Life becomes very demanding and tiring with a new born baby in the house so it’s a good idea to think ahead and prepare some meals to put away in the freezer for after your baby is born.

Its especially important to have a store of ready prepared nutritious meals if you are breastfeeding as the key to successful breastfeeding is to eat well, drink plenty of fluids and rest when you can.  You actually need to eat and drink more than when you were pregnant – you will need about 500 extra calories a day.

Include sufficient iron rich foods in your diet as many mothers are deficient in iron after the birth of their child and this could lead to anaemia, which will leave you feeling very run down and more prone to infection.

Make sure you drink enough fluids – water is especially good.  Fresh orange juice is good also as it is rich in vitamin C which aids iron absorption. 

For most women successful breastfeeding with a good milk supply can be maintained during a moderate weight-reducing diet.  However, although you  are naturally keen to regain your figure as soon as possible, your growing baby is totally dependent on you for all her nutritional needs so its important that you eat a well-balanced diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.  You will probably lose weight naturally while breastfeeding because the extra stores of fat put on during pregnancy are used up in the production of milk.  Women have a higher metabolic rate when breastfeeding and also breastfeeding causes the uterus to contract and return to its normal size so you should get a flatter stomach.