As the little ones arrive in our lives, the focus shifts entirely on their needs and upbringing. As much as taking care of them brings joy, it can be very exhaustive too. Having a nutritious diet is very important to recover, regain strength and energy. Also adding to the fact that breastfeeding mothers pass on the nutrition to the baby as well, it becomes even more important to keep a check on what we eat.
As a two time mother, here I have prepared a detailed plan of the food that I prepared and consumed in the initial period after the baby birth.
This plan has been prepared purely based on my experience, with inputs from my family, friends and my doctors, keeping in mind my traditional and cultural background and my current location.
During my first pregnancy and delivery, back in India, I had my family around, all the time. So, charting out a detailed plan of the various food that I can eat, along with their recipes, were definitely not on our priority list. Everything was taken care by mom. In Germany, during my second pregnancy and delivery, thanks to the unpleasant Corona situation, it was just us, to manage the entire phase of pregnancy, baby delivery and baby care, all on our own. The last trimester of my pregnancy and by large the whole of my maternity leave before delivery, was focused on preparing various documents, meal plans, cooking the essentials that can be preserved and so on. Needless to say that I definitely missed mom, her care and love, but being positive and practical, we decided to go ahead to handle everything ourselves.
Note: This meal plan is loosely based on the cultural and traditional background that I come from and our food habits, plus, the availability of various essentials in the location that we reside in. I very much believe in the traditions that our elders followed and wanted to follow the same, in the first 40 days post my second delivery, as much as possible.
My husband completely supported me with this decision of mine and the first compilation of this document was handed over to him, as a reference for cooking, which he completely took up happily and willingly, in the initial days after the baby arrived. I took away lot of my mom’s time over video calls to list down the dos and don’ts, the food that can be included and that, that cannot be included, the recipes and so on.
Here we go with the plan that I have prepared.
Week 1 and Week 2:
Below are the key notes which I followed –
- As much as possible, I have avoided root vegetables in the first two weeks post delivery
- Onion, garlic, tomato, capsicum, dill leaves, spinach, methi(fenugreek) leaves, cabbage, bottle gourd, ridge gourd, Mangalore cucumber, ash gourd are the vegetables that can be used
- Milk and milk products can be used
- During the day, fruits like apple, pears, kiwi can be consumed
- Drink plenty of water
- At least once in a week, consume sautéed onion. Good for blood purification
| Morning | 1 glass of milk |
| Breakfast | – Neer dose / Menthe Dose / Menthe soppina Dose/ Spinach dose / Akki Rotti / Rava Uppittu with lot of ghee. If dose, only 2 numbers. No coconut to be used
Possible Accompaniments : Onion Chutney – Coffee with milk |
| Lunch | – Saaru / Rasam : Dill leaves saaru / Palak saaru / Pepper saaru with tamarind / Lemon saaru.
– Palya / Vegetable stir fry: Mangalore cucumber / Ridge gourd / Bottle gourd / Capsicum-tomato-onion. – Gatti chutney – warm with ghee – Rice: White / Red boiled rice – Yoghurt (Room temperature) |
| After lunch | – Kala jeera Kashaya (1 ounce) |
| Evening | – 1 glass of milk with whole wheat bread (2 slices) |
| Dinner | – Saaru / Rasam : Dill leaves saaru / Palak saaru / Pepper saaru with tamarind / Lemon saaru.
– Palya / Vegetable stir fry: Mangalore cucumber / Ridge gourd / Bottle gourd / Capsicum-tomato-onion. – Gatti chutney – warm with ghee – Rice: White / Red boiled rice – Yoghurt (Room Temperature) / Milk |
| Before Sleep | – 1 glass of milk |
Week 3 onwards until 40 days:
- Slowly include few more vegetables. You may include yellow moong dal for Saaru / Rasam
- Onion, garlic, tomato, capsicum, dill leaves, spinach, Methi leaves, cabbage, bottle gourd, ridge gourd, Mangalore cucumber, ash gourd can be used along with carrot, beetroot, raddish
- During the day fruits like apple, pears, kiwi can be consumed
- Drink plenty of water
- Milk and Milk products can be consumed
- Once in a week, consume sauted onion. Good for blood purification
| Morning | – 1 glass of milk |
| Breakfast | – Neer dose / Menthe Dose / Methe soppina Dose/ Akki Rotti / Rava Uppittu/ Godhi dose / Wheat Dose / Whole Wheat Dose/ Chapathi with lot of ghee / bread with cheese. If dose, only 2. No coconut to be used
Possible Accompaniments : Onion Chutney – Coffee with milk |
| Lunch | – Saaru / Rasam : Dill leaves saaru / Palak saaru / Pepper saaru with tamarind / Lemon saaru.
– Palya / Vegetable Stir Fry: Mangalore cucumber / Ridge gourd / Bottle gourd / Capsicum-tomato-onion / Carrot / cabbage / raddish. – Gatti chutney – warm with ghee – Rice: White / Red boiled rice / Jeera Rice / Chapathi / Green paratha / Onion paratha / garlic paratha – Yoghurt (Room Temperature) |
| Evening | – 1 glass of milk with whole wheat bread (2 slices) |
| Dinner | – Saaru : Dill leaves saaru / Palak saaru / Pepper saaru with tamarind / Lemon saaru.
– Palya: Mangalore cucumber / Ridge gourd / bottle gourd/ Capsicum-tomato-onion / carrot / cabbage / raddish. – Gatti chutney – warm with ghee – Rice: White / Red boiled rice / Chapathi / Green paratha / Onion paratha / garlic paratha – Yogurt (Room Temperature) |
| After Dinner | – 1 glass of milk |
After 40 days :
Post initial 40 days, theoretically, any food can be consumed. But care should be taken to avoid food, which may cause discomfort to the baby, like gas causing vegetables or spicy food and so on.
It is good to start one inclusion at a time to see and monitor its impact (if any) on the baby.
At this stage, coconut and spices can be used, but in moderation.
In the coming days, I shall include simple recipes that I have used as part of my diet and helped me as a breastfeeding mother, recover and regain energy.
Along with the above, below are the few things which I did / followed, which can be helpful to a few of you :
- During the day, I used to consume Fenchel Tea (I used Weleda Fenchel Tee). It is recommended for breastfeeding mothers
- Whenever I felt like munching some energy bars, I consumed those meant for lactating mothers (I used the Stillzeit Energy Bars from DM). Guilt free, tasty and healthy munching!
- I also consumed nuts and dry fruits in between. Healthy too and helps in regaining strength
- After 40 days, I started with Antina Unde (Helps in regaining strength and energy)
- After 40 days, once or twice in a week, I consumed Garten cress seeds (Alavi / Aliv seeds) with milk. Helps in strengthening of bones.
- Until 40 days, I used coconut oil boiled with Kaala Jeera (Black Cumin Seeds) to massage myself before bath. Its medicinal properties help in reducing joint pains, body aches, get rid of any kind of allergies and infections
- After 40 days, more food inclusions can be considered, but the focus still remains – maintain the nutrition. Also, any inclusion, done one at a time, from my experience, is practically helpful in tracing back, whenever the baby shows some discomfort.
Note :
- DM, Rossmann, Müller are few popular Drogerie/Drugstore/ Markets in Germany, where I got access to various health products. The above products which I have mentioned, are not to advertise any of the brands, but, the choices which I have made based on the reviews that I read, suggestions by friends and my Hebamme (Mid wife)
- The recipe list is not exhaustive, but has the main ones, which I followed. Over the coming days, I shall try and include few more.
- Garten Cress Seeds / Alvi / Aliv seeds are easily available in small packets in any of the German supermarkets ( You will find them in the shelves having all vegetables/flowers/salad seeds shelves). Or, you can also order them online in Amazon.
- Kaala Jeera / Kali Jiri /Black Cumin seeds can also be found in Amazon
- All the necessary ingredients for Antina Unde can be found easily in any nearby Indian Store.
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