Breast Feeding & Your Diet: Foods to Avoid

"Greetings! My name is Asma Hanif. I am a certified nurse midwife with a private practice in Baltimore, Maryland; and on behalf of Expert Village, this segment is on things to avoid when breast-feeding. Dietary caffeine appears in breast milk. Though nursing mothers can safely consume small amounts of caffeine without passing on a significant amount to the baby, higher caffeine amounts could potentially cause problems such as poor sleeping, nervousness, irritability and poor feeding, so limiting your caffeine intake makes sense. Caffeine tends to build up in the babies, their systems, because their bodies cannot get rid of it very easily. Try using decaffeinated coffee and tea, and avoid colas and other carbonated drinks that have added caffeine. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that nursing women limit consumption to the caffeine equivalent of 1 to 3 cups of coffee per day; myself I would avoid it altogether. As far as smoking, the mother who smokes is actually a contradiction to breast-feeding, and smoking especially while breast-feeding is dangerous. Nicotine is present in breast milk and would easily be transferred to the baby. For your health as well as the health of your baby quit smoking. My name is Asma Hanif and on behalf of Expert Village, I would like to say thank you for watching."