We all know how important it is to eat well during pregnancy. As well as ensuring your baby gets all the nutrients it needs to thrive, giving your body plenty of vitamins and minerals will help you to deal with the increased demands of pregnancy and birth.

But your increased nutritional needs don’t stop as soon as your baby is born. The fourth trimester – the first three months after you give birth – comes with its own demands on the body: you’re healing from childbirth and dealing with hormonal fluctuations, all while learning how to care for your new child. And if you’re breastfeeding, that’s an additional consideration.

Slowly but surely, we’re learning to pay more attention to this vital period – something fertility and post-natal nutrition expert Kirsten Mooring is pleased to see. “The first three months post-partum are a key time in women’s health,” she says. “We could benefit from recognising the fourth trimester as a time for nourishment and repair and not a time for doing it all.”

So, how can you eat throughout the fourth trimester to give your body the nutrients it needs to navigate this time? We asked Mooring to share her expertise.  

Your diet during those first few months can really make a difference to how well you recover from the demands of birth and adapt to the new demands of parenthood. “You need nutrients that are going to replenish the stores lost in pregnancy, but also support repair following both pregnancy and childhood,” she explains.

The first area you want to focus on is your amino acids, which are found in protein sources. Glycine (a type of amino acid) is particularly important, Mooring says.

If you’re a meat eater, bone broth is high in glycine. However, plant-based sources like nuts, seeds and legumes also contain it; peanuts, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, lentils and spinach will all help to add to your intake.

“Energy-supporting foods such as oats and whole grains such as wild or brown rice, buckwheat and quinoa are also important,” Mooring adds. 

In the first couple of weeks post-birth, it’s a good idea to reach for easily digestible foods, because digestion can be a little sluggish post-partum. Foods that fit into this category include sweet potatoes, broccoli, carrots and leafy greens.

“If you lost a lot of blood while giving birth, you may find your iron and B12 levels are depleted,” Mooring points out. “And it can be worth testing your thyroid health post-partum to see if additional support is required nutritionally; nutrients such as tyrosine in protein and iodine in white fish can be in greater need if this is the case, while selenium – found in seeds – can provide additional thyroid support.” 

While your body will still require all of the above whether you’re breastfeeding or not, breastfeeding can place additional demands on your nutrient intake. 

“A greater number of calories are needed to nourish the body for breastfeeding – somewhere in the region of an extra 500 calories a day,” Mooring says. “Foods high in healthy fats such as nuts, seeds, oily fish and avocados are a great place to start – DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid) is required in this period for the baby and to replenish lost stores in the mother.”

Eating carbohydrates is also key in supporting your milk supply, especially from complex sources such as starchy vegetables, leafy greens and whole grains.  

Other nutrients that breastmilk contains – and are therefore required in greater volume when you’re breastfeeding – include all the B vitamins, choline and vitamin D.

“A food-first approach is always the best place to start, although some individuals may have a greater need, so testing your iron, B vitamins and vitamin D levels can be helpful,” Mooring says. Ultimately, you just want to ensure you’re fuelling your body with lots of beneficial wholefoods: “I always recommend having nutrient-dense snacks such as nuts and seeds or even energy balls or nut flapjacks close at hand when breastfeeding,” she adds. 

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