Nutrition during Lactation: What do Mom and Baby Need?
Summary
Nutritional needs during lactation are unique and one of the highest demands for good nutrition during a
women’s life. Many breastfeeding moms are not meeting the optimal nutrient intakes for both mom and
baby.
Scientist Biography
Christina Sherry is a Research Scientist working in the area of prenatal and
pregnancy nutrition with a focus on nutritional early programming of later health
outcomes. She is responsible for product support and innovation of Similac Mom,
clinical studies involving breastfeeding as well as supporting innovations around early
programming for the Similac brand. Christina received her undergraduate degree in
dietetics from Bluffton University and her PhD in Nutritional Science from The
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has published in the area of
nutritional regulation of the immune system. Prior to joining Abbott, Christina was a
post-doctoral fellow at the University of Michigan.
Nathan Pratt is a doctoral student in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign working as an intern with Abbott Nutrition. His work with Abbott
has focused on studying the diets of lactating women to identify nutritional
shortcomings that could affect infant or maternal health. He received his Bachelor’s
degree in biology from Illinois Wesleyan University and plans to receive his PhD at
the end of 2014. On campus, he studies consumer behavior and nutrition education
to understand the best methods of communicating nutrition information to
successfully improve food choices, primarily with regard to weight management.
Why is nutrition so important during breastfeeding?
Lactation is one of the most complex and nutritionally demanding phases of the human life cycle.
The breastfed infant is still dependent on the mother for nutrition while growing at a rate of 5 to 7 ounces
per week. Muscle and nerve development are remarkable during this time, allowing the infant to quickly
develop motor skills such as head control and grip. Cognitive development is also underway; the infant’s
senses begin to mature and the brain is developing to process these sensory inputs. By 3 months, an
infant may be able to lift his head, track objects, and control his hands and feet. By 6 months, he has
developed color vision, can sit without support, and is beginning the first steps of language development.1
All of these developmental processes require resources in the form of nutrition. Some nutrients
perform regulatory roles while others are used as structural components of nerve cells or for biochemical
pathways within the cell. To support optimal health for both the infant and the mother, it is important to
understand how nutrient needs change during lactation and the consequences of inadequate intakes. In
addition, it is critical to be familiar with typical dietary intakes of lactating mothers so that we can identify
education needs and interventions to promote health.
1
Almost all nutrients have increased dietary requirements during lactation compared to pregnancy.
The caloric expenditure of 9 months of lactation can exceed that of pregnancy by 98%.2 Similarly,
requirements of most vitamins and minerals increase to varying degrees (Table 1).3 Some requirements
only increase marginally, such as zinc or potassium, while others increase up to 69% in the case of
vitamin A.
Nutrients affecting infant health
Breastmilk concentrations of some nutrients can be altered by changes in maternal intakes or
nutrient stores. The main nutrients in this group include vitamins A, C, and D, the B vitamins, iodine, and
choline.4 With these nutrients, infants who are exclusively breastfed by mothers who have deficient
intakes may be at risk of inadequacy. Milk is still produced when the mother is undernourished, but
concentrations of certain nutrients may not be optimal or even sufficient for proper development under
those conditions.
The adverse health outcomes associated with deficient intakes vary from nutrient to nutrient. In
the case of vitamin D, breast milk concentrations remain inadequate even when mothers meet their
dietary needs of vitamin D. This means that the infant is at a risk of developing rickets and, as a result,
direct supplementation of vitamin D is recommended for all breastfed infants.5 Deficient intakes of iodine
can lead to abnormal brain development that is irreversible.6 Breastmilk content of vitamin A, whose
dietary needs increase greatly during lactation, has been shown to be 7 times higher in well-nourished
women than undernourished women.7 Low intakes can lead to the development of subclinical vitamin A
deficiency in exclusively breastfed infants, which increases risk for infection and xerophthalmia in more
severe cases.
Given the surge in brain and nerve development in early infancy, it is not surprising that DHA
(docosahexaenoic acid, an omega 3 fatty acid) and lutein have become a focal point for neonatal nutrition
research in recent years. DHA is a major component in the brain and may have an important role in
cognitive development.8 Lutein may be particularly important for developing infants. It is the main
component found in the fovea, which is the part of the eye responsible for visual acuity and is under
development in the first few months of life.9 Breastmilk concentrations for both of these nutrients respond
to maternal intake, allowing the mother’s diet to influence the nutrition received by the breastfed infant.10-
12
Nutrients affecting maternal health
Other nutrients have breastmilk concentrations which are not altered by nutrition status of
mothers. These are primarily the nutrients associated with infant growth such as calcium, zinc,
phosphorous, protein, and calories.4 The mother’s body will ensure there is a sufficient concentration of
these nutrients in the milk at the expense of depleting maternal stores. As a result, inadequate intakes of
nutrients in this group will lead to health effects in the mother rather than the infant. Potential health
effects would be anemia for iron deficiency and a decrease in bone mineral density for calcium,
increasing future risk for osteoporosis. Fortunately, we have good screening methods in the US for
detecting effects of low iron and calcium levels. In addition, the requirements of calcium during lactation
are the same as those of pregnancy and iron requirements are 67% lower (Table 1). However, these two
conditions are already a public health concern for women in the United States prior to lactation,
underlining the importance of ensuring adequate intake of these nutrients and proper monitoring.
2
Should we be concerned?
Maternal intake during breastfeeding has the potential to significantly impact both infant and
maternal health. How adequate is the typical diet of a breastfeeding mom in the US? This is an important
question to understand to provide guidance on interventions and recommendations. Table 2
demonstrates that average intakes of 16 nutrients important during breastfeeding are below
recommendations. Eight of those are actually less than half of recommendations.13 Additionally, the
majority of nutrients with low intakes are those which can affect the infant’s health and development
(green), including vitamin D, iodine, vitamin A, DHA, and lutein. Nutrients which may affect the mother’s
health (blue), on the other hand, have intakes relatively close to recommendations. These nutrients,
whose breast milk content responds to maternal intake, have the highest public health concern; they
generally have the lowest intakes as shown in Table 1, their health consequences are the most severe,
and, most importantly, the consequences are preventable through diet changes.
What is the solution as a health care provider?
From a practical point of view, lactating women are consuming inadequate amounts of the foods
that are a good source of the nutrients previously mentioned, primarily fruits, vegetables, dairy and fatty
fish. Previous research has shown that vegetables, fruits, and dairy intakes are less than half of
recommended amounts and can explain the low intake of nutrients found in those foods. Grains and
protein, on the other hand, had intakes much closer to recommendations; therefore, nutrients mainly
found in grains and protein foods such as vitamin B6, thiamin, folate, and iron had intakes that were close
to 100%.13 Previous public health campaigns that have shown to be effective include the combined
awareness of increasing folic acid intake and food fortification which increased the median serum folate
173% from 1988-1999 in women of childbearing age.14 Overall improvement of dietary intake and
increasing consumption of fruit, vegetables and dairy may be a bit more challenging; however, one of the
first steps is recognizing and understanding unique dietary needs of lactating women to target
intervention.
Green: increase in requirement compared to pregnancy
Red: decrease in requirement compared to pregnancy
3
Green nutrients are those whose concentrations in breast milk are affected by maternal intake.
Blue nutrients are those whose concentrations in breast milk are not altered by maternal nutrition status.
a
Intake as percent of Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). Percentage of Adequate Intake is shown for
nutrients without an RDA (*).
4
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Plasma Lutein Concentrations in Lactating Women and in Infant Plasma Concentrations but Does Not
Affect Other Carotenoids. J Nutr. 2014. doi: jn.114.192914 [pii]10.3945/jn.114.192914.
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dietary recommendations important for infant development and maternal health. Food and Nutrition
Science. 2014.
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