Don't eat cabbage when breastfeeding? Seriously?

[cocolacocotte]

Hi all,

my midwife has put me on the 'at risk' list for gestational diabetes so today I was "invited" (read, forced) to attend an 'educational seminar' with a nurse, a dietitian and a midwife this morning.

The whole thing was a complete shambles and I was particularly worried about some of the dietary "advice" given out and about the fact that the midwife clearly stated that the ONLY risks to GD are a high birth-weight and a possible need for glucose monitoring for the first three days for the baby. As I was put on the at risk list due to a large number of diabetics in my family, I know enough about the subject to be uncomfortable with some of the things that were said and have decided to write a letter to the hospital.

As I was making a list of the things that bothered me, I remembered that the dietitian told us that if we want to breastfeed, we should avoid cabbage and artichokes as they will give a funny taste to our milk and the baby won't want to drink it. Now, I've heard this bandied around before but usually by the same little old ladies who tell me to eat a slice of raw liver or drink a glass of guiness every day so I've always written it off as an old wive's tale. Is there actually any truth to this? I hope not because I LOVE cabbage and artichokes

Either way, I won't be including this particular gem in my letter but it intrigued me enough to question the collective wisdom of Mumsnet. Am I going to have to give up my steamed lemon cabbage and 4 seasons pizza?

I remember with ds1 who was a windy baby that it was mentioned to avoid onions and a couple of other things. I think cabbage was one of them but the thing about making your milk tastes funny sounds a bit dubious to me.

I'm not so sure you can drink alcohol but not for any scientific reason.

I had one pub measure G&T when breastfeeding and the baby was really very sick a few hours after feeding. The vomit smelled of alcohol - how bad did I feel?!

I totally lost faith in my midwife when she gave me advice about what not to eat during breast feeding. My DS was 2 days old when she said "Certain foods can cross the placenta and get into the milk."

What bloody placenta? It came out after the baby!

Olly - If you drank one shot and then fed your baby an hour later your blood alcohol content would have been something like 0.02%. That would have meant a tiny fraction of a ml of alcohol in your milk! Certainly not enough to give off any kind of smell, especially after being digested and vomitted up.

Olly - If you drank one shot and then fed your baby an hour later your blood alcohol content would have been something like 0.02%. That would have meant a tiny fraction of a ml of alcohol in your milk! Certainly not enough to give off any kind of smell, especially after being digested and vomitted up

It may well have been the guilt hormones, then! Never did it again. (sure i could smell gin though...)

We all know this studies change faster than the British weather. You can't deny that. Everything you eat or drink have been written about to improve your health one week and kill you the next. News papers have some study every now and then.

Thats just not true. Just because the Daily Mail loves headlines screaming that coffee causes cancer one week and then another next week telling you that it cures cancer, doesn't mean that actual studies said any such thing, either time. IT's the REPORTING of these studies that is the usual problem, drawing their own unsupported conclusions that have little if anything to do with the science.

There is no ever changing science here. We've known for many many years that breastfeeding mothers don't need to have any special diets, avoid any particular foods, and we know precisely how much and how things like alcohol and (most) drugs get into the milk, and how safe it is.

A minor application of logic also goes a long way.

Well said Grocklebox

Wow! I wasn't expecting so many answers to this thread!

I agree with grocklebox about the reporting of research and am constantly amazed how many people just take what they read at face value without doing any further research of their own.

Anyway, I sent my letter to the hospital on Friday. I didn't mention the cabbage/breastfeeding thing because, as I said in my OP, that was just anecdotal and something that made me smile more than anything. My main cause for concern was the fact that medical professionals were downplaying the potential risks of gestational diabetes and giving out dietary advice that could seriously mislead anyone taking it at face value. We'll see how they react (if they do. I'm in France so I think there'll probably just be a small amount of gallic shrugging and the letter will end up in the bin).

I also wanted to say to FlyingRincewind that I am at what your midwife said to you. I think I'd have been asking to change! but then I'm a bolshy mare who probably has 'Pain in the arse' written all over her notes

Dd did seem to have a reaction to certain foods, including garlic.
Though it makes sense to me that certain foods can affect supply, maybe if yiu have underlying issues that can affect bf so say hypothyroidism and pcos. Cabbage is 1 food that affects thyroid.

High gi foods raise blood sugar could i guess affect supply if they affect your pcos.

Dd does have a soya allergy ->vomiting and as its in so many foods i do wonder if it affected her during bf (as like milk its a protein)