an entire month after you give birth and not shower or even clean your teeth, and you have to eat five meals a day? No visitors and no sex (bit unlikely anyhow in view of the teeth and shower bit!)

I had my dc in Germany and I was never told to be specifically carefull about anything, so when my pregnant sister visited me once and was very wary of all cheeses and non pasturised foods it was all new to me.
I was told to avoid certain foods when bf though but we eat indian style mostly so i was used to eating lentils and beans and it didn't bother my dc, the midwife was shocked!

The French (and my MIL in particular) are adamant that asparagus and strawberries shouldn't be eaten as they make your milk taste bad. Garlic and onions also seen as bad.

strawberries are on the list the hospital gave me to avoid, but spinach is on the OK list. I would LOVE to spend a month in bed, but not the no washing bit...... Also, the midwies went ape when I asked for some scissors to cut her overgrown talons when she came out - and was told in germany you are not allowed to cut nails until they are 6 weeks old.....

breastfeeding belgian mothers get served beer in belgian hospitals. Along with an extra dairy portion such as milkshake.

snipers, in most cases you'll be fine eating those fruits - it is possible that citrus can irritate the baby's bum (I have a friend who can't eat citrus because her baby has the most dreadful chronic nappy rash) but usually you should be fine. One of my favourite foods in the early bf phase with ds (born in mid-May) was porridge with fresh local strawberries in

right, that's it, I'm off to Belgium!!

snipersmum - yes it is a very good place to give birth, especially if you have good insurance.

I live in Japan.
Here pregnant mothers are allowed to eat just about anything. The western idea of eating too much liver being bad for you has just arrived, but otherwise anything goes as long as you don't gain more than 10kg in weight.
However, during pregnancy excercise and exertion are definitely out.

After the birth, mothers are supposed to stay at their parents' house for about one month and do as little as possible.
Again, there are no restrictions on eating. Just a normal balanced diet is fine.