Breastfeeding Vegans and Vegetarians

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     Recently I was asked if it is safe for moms following a vegan diet to breastfeed.  Apparently there was a couple in France who lived a vegan life and lost their 11 month old to bronchitis.  Many people were angered and ranting blaming the mothers diet for the child's death.  While vegan diets can be low of certain vitamins, which allows higher risks of infection, other factors played into this terrible ordeal.  

     So to take the worry away from my veggie friendly friends I will say this: Of course!  Anyone can breastfeed.  But what we need to remember is that every mother will have to make some adjustments to her diet in order to keep herself and her baby healthy. 

      It is pretty common to be told to eat lots of whole grains, fruits and vegetables while you are pregnant.  So, if you continue making good food choices, then the only adjustment that will need to be made when baby arrives, is adding an extra 500 calories to your diet.  Anyone, who is following a vegetarian or vegan diet probably already knows that they have to find alternative ways to meet their protein and vitamin needs. Likewise, they probably realize adjustments will have to be made for baby and can get great advice from their doctor.   But I don't want you to just take my word for it, so I did a little research and this is what I came up with.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics:

"A special diet is often a healthy diet—in fact, you may maintain a particular diet for health reasons—but it still may not provide all the nutrients you and your baby need while breastfeeding.

If your consumption of any major food group is limited, consider how you will replace the missing elements in your diet, and discuss your plans with your doctor or nutritionist. Breastfeeding women who do not eat meat, for example, must figure out how they will get sufficient protein for their babies and themselves.

As a vegetarian, you may already be familiar with ways to combine plant foods to meet your needs. You may get protein from rice, beans, eggs, nuts and nut butters, and meat substitutes. If you do not know all the healthy ways to compensate for lack of meat in your diet, consult a registered dietitian.

Ask your pediatrician whether you should take a daily vitamin/mineral supplement containing such elements as iron, zinc, and vitamin B12. It is essential that strict vegans (who avoid all animal products in their diet) take a vitamin B12 supplement, since this nutrient comes only from animal sources. Keep in mind that you will also need to make sure you consume enough calories to maintain your health—usually between 2,200 and 2,500 per day if you are of average build.

If you have any special concerns about your diet, your pediatrician may suggest you consult with a registered dietitian."

According to the Le Leche League:

Can I eat a vegetarian diet while I am breastfeeding?

"A vegetarian diet that contains some animal derived food, such as milk, milk derivatives, or eggs is usually complete. Women who don’t eat meat, but consume dairy or eggs usually do not have problems breastfeeding. When a diet does not contain any of these foods (such as in the case of vegan and some macrobiotic diets), a mother needs to sure to include vitamin B12 into her diet in some way. Many vegetarians use a supplement for their vitamin B12 intake.

Research has shown that milk produced by vegetarian women has lower levels of environmental contaminants (such as PCBs) than that of other women. These substances are stored principally in the fatty tissues of the body, and vegetarian diets tend to contain less fats than diets with more animal products."

     So when I think of the attacks on the parents of that little girl that passed I hate to see breastfeeding take a bad rap.  I guess the moral of the story is guns don’t kill people, people kill people.  In other words, the choices we make lead to the reward or consequences that life hands us. The vegan diet is lacking, but the mother should have adapted her diet/supplements to meet babies needs.  This should have been discussed with her doctor and I am sure as a vegan who is careful with her diet, she surely researched the effects it can have while nursing.  So did her diet kill the baby?  Don’t know, but it seems like even a vegan diet with the added calories needed to breastfeed and a b12 supplement everyone should have been okay. 

Plenty of babies survive in the homes of chain smoking, alcoholics who’s diet consists of snickers bars and big gulp sodas so if people need someone to attack and complain about, I’d prefer they didn’t go after the mother who’s whole world just came crashing down because she lost her baby.

Just my take on things,

Traci

Am I too late?

Recently I received this email from one of my mom's who was having concerns about breastfeeding:

I had my baby boy Friday Morning. We had a lot happen recently and I thought I was going to have to go back to work within the next ten days so I chose to bottle feed. :( so not proud of that decision. I found out today I will be able to stay home for at least six weeks. So now I'm wondering am I to late to try? Is it possible I could still breast feed or did I really mess this up?

This was my response to her:

No worries, it is absolutely still possible.  Many women go through similar experiences and are still able to convince baby to breastfeed.  Baby’s who end up in NICU, Moms who have difficulties and are not immediately able to breast feed, even adoptive parents are sometimes able to breastfeed.  The reality of it is you may have a little struggle but you can do it.  Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

     1.       First of all, stay calm.  It may be a little stressful latching baby on because he does not realize milk     comes from breasts, he believes that we eat from bottles.  But your breast milk should just be coming in and you will be able to feed him when he figures it out.

     2.       Bottles work because gravity pulls the milk out for baby.  Breasts work because baby massages them with his tongue and milk ejects from the breast so it may take him a few tries before he figures out to work his tongue differently than he has been.

     3.       It is important to keep up your milk supply while we are waiting for baby to come around.  If you have an electric pump, this is a great time to use it.  This will allow baby to eat breast milk, instead of formula, from the bottle if he does not  latch right away.  Also, it will tell your body that you need to make milk.  Whatever you remove from the breasts, your body will put that much milk back plus just a little bit more.  If we don’t remove milk then the milk supply goes away,so keep pumping.

     4.       Don’t give up.  Keep offering the breast first at every feeding.  Baby may fight you at first and there will be tears but he is learning right now and if we give up and give him a bottle when he cries, then he has learned that crying changes things.  He will fight for the bottle and now you have a fussy baby because he believes that he has to be in a fit to get what he wants.  However, if you can endure and keep trying through the crying, he will figure out how to remove milk from the breast and then you won’t have to work so hard to convince him to breast feed at the next feeding.

     5.       Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  Jill (IBCLC) and I are here every day.  Feel free to come by the office around feeding times and we will help you get baby latched on and hopefully help you feel less stressed as you go through this.  Also, you can call me 24 hours a day on the breastfeeding helpline 417-315-2135. 

We really want you to be successful.  We have been where you are and felt what you are feeling when we were breastfeeding our own babies.  Please don’t hesitate to call, or come by whenever you need us.  We are here to help.