During 9 months of pregnancy, the foods you tolerate are the main sources of nutrients for both you and your baby. But after giving birth, diet is just as important, because it helps your body recover and provides the energy it needs to take care of the scarlet little angel that you are holding.

How much should you eat?

After giving birth, most mothers need between 1800 and 2200 calories per day, and more than 500 more calories (equivalent to 3 cups of rice per day) if they are breastfed. If you are underweight or have more than one baby, the number should be even higher.

To achieve this energy demand you need:

• Eat more meals: the whole day diet of a nursing mother should be divided into several meals (3-6 meals / day, including 3 main meals and snacks).

• Eat a variety: meals need a variety of foods with 4 groups of substances: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals.

• Supplement essential micronutrients: right after giving birth or within the first month after birth, mothers are advised to take 1 high dose vitamin A tablet (200,000UI). should continue to take iron tablets or micronutrients (at least 1 month after birth).

What foods should be eaten

You don't need to eat any special foods. Just try to stick to a balanced diet - a mix of a variety of healthy foods including:

• Starches: such as rice, pho, noodles, bread, potatoes, ...

• Dairy products: such as yogurt, fresh milk

• Fat: To ensure the quality of your baby's milk, you need to add healthy fats to your body from fish oils, nuts, and cold sea fish like salmon

• Protein: Your meal needs to be full of animal protein (meat, fish, eggs, milk ...) and plants (beans, sesame, cereals, ... )

• Vegetables and fruits: Include plenty of vegetables and fruits in your daily diet to get enough vitamins and minerals you need, and enough fiber to avoid constipation.

• Water demand: A nursing mother needs to drink enough water, on average about 2.0 - 2.5 liters of water / day (equivalent to 12 to 15 cups of water). You may notice a lack of water in the body based on urine: if the urine is dark yellow or has a strong odor, you will need to drink more water.

You can refer to:

• Protein:

  Name of food	Protein content (%)	Name of food	Protein content (%)
  Sticky rice	8.2	Green bean	22
  Rice	7.6	Peanut	24.3
  Sweet potato	0.8	Sesame	20.1
  Potato	2	Banana	1.5
  Roasted corn	8.0-10.0	Papaya	1
  Millet	121	Orange	1.9
  Bread	7.8-8.0	Apple	0.8
  Pea	22.1	Pork	18-22
  Carrot	1.0-1.5	Beef	21
  Cauliflower	2.0-2.5	Chicken	20
  Kohlrabi bulbs	2.0-2.8	Beef liver	22
  Spinach	2.6-3.2	Pig liver	19.8
  Vegetables shrinkage	4.7-5.3	Fish	17-20
  Celery	3.0-3.7	Whole chicken eggs	13-14.8
  Peas	21.6	Mother milk	1.2-1.5
  Soy bean	36.8	Fresh cow's milk	3.5-3.9

  You should eat lean meat (pork, beef, chicken, shrimp ...), avoid fatty meats, eat beans (soybeans, black beans, red beans, peas ...), milk, eggs ...

• Fat:

  You should use vegetable oil, limit animal fat. It is recommended to apply boiled and steamed processing methods; limit fried, fried, or fatty foods. The steamed and boiled dishes are both easy to make, but simple, but help the nutrients contained in the food more retained and easily absorbed into the body. Eat foods high in omage 3 because this is an essential fat for the healthy development of the child's nervous system.

• Starch:

  You should eat rice, porridge, pasta, pho ..., limit eating vermicelli and confectionery.

• Fiber:

  What should be eaten after giving birth other than fiber and starch. We have the choice of fiber: fiber is effective against constipation and boosts immunity. Mother should choose dark green vegetables (greens, amaranth, spinach, sweet vegetables ...); fruits and vegetables such as sweet potatoes, broccoli, pumpkin, carrots ...

• Vitamins and minerals:

  • Iron is the top mineral needed for postpartum women to prevent anemia. Iron deficiency causes dizziness, dizziness, and poor memory in pregnant women. In addition, postpartum mothers also need to be fully supplemented with calcium, lack of calcium will cause poor quality breast milk, when calcium deficient mothers themselves are susceptible to pain, fatigue, and insomnia. In addition, mothers need enough vitamins to maintain the functioning of the body and assist in better mineral absorption.

  • Very good foods, that is fish, seafood (shrimp, crab, oysters, snails ...), milk and dairy products, tofu, beans, nuts (peanuts, almonds , pumpkin seeds ...), spinach, fresh fruits (banana, kiwi, grapes, oranges, papaya ...)

  • Note: Food needs to be safe, fresh, clean, thoroughly processed and properly processed to preserve nutrients. Choose foods of known origin that are free of pesticides, weight gainers or growth promoters.

• Drinks.

  After giving birth, women should drink enough water, about 2-2.5 liters / day, including filtered water, milk, juice, and soup. Mother should practice the habit of drinking water regularly, regularly, drink a little, drink slowly and many times to absorb water well.

Some other notes on nutrition for mothers after giving birth

• After giving birth, you should not abstain from being strict but on the contrary, you need to eat a variety and enough for your body to be adequately supplied with vitamins and minerals.

• When you breastfeed, the foods you eat can pass through your baby's milk supply. So be careful with foods like:

  • Alcohol: the baby's digestive system and nervous system are still very immature and need to be protected from any small amount of alcohol.

  • Tea, coffee: should not drink too many of these drinks while breastfeeding, because they contain stimulants that can make the baby uncomfortable, uncomfortable, unable to sleep.

  • Mercury-rich fish: mercury in breast milk can affect your baby's neurodevelopment, so you should limit your intake of mercury-rich fish such as tuna, swordfish, and shark.

• You need to monitor your baby's reaction after you eat a certain food, because they may cause your baby to be allergic to symptoms like:

  • Not feeding well, not gaining weight evenly

  • Diarrhea, indigestion

  • Red rash (around mouth, cheeks, folds of arms or legs ...)

  • Swelling of eyes, lips or face

  • Runny nose

  • Gagging

• Each baby may be sensitive to different foods. Some foods that can cause allergies include: beef, cow's milk, eggs, shellfish such as shellfish, shrimp, crab, ...