We understand that, during the nine months of your pregnancy journey you had to adapt to significant lifestyle changes. One of them was to follow a healthy, balanced and nutritious diet.
You are naïve if you think that once your baby pops out, everything will go back to the way it was. You might think you will get a chance to unfollow your diet and start enjoying your favourites. No! That is far from being true! Postpartum is the period when a new mum undergoes a lot of changes – both physically and emotionally. Therefore, a postpartum nutritious food intake is an absolute necessity. A balanced nutrition coupled with proper exercise will help new mums get back to their pre-pregnancy body sooner, besides keeping them energised after your baby’s delivery. As new mums are also breastfeeding moms what they eat will pass on to the baby through the breastmilk.
As we celebrate National Nutrition week, we felt this was the perfect time to talk about nutrition for the new mums, so that they stay healthy, while they bring up their child.
Whole Grain Cereals
In your immediate postpartum days, you won’t really feel like having anything that is not easy on your stomach. So, it’s best to re-balance your system by including whole grain cereals for example Oats, Oatmeal, rice, wheat, and cereals in your after-delivery diet chart. A plateful of Oatmeal (Daliya) Khichdi mixed with veggies and topped with just about a drop or two of ghee or whole grain bread with butter and soup to go with it, will surely be a tasty and healthy option here. They maybe naturally low in fat, but are high in protein and fibre. Iron, in addition guards you against anaemia. If you’re further interested to know how to prevent anemia in pregnant women, we have a precursor for you here: https://www.cordlifeindia.com/blog/national-nutrition-week/
Vegetables: An after-delivery diet remains incomplete without these power-packed vegetables. You can opt to have either red or green leafy vegetables along with your daily staple of rice and dal to get that goodness of iron and folic acid. In fact, a bowl full of salad combined with Broccoli, green vegetables like beans and peas along with tomatoes will be a healthy way to cover up for the Vitamin A and C deficiency in your body.
Fruits
Don’t let your fatigue come in the way of your after-delivery happiness. Eat fresh and sweet fruits whenever hunger strikes you. You should also get two or more servings of fruit salads or fruit juices in a day. Fruits after all, are rich sources of Vitamin C. Whenever you are having them, you are also absorbing a good amount of iron, minerals and carbohydrates to keep your energy level high. Moreover, the fibre and pectin content in it will naturally burn your fat and not make you feel constipated.
Nuts
Being a new mom, breastfeeding the baby so many times a day, takes away a lot of energy from you. Keep nuts handy always. Nuts being rich source of healthy fat and protein, can make for a delicious and healthy snack (sprinkled with some chaat masala) besides boosting up your energy and increasing your milk production.
Peanut Butter
Just a spoonful smeared on whole grain bread is enough for a quick dose of protein and fat to make you feel energised after-delivery.
Dairy Products
Include milk, buttermilk and curd as your daily dose of postnatal diet. Being a rich source of calcium, protein and Vitamin D, they can improve your bone health. Otherwise, if you are worried about putting on a little post- pregnancy go for low-fat dairy products.
Eggs
Eggs are a lot of nutrients, proteins and vitamins that helps in the after- birth recovery. Thanks for the versatility that it’s got, it goes to the making some lovely meals anytime of the day. Here are some easy ways to add eggs to your plate – you can either have them scrambled, make a fluffy omelette or hard boiled or simply make a delicious egg curry and enjoy it with some steaming hot rice or roti.
Fluids
All the new and breastfeeding moms please remember, what you drink is as important as what you eat! Stay hydrated by drinking 10 to 15 glasses of water a day Keeping yourself hydrated, will improve your breast milk production and rejuvenate your body. It is also important to slash down your caffeine and aerated drink intake to the extent possible.
Last but not the least supplement your diet with postnatal vitamin to keep fuelling your motherhood.
After all, what you eat at this juncture will go a long way in making you look and feel your best self.